A Visit to the Marala Wetlands near Sialkot Late March 2015

April 23, 2015

I am sorry for being away so often for so many reasons. I have been meeting people and organisations that work for the protection of wildlife in Pakistan and finally I managed to get all of them together for a full day conference on Sunday 26 April 2015.

Nevertheless, I made a quick visit to the Marala Wetlands on 23 March 2015. I had heard that lot of hunting had been going on there. It was to my utter surprise and horror that I could not find a single Bar-headed Goose there. Last year Me and Islbirder has seen them in hundreds.

Being very upset about the situation I started my day with a broken heart. My friends and photographers from Sialkot were with me and we made our way, before dawn, into the middle of the Marsh. We had looked for Painted Storks as these elegant birds can be seen in the early morning, before they move to the river in the middle of the day. I waited for almost two hours to see when the Painted Storks would land but no luck.

We were well received by Great Egrets, Grey Herons and Purple Herons. They were flying all round the wetland. River Terns were making there aerobatic flights and busy picking up the fish from the water.

In the meantime I saw an Osprey flying over the pond and swiftly changes his direction, dive in to the water and picked out a big catfish. Wow! He was far away and after picking the fish flew in our direction, such a powerful and elegant bird of prey. I wish I could photograph him close enough while he was catching the fish.

A pair of Spot-billed Ducks also flew by before we packed up our camp and started exploring the other side of the river. Head Marala is an amazing place to be. One can see a variety of birds in as the seasons change. While driving to the other side of the river we saw a Purple Sunbird which was humming over the flowers. After crossing the river, I was excited to see the Bee-eaters in the area. WOW, I love these beautiful birds and sharing with you this stunning image.

We packed our luggage the next day and I came back to Islamabad with the memories of our visit in 2013. Me and Islbirder had literally seen many hundreds of Bar-headed geese there and this time, there were none! However, I did find a group of Painted Stork by the river.

Anyways I am motivated by that and I have gathered over 30 wildlife photographers along with the Himalayans Wildlife Foundation, WWF and Walkabout Movies in Pakistan and believe that collectively we will bring about a positive change attitudes regarding the Wildlife of Pakistan.

Here in Islamabad Spring is about to end and Summers will bring in new birds to the hills of Murree and Nathia Gali. I am sharing the image of this beautiful male Yellow Wagtail of the race Motacilla flava bema with you from Rawal lake.

Before I pen down let me tell my friend , ISLBIRDER that I havnt have forget the promise to find the orange bull finch.. So I will be off to the mountains of Nathigali over the weekend, to find that.. Wish me luck my friend.

From Islbirder: RMK, my friend, it is great news that you have become so heavily involved in the conservation of Pakistan's beautiful and precious wildlife. I wish you all the best in the important endevour.