Eid Mubarak

We decided to spend the Eid ul Fitr weekend in Bhurban staying at a well-known hotel, the grounds of which are excellent for birding. It is my policy not to advertise on this blog so I won’t mention the name of the hotel unless, of course, that ‘Particular Chain’ of hotel offers a donation towards the conservation of wildlife in Pakistan. It is a credit to the company that the grounds appear to be maintained with wildlife in mind. However, the caging of a Rhesus Macaque monkey for the entertainment of guests is not at all clever. An opinion clearly shared by the unfortunate creature.

Moving on to the positive; we were out very early on Saturday 18 August 2012, and were amazed to see more than 200 ALPINE SWIFT passing over the hotel buildings. They were huge in comparison to the LITTLE SWIFT and ASIAN HOUSE MARTIN also present; the numbers of which were equally impressive.

Walking along the perimeter path through the woodland we had good views of an adult BLUE WHISTLING THRUSH, the silence of which was in stark contrast to the half a dozen YELLOW-BILLED BLUE MAGPIE, the cackling of which belies their amazing appearance. On the top of a leafless tree sat a BLUE-THROATED BARBET and we watched his wing-fluttering preamble before he broke into his distinctive two-stroke jalopy call. A SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER uttered its distinctive cry as it weaved its way through the trees. In an area of new plantation just outside the perimeter fence a STRIATED PRINIA proclaimed its territory.

High above the diagnostic tail shapes and typical call of two Ravens caught our attention amongst the regular numbers of LARGE-BILLED CROW. There’s a lot I don’t like about the Helm Field Guide entitled the Birds of Pakistan and the nomenclature used is one. I much prefer that used in the Birds of India App, ironically published by the same company. So, from now on Northern or Common Raven will become PUNJAB RAVEN Corvus corax subcorax. This is more accurate as this is the race that occurs in most of Pakistan.

Taking a seat above the escarpment we engaged in my favourite style of birding, get comfortable and wait for the birds to come to you. So, we did and so did they! We had just commented that we had seen nor heard any sign of SLATY-HEADED PARAKEET when a flypast of 50 birds, in perfect formation, treated us to a display of synchronised aerobatics with the adult males trailing their long yellow tails behind. Brilliant!

A pair of GREY BUSHCHAT caught bugs amongst the rose garden and an ASHY DRONGO picked off those at slightly higher altitude. Strangely, we have seen few species of raptor at this location so it was a pleasant surprise to watch a male SHIKRA spiral upwards. Several ORIENTAL WHITE-EYE landed close by and although a relatively common bird in Pakistan one cannot help but marvel in their beauty. As often happens whilst lazy birding a bird wave passes through, a collection of different species that has formed a feeding flock. First we noticed the GREAT TIT but there were RUFOUS-NAPED TIT amongst them. There were also warblers, GREENISH WARBLER had obviously arrived in good numbers and there were a couple of resident GREY-HOODED WARBLER in the group.

Not part of the feeding flock were several, again newly arrived, SYKES’S WARBLER and it was great to be able to sit quietly and grill all of the identification criteria including the short supercilium that ended just behind the eye, the longer bill and greyer colour than Booted Warbler and even its square ended tail. Supposedly, more arboreal than Booted Warbler, maybe but these birds were playing hard to get and only their distinctive tut call gave away their presence originally.

On a dead-looking tree a few species were taking advantage of the perching opportunities. There were two female or immature COMMON ROSEFINCH. The black beady eyes and feint double wingbars reminded me so much of weedy fields on the Isles of Scilly, all those years ago, looking for this species amongst flocks of Linnets. There was a pair of really impressive YELLOW-BREASTED GREENFINCH, a couple of SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA and about a dozen RUSSET SPARROW.

A distinctive call that I had heard before gave away the presence of a GREY-BELLIED CUCKOO that also kindly put in an appearance. We saw another, or the same bird that evening. As we returned to the hotel amongst the trees we caught a glimpse of a Falcon sp. Sadly, we could get nothing of before it disappeared but my guess was Eurasian Hobby; especially will all of the Asian House Martins around.

Up again at dawn the following morning, Sunday 19 August 2012 and this time we were straight into a bird wave and after finding a comfortable vantage point we were treated to a superb show. Again GREAT TIT and RUFOUS-NAPED TIT were in evidence but as all of the other species in much higher numbers. There were also a few GREEN BACKED TIT and the most impressive of all were about 50 or so BLACK-THROATED BUSHTIT. This species has a limited distribution in Pakistan and Bhurban is one of the strongholds. There were also Woodpeckers amongst this feeding group including a SCALY-BELLIED WOODPECKER and three BROWN-FRONTED WOODPECKER. The small area of woodland held huge numbers of GREENISH WARBLER and I found one SYKES’S WARBLER actually living up to its arboreal reputation.

Below the feeding flock STREAKED LAUGHINGTHRUSH scurried around uttering their seemingly endless repertoire of calls. A pair of EURASIAN HOOPOE flew in and began searching for grubs in the ground. Being amongst so many birds the time flew by before long it was time to return. However, not before I found a FULVOUS-BREASTED WOODPECKER on the perimeter of the golf course. A rare species in Pakistan identified by the completely red head of the male, ladder pattern on the mantle and streaked underparts that distinguish it from Himalayan and Sind Woodpeckers.

Six BARN SWALLOW overhead accounted for the 40^th species of the weekend and although there were no new birds on my Pakistan list it was a lot of fun.