On Saturday 26 January 2013, early morning found us at the
D12 Sector of Islamabad in the most beautiful weather with the photographers
purring at the quality of the light. My apologies for the tardiness with which
I have been updating the blog but my broadband (more like elastic band)
connection is driving me crazy. You pay for the fastest connection but unless
you get up at 0300 hours the connection is ridiculously slow. To download 15Mbs
of photographs has just taken me three hours! I cannot tell you the name of the
company but it begins with N and ends with TEL.
As we arrived in the area I shouted STOP as we drew
alongside a small flock of about 20 YELLOW-BREASTED GREENFICH (also know by the
name of HIMALYAN GREENFINCH). These are beautiful little birds of the high
mountains that had been forced to lower altitudes by the winter snow.
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| Yellow-breasted Greenfinch Sams Photography |
Today was to be a day for Raptors and the guys did a great
job capturing the fantastic photographs that follow. The first bird we saw was
an adult STEPPE EAGLE and whilst the identification of large Eagles can be, to
say the least, tricky I am sure that the bird below is a STEPPE EAGLE because
of the barring on the under wing and undertail.
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| Adult Steppe Eagle Sarel van Zyl |
Not far from the STEPPE EAGLE was another large Eagle that
has proved to be more of an identification challenge. Initially, I believed it
to have been a juvenile GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE but after referring to some
authoritative literature, I am now having doubts and believe that it could be a
juvenile STEPPE EAGLE. The tail and wing shape still lead me to think it is a
GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE, the head looks right but some of the literature states
that at this age there should be two white wing bars. However, other
literature contradicts this. So, I am plumping for my original identification
of GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE.
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| Putative Juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle Sarel van Zyl |
The next large Raptor was something easier to identify, or
was it? First impression was a very pale LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD, seemed
straightforward enough. But hang on, could it be an Upland Buzzard? A
diagnostic clincher for Upland Buzzard is the fully feathered tarsus (leg).
Sadly, it’s about the only part of the bird that you cannot see on this
fantastic series of photos. However, as Upland Buzzard has never been recorded
in Pakistan, so we’ll call this one a pale and indistinctly marked LONG-LEGGED
BUZZARD.
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| Long-legged Buzzard Sarel van Zyl |
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| Long-legged Buzzard Sarel van Zyl |
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| Long-legged Buzzard Sarel van Zyl |
There is an area near to D12 where one can view BLACK KITE
from above and the birding paparazzi cannot pass this site without trying to
get a really good flight shot. They rarely fail.
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| Black Kite Sarel van Zyl |
After the excitement of the Raptors we headed off to Leopard
Valley to the northeast of Islamabad. Although quite late in the day we did
find some nice birds. We found a BLACK-THROATED ACCENTOR, another altitudinal migrant
as was this fabulous WHITE-CAPPED WATER REDSTART.
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| White-capped Water Redstart Sarel van Zyl |
Sharing the same stream was a female GREY WAGTAIL and a
BLACK REDSTART was found nearby. A pair of COMMON TAILORBIRD appeared
exceptionally colourful in the valley light as did several male ROCK BUNTING
and a WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER.
