Showing posts with label Bar-headed Goose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bar-headed Goose. Show all posts

12 Oct 2014

12 Oct 14 - Launch Of The New IQ30 Bird Club

Following the recent voting success in Clacton for UKIQP, the political wing of the IQ40 club, the IQ40 Club is pleased to announce today the launch of the new IQ30 Club. This will be a Bird Club for  supporters of UKIQP. So if you are fed up of all those Foreign Birds coming over here & getting all the attention, then this is the Bird Club for you. The rules are simple. You will be only be allowed to tick British Birds. Some are obvious such as Blackbirds & Robins. 
Blackbird: Juvenile. Clearly no problem ticking this resident Blackbird. This Studland Blackbird is 100% pukka as it was clearly born here (31 May 14)
Robin: Nearly all Robins are fine, but beware the greyish backed European Robins on the East coast in the Autumn, as they won't be tickable. Old Harry (4 Sep 14)
But other British Birds you can Tick are those which have long winters abroad like the Swallows & House Martins before coming home again to breed.
House Martin: These bred here, but like to have long holidays abroad in the winter & they are still tickable. Studland (6 Sep 14)
Also the British breeding Warblers such as Chiffchaffs & Whitethroats are obviously tickable. After all who doesn't enjoy their Winter holidays in the sun. 
Chiffchaff: IQ30 Birders will obviously have to ensure they aren't wrongly ticking a Siberian Chiffchaff as these will not be tickable. Studland (7 Oct 14)
Whitethroat: Clearly tickable, especially as this was born here. Old Harry (4 Sep 14)
But you will not be able to tick those European Birds that come here without permission and should be sent back to Europe. So out go the Redwings, Fieldfares & Waxwings which come over here in the Winter & eat our British Bird's berries.
Waxwing: Waxwings wouldn't be tickable as they are a European species that only come here to exploit our berries and not contribute anything. Poole (12 Dec 10)
But don't worry about not being able to Tick these common Winter visitors the spokesman for the IQ30 Club said. You can sign up now for one of our exclusive IQ30 Summer Tours, where in addition to the Scottish Specialities, we will take you to our special & secret sites, where you will be able to Tick breeding Snow Buntings, Redwings and Fieldfares. These trips will be timed to see the British chicks, as well as their British parents. You will all be expected to buy & wear our special IQ30 blindfolds so you cannot reveal our secret sites. He finished by saying they double up as exclusive bandanas, in a desperate attempt to woo back former members of the IQ40 club.
Fieldfare: Winter Fieldfares won't be tickable, but our special Tours go to our secret & exclusive sites where they breed & all Tour participants will get a certificate to prove they have a tickable Fieldfare on their IQ30 Club lists. This Fieldfare photographed at Dungeness wouldn't be tickable (8 March 14)
The IQ30 spokesman also said you won't be allowed to Tick the gaudy European Birds that arrive here every year without permission. He said we will made clear statements of what can & can't be ticked. For example, Bee-eaters are clear European & can't be ticked. But the Isle of Wight 8, referring to the 8 babies that were born in the UK are fully tickable. He confirmed their parents are not countable. The beaming smile on his face indicated he clearly has this major IQ30 Club Blocker on his list.
Bee-eater: Gaudy adults like this would not be tickable, although the spokesman said the Isle of Wight 8 would be fully tickable. Beit She'an, Israel (12 April 14)
For years UKIQP have argued that these European Birds should be caught by Ringers. Once caught they should be quickly bagged and put on the next Eurostar before being released. Their leader, Mr Farfetched, says they will hold the balance of power after next year's Bird Elections and the old parties such as BUFO (British Union For Ornithology) and BOT (British Ornithology Trust) have had their day. After all he argued, how can you trust organisations that are named after the Common Toad or rude parts of the body, to represented today's Birders. We are the organisation of the future and we will send these Foreign Birds back, suitably marked with a special ring to show they have been deported. That way if they return, it will be obvious they won't be tickable.
Subalpine Warbler: This is a classic species that would be deported if caught by a ringer according to the UKIQP manifesto. Velji Do, Croatia (5 May 14)
The IQ30 spokesman announced they were pleased to hear the news that following the successful campaign to keep Scotland part of the UK, by the Bigger Together team, that Scottish Birders realised the threats to their lists and voted to keep those English & Welsh Birds on their lists.
Corn Crake: Scottish Corn Crakes are still fully tickable now Scottish Birders voted for the Bigger Together campaign in the recent Scottish Birders referendum organised by SNIP, the Scottish Nationalist Independence Party. They wanted to drastically snip the Lists of Scottish Birders & stop them ticking English & Welsh Birds. Balranald (4 June 12)
Critics have been quick to respond how will we know what we can Tick. This has already been full thought out by the President of the IQ40 Club, and new IQ30 Club, said their spokesman. He went on to say short term visas will be introduced to allow the American Birds to be ticked. The President will also judge which of these birds will get visas allowing them to be ticked & which will be extended to give them automatic rights to be ticked on future Year Lists.
Mourning Dove: This American visitor would be is likely to get a visa allowing it to be ticked. But it's possible that being on a distant island, a visa might be ruled out: depending on whether members of the IQ30 Club committee travelled to add it to their IQ30 Year List. Rum (30 Oct 13)
He said some of the British Wildfowl will become fully tickable: Black Swans and Bar-headed Geese which were clearly born here will be eligible for ticking. He said BUFO need to allow these species. But he said with a smile, clearly enjoying his own joke, the organisation was old & warty and he is looking forward to the day it croaks for the last time.
Bar-headed Goose: British born Bar-headed Geese would be added to the IQ30 List. Bharatpur, India (27 Jan 14)
So join the IQ30 Club now as we have a special offer at the moment, with a 50% discount on the membership fees for members of UKIQP or for subscribers to the Daily Birding Mail.

27 Jan 2014

27 Jan 14 - Birding At A Posh Shooting Lake

Don't worry I've not gone soft on my views about hunting & shooting of birds. Instead I've just arrived at one of the most well known shooting lakes in India in the 19th century, which is now a World Heritage Site: Bharatpur (Keoladeo) National Park. Originally, Bharatpur was a Maharaja shooting site, but this was a tradition that continued into the colonial days.
Bharatpur: A subtle entrance gate
Bharatpur is a fairly large reserve with a long road (about 3 miles long) inside the reserve to a small temple. Cars are limited within the park & only allowed to an inner checkpost & a small park lodge on a side road. But you are not expected to walk if you don't want to as there are large numbers of rickshaw drivers, allowing you to travel slowly through the park. The rickshaw drivers are worth considering as they do know a number of stakeouts for Owls & Nightjars (unfortunately none along the main track this time) as well as the commoner mammals & birds.
This shows the extend of the shooting in colonial days: There are another 5 panels
The only food in the park is a small drinks stall by the temple. I was very impressed by this drinks stall as the only food they had were crisps & nuts, but they served them in paper bags, so they were biodegradable if the customers threw them away. The first time in India I had seen real care for the environment over rubbish (especially as it was costing the stall for extra paper bags).
Map of Bharatpur
Initially, the road leads through dry, arid bush & areas of small trees. There is an inner checkpost and soon the track continues into seasonally flooded wet forest. Continuing further this opens up into shallow lakes on both sides, with trees on raised ground. These trees host large nesting colonies of breeding waterbirds. There are also a few areas of taller trees which are worth exploring on side tracks. There are a few raised paths leading across these lakes. Around the temple area are a couple of tower hides (they weren't here on my first visit in 91), which give good views over the wet areas. The reserve continues with a couple of raised tracks radiating out on either side of the temple.
Looking back towards the entrance & the drier part of the reserve
The first part of the raised track after the inner checkpost runs through wet forest
The open marshes from one of the tower hides
An interesting take on conservation: We saw 3 Siberian White Cranes in 91, but sadly, there have been no sightings at Bharatpur for over a decade 
Local villagers seem to be allowed to gather some produce from the reserve on the far side of the temple
Any birder visiting Bharatpur should really allow 3 or 4 days to explore the area fully, including a day of cycling into the reserve to allow you to get to the far end. This is a day, when a guide will get you some bonus species. But having done all that on my 91 trip, then this trip was more focused on potential ticks, Nightbirds & general photography. At the entrance gate, I was briefly hassled by a local bird guide who wanted me to hire him. Tried him on a couple of tricky NW Indian species Red-headed Bunting & Mottled Wood Owl on the vague hope there might be one on the reserve. But with a no on these species, I declined hiring him as a guide, despite his pointing out he had a telescope. Given the time I had just spent in Gujarat & Rajasthan, I didn't think I needed anybody to point out the waterbirds & besides I also had my own telescope. There was a potential tick for me at Bharatput, Brooks's Warbler, which is a subtle Phyllos Warbler, but I knew where to look for that. I also didn't think he would know where it was or how to identify it. I wanted to give myself more photography opportunities & also declined the rickshaw drivers offers. I'll leave the photos to give you an overview of the birding & photographic potential for the site.
Indian Cormorant
Oriental Darter
Grey Heron
Intermediate Egret: This is the nominate intermedia subspecies. Separated from Great White Egret by the shorter, thicker bill, gape line to mid eye (not the rear of the eye, more rounded head & black legs & feet). Great White Egrets also have a distinctively kinked neck (a Great White Egret photo is in the A Weak Excuse To Get Back To An Old Stomping Ground post)
Night Heron: This is the nominate nycticorax subspecies which occurs throughout the species Old World range
Night Heron
Painted Stork: Adult
Painted Stork: Juveniles waiting for food
Painted Stork: Juvenile
Asian Openbill
Bar-headed Goose
Cotton Pgymy-goose
Gadwall: Male
Indian Spot-billed Duck: Those bill markings are excellent
Egyptian Vulture: A high adult bird with its diagnostic black & white wing pattern & diamond shaped tail
Marsh Harrier: Subadult. This is the nominate aeruginosus subspecies which is the same one I see locally in Dorset
White-breasted Waterhen: This is the phoenicurus subspecies which occurs throughout the Indian Subcontinent, except for the Andamans & Nicobars where it is replaced by insularis & midnicobarica on the central Nicobars
Purple Swamphen: This is the poliocephalus subspecies
Moorhen: This is the nominate chloropus subspecies which also occurs in Dorset
Coot: This is the nominate atra subspecies which also occurs in Dorset
Laughing Dove: This is also known as Palm Dove
Yellow-legged Green Pigeon: Showing the distinctive yellow feet
Smyrna Kingfisher: This is the nominate smyrnensis subspecies which as far West as Israel. It is replaced in Southern India & Sri Lanka by the fusca subspecies & the Andamans by the saturatior subspecies
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Jungle Babbler: This species has several subspecies within India. This is the sindiana subspecies which was also seen in Gujarat. Earlier in the trip, the Jungle Babblers around Clacutta were the striata subspecies
Jungle Crow: This is the culminatus subspecies (also known as Indian Jungle Crow) which ranges through most of lowland India & Sri Lanka. Earlier in the trip, I saw the levaillantii subspecies (sometimes split off as Eastern Jungle Crow) on the Andamans
Nilgai: Male checking out a small temple. Males are bluish-grey & have small horns
Nilgai: Females & immatures are this tawny brown & do not have horns
Nilgai: They are well suited for feeding in wet areas with their large size & long legs
Chital Deer: Male
Chital Deer: A tamer female
Rhesus Macaque: This species is replaced in Southern India by Bonnet Macaques