29 Jan 14 - Searching For A Sparrow

The last day in India got off to a slow start. Woke early as I had an early taxi booked from the hotel near the airport to go to Sultanpur Bird Reserve, about 25 miles away. However, I wasn't feeling right after something I had eaten the previous night & ended up changing the taxi time by a couple of hours. Fortunately, the problem cleared up a bit & by 09:00 I was on my way. The main target was Sind Sparrows which look like a small House Sparrow & it's a fairly recent addition to the areas list, having arrived by following irrigation ditches from Pakistan. So this one time Pakistan goodie is now possible to see within an hours drive of Delhi. Not surprising, there was a lot of early morning haze & it never really cleared up, so perhaps partly pollution related given Delhi's proximity.

The lake was packed out with wildfowl as well as a few Nilgai, Water Buffalo & cattle 

The lake was even more impressive when viewed from the tower hide

Lunch was in the Rosy Pelican hotel next door: Shame the owners didn't bother to engage somebody who knew what they were doing, as half the big hotel signs had American species, instead of celebrating the local wildlife next door

Sultanpur is a much smaller reserve than Bharatpur & it would be possible to walk around its perimeter in a couple of hours at a slow birding pace, if it wasn't for the presence of a couple of high gates stopping you. It is a reasonable sized lake which has survived in a mass of cultivated fields & human habitation & judging by the numbers of birds, it must be the only decent sized lake for some distance. Initially, I walked clockwise around the lake, until I got stopped by the 4 metre high gate. In the trees around the lake edge, I had another Brooks's Warbler which was good to see. Unfortunately, the wet fields on this side were all dried out & planted with oil seed rape. This was where Bill had seen the Sind Sparrows on a previous visit & I assume their presence at Sultanpur is probably seasonal. Perhaps I should have tried contacting a local guide as he would probably have had other sites. Later I walked anticlockwise around the lake & found the other gate, but this time it was possible to just walk around the fence as the water level was so low. After walking around 3/4 of the lake, I reached the initial gate & rather than back track I ended up climbing over it.

Dabchick: Breeding plumage  

Dabchick: Non breeding plumage

Painted Stork: Bushes on islands in the lake provided safe nesting for Painted Storks & other tree nesting species

Black-necked Stork: There were a few nests amongst the larger numbers of Painted Storks

Grey-headed Swamphen

White-tailed Plover

Hoopoe: This is the orientalis subspecies which replaces the Southern ceylonensis subspecies that we saw in Western Ghats

 Red Avadavat: Male. Surprisingly these were the first Red Avadavats for the Indian trip

Red Avadavat: The females keep their dull plumage, unlike the males which moult into the bright plumage for the breeding season

Nilgai: Male

Nilgai: Females or immatures

Finally, it was time to head back into Delhi & start packing for the early am flight the next morning.

An Indian approach to traffic jams: This car wasn't changing lanes, it was just creating an extra lane to drive in

Just have to hope George Osborne doesn't see this: A 20 lane toll booth on our main road. The Tories could have a lot of fun with the UK motorways

The Indian solution to cross rail: Like a lot of big cities, the new tube & trains are going in above the main roads. How much cheaper would crossrail have been for Londoners?

18 Jan 14 - A Wild Goose Chase

The final morning at Desert Coursers saw us looking for the White-fronted & Lesser White-fronted Geese that were around. These are both scarce birds in India & the former was an Indian tick for Bill: he had already tried unsuccessfully to see them on his first afternoon. First stop was to look at a party of Yellow Wagtails with some dark headed males in with them.

Yellow Wagtail: This looks like the thunbergi subspecies with its blackish face patch, greyer crown, hint of a white supercilium & white throat (but not very white!)

Yellow Wagtail: Another thunbergi individual

Yellow Wagtail: I'm not going to try working out the subspecies on this bird, but a striking bird 

The good thing when we reached the lake was we had the light behind us & therefore there was less problem with washed out photos this morning. There was a good selection of waterbird species seen & birds were generally approachable.

The lake edge was packed with waterbirds

Greater Flamingo

Marsh Harrier: Female

Imperial Eagle

Imperial Eagle: After flying by, it landed & its size made the mobbing Marsh Harrier look very small

Imperial Eagle

Crane

Grey-headed Swamphen: This is the grey headed poliocephalus race

Wood Sandpiper

Great Black-headed Gull 

Rock Dove: This is the intermedia subspecies

On the first morning at the Little Rann, there was a flock of Martins over the lake. Most of the birds I looked at were Sand Martins which is shown in the Rasmussen guide as a Winter visitor to NE India with only isolated records in NW India & Pakistan. I tried to get some photos, but the birds quickly moved off. In fact, the only Martin species I photographed that day was a Grey-throated Martin which, by chance, flew in front of the camera whilst I was photographing a White Pelican. Fortunately, a party of about 8 Sand Martins reappeared over the lake this morning allowing some supporting photos to be taken.

Sand Martin: This species is apparently very rare in NW India

Sand Martin: The clearly demarked breast separating the white throat & breast is the main id feature

Sand Martin: Personally, I would rather have been getting photos like this of one of the Subcontinent resident Martins

Sand Martin: The species has a deeper forked tail than the other diffuse breasted cousins

Grey-throated Martin: This bird flew in front of the White Pelican on the 15th. Whilst not a great photo, it does show a diffused breast band

Grey-throated Martin: A very enlarged crop

While I was distracted with the Sand Martins, Bill had been quietly scanning the lake. Quitely, that was until he announced I've got the White-front Goose party. They were roosting with some Greylag Geese & some where asleep (although all did wake up at some stage whilst being watched). But in the end we confirmed there were 6 White-front Geese & 2 Lesser White-front Geese. Both of us were happy as the White-front Geese were Indian tick 1004 for Bill & I've not see a Lesser White-front Goose since the early 80s.

Part of the Goose party: I can also see Greylag Goose, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Black-winged Stilt, & Ruff as well as White-fronted Goose (right) & a White-fronted Goose sp. (left)

More of the Group: From the left, WFG, WF Goose sp, Lesser WFG, WFG (id confirmed in other photos), WFG & WF Goose sp

White-fronted Goose: These two look like immature birds as they don't have extensive white foreheads. Separated from Lesser WFs, but the lack of the golden eye ring

White-fronted Goose: An immature bird with virtually no white on the forehead. Separated from Lesser WFs, but the lack of the golden eye ring

Lesser White-fronted Goose: The golden eye ring is the best good feature

23 Dec 13 - Out For A Duck

After some lunch in the hotel it was time to head out again. This was going to be different birding as the main target was Andaman Duck. This is a small endemic Duck that likes pools around mangroves. The first stop were some pools a few miles outside of the capital with a selection of wetland species including Great White Egret, the tiny Cotton Pygmy-geese, Lesser Whistling-ducks, Grey-headed Swamphen & Moorhen.

Intermediate Egret: Note, the more rounded head, straighter neck, shorter, thicker bill & gape line not extending past the centre of the eye 

Great White Egret: Note, the kinked neck, longer bill & gape line extending to the rear of the eye

Lesser Whistling-duck: Looking very elegant as it came into land

Lesser Whistling-duck: The reason for the elegant landing becomes clear when you see how crowded the water it is trying to land in

Cotton Pygmy-goose: This cracking Duck is even smaller than a Teal

Grey-headed Swamphen: This is the poliocephalus subspecies

Moorhen: This is the widespread orientalis subspecies which occurs from Seychelles, the Malaysian Peninsula, Indonesia & the Philippines

Carrying on along the road, we came to one of several areas of new low lying pools created by the 2004 tsunami which flooded a lot of coastal land. This created a lot of new habitat for Herons, Waders & Andaman Teal. Talking to Vikram, despite the high impact of the flooding on these low lying areas, there was little loss of life in the Andamans, but there was a significantly higher loss of life in the neighbouring Nicobar islands.

Andaman Teal: This is a small nocturnal Duck which feeds in rice fields, but can be seen during the day. The bumps in the mud are because this was a coconut plantation before the tsunami

Andaman Teal: The adults have the most white in the face

Carrying on along the road finally brought us to the same forest patch we had been birding in during the morning, just in time for another spell of searching for Owls. First up was Walden's Scops Owl. In the past it has been generally treated as a subspecies of Oriental Scops Owl, but given its distinctive calls, it is probably best considered as a separate species from Oriental Scops Owl.

Oriental (Walden's) Scops Owl

Andaman Scops Owl: This small Scops Owl is much darker than Oriental (Walden's) Scops Owl

Andaman Scops Owl: I can only assume this odd posture was due to the Owl trying to shield its eyes. It did allow a nice view of the open wing