7 Nov 21 - Two Down, Two To Go

In a previous Blog Post, I belatedly reported on the twitch for the Coverack Rufous Bushchat on the Lizard on 23 Aug 21. This was one of four UK Ticks that turned up in 2020 which I didn't go for: as I couldn't justify it with the ongoing problems with C19. I was pleased to have another chance the following year with another Rufous Bushchat. There were still three other big twitches that I turned down in 2020: the Tiree Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1st UK record), the Yell Tennessee Warbler (6th UK record) and the County Durham Taiga Flycatcher (4th UK record). The first two were the most problematic for me, as they involved travel to more remote locations, especially the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

By the start of Nov 20, we were entering the second national lockdown. But there were already some local restrictions in place in parts of the UK to reduce C19 risks when these twitches occurred. Not that any of this worried the twitchers who went for these birds or the rising C19 levels as the UK went into the late Autumn of 2020. A handful of the most hardcore twitchers had broken multiple lockdown rules to twitch the Irish Cabot Tern & having broken those lockdown rules, hadn't self isolated long enough & were freely mixing with some of the twitchers when the Yelkouan Shearwaters turned up off Portland.

By Autumn 21, most of the UK population had been double vaccinated, ignoring the covid deniers. I was still very cautious of indoor mixing and I was wearing masks at all times when indoors. But I was more confident of outdoor mixing, albeit I was still socially distancing more than most. My interest was piqued when I saw that another Taiga Flycatcher had been found at the Foghorn Station at Flamborough in the early afternoon of 16 Oct 21. I decided to wait & see if it was seen the following day: but it wasn't. That saved me a long drive to Yorkshire. On 4 Nov 21, a Taiga Flycatcher was found in the wood at South Landing: presumably the same individual. It was seen over the next two days and when it was still there on the morning of Sunday 7th, I finally convinced myself to face the long drive to Flamborough.

I arrived at the South Landing car park in the mid-afternoon and quickly received an update from Birders in the car park that the Taiga Flycatcher was on view and there was also a Red-flanked Bluetail on the same path. I walked into the wood and quickly found a small group of people. This was for the Red-flanked Bluetail. I saw it quickly & left immediately, as I was aware that the Taiga Flycatcher was only showing on & off. I was starting to worry that if the sun started to drop on the wood, the insect movements would quieten down & the Taiga Flycatcher might disappear for the day. I didn't fancy the night sleeping in the car & having to ring work to say I needed a day of emergency unpaid leave. I carried on & was soon in the area of the Taiga Flycatcher. Fortunately, I saw it after a few minutes for a short view & some initial photos.

Taiga Flycatcher: They are a cold grey colouration without any of the warmth of Red-breasted Flycatchers

Taiga Flycatcher: They have an all dark bill, whereas Red-breasted Flycatchers will generally have a pale base to a dark bill

This was followed up about twenty minutes later with another longer duration of views, but it was a bit more obscured.

Taiga Flycatcher: Again there is none of the warmth of a Red-breasted Flycatcher

Taiga Flycatcher: The black extends onto the upper tail coverts and rump with a paler back. Red-breasted Flycatchers have pale backs with darker rump & uppertail coverts, which are not as black as the black on the tail

Another thirty minutes of waiting & it hadn't shown again and the wood was starting to cool down. I checked if the Red-flanked Bluetail was still on view, but it too had disappeared, so I didn't stay around. I still had a six hour drive to get home.

Taiga Flycatcher: The first UK record of Taiga Flycatcher was found at Flamborough: it stayed from 23-26 Apr 03. But it wasn't as well twitched as it should have been as Taiga Flycatcher was still regarded as the Eastern subspecies of Red-breasted Flycatcher in those days

I think it will be a lot harder to see another Yellow-bellied Flycatcher or Tennessee Warbler. However, I twitch Birds because I would like to see them in the UK & usually there is something to be learnt on the identification front. Also, as it is an occasional change from my local Birding, as I rarely go Birding outside of the ten miles from my home patch. I don't twitch because I feel I must keep up or ahead of other twitchers. Therefore, I won't lose any sleep, if I never get the chance to see either of these species in the UK.

21 Jan 14 - Goodbye Gujarat, Hello Rajasthan

A dawn start as we had a 490 km drive from CEDO to Mount Abu. We would also be crossing an Indian state line. Vehicle registration is often on a state by state basis & therefore vehicles travelling into a different state need to sort out extra paperwork & of course pay some money. Armed with all the papers, it wasn't more than a few minutes for Shiva to sort this out & to get the car legal for the rest of the month in Rajasthan. This is partially a road tax payment & was a relatively modest cost, but failure to sort this out, could lead to a bigger fine if you were checked by the police. The office was just a voluntary pull in at the state boundary & it wasn't that obvious, but Shiva was well aware he needed to sort this out. Armed with the extra papers we were quickly on our way. The roads for the journey were good most of the way, with fairly empty toll dual carriageways (often costing about 1 Rupee per km). Despite looking like empty motorways, there seemed to be nothing to stop who used them, so often local farm traffic appeared on them for local journeys.

Overladen tractor

Mount Abu is an interesting place in India as it's one of the most Northerly places for birds & mammals with a predominantly South Western distribution. It is also one of the best sites for the Indian endemic Green Avadavat. This is a really good looking uncommon Estrilid, which has a wide range (on paper) in Central India, but generally in areas that are off the beaten track for birders. Mount Abu is one of the few sites that can be fitted into a Gujarat/Rajasthan trip, albeit with a lot of driving.

Mount Abu: Looks interesting forest, but was fairly quiet for birds

Finally in mid afternoon after 6 hours of dull driving, we had reached the base of Mount Abu. The road winds steadily upwards onto a hillside of dry forest, which was a nice change after the agricultural fields & arid scrub of the plains. We tried a couple of short stops, but didn't see a lot of birds.

White-eyed Buzzard: Immature

Indian White-eye 

White-bellied Drongo

Southern Plains Grey Langur: This was the commonest wildlife on the road up Mount Abu

Southern Plains Grey Langur: Whilst looking cute & innocent, like all habituated Monkeys you need to keep an eye on them to avoid them getting into the car or trying to grab something

Shiva was concerned about the extra passengers 

Map of Mount Abu: A confusing maze of roads & not to scale. We wanted the Peace Park in the top right. Turns out the distance from the Peace Park to Trevor's Tank, the next point on the map, is further than the distance to our hotel in town (at the bottom right corner)

After finding a reasonably priced, but unremarkable, hotel we headed out for the last couple of hours of light. The main birding site is next to the Peace Park. We headed off in that direction, but stopped to bird around a scrubby & wooded hill side above a lake. I wasn't surprised, when we later visited the lake to find the edge covered in broken glass bottles. Gujarat is a largely Muslim & dry state. In comparison, alcohol is commonly available in Rajasthan & it seems that it is expected to throw the empty beer & whisky bottles so it smashes.

Ashy Prinia: Well marked adult

Ashy Prinia: Immature with well marked barring on the undertail tips

Tailorbird

Taiga Flycatcher: Male. Also known as Red-throated Flycatcher. This is a colder grey bird than a Red-breasted Flycatcher. Photos of an subadult male RBF can be found in an earlier blog (A Cracking Woodpecker at Jungle Hut)

Taiga Flycatcher: Male. The extent of the red seems to vary on Taiga Flycatchers & this is about the maximum seen. The red would extend further onto the breast if it was an RBF

Taiga Flycatcher: Male. The tail & upper tail coverts are blacker than on an RBF & again the colder grey upperparts are obvious

Taiga Flycatcher: Male. The all black bill is another good feature (it would be pale based on an RBF)

Indian Black-lored Tit: Also known as Indian Yellow Tit

Indian Black-lored Tit

Rufous Treepie

Yellow-throated Sparrow

Five-striped Palm Squirrel

In the late afternoon, we carried on along the road & found the Peace Park. There was a chance for a quick exploration of the small arable village behind the Peace Park which is one of the best areas to see the Green Avadavat, but no joy with the Green Avadavat.

The small village by the Peace Park

The small village: It's very traditional

The small village overlooked a set of small fields