Birding the Arabian Sea Coast, Greater & Little Ranns of Kutch - India Part 3

Rock Eagle-Owl

Our second day in the Greater Rann of Kutch began with a visit to the Naliya Grasslands, where we failed to find Indian Bustard, a species I saw in the country during a 1990 visit. There were good numbers of raptors about, including Tawny Eagle, while Bay-backed Shrike was among the interesting passerines in scattered shrubs.

Tawny Eagle

Bay-backed Shrike

We moved on to the coast at Mandvi, where the river estuary and roadside ponds were full of waterbirds. An abundance of waders include many Ruffs, including some in breeding plumage, and Common and Spotted Redshanks.

Ruff

Spotted Redshank

We found a flock of Demoiselle Cranes - a much desired species - in a field as we moved north along the coastal road.

Demoiselle Crane

Other waterbirds we saw included Painted Stork, large numbers of Black Ibis and Dalmation Pelicans at roost with more numerous Great White Pelicans.

Painted Stork

Black Ibis

Dalmatian Pelican

Moving to the coast at Modhba, we found two Crab Plovers, one a begging juvenile, on the broad sandy beach. There were also good numbers of Greater Flamingoes on the beach.

Crab Plover

Greater Flamingo

The next day, our third in the Greater Rann region, saw us returning to the Banni Grasslands. We encountered a group of Indian Coursers in a cultivated field, while other birds about the region included Indian Bushlark.

Indian Bushlark

Indian Courser

We moved on to an area of rocky ridges and dry watercourses where we connected with Grey-necked Bunting.

Grey-necked Bunting

Then it was on to a ravine where a Rock (Indian) Eagle-Owl was flushed (first image in this post) from its daytime roost, and Spotted Owlets were seen.

Spotted Owlet

After four days in the Greater Rann we transferred to the Rann Riders Lodge, our base for birding the Little Rann of Kutch. During our first day here in the arid grasslands we had good albeit distant views of several Macqueen's Bustards, while a Laggar Falcon was seen nicely.

Laggar Falcon

 During a visit to Nawa Taleo Lake, we saw large numbers of Lesser Flamingoes and a flock of several hundred Demoiselle Cranes.

Lesser Flamingo

Hundreds of wintering Greylag Geese were present on another wetland, Tundi, along with more Grey-necked Buntings, Black-headed Buntings and Indian Reed-Warbler.

Greylag Goose

Some of the more common birds around the lodge included the following.

Hoopoe

White-throated Kingfisher

After two days around the Little Rann, we transferred to the capital of Gujarat, Ahmedabad, seeing en route some Sarus Cranes, Asian Open-bill and about 20 White-rumped Vultures near the village of Dumana. As is well-documented, the position of all vulture species in India is precarious due to chemical poisoning and it was a surprise to learn of this population.

Shikra

Among raptors more generally, Shikra was probably the most numerous that we encountered in Gujarat.

Sarus Crane

White-rumped Vulture

Asian Open-bill

Birding the Greater Rann of Kutch - India Part 2

Common Crane

Our six-week sojourn to India and Sri Lanka began with a week in Gujarat province in north-west India. Here, the primary target was the Hypocolius, found easily and reported in the following post, Many other excellent birds are to be found in this vast expanse of arid grassland, ephemeral wetlands and thornbush scrub on the Pakistan border. Our trip was organised by Jugal Tiwari of the Centre of Deserts and Ocean (CEDO). Jugal runs an excellent homestay, our base for the trip.

Hypocolius

Rosy Starling

Our first morning saw us near the village of Fulay in an area of shrubby woodland. Apart from the Hypocolius we saw, nice birds included Sirkeer Malkoha, Bluethroat, Common Babbler, White-eared Bulbul and Rosy Starling.

Common Babbler

Sirkeer Malkoha

White-eared Bulbul

We moved on through the Banni Grasslands, where thousands of Common Cranes were feeeding in the dry terrain; Gujarat is a major wintering ground for this species. Larks were everywhere, with huge numbers of Greater Short-toed and smaller numbers of Crested and Rufous-tailed.

Rufous-tailed Lark

We arrived at a rocky outcrop for breakfast to be greeted by obliging Red-tailed (always a difficult target bird) and Variable Wheatears; we were fortunate to see all three races of Variable Wheater. Isabelline and Desert Wheatears were also common.

Variable Wheatear race opistholeuca

Red-tailed Wheatear

We moved on to an area of low bushes where we were pleased to find an Asian Desert Warbler and, better still, a male White-browed (Stoliczka's) Bushchat doing its pecular puffed chest display. The bushchat has a very restricted range in north-west India.

White-browed Bushchat

Asian Desert Warbler

After lunch, we visited an area of thornbush woodland at Phot Mebadeo, where we quickly got on to two regional specialties - Marshall's Iora and White-naped Tit. The tit is supposed to be difficult but we saw it repeatedly during our stay in the area.

Marshall's Iora

White-naped Tit

We moved to another site where we succeeded in seeing another regional specialty - Painted Sandgrouse. Chesnut-bellied Sandgrouse proved to be common in the region.

Painted Sandgrouse

Chesnut-bellied Sandgrouse

Next, we visited an area of rocky ridges near a village where Sykes's Lark, another regional specialty, showed nicely. Waders in small pools in the area included Pin-tailed Snipe.

Sykes's Lark

Pin-tailed Snipe

We visited the Chhari-Dhand Reserve later in the day. Quite a few raptors were spotted including Red-necked Falcon and Greater Spotted Eagle. One of the commonest birds was Green Bee-eater.

Green Bee-eater

Greater Spotted Eagle

The day ended with excellent views in the early evening of both Indian and Sykes's Nightjars.
All up, a superb day of birding and thanks to Jugal for his excellent organisational work.

Indian Nightjar

Sykes's Nightjar

Hypocolius in the Bag - India Part 1

Hypocolius - male

The Hypocoloius (or Grey Hypocolius) was one of just two bird families in the world that I had not seen, so off it was to the north-west Indian state of Gujarat with Tony Palliser and Bill Watson in search of the Holy Grail.

Jugal, Tony, Bill

After hooking up with Jugal Tiwari of the Centre for the Desert and Ocean, we found ourselves at sunrise on a crisp morning last week waiting in anticipation for the birds to appear near the village of Fulay in an area of arid scrubland.

Hypocolius female

After searching for about 40 minutes, a female Hypocolius showed up. A tiny population appears each winter at this site, where the birds feed on the tiny berries of the tree Salvadoria persica. Numbers have in recent years been in decline.

Hypocolius female

We eventually found a minimum of six birds, with both sexes showing well. They would flit about the tree-tops in search of berries but would frequently be out of sight.

Hypocolius male

Mission accomplished, and a fine bird it is. Which means that of the 240-odd bird families in the world, I have just one left to see.

Lockyer Valley Flush with Birds

Australian Painted-Snipe

The highlights of one-and-a-half days in the Lockyer-Brisbane Valleys with Chris Corben included Australian Painted-Snipe at two sites, Plum-headed Finch, Cotton Pygmy-Goose at four sites, Brown Songlark at three sites, Australasian Shoveler, plenty of Pink-eared Ducks, Hoary-headed Grebe, hundreds of Glossy Ibis, Australian (Spotted) Crake, Red-necked Avocet, Black Kite, Blue-billed Duck, Little Grassbird, Stubble Quail and Banded Lapwing. Conditions are ideal, in large part presumably because birds which bred prolifically inland during the past two bountiful seasons are now dispersing to coastal areas.

Glossy Ibis

Red-necked Avocets

Before meeting Chris, I found a pair of Cotton Pygmy-Geese on the lagoon at the junction of the D'Águilar Highway and Mary Smokes Road, and a second pair near the wall of Atkinsons Dam. After getting together, we walked around the western end of Seven Mile Lagoon. It was nice to see and hear several Brown Songlarks; we first had them at this site in the early-70s.

Australasian Shoveler

 We counted 45 Red-necked Avocets, 12 Hoary-headed Grebes and 10 Australasian Shovelers, while an estimated 400 Glossy Ibis was an extraordinary number for this species in south-east Queensland. Several Yellow-billed Spoonbills were also about.

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers

While Red-kneed Dotterels were plentiful elsewhere, none were seen at Seven Mile, where there were surprisingly few waders (avocets and stilts aside). This small flock of Sharpies were the only migratory waders.

Banded Lapwing

 About 30 Banded Lapwings were present in the paddocks near Seven Mile. We moved on to the small swamp opposite Lake Clarendon, where up to 7 Australian Painted-Snipe have been present. We found none and proceeded to Lake Galletly on the university campus near Gatton. The Australian (Spotted) Crake which has been here for some time showed well. A Little Grassbird was in vegetation close to the hide and a pair of Blue-billed Ducks was on the lake.

Brown Songlark

Plum-headed Finch

We spent the night in Gatton, arriving at Jahnke's Lagoon in the early morning. We saw some more Brown Songlarks near the lagoon and a Rufous Songlark across the road. A pair of Plum-headed Finches showed nicely near the spot where Tom and Marie Tarrant found them a few days ago, in long grass opposite the lagoon; I have had them at this site in years past. Plenty of Red-kneed Dotterels and Pink-eared Ducks were on the water. Quite a few Black Kites were also about, here and elsewhere in the region.

Pink-eared Ducks

Australian Hobby

We stopped again at the Painted-Snipe spot near Lake Clarendon and this time flushed a single bird. About 10 Great Crested Grebes were on Lake Clarendon - far fewer than during some recent visits. On a small dam along Green Swamp Road, we found a third pair of Cotton Pygmy-Geese, while an Australian Hobby was nice. At Kelly Swamp, about 20 Wandering Whistling-Ducks were present.

Australian Painted-Snipe

We returned to the Seven Mile Lagoon area and found a male Australian Painted-Snipe showing nicely on a small dam along Haslingden Road.  On the canal on the eastern side of Atkinsons Dam we found a fourth pair of Cotton Pygmy-Geese. After birding woodlands in the Coominya area, we moved on to some fields near Toogoolawah. Here, some more Brown Songlarks were seen and heard, and a Stubble Quail was calling. On the way home, I stopped at Ewen Maddock Dam and saw a Spotless Crake. Here are a few bits and pieces that I photographed as we moved about:

Nankeen Kestrel

Rainbow Bee-eater with bee

Jacky Winter

Superb Blue Fairy-wren

And an old mate, Chris Corben, at Seven Mile Lagoon

A Tale of Two Brushtails

Boebuck

The Boebuck (Short-eared Brushtail or Moutain Brushtail Possum) Trichosurus caninus, and the Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula, are closely related marsupials that do not usually occur together. Boebucks live in wet sclerophyll forest or rainforest while Common Brushtails prefer open eucalypt forest or woodland. Both species, however, reside in my Sunshine Coast garden at Ninderry.

Common Brushtail

The differences between the two species can be seen in the images above. Boebucks are darker and stockier. Their ears are shorter and more rounded.  Boebucks have a marked white line along the lip.
There is a mix of rainforest trees and eucalypts in the garden. Generally, Common Brushtails feed in the eucalypts, and Boebucks in the rainforest trees.

Boebuck

However, the two brushtail species have a common interest in the seed I put out in three feeders for native birds. Interestingly, the methods they employ to reach the seed are very different. A Common Brushtail positions itself on the tree trunk closest to a feeder and leaps across to it - a distance of less than 1 metre. Once in the feeder, the animal sits there quietly munching away until all the seed is disposed of. The evidence that a possum has raided the feeder is there in the morning in the distinctive lumps of masticated seed that they leave.

Boebuck

By contrast, a Boebuck moves along a branch above the feeder as close as it can get to the target. Then it wraps its prehensive tail around the branch and dangles upside down from the limb, as in the image above. With some difficulty, it swings its body until it grabs the edge of the feeder, thereby gaining access to the contents. Either way, the bird seed rarely survives an evening.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

In other mammal news, Eastern Grey Kangaroos are a frequent presence in the garden in the wake of the prolonged dry spell we are having. This female and her joey have taken to drinking from the bird bath - something I've not seen them doing previously.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo