Sarus Cranes of Swan Nadi Wetland

Dear Parbhat,

Swaan Nadi forms the border between Punjab & Himachal.

The Punjab part of this wetland is totally destroyed. The land has been filled in and taken under agriculture & construction. The Himachal area is also under threat now in a big way with a couple of factories coming up. The wetlands are also being drained for agriculture. ( With land prices soaring it is very tempting for the land mafia to fill in the wetlands and sell the land at great profits).

We need to document this destruction & put up a report to Chief Wildlife Warden -Himachal & also follow up with DFO Hamirpur. When you come to Chandigarh next we can work out a action plan.

A word of caution- please maintain a low profile when you go to that area for documentation as the stakes are very high.

Regards- Navjit

_________________

I often go to Swan Nadi area for birds photography. The area is 60 kilometre long and situated between,Distt.Una,Himachal Pardesh from ,Distt.Ropar Punjab. This Swan Nadi area is the heaven for water birds . It was very rich habitat of the tallest flying bird in the world Sarus Crane, besides storks and ibises.

Local people say there were 100’s Sarus Crane about 20 year ago. Now the habitat of Sarus is destroyed by local people and H.P Govt. Large part of habitat comes under Swan canalization, remaining is being destroyed for industrialization and reclamation for farming. I saw 18 Sarus Crane in 2004, in2005 14 Sarus, in 2006 there were 11, in 2007only 9 Sarus were seen. And now only 4 pair remain. During the past 5 year, population has not increased .They are staying on small ponds.

We should do joint efforts to save Swan Nadi wetland area and to protect Sarus Crane habitat.

Parbhat Bhatti

9417370440

Caspian Plover from Tal Chhapar, Rajasthan

Gaurav Bhatnagar has posted three photographs of Caspial Plover, seen at Tal Chhapar, Rajasthan first by Mr Surat Singh Poonia a few days before, and then by Gaurav Bhatnagar and Harkirat Singh Sangha on 25 August 09.

While this is, according to Harkirat Sangha, the first ever record from Rajasthan, it may be mentioned that there are a few sightings of the plover from the country.

Congratulations to Poonia , Gaurav and Sangha.

(all the three photographs by Gaurav Bhatnagar)

Parbhat Bhatti has just posted a few photographs of White-rumped Vultures and Himalayan Griffon at birds-chandigarh google group. In his own words :

"I took these photograph of White-rumped Vultures and Himalayan Griffons from Jammu region, village : Dayal Chak on 12th August 2009. There were 11 White-rummped Vultures and 4 Himalayan Griffons feeding on the caracas. A villager, named Mohamed told me that this was the 'hadda rori' site and dead animals were dumped there by villagers, as such vultures offen landed there to eat the dead animals."

Please also see www.nangalwetland.site40.net

Trip Report of Tal Chhapar, Rajasthan (8-9 August 09)

(Photographs and text by Manjula Mathur)

I arrived in Jaipur at 1:00 PM on 8^th August. Within an hour, I was on my way to Tal Chhapar, famous sanctuary for Blackbucks and a great place for viewing raptors. I was to reach T.C. on 9^th morning, but on the insistence of Shri Surat Singh Poonia, Range Forest Officer, decided to try my luck on 8^th evening itself. The exciting report of Delhi birder Koshy ji and the excellent photographs of Anand Arya being the catalysts.

On arrival at TC, found Shri Poonia waiting for me. Without further ado, we proceeded to the sanctuary and immediately encountered a group of Blue-cheeked Bee-Eaters who are summer visitors to Northern India. Their dark green plumage, green-blue ear-coverts and rufous throats gave them quite a jaunty look !

Within 100 metres of Shri Poonia’s office, we started seeing the White-Eyed Buzzards which had gathered in large numbers in Tal Chhapar prior to migration. On the ground and on tops of Khejri trees that dot the TC grasslands. In a matter of few minutes, we saw atleast fifty ! All the birds were juveniles, with pale heads, dark streaking on rufous breasts and dark iris. During my stay at Tal Chhapar, I did not see a single adult which was somewhat disappointing. Later we saw a pair of Lagger Falcons, both juvenile. Encouraged by the sighting of the Laggars, we drove past an area of salt mounds and scrubby vegetation where a pair of Isabelline Wheatears and a Southern Gray Shrike were birds of interest. Further on, a lone Desert fox and a family of Indian foxes were notable ‘finds’. As the light was failing, we returned to Base.

Next morning, I left for the sanctuary at 6:30 AM, in the company of Shri Sohan Lal, Forest guide as Shri Poonia had to leave Tal Chappar on some urgent work. A Laggar Falcon juvenile was making a meal of a hapless bird by the roadside. A juvenile Egyptian Vulture flew off near us and a few White-Eyed Buzzards were scattered over the grasslands. We passed the salt mounds and next to a Green Bee-Eater perched on the barbed wire was a bird with a red cocked tail ! I looked at it with binocs as it was quite far. It had a broad white supercilium and a prominent black eye-stripe. When we reached closer, the Bee-Eater remained on the barbed wire but the bird with the red tail disappeared into scrubby bushes. I waited for it to reappear much to Sohanlal’s dismay as he was eager to see Tawny Eagles, Laggar Falcons and here I was waiting for an ‘insignificant’ red-tailed bird to emerge from the bushes ! I told him that the bird could be a Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin but as he had not seen the bird in Tal Chhapar, he was not too impressed ! Finally we moved on, with the resolve to return the same way, hoping for another glimpse of the Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin which I had decided by this time that it was !! Much to Sohanlal’s relief we saw an adult Laggar on top of a tree. Perfect photo-op ! As our car inched closer, the Laggar had different ideas ! Later I did see a Laggar Falcon but alas ! the bird was a juvenile and it was sitting on the ground.

Four Chesnut-Bellied Sandgrouse sitting pretty on the sandy ground were the birds seen later along with many, many White-Eyed Buzzards. By now the sun was shining furiously from a relentless, blue sky and the Buzzards were busy making quick meals of Spiny Lizards who happened to venture out from their burrows.

It was time to turn back and we returned by way of the salt mounds. The bird with the red cocked tail was again perched on the barbed wire and this time I got a distant shot and lo and behold it turned out to be the Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin. Going through Grimmett, I learnt that the RTSR is passage migrant through North-West India which accounted for its presence in Tal Chhapar in August. Birding Report of Jaisalmer by Gaurav Bhatnagar mentioned sighting of this bird in September. Jugar Tiwari has also sighted the bird in Kutch in September. Pamela Rasmussen writes in the Ripley guide that the RTSR passes through North-West India in autumn and breeds in Pakistan and Afghanistan . The Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin which I saw was alone and had probably just arrived.

Rufous-Tailed Larks, Ashy crowned Sparrow Larks, Crested Larks, a Pipit which I thought was a Richard’s Pipit due to its longer hind claws, Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eaters, Southern Grey Shrikes and Isabelline Wheatears were the other occupants of the by now ‘famous’ barbed wire fence.

I had read about sighting of a Tawny Eagle in Tal Chhapar by Koshyji and I badly wanted to see one. Perseverance pays and near a water-body which had many Woolly-Necked storks was a magnificent adult Tawny in pale cream morph, sitting proudly on top of a tall tree.

After a delicious meal of parathas and curds in Shri Poonia’s house, I decided to try one last time for a photograph of the elusive RTST. It was almost noon and the sun was merciless. The desert landscape was lit up by a white, hot sheen. Poor rainfall this year has turned the grass a dull brown and the Blackbucks were seen sheltering under stunted trees. I crawled though the barbed wire fence (with help from the ever helpful Sohanlal) to reach the scrubby area where I could get brief glimpses of the Robin walking about hawking insects. We did manage to track it down as it gobbled up insects under the shade of a prickly shrub ! Took some photos and beat a hasty retreat into the shelter of the car and the AC !!

The Great Indian Bustards seen recently by Delhi birders were not to be seen. But sighting of the Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin and other great birds of Tal Chhapar made my day ! My sincere thanks to Shri Poonia and Sohanlal.

Images of the birds including Rufous-Tailed Scrub Robin are being uploaded separately.

BIRDS SEEN IN TAL CHAPPAR

1. Indian Roller

2. Eurasian Collared Dove

3. Red Collared Dove

4. Rosy Starlings

5. Common Mynah

6. Brahminy Starling

7. Common Babbler

8. Spotted Owlet

9. Brown Rock Chat

10. Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark

11. Rufous-tailed Lark

12. Crested Lark

13. Isabelline Wheatear

14. Southern Grey Shrike

15. Coppersmith Barbet

16. Chesnut-bellied Sandgrouse

17. Black Drongo

18. White-throated Kingfisher

19. White eyed Buzzard

20. Laggar Falcon

21. Egyptian Vulture

22. Tawny Eagle

23. Wooly-necked Stork

24. Richard’s Pipit?

25. Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

26. House Swift

27. Cattle Egret

28. Red-wattled Lapwing

29. Indian Pea-Fowl

30. Indian Crow

31. Green Bee-Eater

32. Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eater

33. Black Kite

34. Black Ibis

Manjula Mathur

Black drongos' beak-to-beak fight

Dear nature lovers,

I have read and heard of Black Drongos (Dicrurus macrocercus) having a
ferocious temper. Over the past couple of decades I have seen them
chasing off all kind of birds, once even a Brahminy Kite (Haliastur
indus) which is also known for its daring nature.

But in the last two months I have witnessed incidents of them being at
heights of pugnaciousness.

On 2 Aug '09, I sighted a pair guarding a small (apx. 20 feet tall)
dead acacia tree in Sultanpur Jheel National Park near Gurgaon,
Haryana. They were attacking all birds that dared to fly in the
vicinity. But I was taken aback when one of these pecked the crown of
a big peafowl that dared passed below their perch. The peafowl,
though, was unfazed and walked away at the same pace.

The other incident was a real shocker for me as I saw two of these
birds being very serious about their physical fight with each other.

On 25 June 2009, in Ranthambore National Park, on a game ride in a
Gypsy vehicle besides Raj Bagh Talao lake, I observed a pair of these
in a ferocious beak to beak bout. They were right in the middle of the
game road. For nearly 6 minutes we watched these two birds lock their
beaks, roll repeatedly side ways over the path and scream at the top
of their voice. Many safari vehicles had to take a detour off the game
road as these determined fighters refused to budge. This was a very
intense battle, the likes of which I have rarely witnessed in any two
birds of the same species. We had to leave the place as my co-tourists
were non-birders. But looking back at the intensity of this combat, I
some how feel this fight might have ended with one of them being
fatally wounded by the other. Please see the images of this incident
at http://tumkurameen.blogspot.com/2009/07/rolls-of-death.html

I would like to hear similar observations if any.

Best regards,
Ameen Ahmed
New Delhi/ Tumkur
INDIA

Yellow-rumped Honeyguide

Kakdagad (~1000m), near Keadrnath, Uttarakhand, India.

YS Negi and I, a month back on 4 Jul 09.

"It's 5 PM, time for the Honeyguide."

"How far is it?"

"Just 300 m away."

Construction of a bridge on the mouth of a narrow river (at best a

small tributary stream now, with scanty rains and all) which merges

with the main river Mandakini, was creating a commotion. However, 100

m on we lost sight of the workers as we walked along the abundant

boulders down below to our left with water flowing by. The rock

beehives were now visible on the other side of the river at the same

level, a steep hillside with a few intact and a few broken bee combs

abandoned by the wild bees.

Negi looked over the valley through his binoculars, "Can't see the

Honeyguide, let's wait for it."

"When were you here last?"

"Three days back; it's sure to come."

"There it is", he whispers in muted excitement, his enthusiasm as

fresh as someone on a lifer. We suddenly see a dark finch like bird

with a clear yellow rump circle the area and fly back towards the

cover of the jungle ahead.

"It will come back, it likes to wait in the nearby trees and then

finally goes to the hive."

An hour passes by and we see no sign of the Honeyguide. Nor of any

other bird, I think of the Cheer Pheasant, but on a local report,

higher elevations of Madmaheshwar may hold them. No sign of Kalij

either, which normally is barely happy far away from the din of

humans. Monal I knew I would find at Tunganath and one hardly expects

a Koklass at lower, shallower and disturbed forest.

"It's getting dark now and I am afraid, we might not get a shot." I

sounded meditative if not altogether dispirited.

"It's because of these noisy Ashy Drongos that our bird is not coming

near. I can also see a Blue Whistling Thrush nest just two meters from

the combs." He finds a reason.

Stealthy Blue Whistling Thrush, not a raptor, yet a slayer of young

birds, not sparing even a large juvenile Long-billed Thrush. Once,

however, on a quiet morning, after a stormy night, I saw it whistle by

the Nainital Lake. It continued for a long time with its sweet and

melodious whistle.

Just then, our Honeyguide flew in and perched right next to the

Drongos on the other side. A casual look would not have revealed the

bird now resting quietly in the dark woods, the likeness of the bird

being much like the stem of its choice. The compact flash cards of the

camera worked overtime to record clicks of the bird, which was nothing

more than a speck.

After a while, the Honeyguide rose and at the same time, by chance, a

pair of quarrelling Ashy Drongos created a commotion which made the

bird divert its flight to a tree just meters away from me. Now I could

see the ruffled bird in breezy surroundings and magnified proximity,

much more clearly. The dark bird in the green umbrella of the trees,

the creepers, the mossy sheaths on the tree trunks; magical moments

held forever.

The bird playing hide-and-seek behind the swaying leaves threw a lot

of challenge to my camera. Shoot as you will and be overwhelmed as

much, but the expectation of a better shot never goes away.

The impassive but alert Honeyguide, secure in the knowledge of

available food, soon flew to a bee nest attached to the mossy reddish

grey rocks and remained hidden from view. After ten minutes or so, it

flew back to the jungle.

It soon was dark and I walked back in an unusually warm evening in the

Himalayas.

---

Cheerio

Devashish Deb

New Delhi

Vulture Feeding Stations/Restaurants

(Photos by one of the best bird photographers of the country - Satyendra Sharma at http://satie.co.in/gallery/)

Informatative feed-back by Narbir Kahlon :

It is nice to have a discussion on Vulture Restaurants on the birds-chandigarh google group. I have garnered the following from the Internet for sharing with all interested in this subject.

FACTS

1. Vulture population in the Indian subcontinent of the Gyps indicus and Gyps bengalensis, gfyps tenuirostris was found to be declining in fact the vulture population in Nepal is estimated to have fallen to a mere 500 nesting pairs from at least 50,000 pairs in 1990.

2. In 2004 researchers working in Pakistan discovered that diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used in livestock, was poisoning and killing vultures (29 July 2006, BBC).

3. Nepal started producing a new cattle drug meloxicam, which is considered a safe alternative for anti-inflammatory diclofenac, and it is intended to halt a big decline in endangered vultures. (August 04 2006, iol).

4. The use of diclofenac is prohibited in Nepal and neighboring India, but the ban is widely ignored.

5. Out of them the Gyps bengalensis is a bird found as a non common resident species of Punjab both East and west Punjab(Pakistan)

6.a special feeding centre set up by the conservation group at Kawasoti, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the capital, Kathmandu, is trying to ensure vultures get a chance to eat chemical-free cattle carcasses. ( Feb 10, 2007 , Reuters)

7. A vulture restaurant was established at the Oriental White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis colony at Toawala, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, to test the effectiveness of the technique in modifying ranging behavior and mortality at the colony.

8.Six male vultures were fitted with satellite transmitters to describe variation in movement and home-range during periods when safe food was alternately available and withheld at the vulture restaurant. There was considerable variation in individual home-range size (minimum convex polygons, MCP, of 1,824 km2 to 68,930 km2), with birds occupying smaller home-ranges centered closer to the restaurant being more successful in locating the reliable source of food. Fixes showed that 3 of the tagged vultures fed at the vulture restaurant and the home-range of each bird declined following their initial visit, with a 23–59% reduction in MCP.

9.Effectiveness Of Restraunts was measured as indicated bellow:

Mean daily mortality during provisioning was 0.072 birds per day (8 birds in 111 days), compared with 0.387 birds per day (41 birds in 106 days) during non-provisioning control periods.

10. Vultures tended to occupy greater home-ranges, cover greater distances each day and spend proportionately more time in the air during the late brooding and post-breeding seasons. Attendance at the vulture restaurant also declined during this period with fewer birds visiting less often and no tagged vultures visiting the vulture restaurant at all.

CONCLUSION:

These findings indicate that vulture restaurants can reduce, but not eliminate, vulture mortality through diclofenac exposure and represent a valuable interim measure in slowing vulture population decline locally until diclofenac can be withdrawn from veterinary use.

To prevent extinction, captive breeding efforts have been initiated in India Nepal and Pakistan. This is not a new technique it has been successfuly adopted in reintroducing the Condors in America as well as raptor species like the Common buzzard in the U.K.

Here too there are problems:

1. Given the overall decline, it is not known to what extent levels of genetic diversity currently exist in the remaining populations.

2. A much larger captive population size is required than currently maintained to prevent further loss of genetic diversity. Before this species is extinct in the wild, it is crucial that additional individuals are included in the captive population.

3. Purchasing meat safe for vultures poses a problem. One has to be very careful to purchase meat that is safe to feed the birds. A veterinary doctor at the post gets the history of each animal before buying, to ascertain whether it has been vaccinated or not. They prefer to buy animals from the areas where farmers usually avoid vaccinating their cattle and goats and utilize traditional methods of treatment.

4. A large captive population is required as gestation period for attaining maturity and breeding status is very long. A single chick is normaly born so the process of creating a viable population is very slow.

Dr. Vibhu prakash who has been running the Program at Pinjore, has sucessfully bred the vultures in captivity. His dedication and knowledge on the subject is far beyond the comprehension of a birder like myself.

Last year the Pinjore Center had 8 eggs laid, a small but positive step in the right direction. Re-introduction and development of a seizeable self sustaining population with enough genetic diversity is yet a long way ahead we wish him all the best.

Haryana Govt along with BNHS at Pinjore is following a scientific approach through captive breeding. The Punjab Govt has also pitched in with a plan for establishing a Vulture Restaurant since there is a sizeable population still in existence there; these are all steps in the right direction and deserve every members support.

Vulture Restaurants slow the decline in Poppulation whereas Captive breeding with the intention to re-introduce a species helps to prevent Extinction.

Regards.

Narbir Kahlon