From spiderhunters@yahoo.com Fri Oct 22 10:12:43 2004
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 23:45:15 -0700
From: Vivek Tiwari 
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: Fwd: Jaisalmer Trip Report

--- Space Art  wrote:

> Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:44:33 +0530
> From: Space Art 
> To:  spiderhunters@yahoo.com
> Subject: Trip Report
>
> Hello Vivek,
> I am a member of the Delhibird egroup. I am
> forwarding a trip report to
> Jaisalmer in the beginning of september with
> Harkirat Singh Sangha. You
> can post it on nathistory if you think it is OK.
> The pictures for the trip are available at :
> http://www.desigm.biz/thar.html
> Thanks
> Gaurav Bhatnagar
>
> Tal-Chhapar, Jaisalmer and Desert National Park
>
> Hello all,
>
> Two of us had six days of intensive and very
> interesting birding in the
> western regions of Rajasthan. We birded mainly in
> the districts of Churu
> and Jaisalmer catching the birds in autumn passage.
> The trip included
> some very remote areas of western Rajasthan right up
> to the Pakistan
> Border. That^Òs probably as west as it gets in India.
> The highlights
> include Alpine Swifts, Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin,
> Spotted Flycatcher,
> Great Indian Bustard and Long-Billed and
> White-rumped Vultures. The trip
> included 17 species of raptors.
>
> Apart from the avifauna, some good mammals and
> reptiles were also
> sighted. In mammals - Desert Fox, Indian Fox,
> Chinkara, Long-eared
> Hedgehog and Desert Hare were seen; whereas in
> reptiles Spiny-Tailed
> Lizard, Indian Monitor Lizard, Desert Monitor Lizard
> and a Pakistan
> Ribbon Snake were seen.
>
> Detailed Report
>
> Day1 (5th Sept.)
>
> Jaipur to Tal-Chhapar WLS
>
> Day 1 Started on the NH 11 itself with good number
> of Baya weaver
> colonies on both sides of the road, mostly on Babul
> (Acacia nilotica)
> and Khejri (Prosopis cineraria). The nests were
> still green indicating
> the freshness of construction. Sometimes 18-20 nests
> were observed on
> one single tree. The more common species were also
> observed during the
> journey: Green Bee-eaters, Black-shouldered Kites,
> White-throated
> Kingfisher, Golden Oriole, Black-rumped Flameback,
> Southern Grey-Shrike,
> Bay-Backed Shrike and Red-rumped Swallows. All were
> briefly viewed from
> the Gypsy. The first of the Rosy Starlings were
> observed on the road to
> Salasar feeding on the fruiting 'kair' (Capparis
> decidua). It was on the
> road to Sujangarh, 10km before Nechwa, that a group
> of 30 swifts caught
> our attention. The swifts had apparently white
> underparts and seemed
> bigger in size than the common house swifts. On
> closer observation with
> binoculars, a white belly and chin and a conspicuous
> dark on the breast
> was seen. The swifts were identified as Alpine
> Swifts. They were flying
> in groups sallying at a height of about 15-60 ft
> above the ground
> catching flying insects. We watched them for about
> 10 minutes. The first
> of the Rufous-tailed Larks were seen 20 km before
> Sujangarh besides the
> road.
>
> The evening at Tal-Chhapar was exciting with a
> flypast of 23 Demoiselle
> cranes just as we entered the gates- the first ones
> to arrive. 4
> Eurasian Thick-Knees and 3 black ibis were also seen
> in the grass which
> was still green and 3 inches to 2 feet in height. A
> Eurasian Wryneck was
> also viewed briefly in an acacia tree. Rosy
> Starlings were seen in
> excellent numbers (groups of 100-200 at a time) as
> were the blue cheeked
> bee-eaters filling the sanctuary with their sweet
> 'trilling' calls.
> Among larks, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Larks,
> Rufous-tailed larks were seen
> intermittently while Greater Short-toed larks were
> present in large
> numbers. Raptors included Common Kestrels, 1 Laggar
> falcon, Montagu^Òs
> Harrier, and an unusually large congregation of
> White-eyed Buzzards.
> They were seen mostly perched on the ground and were
> running in the
> grass, flushing out insects and feeding on them. One
> solitary Eurasian
> Marsh harrier was also seen. There was absolutely no
> sign of vultures
> anywhere. Mr. Brijdan Charan, forest guard at TCWLS
> said that he had
> observed Indian Coursers also but they were not seen
> that day. Chestnut
> bellied Sandgrouse were also seen in small groups of
> 6-8. There was no
> sign of European Rollers; only an occasional Indian
> Roller was seen,
> mostly amongst flocks of Rosy Starlings. A
> Rufous-tailed Shrike was
> photographed perched on acacia trees.
>
> Day 2 (6th Sept.)
>
> Tal-Chhapar WLS to Jaisalmer via Bikaner
>
> Day 2 was spent mostly on road, stopping at places
> that showed promise
> for birding. 10 km from TCWLS at Padihara, the first
> sighting of the day
> was a very interesting flock of 16 Indian coursers
> on a green grassy
> patch. One young bird was also observed and gave
> obliging views to the
> camera. Little Ringed-Plovers were also seen with
> the flock. An Indian
> monitor Lizard was sighted close to Bikaner. The
> rest of the journey was
> uneventful except for some occasional Egyptian
> Vultures and 5 Red-headed
> Vultures which were recorded near Ramdevra. Two of
> them were sitting on
> a telegraph pole while the others were soaring. A
> White-eyed Buzzard was
> also seen on a tree 30m from the road. A Tawny Eagle
> was perched near a
> small leak of water near Pokhran and a Steppe eagle
> on an electric pole
> near the same area. We checked out a small water
> body 30Km before
> Pokhran which revealed Little-ringed Plovers,
> Black-winged stilts, River
> Terns and an injured Indian Courser sitting close to
> the water. After
> that the harsh climate deterred any birding activity
> in the afternoon,
> however Rufous-tailed larks were plenty and about.
> They were perched on
> the road as if waiting for the vehicles to come and
> flying off just in
> the nick of time. About 70-80 of them were seen from
> Bikaner to
> Jaisalmer. We reached Jaisalmer at 5:00 PM famished
> after a terribly hot
> day on the road.
>
> Day 3 (7th Sept.)
>
> Jaisalmer ^Ö Ramgarh ^Ö Tanot ^Ö Shakti ^Ö Tanot ^Ö
> Longewala ^Ö Ramgarh -
> Jaisalmer circuit
>
> Day 3 started at 8 Am as we started from Jaisalmer
> towards Ramgarh. The
> landscape had totally changed with the only
> vegetation being grasses and
> desert plants interspersed with very scarce trees
> here and there where a
> natural stream was. The vegetation included mainly
> ^ÓSewan^Ô (Lassiurus
> sindicus), ^ÓBui^Ô (Aerva tomentora), ^ÓKair^Ô (Capparis
> decidua) and
> ^ÓKheep^Ô (Leptadenia pyrotechnica).
>
> A lot of area here has been totally destroyed by
> limestone mining which
> is supposed to very high-grade smelting quality.
> There were no birds
> wherever mining was going on. Traffic has also
> increased by trucks
> taking limestone. At some places digging has been
> done to about 30^Ò ^Ö
> 60^Ò. The excavated earth of the large area has been
> kept around in
> mounds and disturbs the landscape even more.
>
> Plenty of Rufous-tailed larks and Short-toed larks
> were observed along
> with some Black-Crowned Sparrow larks and a single
> Desert Lark walking
> right in the middle of the road. A Short-toed Snake
> Eagle was seen
> soaring near Baramsar. 5 Egyptian Vultures were
> observed at Mokal. Rosy
> Starlings were seen in plenty with at least 15-20 in
> every 'capparis'
> bush. They were the most common birds seen
> throughout. Variable and
> Isabelline Wheatears were seen on both sides of the
> road. A flock of 15
> Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse was seen drinking water
> from a small
> artificial water hole.
>
> The Indira Gandhi canal comes till Ramgarh to supply
> for the LPG
> electric power plant situated there. It was full
> with water and
> surprisingly a common Kingfisher was sighted close
> to the water.
> Red-rumped Swallows, Plain martins, Little Grebe,
> green bee-eaters were
> seen near the canal. The canal is certainly bringing
> birds that earlier
> did not belong to this area. In fact trees have
> sprung up on both sides
> of the canal and have become very dense. A similar
> small and dense
> acacia scrub just after Ramgarh looked very
> interesting. We left the
> gypsy and explored the area on foot. Some years back
> some 20 Eurasian
> Nightjars were observed roosting in the same
> plantation. A flycatcher
> immediately caught our attention fluttering in the
> bushes, with streaked
> breast markings and streaking on the head, the
> flycatcher was identified
> as a spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). A good
> photograph however
> could not be taken then.
>
> As the day progressed the birds were few, except at
> small water bodies
> which also served as good photographing spots. 2
> Yellow Wagtails,
> Greater Short-toed Larks, Black-crowned Sparrow
> larks, House Sparrows
> were all seen at a similar water body. Common Ravens
> were fewer and only
> 2 individuals were observed. European Rollers were
> now seen regularly in
> loose groups of 2-4.
>
> Tanot, famous for its battle in the war in 1965 was
> the last civilian
> post. After Tanot the area was totally under control
> of the BSF. Tanot
> to Shakti Border out post (BOP) and back was
> interesting with the
> sighting of a Chinkara (Gazella gazella) and a lone
> Desert fox (Vulpes
> vulpes pusilla), also known as the White-footed Fox,
> with its
> distinguishing white tail tip. Birds of interest
> were
> Chestnut-shouldered Petronia, and a European Roller
> perched on one of
> the watch tower of the Shakti BOP. We were pleased
> to meet DIG Rajeev
> Dasot of the BSF, who is a keen birder himself. He
> is instrumental in
> making ^ÓPakshi Vihaars^Ô or Bird Homes in each BOP,
> which provide
> shelter, shade and food to the birds in the area.
> The Jawans themselves
> have built small huts for the birds with ^ÓKheep^Ô.
> Along with nesting
> House Sparrows, which were present in good numbers,
> a Variable Wheatear,
> and a Rufous-tailed Shrike was also seen enjoying
> the shade. However,
> very surprisingly, despite the human activity no
> house crow was seen.
>
> The conditions became extreme in the afternoon with
> 42 degrees
> centigrade and extremely strong and hot westerly
> winds. Any shade had
> become premium and hence all were occupied. Feeling
> the heat ourselves
> on way to Longewala, we took refuge under an old and
> magnificent Khejri
> tree where a common Hoopoe shared the shade with us.
> It was probably one
> of the migratory ones. A village pond in the same
> spot attracted Desert
> Larks, Rufous-tailed Larks, Singing Bushlark, Yellow
> Wagtails, Common
> Raven and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. Shortly
> afterwards an Egyptian
> Vulture was photographed perched on an electric
> pole. On close
> observation, the Vulture had a yellow bill which was
> distinctly black at
> the tip and the yellow head showed more wrinkles
> than usual. It was
> identified as the sub-species Neophron percnopterus
> percnopterus
> (Linnaeus). (Ref: ^ÓRaptors of the World^Ô by James
> Ferguson-Lees and
> David Christie). Compared to the resident Indian
> species, Its
> distribution is more widespread which extends from
> Europe and Africa and
> comes as east as NW India. The resident Indian
> species being N.p
> ginginianus, which was photographed 10 minutes later
> on the same road.
>
> Other than that no significant sightings were done.
> The landscape was
> terrific with fantastic dunes and their rippling
> patterns all around.
> There were no trees to be seen for long distances.
> It was about 4:30 PM,
> some 10Km after Longewala post, that bird activity
> started for us again
> with a Short-toed Snake Eagle, seen perched on a
> small hillock.
> Subsequently 4 more individuals were seen on the
> same road in a span of
> about 20 minutes. A pair of Laggar falcons were seen
> perched on an
> electric pole and gave excellent views posing with a
> dead Desert
> Gerbille (meriones hurrianae) in its talons. A lot
> of Dung Beetles were
> also seen carrying dung balls to their nest. A water
> channel on way to
> Ramgarh had a Eurasian Marsh Harrier and several
> Green Bee-eaters. At a
> lot of places these small sub-canal branches of the
> Indira Gandhi Canal
> have failed since they get filled up with sand. We
> approached a small
> village on the dunes and a Common Raven was seen
> perched on an electric
> pole. It gave very good close-ups to the camera. 10
> Km before Ramgarh,
> almost at sunset, in a cultivated area, 1
> Long-billed Vulture and 3
> White-rumped vultures were found.
>
> Day 4 (8th Sept.)
>
> Fossil park and DNP (Jaisalmer - Khuri - Sudasri ^Ö
> Sam ^Ö Jaisalmer)
>
> Day 4 started with the visit to the fossil park 17
> Km from Jaisalmer on
> Barmer road. The highlights were a pair of Bonelli's
> Eagle, small groups
> of Chestnut-Bellied Sandgrouse, Indian Silverbills,
> Desert Larks, and
> Rufous-tailed Larks. Apart from this a Desert Hare
> (Lepus nigricollis
> dayanus), and a Spiny-Tailed lizard (Uromastix
> hardwickii) was also seen.
>
> Permission to enter the Desert National park is to
> be taken from the
> forest department in Jaisalmer. We were informed
> there that the staff
> had rescued an injured bird from a nearby road.
> Looking at the bird and
> after going through the books the bird was
> recognised as a juvenile
> Little Bittern much to the dismay of the forest
> staff who were sure it
> was a baby bustard.
>
> We started off for DNP at 2:00 taking the road to
> Khuri with excellent
> desert vegetation on both sides mainly ^ÑAak^Ò
> (Calotropis procera),
> Calotropis gigantea along with a lot of Cacti. A
> dead Long-eared
> Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) on the road and
> shortly afterwards a
> Monitor lizard was also seen.
>
> We stopped to explore a small seasonal pond of water
> some 10 Km before
> Khuri. Some years back a Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robin
> was seen here. To our
> great surprise the bird was there fidgeting around
> the acacia trees near
> the road. With a white supercillium and a black
> eye-stripe it was
> fanning its Rufous tail quite like the fantail. The
> rufous tail had
> white trailings and black sub-trailings. The
> beautiful bird was
> documented photographically. Other birds on the same
> track were a young
> Laggar Falcon and a pair of Egyptian Vultures. A
> Desert Wheatear was
> also seen near to the road.
>
> We turned right from Khuri towards Sudasri and after
> five minutes or so;
> two Chinkaras were seen sitting in the shade of a
> bush. Soon afterwards,
> an Indian Fox (Vulpes bengalensis) was seen to the
> right, diagnostic
> with its black tail tip. A Steppe Eagle was seen
> perched on a small dune
> which eventually flew away as we approached. After
> another 10 minutes
> two female Great Indian Bustards were seen on a
> small water leak near
> the road. A Eurasian Collared Dove and a juvenile
> Egyptian Vulture were
> also present at the same place. Shortly afterwards a
> male bustard was
> also sighted. The sun was getting low and we wanted
> to get to Sudasri
> before nightfall; so we headed on.
>
> Sudasri is a small hutment of the forest department
> where we reached at
> dusk when all birding activity had stalled. However
> some of the reptiles
> were out in the open. A small (about 3 feet) dirty
> yellow, slender and
> striped snake with a very thin and long tail was
> seen at the entrance.
> It was moving very fast on the ground. The snake was
> identified later as
> a Pakistan Ribbon Snake (psammophis leithii).
>
> After a refreshing cup of tea, we headed back to
> Jaisalmer via Sam. It
> was after nightfall and nothing much could actually
> be seen except a
> fantastic population of Desert Gerbilles along with
> other rodents which
> were seen on the road in the headlights.
>
> Day 5 (9th Sept.)
>
> Jaisalmer to Tal-Chhapar WLS
>
> Departure from Jaisalmer was early as we wanted an
> evening walk at
> Tal-Chhapar. The journey back was quite straight
> except for a few
> stoppages. Four dead Desert foxes were seen on the
> road back which was
> very disturbing and felt like a mass suicide by the
> beautiful animal. We
> stopped for a short while at a small water body near
> the road and saw
> Whiskered Terns, River Terns, Little grebe and a
> single Common snipe.
>
> 4 Black Ibis were seen 5 Km before Ratangarh in a
> small puddle of water
> besides the highway.
>
> We touched base at Tal-Chhapar around 4 in the
> evening and had a
> pleasant evening in the sanctuary. Sightings were
> mostly the same except
> that there were fewer White-eyed Buzzards than seen
> three days back.
> Instead there were plenty of Montagu's Harriers who
> were congregating in
> a group on the grassland, probably roosting together
> on the ground. A
> common Stonechat was seen on an acacia tree in the
> grass. The dinner at
> the FRH was followed by interesting conversations
> underneath a
> spectacular star studded milky way with Scorpius
> shining in the south. 3
> playful Spotted Owlets feasting on the moths gave us
> company.
>
> Day 6 (10th Sept)
>
> Tal-Chhapar WLS to Jaipur
>
> In the morning the visit was very short and sweet
> but extremely
> productive with the second sighting of the Spotted
> Flycatcher of the
> trip. This time however we managed to photograph the
> bird well. The
> flycatcher was feeding on ground insects by
> frequently flying to the
> ground, grabbing its prey with quick fluttering and
> then flying back to
> the trees. It would never perch higher than 6 feet
> above the ground. We
> watched the bird for 20 minutes or so.
>
> A good group of Indian coursers was also seen this
> time. In a Small
> water body Kentish Plovers, Common Greenshank and a
> Blyth's Reed Warbler
> were seen. Apart from this 2 Wooly-necked Storks and
> a single Pallid
> Harrier were also recorded in the grassland.
>
> We returned to Jaipur after this excellent trip with
> 110 species which
> included some rare sightings.
>
> A complete list of species is given below for
> reference.
>
> Gaurav Bhatnagar
>
> Harkirat Singh Sangha
>
> 1. Little Grebe
>
> 2. Little Cormorant
>
> 3. Little Egret
>
> 4. Cattle Egret
>
> 5. Pond Heron
>
> 6. Little Bittern
>
> 7. Wooly-Necked Stork
>
> 8. Black Ibis
>
> 9. Black Kite
>
> 10. Black shouldered Kite
>
> 11. White-eyed Buzzard
>
> 12. Bonelli's Eagle
>
> 13. Tawny Eagle
>
> 14. Steppe Eagle
>
> 15. Red Headed Vulture
>
> 16. Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus
> percnopterus)
>
> 17. Egyptian Vulture (N.p ginginianus)
>
> 18. Long-billed Vulture
>
> 19. White Rumped Vulture
>
> 20. Pallid Harrier
>
> 21. Montagu's Harrier
>
> 22. Eurasian Marsh Harrier
>
> 23. Short-Toed Snake Eagle
>
> 24. Laggar Falcon
>
> 25. Common Kestrel
>
> 26. Grey Francolin
>
> 27. Indian Peafowl
>
> 28. Demoiselle Crane
>
> 29. Great Indian Bustard
>
> 30. Indian Courser
>
> 31. Eurasian Thick-knee
>
> 32. Little-ringed Plover
>
> 33. Kentish Plover
>
> 34. Red-wattled Lapwing
>
> 35. Common Snipe
>
> 36. Common Sandpiper
>
> 37. Common Greenshank
>
> 38. River Tern
>
> 39. Whiskered Tern
>
> 40. Chestnut-Bellied Sandsrouse
>
> 41. Red-collared Dove
>
> 42. Eurasian-collared Dove
>
> 43. Laughing Dove
>
> 44. Rock Pigeon
>
> 45. Rose-Ringed Parakeet
>
> 46. Asian Koel
>
> 47. Greater Coucal
>
> 48. Spotted Owlet
>
> 49. House Swift
>
> 50. Alpine Swift
>
> 51. European Roller
>
> 52. Indian Roller
>
> 53. Common Kingfisher
>
> 54. White-Breasted kingfisher
>
> 55. Green Bee-eater
>
> 56. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
>
> 57. Common Hoopoe
>
> 58. Coppersmith Barbet
>
> 59. Black-rumped Flameback
>
> 60. Yellow-crowned Woodpecker
>
> 61. Eurasian Wryneck
>
> 62. Golden Oriole
>
> 63. Singing Bushlark
>
> 64. Rufous-tailed Lark
>
> 65. Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark
>
> 66. Black-crowned Sparrow Lark
>
> 67. Desert Lark
>
> 68. Crested Lark
>
> 69. Greater Short-toed lark
>
> 70. Plain Martin
>
> 71. Dusky-crag martin
>
> 72. Red-rumped Swallow
>
> 73. Black Drongo
>
> 74. Southern-grey Shrike
>
> 75. Bay-backed Shrike
>
> 76. Rufous-tailed Shrike
>
> 77. Common Woodshrike
>
> 78. Brahminy Starling
>
> 79. Asian Pied Starling
>
> 80. Rosy Starling
>
> 81. Common Myna
>
> 82. Bank Myna
>
> 83. Rufous Treepie
>
> 84. House Crow
>
> 85. Common Raven (Corax corax subcorax)
>
> 86. White-eared Bulbul
>
> 87. Red-vented Bulbul
>
> 88. Common Babbler
>
> 89. Jungle Babbler
>
> 90. Large grey Babbler
>
> 91. Spotted Flycatcher
>
> 92. Ashy Prinia
>
> 93. Blyth^Òs Reed Warbler
>
> 94. Lesser Whitethroat
>
> 95. Common tailorbird
>
> 96. Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin
>
> 97. Indian Robin
>
> 98. Oriental-Magpie Robin
>
> 99. Brown Rockchat
>
> 100. Isabelline Wheatear
>
> 101. Desert Wheatear
>
> 102. Variable Wheatear
>
> 103. Tawny Pipit
>
> 104. Long-billed Pipit
>
> 105. Yellow Wagtail
>
> 106. Purple Sunbird
>
> 107. Indian Silverbill
>
> 108. House Sparrow
>
> 109. Chestnut-Shouldered Petronia
>
> 110. Baya Weaver
>
>
>
>
>
>




_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com