Today was mostly spent travelling from the Desert National Park to the small village of Siyana to the southeast, where the climate allows for a little more vegetation and we had a few more species to target. This journey consumed almost all of the day, but there were a few birds enroute such as a group of three Indian Thick-Knee sheltering under a bush, as well as commoner species.
Once we arrived at
our lodging in Siyana late afternoon we met Dax, the lodge owner and local
guide who would take us out birding during our time here. He offered for us to
try to find a couple of targets that evening, but since they were both dusk
birds we had a bit of time to chill so birded the gardens. There were a few
nice birds such as a smart male Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Yellow-eyed
Babbler.
Our first stop with
Dax was a rocky outcrop to the southwest of the village where he knew of a pair
of Rock Eagle Owl. The drive over was also quite productive since we also
picked up a group of three Grey-necked Bunting feeding on the side of the road,
which were new for me. In the end we had to wait only around 10 minutes for the
Owl to fly in and perch up in full view, although a little distant! An
excellent start to our birding here.
As darkness fell we
visited a small watering hole where Dax told us that Painted Sandgrouse come to
drink on an evening. Again we only had a short 10 minute wait, during which
time we had the pleasure of watching Wild Boar drinking, and then a pair of
Painted Sandgrouse dropped in. The female was closer, but the male was easily
the more striking bird, even in the low light conditions. They didn’t stick
long before the headed off, after which only one more individual came down to
drink. Rounding off an excellent late afternoons birding!
Siyana Camp: Indian Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Painted Sandgrouse, Greater Coucal, Asian Koel, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen, Black-winged Stilt, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Painted Stork, Black-headed Ibis, Black-crowned Night Heron, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Black-winged Kite, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Indian Eagle-Owl, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Long-tailed Shrike, House Crow, Greater Short-toed Lark, Common Tailorbird, Red-vented Bulbul, White-eared Bulbul, Hume's Leaf Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, Common Myna, Indian Robin, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Tawny Pipit, Grey-necked Bunting,
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