Friday, July 17, 2009

Ladakh- Birdlife

Despite the barrenness of the land and the lack of diversity in the flora around here, the bird life is remarkably varied. It was a little frustrating on two counts; firstly I could hardly identify any of the birds and secondly I never got the opportunity to stay in one place long enough to watch or photograph the really reclusive ones. Here are the bolder ones that I caught.


Chukar: Ever notice how bollywood heroes continue to run in a straight line on the main road while being chased in a vehicle? The chukar, a kind of snowcock, exhibits exactly that kind of stupidity. This one kept running on the path and allowed me to chase it for over 200 mts. As stupid as they are endearing!


Black Redstart: This one's a real beauty and seemed more than pleased to be photographed.



The Yellowbeaked Choughs seem extremely comfortable in the company of humans. They are amazing in flight. Hate it when people call them crows.


There were too many warblers and wagtails even to keep count of. Inskipp was inconclusive about this one. It's beak is too unsparrow-like.


Inskipp tells me this is a Citrine Wagtail, but I'm not willing to bet my life on it.


This is a Blue Whistling Thrush or a Bluheaded Rock Thrush, depending on who you ask.


..and finally, at every camp, we found at least one boisterous Magpie couple.

Someday I wouldn't mind returning here just to spend a couple of days doing nothing but bird-watching.

3 comments:

VictorTango said...

sure..when? atleast there you will do real bird watching and not the symbolic type ;-)

Shreeni said...

I have been keeping this on my unread list for long enough and am glad I finally read it today. BTW, did you know the names of all the birds upfront or did you google (ahem bing) them all later?

Deepak said...

@ VictorTango: Let's plan it for 2012?

@ Shreeni: I used my Inskipp guide (http://press.princeton.edu/titles/6808.html)