Birding in Indus River, D.I.Khan
After short stay at Namal Lake we started our journey towards D.I.Khan. On my way towards D.I.Khan we crossed chashma barrage and I was very eager to do birding there but they did not allow us to do Photography, But at chashma barrage I was very happy to see a large number of migratory birds and hoped to find some new birds at my destination.
On my way towards D.I.Khan I also saw the Kafer kot (7th century CE) heritage site. Kafir Kot consists of the ruins of 5 temples, and the ruins of a large fort protecting the site.
Around 6 p.m we reached there. After meeting with our friends we started our journey again and crossed D.I.Khan. After some off-road drive we reached Indus River. From there we started sailing on boat and after an hour of boat journey in Indus River we reached our base camp. It was a full moon night and everything looked beautiful.
As I was very tired after a long drive so I tried to get some sleep. But I was very excited so did not sleep well and woke up early around 3 a.m. For photography it was not perfect light to shoot. I enjoyed the cool breeze and excellent weather on Indus River. It was a life time experience that I was on an island in Indus river full moon night.
Before sunrise migratory birds started to arrive. I was very excited to stand on migration root spot. When I got a little bit light I grabbed my camera with high ISO and started capturing the birds and I was very delighted when I started my day with spoonbill, never expected that lifer for me.
After sunrise I searched around and saw a lot of birds. As I never did birding in wetland so every bird was new for me but still I found some old friends like Wagtail, Kite, Crow, Pied Kingfisher, Swallow, Stilt, Lapwing, Egret, crested lark etc.
During this birding I captured a lot of new birds and many of them were lifer for me. When I was heading towards D.I.Khan I had done some home work but still had no high hopes. I thought that in this trip I might find some new species of ducks only. But I was very delighted to see some new species of sandpipers and plover for me.
After few hours of birding I headed towards hunting spot. After half hour of boating we reached there. They prepared a hide for my birding and I captured new birds and duck like Northern Pintail , Common Pochards, Northern Shoveler, River Tern, Dunlin, Osprey, Sand lark, Greater Short Toed Lark, Pratincole, Greater Coucal, Temminck's Stint and Great cormorant.
After a half day birding I realized that I had explored the place enough. I loved the place and felt that in next few months there would be a lot of birds there so I left the place and was determined to come again in season.
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ZAGHAM TRAVEL @lifeskills-tv
