Left at 5.30am and caught the ferry again, seeing Edible-nest Swiftlet, before heading to Mount Harriet in search of
the missing endemics but to no avail. In fact the forest was quiet with just a
few Large Cuckooshrikes, Black-naped Orioles, although nice looks at Andaman Treepie were much appreciated.
So we drove to a different area, stopping along the way to scope the endemic davisoni local race of Crested Serpent-Eagle sat in a tree out
in the rice fields. And then we spent the rest of the morning walking our socks
off trying to find some feeding flocks but we were just plain out of luck, and
frustratingly found several Crested
Serpent-Eagles and not the endemic variety we wanted, along with numerous Changeable Hawk-Eagles and a White-bellied Woodswallow.
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| Andaman Teal |
Driving back to Port Blair we stopped at a large
pool and marshy area to scope a flock of Andaman Teal and found the area to be alive with
birds. In pretty quick time we scored Grey-headed
Swamphen, several Long-toed Stints,
Marsh Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover, Slaty-breasted Rail, Black and Yellow Bitterns, Intermediate
and Great Egrets, Watercock, Dusky, Black-browed and Oriental Reed Warblers - the latter two species you just would not find on the Indian mainland. A very brief Lanceolated Warbler, calling Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and Ruddy-breasted Crake necessitate a
return visit first thing tomorrow.
Anyway we reached the hotel just after 3pm
for a very late lunch and shortly after headed straight out for one last try of
the nightjar. Along the way, and I still cant believe it, we finally found our Andaman
Serpent-Eagle perched right over the road in Chiriyatapu Forest – a
place we’ve visited numerous times already!
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| Andaman Serpent-Eagle |
Anyway, the nightjar didn’t show but did call at
5.30pm for a few minutes before going quiet as it has done the past 3 nights.
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