Birders in Delhi-NCR made a number of uncommon sightings on Sunday, persevering with a development of vagrant species being noticed within the area. Among the many rarest guests noticed have been the Baikal teal (Sibirionetta formosa) and the falcated duck (Mareca falcata), each noticed at Sultanpur on Sunday.
Baikal teal (Photograph: Ashray Kamath)
The Baikal teal has been sighted after greater than a decade within the area—the final sighting got here in 2013 at Sultanpur.
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The falcated duck was sighted final yr in Surajpur, however birders say there have solely been a handful of sightings over the previous decade.
“The Baikal teal has a record from 2013 at Sultanpur and before that, around 2011 at Okhla. It is extremely rare. We had reports of the falcated duck being sighted on December 12 too and before that, a record exists from Surajpur last year. There have only been a handful of sightings of both these birds in the last decade across NCR,” stated birder Pankaj Gupta.
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Different uncommon sightings, made a number of instances this week, together with on Sunday, have been the common-ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) and the little gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus), which have been each noticed at Chandu Budhera.
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Gupta stated younger birder Ashray Kamath first noticed the Baikal teal, at round 1.30pm and the falcated duck by one other younger birder, Spandan Yadav, inside an hour, round 2.30pm. “These are both birds that breed towards Mongolia, China, Japan and South Korea, coming in the post-breeding or winter season towards eastern India. Thus, them venturing to northwest India, particularly Delhi-NCR is fairly rare,” Gupta stated.
The Baikal teal stands out as a result of its inexperienced nape and yellow and black auricular areas, neck, and throat. It has a darkish crown, and its breast is mild brown with darkish spots. The falcated duck is, in the meantime, distinguished by a white throat, and a darkish inexperienced collar and bronzed crown.
The little gull, the smallest gull species, has been sighted a number of instances since being sighted on December 6 at Chandu Budhera. Nonetheless, earlier than this yr, it was beforehand noticed on the Okhla fowl sanctuary in 2014, and 1992 earlier than that. It’s a shore fowl that tends emigrate alongside the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea, making its foray into NCR uncommon.