Species: Black-faced Warbler
Date: 09 March 2013
Location: Mussoorie (~1800m), Uttarakhand, India
Remarks: Almost five in the evening and the typical bright Garhwali sunshine is still making every effort to hold his ground while the mountain, called the Everest Hill, standing on the west end of Mussoorie, is slowly sabotaging his every move. The gold infused sunshine falls delicately on crisp, old leaves of a muscular Ban-Oak tree (Quercus leucotrichophora) (Hindi: Banj), while I observe a nearby party of warblers and tits in the broad-leaved mixed forest. Around three bold Green-backed Tits with their screechy calls, a couple each of Lemon-rumped and Grey-hooded Warblers midair, a handful of upside down hung Black-throated Tits and soon enough three birds stand out in the flock, conspicuously bright yellow. The sunshine manages to sieve through the broad oak leaves and falls on the Black-faced Warbler, perched next to an Oak leaf nearly as tall as him, highlighting his red iris and the strength of his masked yellow face. Their sweet trilling calls are extremely pleasing to the ears unlike both the tits which happen to be present here. Obviously, comparing a call of a tit with a warbler is nothing but an apple to orange comparison, however I am only laying a point of reference and emphasizing on the calls of the birds present here in the mixed flock. Add a bit of sweet symphony to the Black-throated Tit's call and there you hear the Black-faced Warblers calling. A somewhat rare sight in these hills, they ought to be around but are not easily found. A recent trip, and a first (of the many to come!) to the Eastern Himalayas - primarily on Indian soil between the eastern border of Nepal and western border of Bhutan - had me gaping. The Black-faced Warblers are locally common in that area around the same altitude. That is what Eastern Himalaya does to you, it has you gaping dewy eyed very often albeit mumbling at the same time under your breath every now and then, saying "That's not fair!" with every next new bird species you see, along with a hint of an unpleasant irony; and you most definitely will see new bird species - on every next Oak tree, the next bunch of bamboo thickets, the next Rhododendron tree, or even the moss covered stumps of Daphne shrubs which may have an occasional Rufous-winged Fulvetta clinging to the bark. That's really not fair, right?
However it is easier, when a birder accepts that when the Himalayas were made, much prejudice lay on the Eastern end and the sheer opulence in the variety of avifauna present here, the land of the rising (residing) birds. A native lowlander from the north-west would empathize. However all prejudices come with a price. The post afternoon mist engulfed Eastern Himalayas defies one of the basic laws of physics, where sound travels faster than light and the results can be ghastly – a birder can even become incapable of telling a Black-faced Warbler from a Yellow-throated Fulvetta or even a Golden Babbler! (I like being rhetoric at times) assuming when the birds happen to give their silent treatment in the afternoons perhaps they simply call it a day by late afternoon itself! Thank goodness the birds refrain from such despicable ways in the mornings and sing to their hearts delight even before the dawn breaks.
Anyway back to the relatively Black-faced Warbler deprived Western Himalayas; three birds were seen on 09th March where as five birds on 10th March around the same Oak trees, same time in the evening, in a similar composition of mixed flock of warblers and tits. This is the nominate race which has a distinct yellow on the breast and flanks where as these areas are white in the Eastern Himalayan race.
Regards
Puja Sharma
New Delhi
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