ML40792181

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

A flock seen first - 12 Small short tailed birds flying in made me think of Tree Pipits at first, they appeared very rufous (not pale brown) and AM commented so. Then they flew above us, circled back a little ahead of us and then flew above us again to go settle in the direction they came from - these views helped us notice the lack of streaking on the breast. We went to where they landed and tried to get a view of the birds, which I was now thinking were Short-toed larks. Obvious short conical bill, short tail and horizontal stance confirmed it and I saw a number of individuals feeding amongst the stubble of the harvested paddy. Got great views as they foraged very slowly with one individual in particular quite close - I could take an image with my phone and binocs. The darker tones to the plumage were very apparent in comparison to the birds I saw in Kachch earlier in the year. They flew together and landed a little further away. Flight calls were a short liquid, but hard "chrip-chrip". - RS From Paul Donald: "Dear Ramit Many thanks for this. I have seen a few pictures of dukhunensis but no real “zingers”! I’d love to hear any notes you might have on this rare and poorly known species (which I know as Rufous Short-toed Lark). Very best wishes Paul"

Technical information

Model

Moto G (4)

ISO

125

Focal length

3.6 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.0

Shutter speed

1/33 sec

Dimensions

1460 pixels x 817 pixels

Original file size

284.28 KB