We spent the first part of the morning north of Port Blair in the Shole Bay area where we successfully found 8 Andaman Teal. Next we walked the road through the Ferrargung Forest Reserve and then onto a forest trail where the highlight was finding an Andaman Cuckoo-Dove. We caught the ferry back to Port Blair and returned south to Chidiya Tapu successfully hearing a Andaman Scops Owl at extremely close range that started calling just as torrential rain started. We stood in the darkness for an hour, saved by our umbrellas, but then failed to find the Owl in a brief respite in the rain, so we called it a night.
Little Grebe 1
Pacific Reef-Heron 2
Little Egret 2
Great Egret 6
Eastern Cattle Egret 10
Purple Heron 2
Indian Pond Heron 1
Striated Heron 1
Yellow Bittern 1
Lesser Whistling-Duck 20
ANDAMAN TEAL 8
Changeable Hawk-Eagle 3
White-bellied Sea-Eagle 3
Watercock 1
Grey-headed Purple Swamphen 10
Moorhen 10
Pheasant-tailed Jacana 2
Whimbrel 12
Wood Sandpiper 1
Marsh Sandpiper 1
Common Redshank 1
Long-toed Stint 5
Red Collared Dove 6
ANDAMAN CUCKOO-DOVE 1
Alexandrine Parakeet 6
Indian Cuckoo h
Andaman Brown Coucal 4
ANDAMAN SCOPS OWL h
Edible (White)-nest Swiftlet 20
Plume-toed (White-bellied) Swiftlet 2
'Pacific' Swift 1
Brown-throated Needletail 1
Stork-billed Kingfisher 1
White-throated Kingfisher 6
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 2
Barn Swallow 6
Large Cuckooshrike 1
Scarlet Minivet 2
Red-whiskered Bulbul 2
Andaman Bulbul 1
Brown Shrike 3
Black-naped Blue Monarch 2
Oriental Great Reed Warbler 1
Greenish Warbler h
Olive-backed Sunbird 1
House Sparrow 2
Black-naped Oriole 2
Asian Glossy Starling 2
Common Myna 10
Common Hill-Myna 6
House Crow 2
Eastern Jungle Crow 2
Shole Bay
White-throated Kingfisher at Shole Bay
Lesser Whistling-Duck near Shole Bay
Andaman Teal and Whimbrel near Shole Bay
Described by Hume in 1873 Birdlife International consider this species has a small population which may number fewer than 1,000 mature individuals but is not thought to be declining. It has therefore been classified as Vulnerable, but better data may lead to an upward revision of the population estimate that may result in its downlisting in future.
Illustration of Andaman Teal by Keulemans appearing in The Indian Ducks and their Allies (1908)
Described by Hume in 1873 Birdlife International consider this species has a small population which may number fewer than 1,000 mature individuals but is not thought to be declining. It has therefore been classified as Vulnerable, but better data may lead to an upward revision of the population estimate that may result in its downlisting in future.
Illustration of Andaman Teal by Keulemans appearing in The Indian Ducks and their Allies (1908)
'Pacific' Swift near Shole Bay
Rasmussen doesn't include any records of 'Pacific' Swift for the Andamans so with more than one of the newly-recognised species considered a likely vagrant it would seem impossible to know which species is involved? It appeared very large and had an incredibly slow languid flight, so rightly or wrongly, it didn't remind me of pacificus.
Andaman Cuckoo-Dove at Ferrargung Forest Reserve
Male Large Cuckooshrike at Ferrargung Forest Reserve
Swallowtails at Ferrargung Forest Reserve
Birdwing at Ferrargung Forest Reserve
traditional Sentinelese homestead north of Ferrargung Forest Reserve
ferry back to Port Blair
ferry ride back to Port Blair
Pacific Reef-Herons from the ferry to Port Blair
