Birding on the way to Mubarak Village

Pakistan has been blessed with around a 1,000 kms of coastline providing a breeding ground for wildlife. As we traveled away from Hawke’s Bay (a beach frequently visited by general public) what we were about to see would change our perception of coastline of Karachi forever. Around two hours from the main city of Karachi, Mubarak village is the city’s second largest fisherman locality with clean blue sea and beautiful seashells lying along the shore. It is clean partly because it is not easily accessible to the general public.

As wildlife enthusiasts, the main purpose of our trip was birdwatching on our way to the village and we were not disappointed. The location proved to be very lucky for us as we got the first-ever record from Pakistan of an Oriental Dollarbird. On the way are huge mountains similar to that of the Kirthar range providing habitat to some of the larger birds of prey like Steppe Eagles, Cinereous Vultures, Eastern Imperial Eagles, Griffon Vultures, etc. You will also see a huge number of Indian Rollers and Shrikes on the way feasting on locusts and other insects.