Kandahar Airbase in South Afghanistan does not obviously qualify as an Important Birding Area. The military part of the airfield, which is currently in use as the headquarters of ISAF Regional Command South, was built in the 1950’s and has witnessed the vicissitudes of the long years of war and destruction. Birds not only have to compete with an ever-growing population (more than 11.000 people are living on the Airbase) but accept these days the non-stop noise of fighterjets, helicopters as well as a shooting range.
But, as is well known, not all birds are immediately scared away by such challenges. The airbase is quite large, moreover, and includes large open fields, two major ponds ( a smaller one to the north and a larger one south) and a marshy drain stream flowing from what is locally called the ‘shitpit’. Another area around the civilian part of the airport has some groups of trees and bushes (mainly tamarisk, some pine and eucalyptus) which attract different birds.
The landscape around has a rather steppe character, mixed with small-scale agriculture, although mountains are not far. A few rivers run close by and contain water even in Autumn. The ‘red desert’ can be seen in the distance and the Pakistan (Baluchistan) border is only about 50 km away.
Nearly half a year was spent at the base, only interrupted by holidays, from early november 2006 to late april 2007. I was able, though irregularly, to escape from work and search for birds with a Svarowski 10x32 binocular and Svarovski 20-60x S telescope, and note them in a logbook. For several obvious reasons I could not do the birding as systematic as I would have liked, lack of time being one of them. I used however to get up early and go to any of the more likely birding area’s; sometimes I would come back during lunch or early evening. Some area’s were out of bounds because of old Russian minefields still present within the fence, while the guards would occasionally get uneasy when discovering me with a telescope. Apart from birds, I occasionally would get mammals in view, and in particular the Indian wolf (!), the jungle cat, porcupines (the latter two would often get caught in the cages of the pest control team) and hares.
Although while flying to different bases in helicopters many waders and raptors were spotted in the distance, they were often difficult to identify. At Lake Kajaki, for instance, I saw a group of black storks and 2 osprey’s in February. There is however no doubt that south Afghanistan, with a surprising amount of water in winter and different biotopes, theoretically would offer some excellent birding spots.
What struck me while watching was the predominance of the Western-Palearctic varieties, for some birds (such as the calandula lark) reaching the South-Eastern fringe of its territory. Typical Himalayan varieties, which occur more in the North, are mostly absent. With some exceptions this made identification relatively easy. On the other hand, I found the absence of crows and martins and low occurrence of wheatears surprising. I could not always pin down flying birds, such as falcons, and only included in my list birds which I positively identified.
As reference guides the ‘Collins Birds of Europe’ (Dutch version), Porter’s ‘Birds of the Middle East’ as well as ‘Birds of the Indian subcontinent’ (Grimmett, Inskipp and Grimmett) were used.
The order of the enumeration and the taxonomy is mainly based on Collins.
h.g.scheltema
Black-necked grebe Podiceps nigricollis: 1 in pond end March - through April
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo: one at pond late March, 2 April 19
Night Heron Nycticorax nicticorax: noticed mid-March. A group, once up to 40, roosting in trees in March - April, once at pool at midday
Cattle egret Bulbucus ibis: 1 on April 8 resting at pond
Little egret Egretta garzetta: occasionally seen at pond early-mid April (once 4)
Purple heron Ardea purpurea: flying over early morning April 21
Gadwall Anas strepera: up to 7 during two weeks in December in drain stream
Shoveler Anas clypeata: up to 4 occasionally late March at pond
Wigeon Mareca penelope: one male seen in pond 23 March
Teal Anas crecca: 12 one day in March
Pochard Aythya ferina: 2 male, 1 juv. 1 female 22-23 March at small pond
Red-crested pochard Netta rufina: 1 female November 28 at small pond
Steppe eagle Aquila nipalensis: at least one flying south of Kandahar in January
Marsh harrier Circus aeruginosis: 1 hovering over the reedbeds mid March, again mid April
Black-winged kite Elanus caeruleus: 1 mid March, again early April flying and on fence
Hen harrier Circus cyaneus: 1 mid March hovering over field
Long-legged buzzard Buteo rufinus: a few times seen flying in winter, possibly steppebuzzards
Steppe buzzard Buteo buteo: from time to time in winter, ssp. Vulpinus
Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus: a couple roosted in trees throughout
Shikra Accipiter badius: first positively identified only on April 14, but probably seen more often
Common kestrel Falco tinnunculus: from time to time flying over field
Lesser kestrel Falco Naumanni: once over field in March
Black francolin Francolinus francolinus: a couple spotted from January onwards, several males sometimes heard, also at midday
Coot fulica atra: 1 in pond on April 9
Black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus: from mid March continuously up to sometimes several hundreds late March and April at both ponds
Collared pratincole Glareola pratincola: one at big pond April 20
Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius: from mid March onwards, several regularly late March and April at small pond
Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus: one in field and at pond occasionally end March- mid April
Red-wattled lapwing Vanellus indicus: up to 4-6 from late February onwards into late April; breeding?
White-tailed lapwing Vanellus leucurus: one-two from mid March, small flock end of March, gone early April
Dunlin Calidris alpina: a few late november and a flock seen late January from a helicopter
Little stint Calidris minuta: 6 once early April
Temminck's stint Calidris temminckii: 5 once early April at small pond
Wood sandpiper Tringa glareola: one or two occasionally end March and in April
Green sandpiper Tringa ochropus: a few stayed in November-December, returned to stay from February onwards
Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos: occasionally 1-2 late March-early April at pond
Greenshank Tringa nebularia: occasionally one in April at pond
Marsh sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis: one or two late March- April occasionally at pond
Common redshank Tringa totanus: two at pond December 12
Jack snipe Lymnocryptes minimus: two one evening mid March at pond
Ruff Philomachus pugnax: several end March-beginning April
Black-headed gull Larus ridibundus: one in December, several in March-April
Slender-billed gull Larus genei: up to 25 occasionally from mid March and in April at big pond
Gull-billed tern Gelochelidon nilotica: occasional small groups late March-early April at big pond
Common tern Sterna hirundo: 6 on April 19 at big pond
Rock dove Columba livia: several from time to time
Collared dove Streptopelia decaocto: appearing in April, becoming frequent in camp
Laughing dove Streptopelia senegalensis: a few, one breeding in March,growing numbers in April
Eagle owl Bubo bubo nicolskii: one on a pole at 18.30 in camp mid January!
Barn owl Tyto alba: one in camp once late November
White-rumped swift Apus melba: several late March and in April
Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis: one at West end stream on April 19
Blue-cheeked bee-eater Merops persicus or superciliosus: 3 on wire April 23
European roller Coracias garullus: one in tree on April 13
Hoppoo Upupa epos: in February-April, up to 6 at a time
Wryneck Jynx torquilla: one in field near stream early morning April 20-21
Small skylark Alauda gulgula: one in field in March
Crested lark Galerida cristata: abundant throughout
Short-toe lark Calandrella brachydactyla: passing flocks mid March
Calandula lark Melanocorypha calandra: one mid March (most South-Eastern occurence?)
Barn swallow Hirundo rustica: several throughout in camp
Long-billed pipit Anthus similis: two in field in March, supercilium sandy-yellowish, possibly Tawny
Water pipit Anthus spinoletta: in November-December at pond
White wagtail Motacilla alba: abundant throughout, in evening sometimes more than 100
Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava: ssp. Feldegg and Flava, few in December,end of March in greater numbers, once in April
Citrine wagtail Motacilla citreola: ssp. Citreola and Calcarata, once in December and February, end of March-April several
Black-throated accentor Prunella atrogularis: once early morning November 11 near drain stream and reedbeds
Bluethroat Luscinia svecica: in November and late March-April several, ssp. Svecica at reedbeds
Black redstart Phoenicurus ochruros: a few times in February and March
Northern wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe: in field in early March
Isabelline wheatear Oenanthe isabellina: a few times in the field in March
Eastern pied wheatear Oenanthe picata: mid March in camp
Stonechat Saxicola torquata: once in November, back in late March-April more frequent. Ssp. Maura
Pied bushchat Saxicola caprata: from mid March onwards frequent in fields
Black-throated thrush Turdus ruficollis: in December- February, max. 8 at a time; until mid-March
Orphean warbler Sylvia hortensis: occasionally late March-April in tamarisk
Lesser whitethroat Sylvia curruca: from mid March in tamarisk, many late March-April
Desert warbler Sylvia nana: occasionally mid December
Graceful prinia Prinia gracilis: in reedbeds, throughout. call typical. Lacking black/white end of tail?
Moustached warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon: low in reed at drain early April
Blyth's reed warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum: occasionally in tamarisk end of March and in April
Paddyfield warbler Acrocephalus agricola: occasionally in April in reed and tamarisk
European reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus: in tamarisk in April. Recognized on song
Clamorous reed warbler Acrochephalus stentoreus: positively identified in April in reed;also tamarisk but sometimes possibly European reed warbler
Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita: occasionally in tamarisk and reed in November and again February-April
Mountain chiffchaff Phylloscopus sindianus: in tamarisk in March-April
Dusky warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus: in tamarisk? April song not heard
Green warbler Phylloscopus nitidus: in tamarisk late March-April
Red-throated flycatcher Ficedula parva: as of mid March, late March- early April frequent gone mid April
Great grey shrike Lanius excubitor pallidirostris: occasionally in November-December
Long-tailed shrike Lanius schach: one on April 14 in tree, again April 20
Isabelline shrike Lanius isabellinus: ssp. Phoenicoides, Speculigerus and Chinese, from mid-February, invasion mid-March, in April only exceptionally
Bay-backed shrike Lanius vittatus: one early April
Common babbler Turdoides caudatus: common throughout (not seen in January) up to 8 at a time, mainly in reed/field
Magpie pica pica: one seen in Zabul, east of Kandahar in February
Common mynah Acridotheres tristis: abundant throughout camp
Starling Sturnus vulgaris: very large flocks in winterevenings in reed
Rose-coloured starling Sturnus roseus: 20 and more seen from mid April onwards, big flocks late April
Common sparrow Passer montanus: in april often mixed with Spanish sparrows in large flocks, mainly reedbeds in evening, April predominant and breeding
Spanish sparrow Passer hispaniolensis: large flocks in November-December and February-March, mixed with house sparrows, mainly reed
Tree sparrow Passer montanus: a small group in camp throughout
Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs: flocks late January to mid February
Brambling Fringilla montifringilla: small flocks passing early to mid February
Common rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus: one in reed evening of April 10
Desert finch Rhodospiza obsoleta: noticed in December, large flocks early February, less in March, few left in April
Red-headed bunting Emberiza bruniceps: one in reed evening of April 10 and morning of April 16
Reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus: three in reed through the winter, last seen in February