Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis) - first plumage or juvenile bird The autumn migration study of the raptors in Thoolakharka Nepal has been completed from 8 Dec 2013 that was started from 15 September (total of 85 days). In total we have counted 35 species of migrating raptors ( 13,485 individuals) with highest number of 8684 Steppe Eagles. Other migrant raptor species were 11 species of Eagles, Five species of Vultures, Six species of Falcons, Three species of Buteos , Two species of Accipiters , Four species of Harriers, Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) , Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus), Black kite ( Milvus migrans) and Black-eared Kite (Milvus lineatus). Steppe Eagle migration was started from 7th October and continued till last of the season with highest number of 308 Steppe eagles per hour in 21 Nov and highest daily count of 1102  eagles on 20 Nov. In Thoolakharka watch site approximately 57% (4967) Steppe Eagles passing overhead were aged; among them we identifie...

Bearded Vulture ( Sub-adult) Last Year we stopped to counting by this date however this year it seems the migration will goes more days. In the last days we had continue migration of Steppe Eagles, Himalayan Vulture and Cinereous Vulture. It was expected to go down the number of migrating eagles with the changing of weather into more sunny however we are having around 200 eagles per day. The number of Himalayan Vulture migration is also still high today around 220 vultures. Due to the high intensity of sun the air is more dry and no cloud forming near to the Himalayas so the raptors are very close to the Himalayas and creating difficulties in observation. Due to the high intensity of sun the rocky slope of the Himalayas can create lot of thermal so the raptors prefer this route. most of the eagles are Adults and sub-adults in this time. Local Peregrine, Besra, Sparrowhawk, Bonelli's, Mountain Hawk-eagle and Black eagles area almost every day around us and make the day more exc...

Peregrine Falcon (Spp. peregrinator) In Nepal 20 and 21 Nov were two big days for Steppe Eagle migration and approximately 2150 eagles were passed on those two days. The weather is back to normal like last year i.e.   sunny in the morning and more cloudy in the afternoon. Previous observation says that if it is cloudy over the Himalayas the eagles pass more south however we didn’t find so because lot of eagles were passing inside the clouds during the peak days. We found little change in wind direction (let’s say by 10 0 ) could enough to shift the migration train i.e. if the wind is more north east the migration of eagles can observe overhead in Thoolakharka and little bit southeast wind can push the birds close to Himalayas. Now I am also observing less and less eagles near to the Himalayas this might be due to more saturated air close to the Himalayas by this time or might be any other weather cause like enough cold. Therefore most of the eagles come overhead to the ...