MISCELLANEOUSNOTES References Ali,S&S.DillonRipley(1980):HandbookoftheBirds Survey of some wetlands in southeast Asia. ofIndiaandPakistan.Vol.2.Oxford,NewDelhi. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 87: 354-363. Perennou, C. (1987): Two important wetlands near Subramanya, S. (1987): Occurrence ofthe Greyheaded Pondicherry.BlackbuckVol.3(3&4):3-11. Lapwing, Vanellus cinereus Blyth in Bangalore. Perennou,C&V.Santharam(1990):AnOrnithological J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 84: 205-26. 7. RECENT SIGHTINGS OF VANELLUS GREGARIUS(PALLAS) AT TALCHHAPARANDREVASA,RAJASTHAN Themigratorylapwing Vanellusgregarius concealed in the hoofprints ofan unidentified breeds semi-colonially, chiefly in transition mammal and were reluctant to move out in the zones between Stipa and Artemisia steppes, in inclement weather. Russia and Kazakhstan (Collar et al. 1994). It A flock of 11 birds were seen foraging at winters in Sudan, Eritrea, Israel, Arabian TalChhaparonFebruary 1, 1998.Unfortunately, Peninsula, Iraq, Pakistan and northwest India. some villagers disturbed the flock and it took Though it is described as regular and fairly off,utteringaweakcall,besttranscribedasreck- common in Pakistan andnorthwest India in the reck-reck. handbook(AliandRipley 1980), Roberts(1991) During these three sightings at Tal calls it rare in Pakistan. According to del Hoyo Chhapar, the ground was dry and hard with et al. (1996), it is vulnerable and numbers short grass that was almost dry. Other species wintering in the Indian subcontinent probably noticed in the area were the short-toed lark do not exceed 1000. Calandrella cinerea eastern calandra lark , The lack of recent authentic sightings Melanocorypha bimaculata, and tawny pipit indicates that it is rare in Rajasthan. Although Anthus campestris. it is not recorded in the vertebrate fauna of A juvenile Vanellus gregarius was Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur (Vijayan et recorded on January 31, 1998 at Revasa, Sikar, al. 1987), all the recent sightings in Rajasthan Rajasthan. The bird was feeding on an are fromthePark, Bharatpurwhere itsnumbers undulating grassland in the midst of mustard vary greatly, even being absent in certain years fields. The ground was sandy and soft, with (Per Undeland pers. comm.) It seems safe to tracesofsaltatsomeplaces,duetowaterlogging. assume, therefore, that it visits Bharatpur Normal human activity was noticed in the area, sporadically. a shepherdess was tending her flock, tractors Fivebirds were seen foraging on October andjeeps drove down the road passing through 14, 1995 at Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, Churu, the grassland. Unlike the flock seen at Tal Rajasthan.Thebirdswereexceptionallyobliging Chhapar on February 1, 1998, the bird was not and allowed us a close approach. wary. Other species noticed in the patch were ThesecondsightingofVanellusgregarius redwattled lapwing Vanellus indicus, common atTalChhaparwasonacoldandwindymorning sandgrouse Pterocles exustus, eastern calandra onJanuary28, 1998.Afterwhatinitiallyseemed lark Melanocorypha bimaculata, crested lark ahopelesstask, wewereableto discoveraflock Galeridacristata anddesertwheatearOenanthe of 15 resting birds. All the birds were well deserti. 278 JOURNAL. BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY. 97(2). AUG. 2000 , MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Acknowledgements and the unending discussions, this note would be so muchthepoorer. Many thanks to Harshvardhan for travelling with me and photographing the bird, June 25, 1998 HARKIRATSINGHSANGHA and to Per Undeland who travelled with me to B-27, Gautam Marg, the remote areas ofSikar and Churn districts in Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur302 021 search of Vanellus gregarius. Without his help Rajasthan, India. Refer NCES Ali, S. &S.D. Ripley(1980): Handbookofthe Birdsof Edicions,Barcelona. India and Pakistan, Vol. 2. 2nd Edn. Oxford Roberts,T.J.(1991):TheBirdsofPakistan,Vol. 1,Oxford UniversityPress,Delhi. UniversityPress,Karachi. Collar,N.J., M.J.Crosby&A.J. Stattersfield(1994): Vijayan,V.S.(Ed.)(1987):VertebrateFaunaofKeoladeo BirdstoWatch,BirdLifeInternational,Cambridge. National Park, Bharatpur. Report of Keoladeo del Hoyo, J., A. Elliot & J. Sargatal (eds) (1996): National Park Ecology Project, Bombay Natural HandbookoftheBirdsoftheWorld,Vol.3.Lynx HistorySociety,Bombay. ADDITIONAL SIGHT RECORDS OF SLENDERBILLED GULL 8. LARUSGENETFROM GUJARAT The slenderbilled gull Larusgenei Breme Table1 RECORDSOFSLENDERBILLEDGULLFROM is considered to be a winter visitor to the west GUJARATCOAST coast, west to Sindh, Gujarat and Bombay (Ali and Ripley 1983). Except for one specimen S.No. Site No.ofbirds Date collected by Dharmakumarsinhji (1955) near Bhavnagar, the species was not recorded either 1. NarayanSarovar 50 26.ix.1992 2. Jakhau 5000 25.ix.1992 fromKachchh(Palin andLester 1904,Ali 1945) 3. Surajbari 4 4.x.1991 or from mainland Gujarat. However, Mundkur 4. PirotanIsland Afew 8.iii.1980 fKetaracol.hmc(h1s9eh8v8ae)rnadhlaovpleionrceeadptoitrohtnaestdisatirigsohutaincndgoomtfhmetohenGsuwpliefnctioeesrf 6578.... OCPHhoakarrhrbsaaahknalddaeDrSaaBlimtrdPaSnasnctuary 223129 2223088....ixxxviii.iiil.9..19119699999666 visitor there. 9. PorbanderBirdSanctuary 6 31.xii.1996 We too have seen this species at several 10. PorbanderSaltPans 6 27.iv.1997 11. PorbanderSaltPans 36 15.vi.1997 places in fairly good numbers around the Gulf 12. BhavnagarPort 2 31.xii.1995 ofKachchh (Table 1). We have also recorded it repeatedly from Porbander (east coast of the ground. AtNarayan Sarovar, the birds were Saurashtra) and Bhavnagar (GulfofKhambat), seen flying above the creek. At Charakla salt suggestingthatitiscommonontheGujaratcoast pans, they were swimming along with in general. This supports the views ofMundkur blacknecked grebes Podiceps nigricollis. At et ah (1988). Porbander, the birds were seen both in the At Jakhau, the slenderbilled gull along sanctuaryareaandsaltpans.Recordsofthisgull withthelesserblackbackedgullLarusfuscusand during April andJune atPorbander also support herring gull Larus argentatus was seen resting theviewofMundkuretal (1988) thatitmaybe andoccasionally feedingonthe fishes dryingon nesting within our limits, or that the non- JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000 279