The Jhia-Borelli River is one of the best places to see the rare and elusive Ibisbill. We were lucky to find a pair along the river, as from the beginning of april, the birds start to migrate northwards, to their breeding grounds on the high plateaus and mountain ranges of Central Asia.
It is a beautifully subtle coloured and shaped wader, and it is the only representative within it's family. It has a very broad distribution range and it occurs in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is nowhere common, due to it's specific habitat, which consists of broad shingle banks and islands along fast-flowing natural mountain streams. During the winter the Ibisbill is also found in larger natural rivers in the foothills of the Himalaya, such as in Nameri.
We found our pair foraging along the rapids, where the birds seem to be very well camouflaged between the rocks and the pebbles.