Happy new year and urban birding in Lhasa
There are many happenings in Tibet these days. Many celebrations, including multiple new year celebrations.
CHINA AND TIBET
2/8/20082 min read
February 2008 finds us in Lhasa during several local celebrations, the Chinese New Year and preparations for the Tibetan New Year. While our primary purpose in Tibet is to prepare for fieldwork on the globally threatened Black-necked Crane, the days spent in the city offer a mix of culture, acclimatization and urban birding.
The festivities are impossible to ignore. Lhasa is filled with fireworks, firecrackers and celebrations that continue well into the night. On some hills surrounding the city, people gather to make fires and spred prayer notes.
Detail from the Potala.
Although situated at more than 3,600 metres above sea level, the city supports a few bird species - most of them of the cooler kind. One of my favourite birding spots is the pond in the park below the Potala Palace. For a European birder, the mix of eastern gulls and waterfowl present here is simply mouth-watering. Species that would attract considerable attention in Europe can be studied at close range.
Hodgson's White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alboides)
Brown-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus)
Buddha Shakyamuni
View of a mountain range near Lhasa
These days in Lhasa also serve an important purpose. The slow pace allows us to acclimatize to the altitude while making final preparations for the crane surveys. I am looking forward to leave the city and start working where the Black-necked Cranes spend the winter months.
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