Thousands of threatened waders

Hello peeps, got a good response for the previous posts so thought I ought to write more (I had lost hope of getting any audience) .

So on October 8 2018, I decided to visit a road side marsh which is surrounded by very high density settlements. It is at Mai Kolachi road in central Karachi. I have attached a Google map still below...

 

 I hoped to get some common waders so all set, I left with the birding buddy, Aba jee. Camera charged and off we went.

That small marsh dotted with Mangroves always seemed a good birding spot whenever I passed by it. We stopped the rickshaw right next to the busy road and I hoped out to get some lifers. Within moments, I realized the place was ruined with sewage by the surrounding places and as this tiny spot is linked with the main sea, all this garbage this gets out as well.

 The birds made me forget the killer smell, the spot was filled with Gull billed terns. I counted them roughly and got the figure at 200s. It was a good count for such a small area.

Along the small mud flats were Red wattled lapwings, Lesser sand plovers, Common redshanks and some Ruffs as well. 

I got some okay shots and decided to go far, as I was quite literally on the edge the best I could do was zoom in with my camera to see if something else was there. I often use my camera as a Binocular 😅.

  Within a small patch of grass far away from me were two adults and two juveniles of Grey Herons.

 I could clearly hear Tailor birds calling in the Avicenna marina besides me. A flock of large waders flew in front of me and quickly sat down on the mudflat edge on my left. On closer inspection, they turned out to be Spotted redshanks (I haven't seen them since).

 Then a large a flock of waders caught my eye on the right. They were Black tailed godwits, the flock landed on the far banks. They were easily 350-400. Then the flock was added up with a more flocks totaling around 1400-1600 birds. It was brilliant to see such a large number of this globally Near Threatened bird. However, despite me continued efforts, I was unsuccessful in finding a Bar tailed godwit among the flocks.

 

After about an hour or two spent on finding the Bar tailed godwits, We headed back with average birding.

I discussed about this tiny spot with another bird who told me that this spot used to be a good place to get Dalmation pelicans and Greater flamingoes but for about a decade now this place is being eaten by the polluted sewage from the surrounding residential areas. This spot is quite literally dying and is another example of biodiversity mismanagement in Pakistan.