India, Feb. 23 -- Just over a year after the Barnacle goose was recorded for the first time in south Asia at the Mote Majra wetland near Banur, sharp-eyed birders have secured another record of the rarest-of-rare species for this part of the world. Ludhiana hotelier, Rishik Thapar, and Dr Vivek Saggar observed a lone Barnacle in a small flock of Bar-headed geese at the Roopnagar headworks on the river Satluj on Monday last. Thapar and Saggar were at Roopnagar as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count.

The Roopnagar Barnacle is the second instance when this species has been recorded in South Asia after three specimens were observed at Mote Majra in January-February 2024. The trio at Mote Majra was also with a carrier group of Bar-headed ge...