Report of Sunday Birdwalk at Sanjay Van, Delhi - 16 May 2010 - Indianbirds

Hello All,

Indian Birds is a group on facebook created by Kanwar B Singh. The group is self described as "Facebook community of everyone with an interest in the Birdlife of South Asia. In association with Indian Birds Journal and New Ornis Foundation".

At last count this group is 2109 strong with members from all walks of life. Among other activities, this group conducts Sunday Birdwalks on a regular basis in and around Delhi.

I had approached Kanwar B. Singh to consider allowing this blog to carry the reports of these birwalks on this blog. He has consented to allow the same. Many thanks to you sir.

The following is the first of these reports of Sunday Birdwalk at Sanjay Van, Delhi conducted on 16 May 2010. The report is in the words Kanwar B Singh. He has this very inspiring signature...

"I'd rather be birding"

Ditto sir, Ditto.

The report:

Dr Surya Prakash and Pankaj Gupta led us through delights of summer birding, early in the morning today, through leafy Sanjay Van; a large stretch of city forest measuring over 600 hectares.Over twenty delhibirders who turned up here this morning had a wonderful birding indeed.

The flutey calls of Golden Orioles rent the morning air during much of our walk and several pairs were seen very well. Common Hawk Cuckoo proclaiming the summer loudly and the other usual residents viz. Oriental Magpie Robin, brown-headed Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Indian Robin, Ashy & Grey-breasted Prinia, Indian Grey Hornbills, Jungle, Large Grey & Common Babblers, Indian Silver Bills, Grey Francolins, Purple Sunbirds, Yellow-footed Green Pigeons, Green Bee-eaters, Spotted Owlet, rufous Treepie, House Swifts, Common Tailorbird, etc. Pankaj's quick eye caught a Sirkeer Malkoha, walking rapidly - mongoose like - on the ground and many of us managed fairly nice views.

Few Blyth's Reed Warbler and a lone Green Sandpiper at the check dams were the only lingering winter migrants. Also at the water body were a flock of about a dozen Black-headed Ibis, a lone Black Ibis, Common Moorhens, White-browed Wagtails, many Wire-tailed Swallows, Indian Pond Herons, Cattle Egrets, White-throated Kingfishers, Black-winged Stilts etc. A well camouflaged Eurasian Thick-knee here was quite expertly picked out by Soma, which Chander immediately scoped in, much to the delight of many.

Sanjay Van, including it's contiguous areas like Asola and parts of South Delhi ridge, remain one of the few rich repositories of the avian biodiversity of our capital. It's nice to see this fact returning into the consciousness of the local birding community.

Good Birding.
KB.

Golden Oriole Image courtesy of Shri J M Garg.

Until Next time, lets bird......

Bird Sunday Report (16-05-2010) of Bangalore Birds

This is the report of Bird Sunday (16-05-2010) of Bangalore Birds. Many thanks to Mr. Anand Srinivasa of Bangalore Birds for providing the report.

Many thanks are due to Mr J M Garg for having permitted his photographs of about 400 species and his other works available on wiki to be used on this blog. The following is the link to his work on wiki.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg

Sir, if you are reading this hats of to you.

Report:

We went around the trails near Ramakrishna Mission School in Shivanahalli. Breakfast was at the ashram. Later few of us visited the lake near Ragihalli and also spent some time birding on the way back till Bannerghatta Road.

The best sighting of the visit was Red Rumped Swallows.


Image courtesy of Mr J.M.Garg.

Surprisingly they were quite bold. They were lot of them, and would come down and perch just 2 or 3 feet from us in a water puddle. This was near Ragihalli Lake. We also saw lot of butterflies.

Following is the bird list.

White cheeked Barbet
Coppersmith Barbet
Green Bee-eater
Yellow Throated Bulbul
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Red vented Bulbul
Common Babbler
Pied Bush Chat
Little Cormorant
Greater Coucal (Call Heard)
Pied Cuckoo
Spotted Dove (Group of six)
Black Drango
Cattle Egret (Breeding Plumage)
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Pond Heron
Asian Koel
Red wattled Lapwing
Ashy Prinia
Indian Robin
Oriental Magpie Robin
Purple Rumped Sunbird
Red Rumped Swallow
Oriental White-eye

Till next time, lets bird......

Bird Tour in Goa

Hello All,

Rohan Naik offers the following services in Goa,
1) Bird watching
2) Butterfly watching
3) Monsoon Nature Walk
4) Nature trails or treks
5) Visits to various waterfalls and rivers.

The usual spots of his tours are:-
1) Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary (Bird watching and Butterfly watching)
2) Bhagwaan Mahaveer Wildlfie Sanctuary (There are various parts of
these sanctuary good for various fauna)
3) Chorla Ghat (For Monsoon Nature Walks, wild flower watching and
butterfly watching.)
4) Tambdi Surla Waterfall trail ( Bird watching, monsoon nature walks
and butterfly watching.)
5) Carambolim Lake ( Migratory and resident water bird watching,
butterfly and drgonfly watching)
6) Dudhsaagar Waterfall trail ( Butterfly watching or monsoon walk)

He can be contacted on email at rahutherebel AT gmail.com

His Blog: http://rohannaik90.blogspot.com/

Those who avail his services may please provide a feedback for the benefit of others.

Till next time, lets bird.

Birding Invitation - Sakleshpur

Hello all.

Dr. H. Javid offers invitation to interested birders to avail of a birding opportunity on his estate, near Sakaleshpur, on the foothills of the Western Ghats.

Please contact.

Dr. H. Javid,
Cullerhully Estate,
Raxidi,
Sakleshpur.
Mobile: 94483-79913.

Those who avail this invitation. Please provide a feedback for the benifit of other future aspirants.

Till next time. lets Bird.

Sunday Birding Report - Kirvati, North Karnataka.

A Birding trip was long over due, there was a longing to get back to that divine fragrance of the forest and it so happened that a meeting with Mr. Gurunath Desai in connection with the website for the NKBN led to a half day Birding trip being planned for Sunday to Kirvati, a wooded area about 59 km from Hubli and 9 km away from Kalghatgi. Kirvati is on the Hubli-Karwar Road. On the way back we planned to bird at Thampur Lake on the same highway.

To get directly to the complete list of the birds seen or heard during this trip please scroll to the end of this post.

A four member team comprising of Ms. Shailaja Yadwad, Mr. Gurunath Desai (GND), Mr. Ganesh Roa and your truly commenced the journey at 0700 hrs. .

On the way we had a lightning stop at Devikoppa Lake (DL), this lake boasts of a lodge for hunting Ducks built by the British. Though the IB is in dilapidated condition, the location of the IB and the Road leading to and away from the IB, impress the eye. Shailaja called out a purple heron on the far bank. Coot Teal, Purple Muren and Grebe were the other spoils at the lake. A mental note and a promise to return to this lake at a latter date are made and the journey towards Kirvati resumes.

On the way, GND pointed out the turn leading toward Icheenahalli Lake (IL). Great place for a day outing but almost no birding is how he chooses to put it. The exit to this lake is about half a Kilometer from the Satho Saheed Darga on the Hubli - Karwar Road

Kirvati is one of the largest timber yards in Karnataka. Reaching Kirvati we turned right and 2 km, a pea fowl and a couple of pea hens latter we reached Thatihala. We took a trail and were immediately ambushed by mosquitoes, black, big and hungry. A mental note to carry repellent, the next time around.

In the 45 minutes spent on this trail we spotted a good number of birds, the pair of Pygmy Woodpecker and the velvet fronted nuthatch getting the most sighs. We also spotted a Giant Squirrel keeping us company and a whistling Thrush provided the back ground score throughout.

Getting back from the trail post breakfast we continued on, GND was all Moses like when he lead us to a ficus tree promising us delights and we were not disappointed. A Crested serpent Eagle at close quarters set the tempo. The orange headed Thrush, Yellow eyed Babbler, Tickles Flycatcher added to the excitement. The fichus tree and the surrounding area were alive with calls. A promising spot requiring an extended stay. Enroute a pea fowl posing majestically on a tree stump left an image that will stay a while. Near the ficus Shailaja swears that she heard a pitta call here but a search returned a blank.

We turned back towards the highway and 2 km latter the magic began, the Shama pictured here played out a 15 min spell binding routine tantalizingly close to us. This guy was redefining the term playing to the gallery, latter a Minivert pair joined the act and kept us captivated.

A little further Ganesh Roa spotted a lizard, which was identified by GND as a Draco and educated us that it was very rare. The short video below will do more justice than words possibly can.

Back on the road, we drove on to check out the Lake, where a pair of Crested serpent Eagle is reported to be in permanent residence. The lake was picture perfect as promised by Mr. Desai and bare of birds but for Open bill Storks. We found the CSE pair along with a Juvenile CSE. The lake has a high bund to one side; on the other side of this bund is a wooded region from where several calls could be heard. A return to this lake is imminent.

We drove on to Thampur Lake and reached there at about 12, but the birding here was almost next to nothing. Some bronze winged Jacanas, purple Muren, coots and grebes were all that we could spot. The lack of birds could be because it was noon but we were disappointed none the less.

We returned to Hubli at about 1330, smiling, the senses sated but just for the moment. Many thanks to Shailaja for joining us. We hope you get that Pita sooner than latter. For Ganesh Roa, this was a first outing with members of the NKBN. Welcome Sir.

For Ganesh Roa and myself, the banter between Shailaja and GND was like Birding 101. Shailaja with her words painted up a magnificient canvas about the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat and Bhigwan, that made us want to run up there. Suddenly that wife's friends wedding in Gujarat looks so very interesting, Jasmine, should you be reading this, please get married in bird season.

A complete list of the birds spotted / heard during the session is given below. The abbreviations next to bird names indicate sightings of the species in different birding locations on the trip.

Devikoppa Lake - (DL)
Kirwati - Thatihala - (KWT)
Icheenahalli Lake - (IL)
Thambur Lake - (TL)

1. Purple Muren. (TL, IL)
2. Coot Teal. (TL, IL)
3. Purple Heron. (DL)
4. Magpie Robin. (KWT)
5. Brown Headed Barbet. (KWT)
6. Indian Peafowl (KWT)
7. Racket tailed Drango. (KWT)
8. Whishtiling Thrush. (KWT)
9. Plumheaded parakeet. (KWT)
10. Pigmy Woodpecker. (KWT)
11. Spotted Dove. (KWT)
12. Rufous Woodpecker. (KWT)
13. Velvet fronted Nuthatch. (KWT)
14. White breasted Drongo. (KWT)
15. Ashy Drongo. (KWT)
16. Black Headed Oriole. (KWT)
17. Shama. (KWT)
18. Crested serpent eagle. (KWT)
19. Tickle's Flycatcher. (KWT)
20. Orange headed Thrush. (KWT)
21. Yellow eyed Babbler. (KWT)
22. Black headed Munia. (KWT)
23. Indian Treepie. (KWT)
24. Scarlet Minivert. (KWT)
25. Oriental White eye. (KWT)
26. Bronze winged Jacana. (TL)
27. Asian Openbill Stork. (KWT)
28. Grebe. (TL)
29. White-breasted Kingfisher (TL).
30. Black Ibis. (IL)
31. Spotted Owlet. (TL, KWT).
32. Greater Coucal. (KWT).
33. Red-wattled Lapwing. (TL).
34. Pita (KWT)

Till next time....lets bird.

Birding Madness Stage - X

Has the birding madness set in when you look at a colleague in a yellow, black and white Salwar and go...Common Iora!.

Till next time, lets bird.

Hierarchy at Birding camps

Hello All,

I came across this interesting piece on the blog urban babblers.

This post is by Sharada, a member of the Urban Babblers. Many thanks to her for permission to post the same here.

विचार: A highly interesting state of affairs observed at birding camps. The hierarchy progresses thusly:

Car 1: The Executive/Administrative vehicle. Is usually occupied by the most solemn birders whose sole objective is to notch up the birding list and capture shots of raptors gliding in some obscure part of the horizon with their fantastic cameras. The latest news in the world of the environment and ornithology is discussed here.
Car 2: Comprises the party workers. A degree less in the feverishness that grips the first vehicle, but will ensure they overtake cars no 3 and 4 just to retain their position.
Car no 3: The Opposition: Will bird in west while the rest bird in east.
Car 4: Supplied with Biryani, loaded onto trucks and brought for birding program.:p The last vehicle in the convoy, its occupants are the small-fry to whom people rarely listen to. “Ooh! That’s an Ultramarine flycatcher!” Expert walks by and says, “No. That is an Ultramarine flycatcher.” Rest of the horde rejoices, "Yay! It’s an Ultramarine Flycatcher!” Apart from birding, occupants involve in various activities like eating junk-food, napping, singing, discussing interesting random topics like Politics and Sports, playing Dumb Charades and laughing at the most absurd jokes on the planet. Interested newbies may apply C/o Last Car of Convoy.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Till next time...Lets bird.

Small Pratincole (Glareola lactea)

This Small Pratincole (Glareola lactea) was photographed in Attiveri Bird Sanctuary in March 2010. These birds were on a small island in the sanctuary. There were about 20 of these birds. They were surprisingly calm on our approach. During the half hour that we spent at this spot viewing these mesmerizing birds, these birds went about their business like we were not there.

From The Indian Birding Blog

Recently, Mr Pompayya Swamy from hospet, had visited the sanctuary and reported that there were Pratincole nesting on a different island on the lake.

Eurasian Spoonbill

This Eurasian Spoonbill was photographed in Attiveri, a bird sanctuary about 40 Kms away from Hubli.