Mostly Indian Birds: 2011

Birds of Himalayas - Pangot

After a long hiatus I am back.

A few of us ( Ajith, Akanksha and Sasidhar) went to the Himalayas as part of the Great Himalaya Bird count late Oct. It was a fabulous trip.

We started off at Pangot. Amazingly on the way to Pangot the road was under construction and we started birding. The colour and variety instantly struck us. In spite of the overcast conditions we could see the Rufous bellied woodpecker, Himalayan wood pecker, a Great barbet patiently posing for us and Eurasian Jay.

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

Pangot is a birder's paradise. That evening we went around and saw green finches, black headed jays, warblers, thrushes and Himalayan bulbuls

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

The blue whistling thrush with its distinctive whistle and shining blue colour is a treat to watch.

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

Bush chats are common. We also saw long tailed shrikes and a spotted forktail near a small spring.

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

After a very productive Day-1 and a nice bonfire in the evening, Day-2 was cold and overcast. We saw the Koklass Pheasant but it was too fast for me. We could see plenty of Nuthatches, rock thrushes and rufous sibias. Pangot is kind of a Rufous Sibia territory as we saw so many of them.

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

A bit more shooting on Day3 morning where we saw a lot of feeding outside the camp. Oriental white eye, chestnut bellied rockthrush, brown fronted woodpecker and the rather shy Rufous Niltava.

From 2011 Nov Pangot, Sattal, Dhanolti

We then pushed off to Sattaal......

Birds near Puducherry

Took a family vacation last week to Pondicherry. While this vacation was not meant for bird photography and it was not the best time of the year either, I ended up visiting a few local birding hotspots.

My first visit was to Bahour Lake, about 15 Kms from Pondicherry, off the Cuddalore highway. While the lake catchment area was huge, the size of the actual lake was disappointing. However I could catch a glimpse of Little Grebes, Egrets, Cormorants, etc. Near to the lake, especially around the fields we could get shots of Kingfisher, Bee-eaters, Drongo and Shikra

Next day, I went to Osudu Lake ( also called Ousteri) ,10 kms off the city centre, which off late has been declared a bird sanctuary thanks to a lot of efforts by local associations. The lake definitely had a diverse bird population and looked like a must visit place during winters when the migratory birds visit this lake. I could see a lot of Coots, Little grebes, Garganey, Swamphen and Moorhens.

Finally on the way back to Chennai, made a quick stop at Odiyur lake and got some good view of painted storks and pelicans.

One of the most common birds especially around the beaches are Crows and Ravens. A few shots of them :

Birds near Hyderabad

Saw this next to our apartment a week back......

Birds from the countryside of England

Happened to visit England last may and was staying at this British countryside at Luton Hoo. Took a few snaps of the birdlife in and around the lake very near to the place I was staying.

This Partridge just zoomed past before I could take a better shot.

Lot of coots in the lake a good family photo here:

And a beautiful Grebe here:

Birds near Hyderabad ( Narsapur)

Went for a Sunday birding trip to Narsapur on the way to Medak. Apparently there were lot of trees fruiting and we were hoping to catch a few glimpses of flycatchers.

We got to see silverbills,oriental white-eye, drongos and shrikes.