Sinhagad Valley, 22.12.2011

Birding at Sinhagad Valley after a long time - and an awesome trek through it.

Place : Sinhagad Valley near Sinhagad Fort


Access : Sinhagad Road via Khadakvasla Lake, Naval Bay and Golewadi. Left turn at the bifurcation in the road towards the top from Atkarwadi. Cation - much steeper climb as compared to the more frequented right turn.

List of Birds Spotted:

Purple Sunbird - Female

1. Purple Sunbird - 2
2. Common Tailorbird - many
3. Common Babbler - 2
4. Jungle Babbler - large group of 8 - 10
5. Pale-Billed Flowerpecker - 3
6. Oriental White-Eye-1
7. Rufous-backed Shrike (Long-Tailed Shrike) - 2
8. Little Green Bee-Eater - 4
9. Tree Pipit - 25
10. Dusky Crag Martin - 2
11. Cliff Swallow - 2
12. White-Spotted Fantail Flycatcher - 1
13. Oriental Magpie Robin - 4

Red-Vented Bulbul

14. Shikra - 2
15. Black Kite - 2
16. Black-Shouldered Kite- 1
17. Common Myna - 1
18. Jungle Myna - 1
19. Common Coot - 12
20. House Crow - many
21. Jungle Crow - many
22. House Sparrow - 5
23. Blue Rock Dove - many
24. Laughing Dove - 2
25. Barn Swallow - 1

Green Bee-Eater (juvenile)

26. Spotted Dove - 1
27. Red-Vented Bulbul - many
28. Red-Whiskered Bulbul - 2
29. Ashy Prinia - 1
30. Little Cormorant - 3
31. Little Egret - 3
32. Intermediate Egret - 3
33. White-Breasted Kingfisher - 6
34. Pied Kingfisher - 2
35. Asian Koel - 2
36. Purple-Rumped Sunbird - 2
37. Red-Throated Flycatcher - 1

Yellow-Eyed Babbler

38. Pied Bushchat - 7
39. Black Drongo - 3
40. Indian Robin - 6
41. Cattle Egret - 5
42. Red-Rumped Swallow - 2
43. Yellow-Eyed Babbler - 2

Long-Tailed Shrike (Rufous-Backed)

Very disappointed in the sharp decline in avifauna in the valley.Many birds listed were encountered near Naval Bay area on the way to the valley. Surprisingly fewer raptors as well as smaller forest birds.

No sight of the once plentiful Common Iora or flycatchers like Tickell's, Asian Paradise or Ultramarine. Did not even hear the Crested Serpent Eagle and sharp decline in Shikra numbers. Dipping numbers of flapping wings at the valley!!

I would have recommended the valley for birdwatching a few years ago, but the declining wildlife is disturbing.
A good place to spot Tree Pipits - plentiful on the sides of the fort.
Also a great place to find Crag Martins, which nest near the top of the fort.

But, all in all, a great trek through the valley with a lot of death-defying ascents and a horde of hostile Hanuman Langurs!

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

 

Pied Bushchat

Pale-Billed Flowerpecker (Tickell's Flowerpecker)

Point Calimere, 28.11.2011

A long break from bird-watching thanks to end semester examinations. . . It kept me planning, but this trip really came out of nowhere.

Place : Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary

Access : We hired a car from IITM, from where we drove down the East Coast Road all the way via NH45A to Nagapattinam. From there, a detour towards Vedaranyam and finally Point Calimere. This is one of the most scenic drives, so do it in the day (I did at night one way and really regret it!)

The entire sanctuary was more than a foot underwater, and Saikia and me enjoyed wading through the marshland trying to spot birds! And it was raining heavily too! A horde of birds - including many migratory birds were spotted - so the best time to visit is Nov-Dec.

Black Drongo

A list of birds we spotted at the sanctuary with pics :

1. Little Grebe - very few
2. Grey Pelican (Spot-Billed Pelican) - many even on ECR
3. Little Cormorant - surprisingly very few
4. Grey Heron - 5
5. Great Egret - many
6. Little Egret - many
7. Intermediate Egret (Median Egret) - plenty closer to the beach

8. Western Reef Egret - 10 to 15



Black-Winged Stilt



9. Indian Pond Heron - plenty

10. Cattle Egret - many

11. Painted Stork - 20

12. Greater Flamingo - just 1 on the approach road
13. Eurasian Spoonbill - many
14. Black-Winged Stilt - 5
15. Slender-Billed Gull - 50
16. Caspian Tern - 10
17. Heuglin's Gull - plenty
18. Kentish Plover - 50

19. Lesser Ringed Plover - 10



Brahminy Kite



20. Marsh Sandpiper - 5

21. Common Sandpiper - 20

22. Green Sandpiper - many

23. Wood Sandpiper - many
24. Lesser Sand Plover - 25
25. Purple Moorhen - 5
26. White-Breasted Waterhen - 6
27. Eurasian Curlew - 3
28. Black Tailed Godwit - 1
29. Red-Wattled Lapwing - 25
30. Grey plover - 5

Long-Tailed Shrike

31. Little Stint - The sanctuary is full of these
32. Eurasian Collared Dove - 6
33. Blue Rock Dove - plenty
34. House Crow - few
35. Jungle Crow - just 2
36. House Sparrow - 2
37. Common Myna - 40
38. Brahminy Myna - 25
39. Rosy Starling - 10
40. Purple Sunbird - 5
41. Loten's Sunbird - 1
42. Crimson-Backed Sunbird - 2
43. Purple-Rumped Sunbird - 1

Eurasian Collared Dove

44. Greater Coucal - 2
45. Long-Tailed Shrike - 7
46. Little Green Bee-Eater - plenty
47. Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater - 2
48. Asian Koel - 3
49. Rose-Ringed Parakeet - 3
50. Chestnut-Winged Cuckoo - 2
51. Asian Palm Swift - many
52. Pied Kingfisher - 50
53. White-Breasted Kingfisher - The most common bird
54. Little Blue Kingfisher (Common Kingfisher) - 10


Little Green Bee-Eater

55. Black-Capped Kingfisher - just 1
56. Barn Swallow - 10
57. Richard's Pipit - 3
58. Paddyfield Pipit - 2
59. Oriental Skylark - 35
60. Oriental Magpie Robin - 5
61. Blyth's Reed Warbler - 2
62. Black Drongo - 2
63. Rufous Treepie - 1
64. Indian Peafowl - 2
65. Shikra - 20

66. Brahminy Kite - 15



Kentish Plover



67. Black Kite - 5

68. Oriental Honey Buzzard - 25

69. Blackbuck - 7
70. Golden Jackal - 2 (glad they chose chasing a female blackbuck over us!!! It was really scary when they were choosing!)
71. Mouse Deer - 4
72. Spotted Deer (Axis Deer) -4
73. Indian Mongoose - 4
74. Bonnet Macaque - many
75. Monitor Lizard - 1
76. Indian Wild Boar - 3


Golden Jackal



Definitely missed a click of the Black-Capped Kingfisher, but was lucky enough to spot one. Also missed out on quite a few waders and terns, wonder why we couldn't spot them. It was just a 4-hour tour of the sanctuary so we probably missed out on quite a few birds.


But plenty of new species including the Brahminy Kite, which is quite common at Point Calimere, some of the sandpipers and plovers, the Black-Tailed Godwit, Oriental Skylark and the Eurasian Curlew.

Lesser Sand Plover

Little Blue Kingfisher (Common Kingfisher)

Little Stint

Marsh Sandpiper

Oriental Skylark

Indian Pond Heron

Richard's Pipit

Rosy Starling

Spoonbill Storks

Wood Sandpiper

Brahminy Myna (Brahminy Starling)

A really awesome experience - one of the best birdwatching trips for sure. This sanctuary is very less frequented but is one of the best - it even has a beach as part of the sanctuary! Point Calimere is definitely under-rated and is one of the finest bird sanctuaries in TN.

Mudumalai Bird Sanctuary, 6.11.2011

After a long break, we finally landed up at the Nilgiris!!!

Place : Mudumalai Bird Sanctuary (now called Tiger Reserve)

Access : Train to Coimbatore (called Kovai!!) Then a bus to Ooty, followed by another to Gudalur. This is the closest to the sanctuary.

This is an awesome bird list I'm putting up after a long time! Finally very few of the common old birds and a lot of new appearances :)

So a complete bird list of Mudumalai Bird Sanctuary (spotted by me) :

Bay-Backed Shrike

1. Little Grebe
2. Spot-Billed Pelican
3. Little Cormorant
4. Great Cormorant
5. Little Egret
6. Grey Heron
7. Purple Heron
8. Great Egret
9. Intermediate Egret
10. Cattle Egret
11. Indian Pond Heron
12. Black-Crowned Night Heron
13. Chestnut Bittern
14. Painted Stork

Blue-Capped Rockthrush

15. Asian Open-Billed Stork
16. Western Reef Egret
17. Crested Honey Buzzard
18. Crested Serpent Eagle
19. Black Kite
20. Shikra
21. Changeable Hawk-Eagle
22. Grey Junglefowl
23. Indian Peafowl
24. White-Breasted Waterhen
25. Purple Moorhen
26. Common Moorhen
27. Common Coot
28. Red-Wattled Lapwing

Changeable Hawk-Eagle

29. Blue Rock Pigeon
30. Little Brown Dove
31. Spotted Dove
32. Rose-Ringed Parakeet
33. Blossom-Headed Parakeet
34. Alexandrine Parakeet
35. Jacobin Cuckoo
36. Indian Cuckoo
37. Asian Koel
38. Greater Coucal
39. House Swift
40. Crested Treeswift
41. Little Blue Kingfisher
42. Pied Kingfisher
43. White-Breasted Kingfisher
44. Green Bee-Eater

Grey Wagtail

45. Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater
46. Indian Roller
47. Hoopoe
48. White-Cheeked Barbet
49. Crimson-Breasted Barbet
50. Lesser Yellownape
51. Golden-Backed Woodpecker
52. Black-Rumped Flameback
53. Indian Pitta
54. Indian Bushlark
55. Barn Swallow
56. Wire-Tailed Swallow
57. Large Pied Wagtail
58. Grey Wagtail

Red-Whiskered Bulbul

59. Red-Whiskered Bulbul
60. Red-Vented Bulbul
61. Black Bulbul
62. Blue-Capped Rock Thrush
63. Oriental Magpie Robin
64. Jungle Prinia
65. Ashy Prinia
64. Plain Prinia
65. Indian Robin
66. Indian Blue Robin
67. Pied Bushchat
68. White-Spotted Fantail Flycatcher
69. Kerala Laughingthrush
70. Common Babbler

Indian Blue Robin

71. Yellow-Billed Babbler
72. Jungle Babbler
73. Purple Sunbird
74. Purple-Rumped Sunbird
75. Loten's Sunbird
76. Oriental White-Eye
77. Black-Headed Oriole
78. Bay-Backed Shrike
79. Black Drongo
80. Indian Treepie
81. White-Bellied Treepie
82. House Crow
83. Jungle Crow
84. Common Myna
85. Jungle Myna

Rufous Treepie

86. Brahminy Myna
87. Scaly-Breasted Munia
88. House Sparrow

Missed out on Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Emerald Dove, Stork-Billed Kingfisher (again), Black-Shouldered Kite, Malabar Trogon.

But a successful bird-watching trip nonetheless. A lot of new bird sightings for me as well like the Bay-Backed Shrike and the Jacobin Cuckoo.



A definite recommend for all bird-watchers. Its better to spend the night there for owls and nightjars too. Sambar Deer, Sloth Bear, Dhole, Leopard, Black Panther, Asian Elephant and Lion-Tailed Macaque can also be spotted at night or early mornings (which I missed )

Western Reef Egret

 

Jacobin Cuckoo

 

Lesser Yellownape

Oriental White-Eye

Puff-Throated Babbler

White-Breasted Waterhen

White-Cheeked barbet

White-Spotted Fantail Flycatcher

Nanmangalam Reserve Forest, 8.10.2011

A new Saturday and a new birdwatching plan. . .

This time we took along another young enthusiast - Neeraj. And of course me and Saikia were all ready for the latest birdwatching challenge!

Place: Nanmangalam Reserve Forest

Access: 11 km by cycle from IITM. Cycle straight down from Krishna Gate onto 100 Feet Road and via Pallikarnai (another birdwatching zone) to the forest. Entry through the Forest Office Gate without permission.

Birds Spotted:

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

1) Asian Paradise Flycatcher (1)

2) Black Drongo (5)

3) Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater (10+)

4) Shikra (2)

5) White-Breasted Kingfisher (1)
6) Little Blue Kingfisher (1)

7) Spotted Munia (4)

8) Red-Whiskered Bulbul (1)

9) Laughing Dove (2)
10) Ashy Wren-Warbler (4)

11) Plains Prinia (2)

12) Yellow-Billed Babbler (2)

13) Jungle Babbler (1)

14) Blue Rock Dove (6)



Spotted Munia



15) House Crow (Inf)

16) Jungle Crow (5)

17) Little Egret (2)

18) Cattle Egret (1)

19) Purple Sunbird (2)


20) Crimson-Backed Sunbird (1)

21) Common Myna (10+)


22) Oriental Magpie Robin (1)

The main attraction was the Asian Paradise Flycatcher which we literally chased around for fifteen minutes before it flew out of sight. Not an exhaustive list - the trip was cut short because I had to return early due to SFM work!

But Nanmangalam Forest is a sure recommend for any nature-lover or birdwatcher.


Will return for more species soon . . . :)



 

Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater

Black Drongo