[wintibird]

Arrived

Yesterday my wife and I arrived in Pondicherry in South India. The first birds greeting us after a night in the taxi were House Crows, followed by a passing Brahminy Kite.
This is my fith trip to India, although not always only birding. My wife does Bharata Natyam, an Indian dance, so she will take lessons here. I will do some birding here and in the north, Gujarat is on the itinerary and the Melghat Tiger Reserve (for Forest Owlet).
In this first two days we organized a lot and met some old friends. Birding was not much but I saw quite some species. Barn Swallows, Black Kites, Common Myna, Purple-rumped and Loten's Sunbird in the park in front of the hotel, White-browed Bulbul, Yellow-billed Babblers and Rufous Treepie in Auroville and some terns (Gull-billed, Common, Caspian and Lesser Crested) and Brown-headed Gulls on sea.
Tomorrow I will go to Gingee. The target bird is the endemic Yellow-throated Bulbul.

More to come

Andre

[alice45]

My India offers some of the most fascinating trip to India packages for the summer vacations, which can be availed by anyone. whether you are traveling overseas for business, pleasure or study, the best way to make a trip carefree and relaxing is to prevent problems before they happen. If you are bore from your normal daily routine life and want to make to be relaxed for some time then you must make your trip to India.

[wintibird]

Well, yesterday I went to Gingee (1:20h with taxi). I started near the fort at the Hanuman temple (easy to find, follow the monkeys). I took a path into the thorn forest and heard my first bulbuls after some minutes. Alas, the were White-broweds, but some minutes later the first Yellow-throated appeared. They proved to be very common and very easy to see here, sometimes singing out in the open on a rock. A Sirkeer Malkoha was also a nice addition and a lifer for me.
I saw a Francolin dissapearing and followed it along a small path. It was never to be seen and remained unidentified, but the path was a good choice. A Blue Rock-thrush and an Indian Robin were singing opposite each other on the rocks, some Short-toed Eagles flew overhead and after checking a white marked rock I found an Indian Eagle-Owl! That was a nice find and a surprise.

After some time I went back to the Hanuman temple and to the Inner Fort. There you have to pay an entry fee (5 Rupees for Indians, 100 for Foreigners) and I had some discussion about my tripod and scope, as still cameras were not allowed inside. I had 14 Rupees in my pocket and so a scope fee of 14 Rupees was created (what a coincidence). Inside I had a nice Spotted Owlet and going up the hill I found a Shaheen Falcon (the local subspecies of Peregrine, but looking pretty different with a rufous belly), nicely posing.

Back to Pondicherry it was raining incredibly heavy, we even had to stop a moment with the car. So today was no birding, but preparing for my Gujarat trip.

And Alice: Don't come here in summer. It's just much to hot!

Andre

[wintibird]

Today I had a taxi and went north of Pondicherry along the East Coast Road. This roads eventually goes to Chennai (Madras) and follows mainly the coast. The first stop was at Manakkam, where salt is produced in a huge backwater system. I immediately spotted around 100 Spot-billed Pelicans and some Painted Storks. Wigeons were around, some Greenshanks, Black-winged Stilts and Terns. There I could identify many Gull-billed, some Common and many Little Terns. A Little Cormorant was a nice addition but the biggest surprise was a Reef-egret feeding alongside a Little one and making it easy to compare the two also structurally (It was a Black one, I'm not sure if I had spotted a white phase bird).
Then I went on to Alambara Fort, the ruins of an old Mogul fort at the coast. Some Ashy-crowned Sparrow-larks were nice but the best was the view to the river mouth. A Terek Sandpiper was feeding and several Plovers. Grey Plover was easy, so was Kentish. I also found Lesser Ringed and Lesser and Greater Sandplover, but some birds were to far away for positive identification. 5 Greater Black-headed Gulls suddenly appeared, the first time I saw this species here.

It's still raining here, so I'm quite happy to escape to sunny Gujarat tomorrow.

Andre

[wintibird]

Today I flew from Chennai over Mumbai to Bhuj where I was picked up by Vaibhav Mishra (he's a member too, check his gallery!). We drove to Moti Virani, let the luggage there and went straight birding. At a waterhole near the road the first of many Grey-necked Buntings were seen, an Indian Bushlark and some Rufous-tailed Larks. A nice start for me.
We went on to some rocks to find some Brown Rock-chats there, some House Buntings and some Painted Sandgrouse which unfortunately didn't allow close looks.
It went dark so we went on to Banni grassland. We did not found Eagle Owls but a hunting Sykes's Nightjar was very nice too.
A good start indeed.

[wintibird]

An early start today to the village of Folay at the edge of the Banni Grassland. We walked around in the fields near the village. Lesser Whitethroats were everywhere, Cranes called in the distance and we also had a Marshall's Iora. But the star of the morning was found a bit later: Grey Hypocolius. With a group from the Bombay Natural History Society I watched a female and two males feeding on berries. Some Rufous-fronted Prinias were a good addition to my growing lifer-list too.

Later we went on to Banni Grassland which is very dry at this time of the year. Vaibhav located a group of 13 Cream-coloured Coursers, here at the edge of their range.
At the so called Birdrock we found Red-tailed Wheatears. We had lunch and went on through Banni, passing many Common Cranes, Desert Wheatears, some Isabelline Wheaters and many Shrikes. Finally we found our target: White-browed or Stolickzka' Bushchat. Also two Short-eared Owls were noted and some Asian Desert Warblers. Then we went back to Moti Virani for lunch.

In the late afternoon we went out again to Banni. My first Long-billed Pipit was there. We waited quite some time near the hole of a Desert Cat and were rewarded with a short look of the back and another of the face of this beautiful mammal.
On the way back we found a very nice and posing Sykes's Nightjar on the road and a Pallid Scops-Owl just beside it. The last pudding was an Indian Eagle-Owl in the spotlight of our car.

[wintibird]

In the morning we went searching White-naped Tit and ..... failed. A cold wind may have been the reason, but also my schedule may have been to tight. In the nearby village of Rampur some compensation came in the form of 4 Sykes's Larks, 2 Yellow-wattled Lapwings and some Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse.
We finally gave in and went on to Mandvi, a town near the coast of the golf of Khutch. In a large waterbody Great, Indian and Little Cormorant were there to compare and 2 Oriental Darters completed the family.
At the coast many Greater Flamingos were present, some Terns (Lesser Crested, Gull-billed and Sandwich) and Gulls (Heuglin's, Pallas's and one Steppe). Also waders were there, notably some Tereks, Sanderlings and both Sandplovers. On the rocks were some Oystercatcher hanging around, joinded by beautiful Greater Thick-knees and some Turnstone. But we had to walk quite a distance to find the main target, Crab-plover. We succeeded and found the impressive number of 71 birds present. A magnificent Black-necked Stork joined in and we left the beach at sunset, having had some excellent birding.

[wintibird]

My last day in Khutch. The question was to search for White-naped Tit again or to try for Bustards. I decided for the latter even if the chances were low.
So we started to Nalyia Grassland. First we found a White-eyed Buzzard, later some Griffon Vultures and an Egyptian Vulture. Long-legged Buzzard was common. A Sirkeer Malkoha was also nice for the trip-list, so was a Black Francolin, but still no sign of any Bustards.
We stopped then for two Yellow-wattled Lapwings when the driver asked about four big birds to the left. There they were: Great Indian Bustard. We had good views until all four flew off because a big group of cattle came. What a good bird. They are now hard to see here as the grassland is converted into farmland more and more. The local guides think that they will be gone from the area in a couple of years.

After a succesful search for a Peregrine of the babylonicus subspecies we went to a windpark at the coast. Waders were plenty, including some Curlew Sandpipers, Sandplovers and many more. A group of 40 Lesser Flamingos was nice in the sunset and two Black-necked Storks were great too.

In the evening it was to say goodbye from CEDO in Moti Virani. Vaibhav was an excellent guide and companion and I can highly recommend CEDO for this beautiful region.

[wintibird]

Today I left Moti Virani for the 6.5h travel to Dasada near the Little Rann of Kutch. Out of curiosity I started to count the bigger roadside birds. At the end I had 54 Indian Rollers and 49 Black-shouldered Kites.

After some lunch in Dasada I met Riswan, my guide for the next 2.5 days. We went for some countryside birding, seeing a Pallid Harrier, a Greater Spotted Eagle, an Eastern Orphean Warbler, many Shrikes (Long-tailed, Southern Grey, Brown, Isabelline and Bay-backed), Wheatears (Variable, Desert and Isabelline), Silverbills and, new for me, a group of Black-breasted Weavers.

At sunset we arrived at a small lake which hold Greylag Geese, Common Cranes, Flamingos (mainly Lesser), some Pelicans and many ducks and waders.

[wintibird]

Today we headed for the Little Rann itself. The Rann is a huge saltpan, flooded with water in the rainy season and completly dry otherwise. As it had rained yesterday it was quite difficult to get there, but Riswan managed to find a way. We soon say some Wild Asses, locally called Khur. Then Riswan spotted the main target: Houbara Bustard. We managed to see 6 birds in total, all pretty shy and far away.
Some Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouses were nice and close. Larks were plentiful, big flocks of Greater Short-tailed Larks were around, Indian Bushlarks, some Bimaculated Larks, Ashy-crowned Sparrow-larks, Rufous-tailed Larks and in the saltpans we saw a Greater Hoopoe-lark.
On the way back I spotted my first Sarus Cranes. A couple was feeding together with some Common Cranes, allowing a nice comparison of the size.

In the afternoon we tried the fields for White-tailed and Sociable Plovers / Lapwings. But as the rain was poor this year in the region they have probably moved to somewhere else and we didn't find any.

[wintibird]

This morning we went further south to the Wild Ass Sanctuary. Raptors were our main target and we were not to be dissapointed. Soon we found 3 Eastern Imperial Eagles, sitting on some higher ground. Steppe Eagles were plentiful and I always tried to find a Tawny Eagle, but at closer look they all turned out to be Steppe.
We checked the Tundi Wetland where many ducks, herons, flamingos and waders were seen, most notably 3 Mallards which are pretty rare here.
An Egyptian Vulture in the sky was accompanied by 2 other raptors and they were, ta-dah, Tawny Eagles.

In the afternoon we went to the Wetland near Dasada again, were our car got stuck. While Riswan and his collegues were trying to get out a Falcon flew through and it was clearly another new species, a Laggar Falcon this time. So the raptor list was now quite large and the fact that we missed Red-necked Falcon was no problem as I had seen the species before.

[wintibird]

Yesterday was just travelling: 2.5 hrs in a car to Ahmedabad, a flight to Mumbai, 4.5 hrs hanging around at the airport, a flight to Nagpur and a 4.5hrs drive to Chikhaldara.
But still we started at 6.30 in the morning and drove through the dry forest of the Tiger Reserve to the Owlet place. We finally arrived and went out looking. After 5 minutes I spotted the first bird, sitting on a branch: a Forest Owlet! I was surprised how easy they were to find, but also how quickly the moved around. We managed to see two birds, but I couldn't photograph them as they never rested long enough. Other birds were White-eyes, Great Tit, a Black-rumped Flameback, Indian Nuthatch, Jungle Prinia, some Hume's Leaf-Warbler, a nice Sulphur-bellied Warbler, some Siberian Chiffchaffs, Plum-headed Parakeets and some other common forest species.

In the afternoon I relaxed in Chikhaldara and did some open country birding around the town, finding some nice Black-loreds (or Indian) Tits.

[wintibird]

Today we went earlier to the Forest Owlet place but we also had to search longer. After watching a beautiful male White-naped Flameback we spotted an Owlet and this time I could make some pictures and even a little film. A great bird and worth the long travel.
Other birds were few, a single Alexandrine Parakeet made its way on the list, but otherwise birding was very slow and I was surprised about the lack of raptors. We spotted a single White-eyed Buzzard, some Common Kestrels, a Shikra and a Black-shouldered Kite.

In the afternoon I repeated my open country birding, finding some nice Leaf-Warblers, Black Redstart of the rufiventris form, Red-breasted Flycatcher and a group of Large Grey Babblers.

The next day I travelled back to Nagpur to find my flights to the south cancelled. I lost my faith in Kingfisher Airlines pretty much and will surely choose another airline next time. In the end I was rerouted to Hyderabad, where I had to spend the night and reached Chennai the next morning, 16hrs later than anticipated.

Now I'm back in Pondycherry where I relax a bit first before I will try to find some new species down here.

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Winti..while reading your report..i started salivating......oh my Singh God..the birds you have seen in my Motherland.....love it my friend...hoping to see some pictures too.Regards and keep it coming..it's keeping my mind on birding..lol.

[wintibird]

Pictures will come, don't worry doctor.

Back in Pondy today an Osprey was a nice surprise in the middle of the town at the seaside.
In the afternoon I went to Ousteri Lake with my friend Dilip. We say Small Minivet, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Common Iora, Yellow-billed Babblers, Cotton Pygmy Goose, many Wigeons on the lake, Asian Openbill, Purple Herons and a big flock of Night-Herons. All in all a nice start into a new birding year. Tomorrow I will be out there again to show some local schoolkids their birds

[wintibird]

Birding at Ousteri was quite nice, I managed to add quite some species to my trip list. Nice were some Blue-faced Malkohas, a Small Minivet (which I've never seen before here in Pondy), a male Asian Paradise-Flycatcher, some cute Cotton Teals, Ashy Prinias, a Black-rumped Flameback, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Purple Swamp-hen, Paddyfield Pipit and nice displaying Jerdon's Bushlark.

[wintibird]

We left Pondicherry for Madurai where I didn't do much birding. House Swifts around the temple were nice.
After Madurai we went to Chennai which is just to big for me.... So I escaped on one day to Vedanthangal, a nice sanctuary some 1.5hrs by car to the south. The tank was full of birds, but the first nice surprise was a Spotted Owlet which showed nicely. Openbills, Painted Storks, Spot-billed Pelicans, Grey Herons, Black-crowned Night-herons, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Oriental Darter, Little Cormorant, Northern Pintails.......... that's Vedanthangal. The air was full of the sound of the birds and we saw many chicks in the nests.
Two White-eyed Buzzard on the way back were a nice addition to the daylist.

[wintibird]

1: Crab Plover near Mandvi, Gujarat
2: Greater Flamingoes near Mandvi, Gujarat
3: Indian Eagle Owl near Gingee Fort, Tamil Nadu
4: Cream-coloured Courser at Banni Grassland, Gujarat
5: Brown Rock-chat, near Moti Virani, Gujarat

[wintibird]

1: Sykes's Nightjar, Banni Grassland, Gujarat
2: Shaheen Falcon (local subspecies of Peregrine), Gingee Fort, Tamil Nadu
3: House (or Striolated) Bunting, near Moti Virani, Gujarat
4: Grey Hypocolius, Folay, Gujarat
5: Great Indian Bustard, Nalyia Grassland, Gujarat

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Wonderful pictures my friend....keep them coming..love the report..:thanks.

[Larry Wheatland]

Some cracking droolworthy birds there Andre. A reminder to me that three 6 month visits to India isn't enough! Nice one.

[wintibird]

On the 13th I took a taxi at 4.30am to Pulicat Lake in troubled Andhra Pradesh. There were no troubles around there so the ride was absolutely safe. After Sullurpet I begann birding with some singing Oriental Skylarks and some Booted Warblers hiding in bushes.
Waders were plentiful, mainly Temminck's Stints and Little Stints. Wood, Green, Common and Marsh Sandpiper, Ruff and Spotted and Common Redshank were around in good numbers but I didn't find a single Sandplover this year. Strange.
In a big flock of Wigeons and Pintails some Bar-headed Geese were a nice find. One of them had a red neck collar and I took some record shots.
I took the road to Venadu as the area around Shriharikota was already dry. There were around 5 to 6000 Greater Flamingos out there! Under the Little Egrets one grey individuum was an interesting sight. The body was light grey, the bill black, the feet typical for Little and the face whitish. But compared with some pure white Little Egrets there was no difference in size or shape.
In the bushes at the shore I found my first Indian Silverbills for South India. After looking for this species for years and having seen now hundreds of them in Gujarat this was a good last surprise.

Back in Chennai it was packing and leaving for the airport shortly before midnight to get back to cold, snowy Europe. As Larry said in the last post: You have never done enough birding in India......

André

[wintibird]

1: Common and Sarus Crane, near Dasada, Gujarat
2: Spot-billed Pelican, Vedanthangal, Tamil Nadu
3: Forest Owlet, Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra
4: Grey-necked Bunting, near Moti Virani, Gujarat
5: Great Thick-knee, Coast near Mandvi, Gujarat

[wintibird]

Some more pictures:
1) Indian Cormorants (or Indian Shag), Mandvi, Gujarat
2) Asian Openbills, Vedanthangal, Tamil Nadu
3) Rufous-tailed Shrike, 1st winter, near Moti Virani, Gujarat
4) Bar-headed Geese, Pulicat Lake, Andhra Pradesh

The Bar-headed Goose with the neck collar was ringed in July 2009 in Mongolia. This was the first sighting since then!