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BY 2022 - Soukous (even if there are no birds, you can still enjoy the music)


Soukous

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Dave Williams

Congrats on the 300, some really excellent images included. 

Your trip was more of a disaster than ours. We were psychologically damaged otherwise everything went smoothly. The abandoned trip and the ill health far worse to cope with. Like Fred though, you have completely changed my concept of a permanently sunny Australia!!

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On 10/23/2022 at 11:22 AM, Soukous said:

I only had 1 lens and it was just too close.

What about zooming with your feet :D?!

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Congratulations on the 300! I hope you're continuing to get better

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Excellent photos Martin, congrats on #300! Sorry to hear about your difficulties but you still got a lot of stunning birds. I'm jealous about your Terek, for some weird reason I'm not even getting myself I'm mildly obsessed with this bird. 

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16 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

congrats on #300!

Thanks Michael.  Let's put it in perspective though, you hit that milestone in May, so I'm not exactly racing along

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  • 1 month later...

The long awaited trip to India finally took place, but not before a few more obstacles had been thrown in the way just to ensure it wasn't smooth sailing.

 

At some point Indian govt decided that UK passport holders could no longer get eVisa. When I was initially told this I did not worry as I already had a visa in my passport, multiple entry valid until 2023. 

Just to be on the safe side I contacted the Indian High Commission and asked for clarification and was told that because my visa had been issued as an eVisa it was now cancelled. 

So, I went online and filled out the form for a 'paper' visa. That was the easy bit. It was seven weeks before my departure so I thought I had loads of time. Not so. Having filled out the form and submitted it, I then had to get an appointment. There were none available. 

I logged on again at 7am the next morning and found they had opened up 3 more days for appointments. I grabbed the earliest I could, on 28th October. My flight was on 7 November.

 

On 28 Nov I took the train down to London and went to the visa office, expecting to collect my visa. :( Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. 

This was just an appointment to check that I had filled in the form correctly. I then had to hand over my passport which would be sent to the Indian High Commission and then couriered back to me. 

 

To be fair it was a quick turnaround; my passport was delivered back to me on Friday 4th Nov. The last possible day.

 

So I had my passport and a visa, but fate had not finished with me yet.

On Monday 7th Nov there was a rail strike. No problem, I booked a National Express bus from Stansted to Heathrow. A mere 1.5 hours drive that would get me there 4 hours before my flight time.

 

No sooner had I got on the coach than the driver announced that the junction where the M11 joins the M25 was blocked. He was going to take an alternate route.

Long story short; it was not just that junction that was blocked, a group called 'Just Stop Oil' were holding protests and had climbed the motorway gantries at 4 or 5 points on the M25 and the whole motorway was grid locked. 

Then the driver informed us that because he had been driving for almost 4 hours (from his start point) he would have to stop and take a 45 minute break. You can imagine how that was received by a coach full of people with flights to catch.

 

The journey took 6 hours and 15 minutes. Instead of arriving 4 hours before my flight I arrived after it had departed.

 

Air India confirmed that because I had missed the outbound flight, the inbound flight would automatically be cancelled. I had to book another return flight. Luckily there was a flight that evening that would take me via Mumbai to Goa. Unluckily it would take 19 hours instead of the original 9 (my original flight was direct), and involved a 9 hour layover in Mumbai.

 

Instead of reaching Goa at 01:30 0n 8th Nov, I arrived at 23:00. 

 

We started birding at 6 am the next morning. And so it continued; Savio worked us hard, setting out in the dark and getting back to the lodge at about 8 pm. It was only on the third day that I saw the lodge in daylight for the first time.

 

We did see lots of birds though, and I could not have wished for better companions that Mr & Mrs Strazar. 

 

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Oh, and by the way.

It was announced yesterday that UK passport holders can now apply again for eVisa to India. Un **cking believable.

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So how about some birds...

 

Goa is a super place for birding, although the light is often poor and too many of them lurk about in dense forest.

 

The region has 8 Kingfishers, many more if you count the beers, and we managed to see 7 of them.

 

#322 - White-throated Kingfisher - Halcyon smyrnensis

Goa Nov 2023

 

White-throated Kingfisher

 

Common Kingfisher - already counted # 51

v

 

#323 - Stork-billed Kingfisher - Pelargopsis capensis

Goa, Nov 2023

Stork-billed Kingfisher

 

# 324 - Black-capped Kingfisher - Halcyon pileata - a lifer

Goa, Nov 2023

Black-capped Kingfisher

 

Black-capped Kingfisher

 

# 325 - Collared Kingfisher - Todiramphus chloris - a lifer

Goa, Nov 2023

Collared Kingfisher

 

# 326 - Blue-eared Kingfisher - Alcedo meninting - a lifer

Goa, Nov 2023

Blue-eared Kingfisher

 

Blue-eared Kingfisher

 

#327 - Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis

Goa, Nov 2023

Pied Kingfisher

 

Pied Kingfisher

 

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What a stressful start to your trip.

Some beautiful kingfishers to start us off.

It sounds like your guide worked you hard!

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Lovely set of kingfishers to start!

But what a nightmare of a journey to get there.  I hope you had a really good time while you were there to make up for it.

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1 hour ago, Tdgraves said:

Sorry to hear of your travel woes @Soukoushopefully the trip made up for it….

 

Indeed it did

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12 minutes ago, Zim Girl said:

Lovely set of kingfishers to start!

But what a nightmare of a journey to get there.  I hope you had a really good time while you were there to make up for it.

 

yes thanks

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What a terrible start of the journey, but also, what a beautiful collection of kingfishers!

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Good to see you made it there and back. Good birding awaited you.

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In honour of my travelling companions, and because I know how much you all want to see them, I will move on to everyone's favourite species, Bulbuls.

Luckily India has many varieties and some of them are actually quite lovely.

 

# 328 - Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer

Goa, Nov 2022

 

Red-vented Bulbul

 

# 329 - Red-whiskered Bulbul - Pycnonotus jocosus

Goa, Nov 2022

 

Red-whiskered Bulbul

 

Red-whiskered Bulbul

 

# 330 - Square-tailed Bulbul - Hypsipetes (leucocephalus) ganeesa

Goa, Nov 2022

 

Square-tailed Bulbul

 

#331 - Yellow-browed Bulbul - Acritillas indica

Karnataka, Nov 2022

 

Yellow-browed Bulbul

 

#332 - Flame-throated Bulbul - Pycnonotus (melanicterus) gularis

Goa, Nov 2022

 

Flame-throated Bulbul

 

Flame-throated Bulbul

 

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Wow. Good to find somebody who can make Bulbuls interesting. I must pay more attention from now on. Well done.

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More lovely photos.

The Red-whiskered  and the Flame-throated are particularly beautiful 

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Great selection with excellent photos! As a huge Bulbul aficionado I might even add a Bulbul or two :D.

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Babblers aplenty in India, we saw different ones, but I only managed photos of 5, none of them as noisy as the Slovenian Babbler :P

 

#333 - Dark-fronted Babbler - Rhopocichla atriceps

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Dark-fronted Babbler

 

not sure what the bird hogging the bath is

If, as suggested, this is a Malabar Whistling Thrush, then that counts as # 338 :D 

EDIT - but sadly it seems that @xelas has blown that ID out of the bird bath. He has much better photos for an ID and it looks very much like a White-bellied Blue Flycatcher - exactly as he said originally. 

stand-off

 

#334 - Jungle Babbler - Turdoides striata

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Jungle Babbler

 

# 335 - Yellow-eyed Babbler - Chrysomma sinense

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

Yellow-eyed Babbler

 

# 336 - Rufous Babbler - Turdoides subrufa

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

This was a memorable sighting, mostly because it was almost dark and our guide heard the birds as we were driving past. It was then a matter of trying to catch them as they popped their heads our of the foliage. It was also a good lesson in just how well the camera deals with low light.

 

Rufous Babbler

 

Rufous Babbler

 

# 337 - Puff-throated Babbler - Pellorneum ruficeps

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Puff-throated Babbler

 

Puff-throated Babbler

 

Puff-throated Babbler

 

Edited by Soukous
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Noisy as high ISO or noisy as loud talking :lol:. Excellent PP skills, ours are all shot at ISO 6400 with related "sandpaper film" effect.

 

The blue bird in the bath looks like a White-bellied Blue Flycatcher to me.

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11 hours ago, Soukous said:

not sure what the bird hogging the bath is

Whilst I like @xelasefforts I think it a bit big for a flycatcher and would suggest Malabar Whistling Thrush.

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11 hours ago, Galana said:

Whilst I like @xelasefforts I think it a bit big for a flycatcher and would suggest Malabar Whistling Thrush.

 

My feeling is Thrush rather than Flycatcher. It is on my list of sightings for that day & place. 

15 hours ago, xelas said:

Noisy as high ISO or noisy as loud talking :lol:

 

Oh come on, you know exactly what I mean. Not just loud but non-stop. Although I must say I enjoyed your commentary very much and I also enjoyed watching you befriend everyone we met. :rolleyes: Just as well really as Zvezda & I did not make a huge effort to socialise.

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One of the most contentious families of birds we encountered was the Warblers. The all skulked in shady foliage and they all looked very similar, so there were occasions when we all had different names for the same bird.

 

I am posting these with the names that I have on my list. I am sure that @xelas( or anyone else for that matter) will quickly correct any I have wrong.

 

#338 - Blyth's Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus dumetorum

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Blyth's Reed Warbler

 

Blyth's Reed Warbler

 

# 339 - Clamorous Reed Warbler - Arcocephalus stentoreus

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Clamorous Reed Warbler

 

# 340 - Booted Warbler - Iduna caligata

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Booted Warbler

 

Booted Warbler

 

# 341 - Western Crowned Warbler - Phylloscopus occipitalis

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

western-crowned-warbler

 

#342 - Sykes' Warbler - Iduna rama

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Sykes' Warbler

 

# 343 - Green Warbler - Phylloscopus (trochiloides) nitidus  or it might be Greenish Warbler - Phylloscopus trochiloides

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Green Warbler

 

the next one is not a Warbler

 

# 344 - Brown-cheeked Fulvetta - Alcippe poioicephala

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

 

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

 

 

 

Edited by Soukous
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As I mentioned earlier, our guide in Goa, Savio, kept us very busy.

It was quite an education for me as I have never done a dedicated birding trip with a guide before. My pace is usually much more leisurely. That said, I have no doubt that I would have only managed about 25% of the species if I had been on my own. Having someone who was so familiar with the region and the species we would encounter was a huge help.

 

The next collection is Foycatchers. I think we saw 7 species, although I did not manage photos of them all.

 

#345 - Tickell's Blue Flycatcher - Cyornis tickelliae

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

 

# 346 - White-bellied Blue Flycatcher - Cyornis pallipes

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher

 

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher

 

# 347 - Brown-breasted Flycatcher - Muscicapa muttui

Goa, India. Nov 2022

 

Brown-breasted Flycatcher

 

# 348 - Verditer Flycatcher - Eumyias thalassinus

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

This was one of the many birds I spotted rather late, so instead of a nice sharp shot of a perched bird, I have a blurry shot of a departing bird.

 

verditer-flycatcher1.jpg.ecd562b459ea8970ef0d0868baa8101b.jpg

 

#349 - Asian Paradise Flycatcher - Terpsiphone paradisi

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

 

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

 

# 350 - Black-naped Monarch - Hypothymis azurea

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

Black-naped Monarch

 

Black-naped Monarch

 

Black-naped Monarch

 

Edited by Soukous
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