India Nov (2020 - postponed) (2021 - postponed again) 2022: First time (for Alex), mostly birding (for all)

[xelas]

Back to the main event ... birding. Despite the fact that we have bagged some cool birds already, a proper birding have just started.

 

On our 6 days of birding in Goa (the state) and outside we have been guided by mr. Savio Fonseca from https://birding.avocet-peregrine.com . He sent us a detailed program well in advance, which I have skipped to read completely. Therefore the buzzer of my phone woke me up on 9th at 05:30 completely unprepared! What, why, where?! Outside was pitch dark. Did no one told mr. Savio that my camera does not operate without some decent light?!

 

Oh well, it was too late for any changes, so off we went. Our first target was "Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary" located in the estuary of the Mandovi river. After a short car drive and a quick ferry ride we have boarded a boat of a decent size but not so decent comfort. Signs of what a true hardcore birder has to endure to get what she/he is looking for. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

Savio prepared a long list of target birds. Me, I was happy to find any at all, and Zvezda, she did the best to capture them in not so favourable conditions.

 

Kingfishers are always a hit, being a well known (for us) Common or a lifer Black-capped:

 

 

 

 

 

Most of other birds were browsing the muddy banks or were sitting in the trees on the bank. Here and in other places I will give preference to those birds which will not be posted also in BY selection. Mainly immigrants from EU, like below Common Greenshank with Common Redshank and Little Egret.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In total we have captured 36 species of birds here. But many were really well hidden, like this Black-crowned Night-Heron:

 

 

 

Up in the sky there were no obstacles. A Gull-billed Tern, A Black-headed Ibis and one Brahminy Kite looking to steal the snack from an Osprey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All said, it was a pleasant and relaxed day on the river. Not too hot or humid. Before embarking the ferry we have had a breakfast in a local cafe (or whatever the place is). Omelettes were made on spot and were very tasty, with obligatory cup of Masala chai.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by xelas

[janzin]

>>Here and in other places I will give preference to those birds which will not be posted also in BY selection.<<

 

Oh that's disappointing. Not all of us want to be sucked into all those BY posts   I was really hoping to see the INDIAN birds in this thread! Please reconsider   (And in all seriousness, I think most folks who come by ST more casually or via a search don't even know about the BY threads and are looking for trip reports etc.)

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by janzin

[xelas]

Our next birding location required a longer drive; Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary & Mollem National Park is about 60 kms or 2 hrs drive away. It is a forested area where we have been introduced to commands like: "Get down!" and "In that tree" or "on the branch" ... which honestly did not helped me much. Martin and me were sitting in the rear of the car and hearing "Get down, get down!" from Savio we started to scramble for our place on the floor of the car. As there was none we have just sit tight until we realised we should exit the car as there was a bird spotted on the left side of the car "in that tree" (remember we are in the forest now), and "on that branch" - which usually are many on every single tree. 

But those are just complains from a lazy birder who would prefer to have all his birds photographed from the inside of a pool . 

 

In reality, Savio is one dedicated birder with very good spotting capabilities and sharp eye and ear. If only he would be willing to use the laser pointer ; on the other side, he did took photo of each and every bird and later he added those to eBird checklist thus my work of identifying more difficult birds like Warblers or Pipits is much easier.

 

Some photos from the forest part.

 

 

Termite mounds ...

 

... and how to avoid driving over!

 

Sahyadri Forest Lizard - Monilesaurus rouxii

 

Rhesus Macaque

 

 

Only for bikers!

 

A late afternoon lunch at a roadside restaurant.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by xelas

[xelas]

After the late lunch we have changed the location and spotting and photographing birds become easier. A selection is made of the 47 species photographed in that area.

From top to bottom are:

 

A pair of Ashy Woodswallows

A moulting Purple Sunbird

A Common Hawk-Cuckoo

An Ashy Drongo

A photobombing Red-whiskered Bulbul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it would become a norm we have came to the Wildflower Villas well after the sunset but still in time for a dinner.

Edited December 20, 2022 by xelas

[xelas]

28 minutes ago, janzin said:

>>Here and in other places I will give preference to those birds which will not be posted also in BY selection.<<

 

Oh that's disappointing. Not all of us want to be sucked into all those BY posts   I was really hoping to see the INDIAN birds in this thread! Please reconsider   (And in all seriousness, I think most folks who come by ST more casually or via a search don't even know about the BY threads and are looking for trip reports etc.)

 

 

Reconsidered ... and accepted ! To give you more of the Indian birds in this TR also Martin can help.

Edited December 14, 2022 by xelas

[Soukous]

37 minutes ago, janzin said:

Oh that's disappointing. Not all of us want to be sucked into all those BY posts   I was really hoping to see the INDIAN birds in this thread! Please reconsider   (And in all seriousness, I think most folks who come by ST more casually or via a search don't even know about the BY threads and are looking for trip reports etc.)

 

I know you're not a fan of Big Year @janzinbut it is a place where you'll find ALL the Indian birds I saw & @xelassaw. 

We'll bump up the bird count here just for you though.

[Soukous]

14 minutes ago, xelas said:

I was really hoping to see the INDIAN birds in this thread!

 

OK

@xelashas already shown you an Asian Paradise Flycatcher, beautifully captured but it was the same red plumage you see in other places.

In India it also comes in glorious black & white.

 

 

 

 

[janzin]

Thank you @xelasand @Soukousfor reconsidering  

 

That white morph Paradise Flycatcher is a stunner! I have never seen it in India but actually saw it's close relative in Madagascar.

 

[xelas]

2 hours ago, janzin said:

I have never seen it in India but actually saw it's close relative in Madagascar.

I have seen more white than cinnamon birds.

[Galana]

@SoukousGood to see your old visa is now re-validated. I share your bewilderment at how this whole thing has been operated.

 

Nice collection @xelas. Love the Black-capped Kingfisher.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Galana

[Atravelynn]

White Asian Paradise Flycatcher looks like a make believe fairy!

[xelas]

The second day started even earlier! wake-up call at 04:30, pick-up time at 05:00! The reason for such an early start was a good one; one night at Old Magazine House in Karnataka. We have used (or maybe not as it was dark half of the way) the same route as the day before. When the light came up I could see that where we were driving it was all green and lush ... a very different scenery to what I have expected.

 

 

 

 

After a brief breakfast we continued to a place called Castle Rock. It was kind of a roadside birding, with some excellent birds. 

 

 

 

 

Orange Minivet female

 

Eurasian Hoopoe (for @michael-ibk)

 

Black-headed Cuckooshrike

 

And the First Prize! You can see that the birders in this group were all 100% focused on getting a good shot.

 

 

And here it is! Malabar Trogon both male and female! Really fantastic colourful bird. And they are much more difficult to approach as those trogons we have seen in Costa Rica.

 

male

 

female

 

 

After this exhilarating encounter we have had a different one; in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops a man arrived on his bike. After a short but intense conversation with our guide we were told to "pack our things and go". Supposedly that was a local ranger or other local official and the reason for him being unnerved was that "there are tigers there". OK, we have seen a sign with a tiger up the valley ... but seriously?! You in your flip-flops on that bike ... even a cow would be faster. Anyway, Savio promised us another birding spot, and breakfast, so we followed the command. Luckily the man arrived after we've got the first prize .

 

An hour later we did stop for breakfast and some birding along dried rice fields. Zvezda wisely decided to guard the car while the three of us wandered to the other end for a rare bird. We got it but as I had a camera those interested to see the Square-tailed Bulbul would have to wait either for Martin to post his photo or to our BY; look under the EBC category. Same location this tiny warbler did gave me a chance for a decent photo.

 

Blyth's Reed Warbler

 

Also Zvezda had a visitor of a more imposing stature and glaring look.

 

Crested Serpent-Eagle

 

Speaking of serpents, rice fields are the place where one can find them. There were signs of snakes around (shed skin) but no snake visible. Better so since they can be quite dangerous. 

 

Next stop was to admire the huge water reservoir named Supa Dam. The Old Magazine House was just that; the hose where they have stored the explosives used in constructing the dam. We were warned that this is a very basic place to sleep and eat but those warnings were unfounded as we discovered later.

 

 

Tamil Lacewing - Cethosia mahratta

 

[Soukous]

I'm already impressed with how many non-bird photos you took Alex. 

[Soukous]

In trying to accommodate @janzinand her request for a full gamut of Indian birds I must not get ahead of @xelasnarrative. I must also try to work out which birds I can count as 'Indian' birds. So many that I saw were the same as those we get in Europe or overlapped with species I saw in Australia.

 

Red-wattled Lapwing

 

 

Painted Stork

 

 

White-bellied Waterhen

 

 

White-throated Kingfisher

 

 

 

Indian Golden oriole

 

 

[janzin]

Ohhh Malabar Trogon, great looks and excellent shots! One I really hope to see!

 

@SoukousI am happy to see any and all of the birds, not just the "Indian" ones! 

 

[xelas]

We have arrived at Old Magazine House - https://www.oldmagazinehouse.com - just before noon. After filling the visitor's log we were shown to our rooms for a quick refreshing. Next we walked to the birding hide.

 

 

 

This hide is very different to ones I know from Africa. It is as basic as it can be: a set of water baths with adjoining perches while birders/photographers are hidden behind a plastic wall. But photo will show it better than I can describe it in words.

 

 

Not much action was going on so larger four-legged subjects suddenly became useful to dial-in proper camera settings.

 

Southern Flying Lizard - Draco dussumieri

 

Indian Giant Squirrel

 

 

Two hours later suddenly everyone disappeared. It was lunch time!

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by xelas

[xelas]

They did not come back before 3pm. And even then it was not much birding. For the next hour a solitary bird or squirrel; the monkey was a pleasant surprise.

 

 

Three-striped Palm Squirrel

 

 

Hanuman Langur

 

When the birds came, this is their "logistics" shown by Flame-throated Bulbul

 

first they sit in the bushes

 

then they flew to the perch

 

and finally to the bath

 

 

Some of the early arrivals looking for the refreshment. Although it was much cooler here than down by the sea.

 

Puff-throated Babler

 

Indian Yellow Tit

Edited December 20, 2022 by xelas

[xelas]

When sun dropped behind the hills the birds started to emerge. There was still enough light before 4pm (16:00) to keep our cameras ISO below 3200.

 

Puff-throated Babbler

 

Bronzed Drongo

 

Yellow-browed Bulbul

 

Dark-fronted Babbler

 

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher

 

Malabar Trogon

Edited December 15, 2022 by xelas

[xelas]

However after 4pm ISO hit the value of 6400 and shutter speed started to drop as fast as the sun .

 

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

 

Indian Paradise-Flycatcher

 

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

 

 

On certain moments there was like a rush hour for birds!

 

 

 

 

After 5pm only the modern software magic made photos to be presentable (but definitively not good).

 

Asian Emerald Dove

 

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

 

Orange-headed Thrush

 

[xelas]

By 6pm it was all over. No one used flash, or other type of artificial light. That gave us about 2 hours to go to the room, prepare the gear for the next day (all batteries were out of juice) and at 8pm it was time for the dinner. It was another tasty indian food prepared fresh and served with smiles!

 

 

 

 

Our room was simple but we have slept in more basic rooms. It was a sound and deep sleep for me. With a knowledge that next morning we will not get up before the sun .

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Bird-acious!  If that were a word!

[Soukous]

9 hours ago, xelas said:

It was another tasty indian food prepared fresh and served with smiles!

 

As Alex mentioned, we had been warned that the accommodation and food would be basic at Old Magazine House, but it was absolutely fine. I thought the food was pretty good, and always freshly prepared.

 

Not really much else for me to contribute here as @xelas has covered in thoroughly - well it is his TR. 

 

One bird he missed though, which I know Zvezda caught was this one

 

Golden-fronted Leafbird

 

here's another

 

Oriental Magpie Robin

 

and another

 

Blue-capped Rock Thrush

 

 

and not forgetting the Black-naped Monarch

 

 

and this was the place where we got our best sightings of the Giant Malabar Squirrel which provided entertainment while there were no birds

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Soukous

[Kitsafari]

gorgeous shots @xelas Zvezda and @Soukous. quite a few species there I haven't seen in the Southeast Asian side of the planet. 

 

the malabar giant squirrel is a treat. 

[TonyQ]

The light may have been difficult but you have some superb photos at high ISO