Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Birding at Courtyard House Kanha - With Tiger Roaring

For three consecutive days the tiger was roaring throughout the night near the Courtyard House at Kanha. Forests and water body surround the resort all around and this is where the wild animals find shelter. Situated in the buffer zone the property stands isolated from the hustle and bustle of near by villages fast getting urbanized.   

The guests Tina & Bob from UK could not hear the tiger roaring placed as they were in secured rooms. Full of modern amenities the insulated accommodation does not allow outside sound to budge in.   
Courtyard House - Kanha National Park

I would ask them every day if they manged to hear the cat calling. No was their usual reply. Anyway then one day we were scheduled to go birding early morning nearby. I did not hear the roar the night before but as soon as I came out of my room I froze in my tracks. The tiger was calling from near by patch of forest. I rushed to the Coutyard House and called my guests. 

"Yes we can hear," they affirmed excited. As we were proceeding towards the Manegaon Village Road the animal moved into the deep recess as we could make out from the diminishing roars. Well a good beginning leads to good results as we saw: 

Oriental Scops Owl
Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
Barn Swallows
Plum Headed Parakeets
Brown Shrike
Great Tit
Barred Jungle Owlet
Black Headed Oriole
Large Grey Cuckoo Shrike
Purple Sunbird
Scaly Breasted Munia
Indian Silver Bill
Racket Tailed Drongo
White Bellied Drongo
Black Drongo
Black Redstart
Black Naped Monarch
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Calls)
Greenish Warbler (Calls)
Coucal
Black Shouldered Kite
Magpie Robin
Shikra
Green Sandpiper
Green Bee Eater
Large Billed Crow
Alexandrine Parakeet
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Gold Mantled Leaf Bird
Red Rumped Swallow
Rufous Treepie
White Eye
Gray Breasted Prinia
Plain Prinia
Ashy Prinia

The tiger had moved deep into the forests of Kanha by the time we finished our bird watching trip. We visited the village as part of our activity that day.