Summer Birding at Kanha

Birding and Winters go hand in hand in most part of India. I have realized that summer birding at Central Indian Tiger Reserves is as fruitful. The reason is simply you see more birds with less eye strain because of the canopy that has thinned down. Another reason is that most of the passerine birds nest during the months of April May June and July.  

The lure of the tiger is best satiated during the summer months. 

Recently I was at Kanha National Park with clients from UK both avid birders and tiger lovers.  The land of the tiger Kanha National Park is situated in the State of Madhya Pradesh in India. The park is known precisely as just that.  But the tiger reserve is a fantastic birding paradise with more than

Me With Guest at Courtyard House Kanha

two hundred fifty avian species to checklist. Hence we set on a three day safari with eyes on the winged wonders. We could not indulge in roadside birding as my guests came seperately from Nagpur.

In the course of birding we also saw a huge male tiger named as Munna the loved one.

Our checklist is as follows:

Shama
Indian Scimitar Babbler
Scaly Breasted Munia
Black Headed Munia
Indian Silverbill
Painted Francolin
Grey Francolin
Magpie Robin
Indian Robin
Whitebreasted Waterhen
Red Jungle Fowl
Red Spurfowl
Black Naped Monarch
Chestnut Tailed Starling
Brahminy Starling
Pied Starling
Common Myna
Brown Cheeked Fulvetta
Tawny Babbler
Red Wattled Lapwing
Jungle Owlet
Spotted Owlet
Iora
Plum Headed Parakeet
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
White Bellied Drongo
Black Drongo
Racket Tailed Drongo
Orange Headed Ground Thrush
Paddy Field Pipit
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Gray Headed Fishing Eagle
Crested Hawk Eagle
Crested Serpent Eagle
Peacock
Chestnut Shouldered Petronia
Black Rumped Flameback
Shikra
Little Green Beeater
Large Billed Crow
House Sparrow
Rufus Treepie
White Eye
Black Lored Tit
Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch
Little Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Large Egret
Open Billed Stork
Whitebreasted Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Lesser Whistling Teal
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Wooly Necked Stork
Great Tit
Greater Coucal
Indian Cuckoo
Hawk Cuckoo
Red Rumped Swallows
Pond Heron
Black Headed Oriole
Golden Oriole
Coppersmith Barbet
Brown Headed Barbet
Yellow Legged Green Pigeon
Puff Throated Babbler
Rain Quail (Calls)
Plain Prinia
Ashy Prinia
Gray Breasted Prinia
Common Tailorbird
Zitting Sisticola
Jungle Babbler
Large Gray Babbler
Large Cuckoo Shrike
Indian Pitta (Calls)
Yellow Crowned Woodpecker
Common Gray Hornbill
Common Hoopoe
Indian Roller
Pied Bushchat
Common Bushchat
Asian Koel
Crested Treeswifts
Indian Nightjar
Savanna Nightjar
Spotted Dove
Oriental Turtle Dove
Laughing Dove
Red Collared Dove
Eurasian Thicknee
Black Shouldered Kite
White Backed Vulture
White Eyed Buzzard
Little Grebe
Black Headed Ibis
Long Tailed Shrike
Small Minivet
Long Tailed Minivet
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Red Vented Bulbul
Yellow Eyed Babbler
Purple Sunbird

We visited the buffer zone besides the core area for bird watching. The six jeep safaris were quite rewarding as well.

The mammals we saw  

Tiger
Sambar
Barking Deer
Spotted Deer
Black Naped Hare
Jackal
Swamp Deer
Wild Boar
Langur
Bison

The jeep driver Santosh of Courtyard House Kanha had a sharp eyesight and added avian species to our tally.  The tour was well organized by the Coutryard House a wonderful accommodation at Kanha periphery.

Spanish Nature Birding Tour to India - Peter Jones

Peter & Gajinder Singh

Peter strikes rapport with astounding ease and his birding skills are as astounding. He is the tour leader for Spanish Nature Birding Company. And most widely traveled on ornithological quest. 

I had the pleasure of  birding along with him as tour leader from DMC side (Indiafootprints). We had an exhaustive bird watching tour from November 15th to 4th  December. tour Highlights -  Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur, Nainital - Sat Tal, Chambal River Sanctuary, Kanha National Park and Pench Tiger Reserve. 

As TL/birding guide, accompanying Peter was a learning experience. His professional skills go beyond spotting and identifying the avian species, being more analytical he could enlighten us a lot on morphology and flight patterns of raptors and birds with uniform characteristics like warblers, pipits and larks.

He loves his beer and jokes around a lot. The best evenings on tour I spent with him by the fireside....beer, bites and his ever accompanying wit.  He is generous and helps the locals wherever he goes. Part of this blog entry and photographs have been published on my blog from his blog which is a professional work and highly informative. With his permission!     

He is an excellent bird photographer with professional skills, his work can also be seen on Facebook.

Desert Warbler - Peter Jones/Spanish Nature

The most exciting moment was discovery of Desert Warbler at Dhikala Complex in Corbett Tiger Reserve. Our accompanying local guide Gajendra Singh spotted it in the complex towards Dhikala Chaud. Peter sighted European Roller at Kanha a rarity in these parts.

Bonelli's Eagle - Peter Jones/Spanish Nature.

Throughout the tour our checklist raced along with supersonic speed and we could sight most of the targeted species. We managed to spot Ibisbill, Greater Painted Snipe, Jack Snipe, Indian Skimmer, Great Hornbill, Eurasian Wryneck, Southern Grey Shrike, Clamorous Reed Warbler,  Altai Accentor, Mountain Hawk Eagle and many many more. 

Painted Snipe- Peter Jones/Spanish Nature.

Red Headed Bunting - Peter Jones/Spanish Nature.

The tour was in two parts and the last leg was in Central India - Kanha National Park and Pench Tiger Reserve. We managed to trek a big male tiger and the rest of the time of tour was spent on extensive bird watching. The reserves are best for forest birds and become more exciting in winters whence migrant arrive. 

Visit Spanish Nature Birding Blog for the checklist compiled by Peter Jones.

Spanish Nature Tour Company

Birding at Corbett National Park

Corbett is more popular for tigers than for any other species. But Corbett is the best place to see many animals and birds. One can see Indian elephants, goral, hog deer, leopard and the sloth bear in the National Park.  Birding is popular inside the park as well as in the buffer zone.

Corbett is a rich bird habitat and around five hundred species of bird thrive in the park. The figure includes winter migrants. The best season for bird watching in Corbett tiger reserve is winter from October onwards whence the migrants start arriving. The bird species found are typical to the terai region of Himalayan foothills. 

On a bird watching tour one can see a large number of birds. It is easy to spot maroon oriole, spangled drongo, Giant horn bill, Siberian ruby throat, warblers, green billed malkoha, red breasted parakeets, Asian paradise flycatchers, Small and Rosy minivet. Corbett is the best place to see Pallas fishing eagles which inhabit the confines of Ramganga River. Another interesting species to be seen is the Ibis bill at Koshi River outside the park.   Pied falconet, Crested Serpent eagle and Hawk eagle are also seen easily. Brown Hawk Owl and Tawny Eagle Owl can be often seen. Hodgson’s Bushchat along with lesser coucal can be seen near the dam in the grasslands.

Most of winter migrants to North are found in Corbett. The resident bird is in great numbers some of them are:

Black chinned babbler, White crested laughing thrush, Black chinned Yuhina, Yellow footed green pigeon, Chestnut headed bee eater,  Black Hooded Oriole, White Bellied Drongo, Dusky fish owl,  Kaleej Pheasant,  Grey Crowned Pigmy Woodpecker, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Lesser fishing Eagle, White Rumped vulture, Chestnut headed tesia, White rumped shama, Pin Tailed Green Pigeons, Black Francolin, Oriental pied hornbill, Himalayan Bulbul, Red whiskered bulbul, Black Headed Stork, Black bulbul,  Ashy Bulbul, Lineated Barbet, Crimson Throated Barbet, Grey Bush Chat, Himalayan Flame back, Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch, Crested Kingfisher, Ruddy Shelducks, Stork Billed Kingfisher, Thick Billed Flowerpecker, Crimson Sun Bird,  Rufous Woodpecker, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker and Great Tit.

At Corbett a stay on bird watching trip results interesting sightings. In order to spot many birds the tour should be of long duration.  It is important that the birder is accompanied by and experienced guide from the park or one on hire.

Summer Birding at Kanha Nattional Park

On recent trip to Kanha with friends, I check listed some interesting birds. The park was completely devoid of winter visitors and this was an opportunity to map the skeleton of Kanha's resident avi fauna.

We were on a wild life safari combined with bird watching tour at Kanha in Central India. Kanha by all means has interesting bird species which numbers more than 250 in winters. In between the hot tiger chase I could manage to spot many birds and hear calls of that which we could not see.

Some of the birds sighted were.

Malabar Pied Horn Bill

Common Grey Horn Bill

Black Naped Monarch

Paradise Flycatcher

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

White Browed Fan Tail Flycatcher

Indian Pitta

Black Hooded Oriole

Golden Oriole

Painted Francolin

Grey Francolin

Wooly Necked Stork

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Common Iora

Common Tailor Bird

Indian Scimitar Babbler (Calls)

Puff Throated Babbler

Jungle Babbler

Common Myna

Bamani Myna

Crested Serpent Eagle

Shikra

Honey Buzzard

Back Rumped Vulture

Collared Scops Owl

Brown Fish Owl (Calls)

Spotted Owlet

Barn Owl

Red Wattled Lapwing

Cattle Egret

Little Egret

Large Egret

Long Tailed Minivet

Lesser Whistling Teal

Gold Fronted Leaf Bird

Purple Sun Bird

White Rumped Shama (Calls)

Ashy Prinia

Grey Breasted Prinia (Calls)

Plain Prinia

Plum Headed Parakeet

Alexanderine Parakeet

Rose Ringed Parakeet

Black Throated Munia

Rufus Treepie

Greater Coucal

Red Jungle Fowl

Painted Spur Fowl

Indian Night Jar (Calls)

White Eye (Calls)

Crested Tree Swift

Wire Tailed Swallow

Common Kingfisher

White Throated Kingfisher

Lesser Pied Kingfisher

Greater Racket Tailed Drongo

Black Drongo

White Bellied Drongo

White Cheeked Ground Thrush

This popular National Park in India offers pleasant surprises for those in for holistic experience. People singularly obsessed with tiger chase miss lot. Bird life is a vital component of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh in India.

Birding at Chambal River Sanctuary

Though primarily notified to protect marsh crocodiles and gharials Chambal River sanctuary offers a fine birding opportunity. The river passes through many states chiefly Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in India.

Chambal is visited by tourist on bird watching tours for check listing birds like the Indian Skimmer along with Bar Headed goose and Ruddy Shelled ducks. For birding a cruise on the river offers sightings of Indian Skimmers, River and Black Bellied terns, Raptors like Bonelli’s Eagle, Booted Eagle and Long Legged buzzard. The added attraction of is sighting crocodiles, gharials and river dolphins.

On the river banks a birder can see sand larks, pratincole, ruddy breasted crakes, wheatears and raptors. The skimmers are the star attraction among birding groups. Chambal is the breeding grounds for skimmers in India.

Wintering ducks like shovellers, pintails, common teals and many others can be seen here in cold seasons.

Birding Tour

It was one of my finest birding tour at Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Kumaon Hills in Uttranchal state. A visit to new places always delivers sightings of new bird species which one is not familiar with.

My recent tour as tour leader and birding guide for India Footprints a leading tour operator that specializes in bird watching tours to India was a journey of discovery. We were able to checklist more than 200 species in Bharatpur in Rajasthan state. We check listed around hundred species in Sattal in Nainital district and similar number in Corbett National Park in Uttranchal state.

Though Corbett and Bharatpur birding sanctuary are well known destinations Sat tal is less known. It is few kilometers from Nainital at height of approximately 4000 plus feet. It has an interesting avi fauna as Kalij Pheasant, Golden Robin, Streaked Laughing Thrush, white throat ed and striated laughing thrush, rusty cheeked scimitar babbler and black chinned babbler. There are interesting species of wood peckers, flycatchers, robins, and owls.

It will require a stay of at least seven days to checklist a large number of species a visit to Pangot few kilometers away will yield more unique species since it is at greater height.

I have lead many birding tour in India but this was the best in terms of bird sightings and wildlife watching a Corbett.

Most interesting part of bird watching is the company of bird lovers that form a part of your group and of course the tour operator that provides the service.