Kanha Birding | pateluday on Mancouch

Kanha Birding | pateluday on Mancouch

Best birding in India | pateluday on Mancouch

Best birding in India | pateluday on Mancouch

Birds of Sat Tal & Pangot

Birding tours in Sat Tal and Pangot in Northern India

Both the destinations are equidistant from Nainital Hill Resort in the district of Nainital in Uttaranchal. Sat Tal is about 14 kilometers from Nainital while Pangot is at approximately the same distance. Pangot is at greater height of over 2000 meters MSL while Sat Tal is approximately at 1400 meters MSL.

Both the birding spot in North India display striking difference in species of birds found. The terrain at Pangot is rugged and steep but it is rewarding to work out if you wish to see:

Cheer Pheasant, Koklas Pheasant, Accentors, Peregrine Falcon, White browed shrike babbler,

Yellow browed tit, Spot winged tit, Ultra marine flycatcher, Himalyan Vulture, Dark-throated Thrush, Striated Prinia, Grosbeaks, Hill Partridge, Fire breasted flowerpecker, Himalayan Flameback, Siberian Bushchat, Lammergier, Upland Pipit, Lesser Racket Tailed Drongo, Chestnutbellied Rock Thrush,  Blue capped rock thrush, Verditor flycatcher  and many more.

Sattal is at a lesser height but offers larger number of species to be seen. Leaving the township the landscape is striking beautiful. Unfortunately the rivulets are gagged by plastic waste.  Occasional barking deer can be seen or heard in the forests.

Blue winged minla, Golden spectacled warbler, Eurasian Jay, Black headed Jay, Himalayan Bulbul, Winter Wren, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Khaleej Pheasant, Barred jungle owlet, Dollar bird, Striated laughing thrush, Grey bushchat, Green tailed sunbird,  Bar tailed tree creeper,  White tailed nuthatch, Dark throated sunbird, Blue winged shrike, blacknaped fblue lycatcher, Black eagle, Asian barred owlet, Besra, Fulvous breasted woodpecker, Long tailed broadbill, scaly wren, Lesser yellow nape, Rufus bellied woodpecker, Common Rose finch, Spotted Forktail, Bar winged flycatcher shrike, Crested Hawk Eagle, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Slaty-headed Parakeets, White throated babblers, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler,  Slaty backed Forktail, Black winged cuckoo shrike, Rufus Sibia, Lesser Yellownape, Red Billed Leiothrix, Small Niltava, Rufus Belied Niltava, Streaked Laughing Thrush, White Throated Dipper,Grey headed canary flycatcher, Grey Faced Warbler, Black Hooded Warbler, Rufus-bellied Woodpecker, Blue throated barbet, Small Minivet, Long Tailed Minivet, Great Barbet, Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch, Whiskered Yuhina,   Himalayan griffon, Steppe Eagle, Grey Treepie, Grey Winged Black Bird, Grey backed forktail, Spotted fork tail and Dollar bird.
 

Sattal offers greater bird checklist than mentioned here. On my frequent bird watching tours I find newer bird species. Winter is the best season to see Indian birds in the North in Himalayas and Terai. 

Corbett is another exciting bird destination for birding in North India with over 500 species. Birding is best done on foot at Lal Dhang, Sita Vani, Mohan and Kumeria at Koshi River. Inside Corbett National Park birding is done on jeep safaris nevertheless exciting forest birds are seen like nowhere.                 

Bird watching in Gujarat

Gujarat though little known is heaven for bird watchers. The places that top the list for birding in Gujarat India are many but less known. I have visited few sanctuaries in the state and found impressive habitation of birds including migratory birds.

I have been to Nalsarovar and Thol on bird watching tours and check listed impressive list of Indian birds. The flamingos are present in Nalsarovar but less seen due rush of tourists that disturbs them. The tourists are mostly noisy picnickers. To see the Flamingos one need to boat for a distance of ten to twelve km with a knowledgeable boatmen in the wetland.   Both lesser and greater Flamingos can be seen.

One can see pelicans, grey lag goose, bar headed goose, spotbilled duck, common pochard, pintail, lesser whistling ducks, redheaded pochards, gargeny teals, gadwall, common teals and shovellers. One can see white tailed lapwing, shikra, greater spotted eagle, marsh harrier, orioles, honey buzzard, larks, pipits and pratincoles.      

Other interesting spots for birding in Gujarat are the Little and large Rann of Kutch for bustards, Flamingo and other desert species. The Gir National Park, Velavadar Sanctuary, Dasada, Jamnagar coast and many yet to be discovered.

During winters interesting birds can be sighted in and around Ahmedabad and other towns. Bird watching Gujarat though not in infancy still requires and organized chaecklist of wetlands, desert and forest birds.       

More birds at Barha Jabalpur

Bird watching is exciting and gets more exciting if you see/hear interesting species. In summers birds of diverse habitat congregate around water sources. This is the case of birds at Barha reserve forest near Jabalpur Mandla.

In today's morning birding I heard calls of India Pitta (Pitta brachuyra) just as we entered the forest. This bird I had noted earlier only for a brief period between March and April and thought it migrated locally (Kanha?). But today's calls means it stays here for more extended period or could be permanent resident.

More calls: Indian scimitar babbler, Shikra,

Sightings:

Black headed oriole (Oriolus xanthogenys)

Black-naped monarch

Asian paradise flycatcher

White browed flycatcher

White browed bulbul

Bonelli's eagle

Crested Serpent eagle (Adult + juvenile)

Honey buzzard

Greater racket tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradeseus)

Puff throated babbler

Common hawk cuckoo

Pied crested cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus)

Grey breasted prinia

Brown fish owl (Ketupa zeylonensis)

Crested tree swift (Hemoprocine longipenis)

Common Iora

My checklist of bird of Jabalpur is consistently increasing (over 260). Thanks to frequent bird watching trips lately in all seasons. Except my friend Bittu ,I have yet to come come across bird watchers in Jabalpur town which by all means is a large town in India. It is expected that many more youths/elders/men/women would take interest in our birds and contribute somehow to learning about avian wonders and conserving them as a result.

White Browed Bulbul - Jabalpur Birds

In my recent birding at Barha Reserve Forest in Jabalpur we were surprised to discover White-browed bulbul (Pycnonotus luteolus) in the canopy. This bird has not been recorded in my checklist of Jabalpur Birds in Madhya Pradesh. According to distribution maps its spread is shown much below Jabalpur region.

Similarly Red whiskered-bulbul (Pycnonotus jocusus) is now much less seen in Jabalpur and that too in gardens and not in the wild. From my discussion with the residents the number has gone down?

I have recorded more than 270 + bird species in Jabalpur. I have been surprised by the fact that this is the number that exists in birds of Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Park. In fact the checklists of birds in Kanha and Bandhavgarh show about 250 + species. More species are recorded in Jabalpur in MP Central India.

The reason for such large numbers of bird being sighted in different areas of Jabalpur is the diversity of habitat which ranges from extensive wetlands, scrub, dense forests and drier areas along with agriculture fields. levation also shifts mildly resulting in vast number of species that prefer to spend winters here along with resident birds.

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.