Birding Prospects in Central India

Birding Prospects in Central India

Bird Watching at Dumna

Brown Hawk Owl by Prayut Mandal

The recent discovery of Brown Hawk Owl by Prayut and Aishwarya Mandal coaxed us to visit the Dumane Nature Reserve in Jabalpur. Situated on Dumna Road to the Airport is the Khandari Reservoir home to mugger crocodiles, turtles and numerous fishes. In winters migratory birds flock from far and wide. The place is home to many spotted deer, wild boar, jackal, leopard, langur and rhesus macaque. Besides numerous nocturnal animals can be seen here in the night.    

Some of the bird species that arrive here are osprey, black redstart, wagtails, pipits, larks, greenish warbler, Hume's warbler, Sulfur Bellied warbler, Gray Lag Geese, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Pochard, Coot, Gadwall, Red Crested Pochard, Brahminy Duck, Gargany, Northern Pintail and Shovellor. The resident ducks seen here are the lesser whistling teal, comb duck, and cotton pygmy goose and sometimes the spot billed duck.

Some of the other interesting birds can be seen here. We have seen Golden oriole, black headed oriole, Jerdon's leaf bird, gold fronted leaf bird, barred button quail, jungle bush quail, Tickell's thrush, Long tailed shrike, plum headed parakeet, chestnut shouldered petronia, wire tailed swallow, gray headed and coppersmith barbett, black rumped flame back, white naped woodpecker, yellow crowned woodpecker, scaly breasted munia, large cuckoo shrike, honey buzzard and paddyfield pipit. The surroundings are habitat of Indian courser, ashy crowned finch lark, rufous tailed lark, southern gray shrike, tawny pipit, Indian bush lark, Syke's lark, blue rock thrush and many more.

The Dumna Road and Nature Reserve and nearby villages are the best plac ein Jabalpur for bird watching. Many birders visit Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench Tiger Reserve via Jabalpur. They usually stop to see the beautiful Marble Rocks, a visit to Dumna Nature Reserve will add much fun to travel in this city. The visit can be arranged by hotels in Jabalpur City which provide travel services. There are three rooms available at Dumna Nature Reserve. Plans are in process to set up three luxury tents as well for accommodation by MPTDC. 

In order to visit Dumna one has to drive or taxi down half way to the airport. The whole package can be arranged by the hotel you are staying at.                   

Birding in Central India - Some Exciting Finds

During our younger days we would often see the chestnut bittern over head along with a number of egrets. This is a rare sight now. The bitterns are highly dependent upon the reed beds and certain plant species hence susceptible to loss of habitat.   . 

Like any other big town in India Jabalpur to is being rapidly urbanized with large number of colonies springing up every where. Hence many avian species are loosing their habitats. We recently came across a group of yellow and chestnut bitterns breeding in Jabalpur in Central India or MP. 

Two young birding enthusiasts discovered this colony near a local medical college in midst of human habitation. We keenly observed the juveniles and adult bitterns interacting with each other. This was a great sight and heartening as well. We continued birding in and around the area and came across an Isabelline Shrike, Yellow Eyed Babblers, Bronze Winged Jacana feeding their young. The checklist goes as follows:

Isabelline Shrike
Temminck's Stint
Yellow Bottern

Chestnut Bittern
Yellow Eyed Babbler
Ashy Prinia
Plain Prinia
Black Kite
Bronze Winged Jacana
Black Drongo
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Paddyfield Pipit
Pied Bush Chat
Common Stonechat
Chestnut Tailed Starling
Bank Myna
Pied Starling
Common Myna
Purple Moorhen
Indian Moorhen



 

Juvenile Chestnut Bittern

Yellow Bittern

Both Images are by Prayut Mandal from Jabalpur

Prayut Mandal and his bother also discovered in Jabalpur:

Bar Headed Geese 
Whimbrel
Eurasian Curlew


Most of the natural habitats and eco niches are being converted into residential colonies hence the future for many species looks bleak in Jabalpur. Jabalpur was known to have hundred water bodies or small lakes the numbers have come down in recent times. 

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.

Birding at Barha R.F in Jabalpur on 9/6/2013

Barha Reserve Forest is part of Mandla Division but practically is in confines of Jabalpur City. For us Jabalpur City offers good access to birding habitats all around. 

Barha R.F is on the road to Bargi Dam from Jabalpur Mandla Road. One has to take a right turn from Gaur crossroad and go on straight past TFRI and turn left a little before Rani Durgawati Statue. The jungle road leads to Narrai Nala an enchanting brook on the Narrai stream. The road leads to Udaipur on Mandla Road and another road that goes right into Mandla Forests of Bijadandi has lot of forest cover.    

We limit ourselves to in and around the Narrai Brook going right or left as mood suggests. On Sunday I was in company of Jagat Flora my regular birding companion, Ashok Sengupta a butterfly expert and Divanshu Phd. student at Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur. 

Barha is an interesting place for birding and springs surprises now and then. Hence when we came across Shama or White Rumped Shama it was an exciting moment. Jagat had seen the bird few days before but nevertheless he was after it to get an image. We saw many interesting birds and the checklists comprised of  Indian Pitta, Stork Billed Kingfisher, Black Naped Monarch, Common Iora, Jungle Myna, Honey Buzzard, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Racket Tailed Drongo, Emerald Dove, Indian Cuckoo (Calls), Tickell's Flycatcher, Thick Billed Flowerpecker,  Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Rufus Male), Black Headed Oriole and Puff Throated Babblers.

Thanks to Ashok Sengupta and Divanshu we were enlightened on many butterflies that fluttered past us and bugs that Mr. Divanshu is expert on.    

Images of Birds Found At Barha R.F. Mandla/Jabalpur
Photo Credits Jagat Flora, Jabalpur

Great Tit

Greenish Warbler

Gray Headed Canary Flycatcher 

WhiteBrowedFantail

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Hawk Cuckoo

Crested Serpent Eagle (juv)

Plain Prinia

Stork Billed Kingfisher

Twany Babbler

Jagat Flora

Me Myself & Malcom

pur

          

Bird Photography By Jagat Flora

Jagat Flora is an accomplished Photographer with good knowledge of birds, butterflies and  wild plants. Most of his images are as an effort of intense bird watching sessions with me. Here are some of the images he has taken in Jabalpur which are not so common.

Black Eagle in Jabalpur

Oriental Turtle Dove

Tickells Thrush Female

Striated Heron

Sulphur Bellied Warbler

 The black eagle is the first time record in Jabalpur. This raptor is found in the foothills and higher reaches Himalayas. This bird descends down to hilly regions of Peninsular India during the winters. 

Summer Time Birding at Kanha

I find summer time birding most fruitful contrary to the popular belief. Due to thin canopy and breeding season birding watching is fun. I have also conducted tours at Kanha and Bandhavgarh in summer with great success.  

This is an ideal time for bird photography since many birds court, breed and nest in this period.Me and my friend have successfully filmed and photographed breeding biology of Asian Paradise Flycatcher in Jabalpur. Dr. Dilip Katiyar is an accomplished photographer.  

Incidentally summer is the best time for animal or tiger photography in Kanha National Park and other tiger reserves in MP. Due to scarcity of wetlands animals congregrate in the core zone of the park near water holes providing photographers with ideal photo opportunity.  

Summer birding is a rising concept. Bird photography and sightings are the best. Recently I was at accommodation in Kanha where I work as birding and nature guide. In two days time I could sight more than fifty species in the surrounding habitat of fields, forests and wetland. 

Thanks to a better infrastructure one can travel to Kanha or Bandhavgarh in summers. Flight or AC train travel, air conditioned taxi, air conditioned rooms all save one from the summer heat. The early morning safaris are cool and so are the late evening safaris.