Birds near Jaipur


There is a lake 30 kms from Jaipur ( Chandlai Lake)  beyond the airport which is relatively unknown to most birders. I researched a bit on the net and visited the place for a few hours in Jan,2014.

We started at 6 AM . Our driver did not know the place and we had to guide him thanks to Google Maps. Soon we realized there was heavy fog and whatever little hope of birding in an unknown territory was about to vanish. We had a few cups of chai at a Dhaba while waiting for the fog to clear before finally making it to Chandlai lake.

When we reached the lake I could see a lot of initial promise with a flock of Black winged stilts welcoming us next to the road.



Rajasthan is known for its Babool trees and here is an Intermediate Egret sitting on a Babool tree.


A purple swamphen  added some colour to the gloomy morning

The locals were quite surprised seeing Birders with large lenses and a lot of honking followed. We realized we were in the catchment area of the lake and we climbed a ridge  to get to the lake which was huge.

The place, to our amazement, turned out to be a Birder's paradise and we saw hundreds of ducks ( Northern Pintail, Mallard, Spot billed) to name a few besides a lot of waders. Tried to capture a few shots here.

Common sandpiper



Black winged stilt against a relatively still lake



A black tailed Godwit ( Lifer for me) 


A yellow wagtail 


There were River terns fishing and though the light conditions were bad I tried to shoot them ideally with a fish in their mouth coming out of the water. Either my timing or their fishing skills were poor.  I only managed to get a few shots in and out of water.






Towards thye rear end there were hundreds of ducks. One Northern Pintail flew over us.


Bar headed Geese were feeding at the lake bed.


Rudy Shelducks


Pied Avocet

Common Moorhen

Grey Heron

Little grebe

Laughing Dove


Ruff ( another lifer for me)




There is an advantage of bad light ...you can develop a few Black and White photos and look good. But if they are a group of Pied Avocets it doesn't really matter :)




Birding in Goa

We were in Goa for our Christmas vacation. While we spent most of our time at the beach and with the kids, I managed to sneak out some time for a half day birding trip to Bondla. I went with Rahul Alvarez, who is a Herpetologist turned Ornithologist.

The main objective was to get a good shot of the Malabar Trogon. My earlier attempt in Thekkady was in poor light.

We started at 6:00 from the Club Mahindra resort in Varca and reached Bodla around 7:30. The first spot that we visited near a temple was full of activity and a few Birding tourists were also there. We saw from a very far distance the White browed Bulbul, Yellow browed Bulbul besides the red vented and the red whiskered ones. Also we saw Purple rumped sunbirds, Plum headed Parakeet




Baya Weavers


and Jungle Babblers



We then moved to the main road on the way to Bondla Zoo and stopped a couple of times.

We saw the Malabar white headed starling ( Lifer)


and Rahul alerted us of the sound of Asian Fairy bluebird. After a bit of patient waiting we were soon rewarded with the magnificent view of this bird. Another Lifer.



Things were getting interesting and hopes were rising. In between I saw Common Ioras, Spangled Drongo, Leafbirds and Black hooded Oriole.



We then waited patiently at a spot where Rahul has seen the Malabar Trogon a few times. While waiting I shot a few Butterflies like the Tawny Coaster



and then Rahul alerted us of a sound of a bird. After a bit of waiting we saw the Black crested Bulbul ( Gularis) also referred to as the Ruby Throated bulbul.






It is a very colourful and is also the state bird of Goa. Another Lifer for me!! We waited for a while for the trogon but ran out of luck.

So while the search for the Trogon continues, it was a great half day birding with three lifers and a lot of fun. If you are a serious birder you can take the services of Rahul Alvarez while in Goa.

Finally we saw crocodiles near a lake on our way back....



Mostly Indian Birds - some of my favourites

Here is a sneak peek of some of the bird pictures from different regions of India. Usually these are shot during my vacations and occasionally some specific birding tours.

Great Indian Hornbill shot at the Periyar Wildlife sanctuary, Thekkady, Kerala.




Himalayan Bulbul at Sat Taal, Uttarakhand.




Oriental white eye, available across India. This one is from Dehradun, Uttarakhand.







Eurasian Griffon Vulture shot near Dhanolti, Uttarakhand.



Fire tailed sun bird shot at Pangot, Uttarakhand.



Common Kingfisher shot at a lake near Hyderabad.




Crested Serpent Eagle. This one is from the Gir Forest in Gujarat.



Brown Fish Owl shot at Saat Taal, Uttarakhand



Glossy Ibis shot at a lake near Hyderabad



Spangled Drongo shot at Kaziranga, Assam




Yellow eyed Babbler shot at Kabini National Park, Karnataka





Yellow footed Green pigeon shot at Kaziranga, Assam






Indian Roller, the state bird of Andhra Pradesh shot at Hyderabad




Bar winged Flycatcher Shrike shot at Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu.





Black Shouldered Kite shot near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.




Bar Headed Geese shot at a lake near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh,




and our National bird in flight




If you are keen to see more interesting birds from different regions of India, select them from the right panel.

Happy viewing !!

Cheers,
Arijit