Birding at Hyderabad during lock down

 I am sure most of you are still going through accepting the new reality and getting used to being constrained in our home setup.

I went through the same phase but after sometime felt too restricted and needed some connect with nature to get my bearings right. And thankfully birding and bird photography is socially distant, in open air and with appropriate precautions it is really safe. So we visited Ameenpur lake and Manjeera water tank and explored what's happening to some of our favorite places in Hyderabad.

But before we go there, just a few days before the lockdown, I visited Gandipet lake in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Peregrine falcon which seemed to have created quite a buzz among birding circles. However I was disappointed to not find it but was rewarded with some great shots of common Kestrel

Also got to see some commoners like Oriental Skylark, Paddy field pipit and Drongo

Over to Ameenpur lake we saw painted storks

PS: Note the plastic pollution due to fishing.

Cattle Egret in breeding plumage

Spot billed duck

Purple sunbird vagrant

 Baya weaver

White browed bulbul

A Jacobin cuckoo ( my first shot ever) and apparently the harbinger of monsoons

Common green bee-eater

Oriental garden lizard

Brahminy starling

 

With lot of anticipation, we went to Manjeera tank. But was underwhelmed to see the lack of water.

Saw a few Scaly breasted munias though we were hoping to see the tricolor munia

Indian Grey Mongoose

Indian Silverbill

Blue tailed bee-eater

Baya weaver male

Mr. and Mrs Baya Weaver

and to end the day our national bird.

Will keep getting out once in a while as we all try to keep our sanity in these unusual times.