Birds near Hyderabad (Narsapur)

A quick weekend trip to Narsapur in April with a few friends. We had the usual sightings at the forest with the highlight being the sighting of the Chestnut headed Petronia ( the sighting of this bird inspired Salim Ali into Ornithology)

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

Near the water it was very hot and we saw hordes of Openbill, Sandpipers, Herons, Rudy shelducks, Larks etc.

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

From 2012 Mar Birds of Narsapur

Birds of Kodaikanal (Kodai)

Its been a while since I posted... and perfect timing to take advantage of the long weekend and update the blog.

We had gone on a family vacation to Kodai in March. Overall good weather and opportunity to do a little birding around Kodai.

The best part of Kodai wildlife is the Berijam lake. I remember access to the lake being free for all in 2005 when I last visited Kodai. However now it is protected area with access only to folks who obtain passes from the forest department and we had unfortunately not planned for it.

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

It was good to see the Nilgiri Flycatcher, Nilgiri Thrush ( not a good shot), Bar winged Flycatcher shrike  and Nilgiri Langur ( again a bad shot). There were the common water birds like Heron, Grebe, White Browed Wagtail at the lake.

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

From 2012 Birds of Kodai

Birds of Hyderabad

Over last Dec and Jan had a couple of visits to the Patencheru Lake and ICRISAT. Happy to note that Patencheru lake still has significant bird population but guess much lower than yesteryears.

An early morning bird fight between a Hoopoe, Indian Roller and a Drongo

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

The Indian roller could eat a few insects dug by the Hoopoe:

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

and the  poor Hoopoe flew away

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

Other birds we saw were Rudy Shelducks and Purple swamphen at the lake:

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

Common Stonechat and Siberian stonechat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

Some pecocks and bay backed shrike

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

From 2011 Dec Icrisat

The next visit I thought was more like birds in flight visit. I had the highest number of birds in flight captured that day including a painted stork which came so close I just shot its face :)

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

The Prinia , Indian roller, Francolins and pippits were common near the fields:

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

The best part was the lake. It was feeding time and we saw quite a few black winged stilts, black headed ibis, plovers, darters, cormorants, sandpipers, rudy shelducks and kingfishers.

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT

The blooming season was ending:

From 2012 Jan ICRISAT