Showing posts with label Bird watching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bird watching. Show all posts

26 September 2016

Series on Himalayan Griffon Vulture


This majestic raptor was spotted by the  during the Annual Bird Marathon held at Kaiga this January. Himalayan Vulture (Juvenile) is one of the two largest Old World vultures and true raptors. For the first time Himalayan Griffon Vulture was spotted in this region. Later, in February 2016, it was in news that this raptor was found in Goa by one of the birders. 

Today I found these images on my archive which is worth sharing!

P.S: All are unprocessed Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.



















19 January 2016

Kaiga Bird Marathon 2016


Image of the White-bellied Sea-Eagle which was spotted by almost every team. 
This image was photographed by Prashant Bhandare near the Kadra Dam. 

P.S: Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.

Early in the morning, before the sunrise, while I entered the lawns near the Nisarga Guest House at Kaiga, there were hundreds of birders assembled at their respective transects with their group members. All were wide awake, exited for the Kaiga Bird Marathon. I joined my group, Group A - the transect which was within the Kaiga forest. And yes, I’m one of the privileged birder who was lucky to be in this transect for no one is allowed inside this forest otherwise including the site co-coordinators who were visiting this forest for the first time.

At 5:30, they had a flag off session and few words of encouragement and each group left the lawn area to board the bus. There were four teams in my bus, where everyone were dropped in their respective transect areas and we were headed towards the Kaiga site area. It was a beautiful route, peaceful and serene. I so envy the people having the chance to live in such a beautiful place.

My team:
I was in the 1st transect which is Group A who were all lucky visitors to Kaiga region. Other teams have visited the nearby villages like Hattuga, Virje, Halga-Ulga, and so on. Our team was also lucky because we had Dr. Raju Kasambe from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) who heads the Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme and Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) along with the coordinators who worked at NPCIL. We were 12 in our team, of which only 4 were visitors and others were working in NPCIL. Dr. Raju Kasambe has every minute detail about the birds and we had Harish Kulur a birder who works at NPCIL who could identify each and every bird. We had a great team and with our team effort we could identify 76 species with the Kaiga forest area.

We were allowed inside the Kaiga area after verifying our identify details. Yes, we had given prior permission to enter the Kaiga forest, our Photo ID and electronic equipment details were provided earlier to the management. An escort from the NPCIL team who knew the forest area was with us. Only our team coordinator and the escort had the phones with them, we were enjoying our time without mobile phones. We were dropped at the NPCIL site gate and we were not allowed to use our cameras until we entered the forest area.

As we entered, we could hear a danger call from the Monkey. Our guide alerted us there should be a leopard and that’s the reason the Monkey is afraid. We were all looking the other side of the fence while my team members witnessed leopard running in front of us. I missed that sight. As we moved around, we had birders who were able to identify the bird species with their calls and some birds we could spot. The sun was out by then and birds had started their daily routes.

The birds which we spotted initially were among Barbets, Bulbul, Swifts and Swallow species. To make our day even brighter, the Great Hornbill flew over our head. All were so excited to see this bird and I was very much excited as I was seeing this great bird for the first time. Later as we moved further, we spotted couple of Great Hornbill sitting on a tree and few Malabar Pied Hornbills flying at the height. I was also blessed to find the Stork-billed Kingfisher, such a beauty. God has created variety with the colors, marvelous creations.

Bonus to the trek was the pug marks which we found on our trek route. The pug marks indicated that must have walked against our direction after the night patrolling.

All in all it was a great day with well organized birding event. The organizers at NPCIL have taken care of each and every minute requirement and we did not find any difficulty or issues in this event. We were very glad to be part of the annual Kaiga Bird Marathon and hoping to be there for the next bird marathon. Special mention to the NPCIL team who were with us during these two days, they were all down to earth, loving people. We must appreciate them for the knowledge they have in birds, everyone has utilized the opportunity of being within the nature. I was really surprised for everyone had great knowledge of birds and that’s the reason bird marathon gets great response with every passing year.

List of birds from our transect – Transect A – Kaiga (List taken from eBird posted by Dr. Raju Kasambe)

6
Indian Peafowl
2
Grey Junglefowl
3
Woolly-necked Stork
1
Indian Cormorant
1
Gray Heron
19
Cattle Egret
1
Indian Pond-Heron
1
Black-shouldered Kite
2
Oriental Honey-buzzard
2
Crested Serpent-Eagle
1
Legge's Hawk-Eagle
1
Rufous-bellied Eagle
1
Black Eagle
1
Shikra
1
Black Kite
1
Brahminy Kite
1
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
3
Spotted Dove
2
Emerald Dove
2
Gray-fronted Green-Pigeon
2
Asian Koel
1
Brown-backed Needletail
8
Crested Treeswift
1
Eurasian Hoopoe
3
Great Hornbill
4
Malabar Pied-Hornbill
1
Stork-billed Kingfisher
2
White-throated Kingfisher
4
Green Bee-eater
1
Malabar Barbet
2
Coppersmith Barbet
1
Brown-headed Barbet
1
White-cheeked Barbet
1
Brown-capped Woodpecker
1
Black-rumped Flameback
5
Plum-headed Parakeet
2
Malabar Parakeet
4
Vernal Hanging-Parrot
1
Common Iora
3
Orange Minivet
1
Brown Shrike
6
Indian Golden Oriole
2
Black-hooded Oriole
3
Ashy Drongo
1
Bronzed Drongo
2
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
2
Black-naped Monarch
1
Rufous Treepie
5
House Crow
7
Large-billed Crow
60
Red-rumped Swallow
4
Gray-headed Bulbul
2
Flame-throated Bulbul
2
Red-vented Bulbul
4
Red-whiskered Bulbul
7
Yellow-browed Bulbul
20
Square-tailed Bulbul
1
Greenish Warbler
1
Blyth's Reed-Warbler
1
Zitting Cisticola (Zitting)
1
Common Tailorbird
3
Plain Prinia
10
Jungle Babbler
50
Asian Fairy-bluebird
1
Asian Brown Flycatcher
1
Oriental Magpie-Robin
2
Verditer Flycatcher
40
Southern Hill Myna
16
Malabar Starling
3
Jungle Myna
3
Golden-fronted Leafbird
4
Thick-billed Flowerpecker
5
Nilgiri Flowerpecker
1
Purple-rumped Sunbird
2
Crimson-backed Sunbird
12
Purple Sunbird
20
White-rumped Munia

About Kaiga Bird Marathon:
Every year the Kaiga Bird Marathon is organized and enthusiastic bird watchers come in huge numbers and participate in counting the bird species of the surrounding areas. There are 8 transects and each transect is allocated to a nearby village around Kaiga Generating Station.

Towards the end of November, I found an Invite regarding the Kaiga Bird Marathon in the Yahoo Bangalore Birders group. Without any second thoughts I had registered for the event for me and Prashant. Later on due to wedding preparations I had totally forgotten to check about my registration status. End of December I received a message from ESP team at Kaiga regarding my confirmation as they were having many participants on waitlist. Me and Prashant confirmed our participation on 10th Jan and were excited that we were selected for the Bird Marathon.

The organizing team had made all the necessary arrangements for all the birders including accommodation, food, and transportation for the marathon. This event was very well organized and I was amazed with the coordination among the organizing team. We were also given the participation certificate and memento. I am eagerly awaiting my next participation at the Kaiga Bird Marathon.

The most discussed bird at the Kaiga Bird Marathon Himalayan Griffon - Juvenile which was earlier confused as Indian Vulture. Thanks to Ramit Singhal for the right identification.


P.S: Image is copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.


19 October 2011

Birdwatching - My new-found hobby



I had always enjoyed being amidst nature. However, I had never given a serious thought into bird watching. Nevertheless, I always enjoy the chirping of the birds.

Off late, I have started enjoying my new-found hobby - Birdwatching! It is kind of recreation for me from the hectic schedule and from the hassle bustle of city life. I agree we hardly get to spot any birds around the city. Where are the birds, which we used to find in the gardens in our childhood? Are all of these birds threatened with extinction?

One Sunday morning, I was in my deep sleep and my friend calls me and says, “I’m at Kaikondrahalli Lake and there are lot of birds here. Come over here and you’ll enjoy.” I din’t want to wake up early, but somehow I made my mind to go there once and see what kind of birds are there. So unwillingly, I woke up and headed towards Kaikondrahalli Lake.  It was a pleasant morning. Cool breeze, tranquil lake and serene environment! Even though the lake is beside the Sarjapur main road, as you enter the lake you will not feel you are in the city. I felt refreshed as I entered.

Now comes the exciting Birdwatching part. My friend went busy with his photo shoots.  I started spotting different varieties of birds. I never knew Kaikondrahalli Lake had so many species of birds. Yes, I heard amateur photographers heading towards Hebbal Lake, Lalbaugh to name a few. I was stunned to find these varieties of species here. I found few birds and I did not know their species, what are they called, I was seeing them for the first time.  That day when I came back home, I searched for the bird species information and their habitats.

After that, almost every weekend I try to join my friend at Kaikondrahalli. An added advantage for my for friend as he says my eyes are sharp and I spot the birds easily. That helps him in his photography. :P So far at Kaikondrahalli Lake I have spotted these species of birds:
  • Green bee-eater
  • Ashy Prinia
  • Indian small cormorant
  • White browed wagtail
  • Yellow Wagtail
  • Jungle Myna
  • Common Kingfisher
  • Pied Kingfisher
  • Pond Heron
  • Grey Heron
  • Purple Heron
  • Black Drongo
  • Red Wattled Lapwing
  • Paddy Field Pipit
  • Common Coot
  • Spot Billed Duck
  • Common Moorhens
  • Kites
  • Brahminy kites
  • Sparrows
  • Parakeets
  • Sunbirds
  • Small Egret
I might have not yet noticed few of the water birds. My favorite among all these birds are Pied Kingfisher. I spotted this bird at Kaikondrahalli Lake only once. This bird is so awesome. The way it flew and attacked on its prey, unbelievable. I was just starring; it was so quick in its action. I just went crazy for this birdie. J

Next on my list are Grey and Purple Heron. It is because; there are quite a few Grey and Purple Heron at Kaikondrahalli Lake. However, they sit on the islet or hide near the bushes waiting for its prey or they will just sit quite and silently in the tree far from the shore. I sit near the lake and watch these birds, waiting for prey, they just concentrate without any movement, and sometimes you can only see its long neck.

Green bee-eater, this bird is not shy about human beings. :P When my friend was photographing, this birdie used to come sit close and kind of shows it’s attitude. Common click as many as pictures you want. LOL.

There are plenty of Little Cormorants at Kaikondrahalli Lake or you can say anywhere in India you can find lot of Cormorants. Nevertheless, you will not get bored watching this bird. They are very funny. The way they get wet and the way, they keep their wings open. I assume they dry the water after refreshing in the water. You will love to watch that scene. They most of the time fight with each other.

There are couple of Brahminy Kites, if they see Human beings coming close by they don’t mind but if they see Camera’s with big lens focusing on them they just escape. These birds are very smart you know.

Kingfisher, they are so shy birds yet so beautiful. I will be so excited when I spot Kingfishers. But, they just fly away when they hear human beings coming near them. I recently visited the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary just for Pied Kingfisher and the Common Kingfisher. I was content with my trip as I could spot these birds there. Someone had mentioned in a blog that Pied Kingfisher is the super model of Ranganathittu. Yes, indeed it’s the supermodel over there. :P

On my last visit to Kaikondrahalli Lake, I saw a little birdie; I am yet to research about its species and habitat. I loved the texture and the color of this bird. God has created amazing creatures on this earth. Truly, god is the great artist. He has used all the beautiful color in his creations.

Another inspiration for my newfound hobby is the Rio movie. This movie inspired me a lot in terms of Bird watching and learning more about the bird’s habitat and their behavior.

On my last visit to the Kaikondrahalli Lake, I also spotted a Reptile - a huge Spectacle Cobra. After seeing the snake so close to me, I could not get my nerve to stay there for long.

You can find my experience at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary at http://travelsoiled.wordpress.com/. I will put up a post about my experience about the birds at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and our Mysore visit soon.

Overall, I am really enjoying this hobby. With all the hectic schedule and city lifestyle, this rather gives me relief from all the stress. Yes, for me bird watching is a stress buster!

You can view the bird photos captured at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meprashant/sets/72157627662109439/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/meprashant/sets/72157627703116508/. The pictures will be updated randomly. All the images here are copyright protected to Prashant Bhandare. Anyone who wants to publish or use these images for any purpose, please contact the concerned for permission.