So you have been waiting for the first image from my trip to East Africa. I could have put in many other dramatic things like the Lion, Rhino, Cheetah or the Hippo but I felt that those mammals are rather cliched. So I decided to put a common but unique bird Read more about the Hammerkop
The quest had long been in the making but it was being postponed for quite some time because I knew whenever we started out we will surely complete it. Umm… will cut out the dramatics – “Dongar Duda” is the local Korkus name for the critically endangered Forest Owlet, Heteroglaux blewitti. Continue reading, 4 more photographs
All good things come to an end would be a cliché but then they do and today was the last day of this mega birding trip and it was a fitting end I would say!
We had reserved the morning for the McQueen’s Bustard. The day started with a close encounter with a Steppe eagle. This was soon followed by sighting of two Indian foxes and a Desert Fox. Continue reading, some more good pictures inside 😉
26th Jan, 2010: Roughly 250 kilometers on bumpy terrain with temperature ranging from 7 degrees Celsius to 34 degree Celsius and lots of dust. Am dead tired, my face it all chapped but it was the best Republic day celebration for me ever 🙂 Continue reading, 9 more photographs
25th Jan, 2010: This can be termed as “The day when nothing much happened”. We left CEDO, Nakhtrana at 6:00 am and reached Rann Riders , Dasada at 12:00 a distance of 350km. Continue reading, but just 4 more photos
24th Jan, 2010: A day of “Super specialty birding” is what I would call the day! Swati and Aasim opted to stay back due to yesterday’s tiring drive. So I went along with Mr Jugal Tiwari to a thorn forest near Banni grassland searching for the first target species of the day. “White-naped Tit” – This species underwent a rapid population decline in the recent past. Its small, severely fragmented population continues to decline, although at a reduced rate, as a result of the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its tropical thorn-scrub habitat. It therefore qualifies as Vulnerable. Continue reading, has 14 more photos
23rd Jan, 2010: Started the day with an excyrsion to the Naliya Grasslands. The trip started off well with spotting of a Male Pallid Harrier soaking up the heat of the early morning sun. As soon as we had enough of the Harrier we spotted another beautiful lifer Black Francolin. Continue reading, There are 24 more photos
22nd Jan, 2010: The night was an uneasy one for Swati, she sweated out her fever, but that had the advantage – she was feeling much better in the morning.
We were up at 6:00 and out at 6:30 as planned. It was pretty cold in the Banni Grasslands. The first target species for the day was Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus. A very interesting bird that migrates all the way from Middle East to Kutch, Gujrat to spend the winter. We had to walk about a kilometer into someone’s field to get to the spot. Our guide fro the day Mohammad, Yes – that was his name and he insisted it was just that, told us that just as the sun rises the Hypocolius will also rise to the top branches. We stood there for a while, except for White cheeked bulbuls nothing showed up. Continue reading, there are 26 more photos
This time I kept a daily journal of our trip and I am reproducing it here as it was written without any changes…
21st Jan, 2010: We started from home at 7:50am, a wee bit late by my estimate but Swati was cool with it so I did not say anything. Flight was on time, Security people did not question too much about the Camera gear we were carrying.
We had a 3-hour layover at Mumbai, while on the customary “browse the bookstore” round I found a new book by Richard Bach “Hypnotizing Maria” – more on that book perhaps in a separate post later. The flight to Bhuj was delayed by an hour. As we came into land at Bhuj, Aasim remarked, “Looks like we are landing in middle of no where!” We got out of the aircraft to the thundering sound of fighter jets on low flying sorties. The Indian Air Force shares the Bhuj airport. Continue reading Rann of Kutch: Day 1 – Arrival
Am sure I have missed some larks and warblers which I just didn’t care to note and a few waders which I could not identify. The thing I am most thrilled about is having 37 lifers