INDIA Day 15 - 23rd January

A final full day in the craziness of Delhi, we only managed a couple of hour birding due to rikshaw confusion and a big thunder storm threatening to soak us but ultimately not amounting to much (it was the only bit of rain seen on the whole trip through!).   We walked round Okhla Bird Sanctuary where there were very impressive numbers of wildfowl on the big expanse of water which added Pochard, Tufted Duck and Shelduck to the trip list in amongst huge numbers of Shoveler and Pintail which were regularly flushed by the big numbers of Black Kites and Marsh Harriers.

                There were good numbers of wintering passerines in the surrounding woodland including Greenish Warblers, Hume’s Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Bluethroats, Black Redstarts and masses of Chiffchaffs; there wasn’t too much else to mention although a female Asian Koel was the last addition to the trip list.

Bluethroat

Citrine Wagtails

Amur Wagtail

Ashy Prinia

House Crow

Red-vented Bulbul

Indian Pond Heron

Chiffchaffs

INDIA Day 14 - 22nd January

Our last half morning at Ramnagar before heading back to the ridiculous Delhi allowed us to pick up a few new little bits but it started with more excellent views of the White’s Thrush in the garden, bobbing like a Jack Snipe and fanning its tail as it fed in the leaf litter; there was also Taiga Flycatcher, a little flock of Olive-backed Pipits, Greenish Warbler and Hume’s Warbler in the garden creating great wintering bird scenes!

                New birds comprised good views of a WESTERN CROWNED WARBLER feeding with a mixed species flock down by the river where there were also 3 Grey-winged Blackbirds (a male and two females), a smart Brown Shrike (only the second of the trip), a nice male Eastern Black Redstart, a couple of flyover Pallas’s Fish Eagles and the usual good array of Wagtails and waders on the river.    When we were kicking around the garden after a little walk around there was a distinctive BLYTH’S LEAF WARBLER with another mixed species flock and a small group of SCARLET MINIVETS which moved through the canopy.

White's Thrush

Eastern Black Redstart

Brown Shrike

Greenish Warbler

Grey-winged Blackbird

Little Ringed Plover and Citrine Wagtail

INDIA Day 13 - 21st January

Following some more gen (from the same French source as in Pangot!) we made an early start and drove up river to a place called Kumeria for some more river / forest birding; at the river we connected with a couple of targets with great views of BROWN DIPPER (just a brown coloured Dipper) and LITTLE FORKTAIL (really smart bird, trying to wag and shake its tail like it’s a proper Forktail!) along with awesome views of a roosting BROWN FISH OWL just up the track, 3 monstrous Great Hornbills which flew across the river and good views of a perched LESSER FISH EAGLE - completing our Fish Eagle triple bill!

                There were also some good, new birds in the forest as we walked down to the river including 2 awesome, huge GREAT SLATY WOODPECKERS, brief views of a STREAK-THROATED SCIMITAR BABBLER in the undergrowth, a THICK-BILLED FLOWERPECKER, a male BLACK-THROATED SUNBIRD, a young, moulting male GREEN-TAILED SUNBIRD and a group of WHITE-CRESTED LAUGHINGTHRUSHES along with a good selection of other woodland species in the roving flocks such as Whistler’s Warbler, Yellow-bellied Fantail, White-throated Fantail and Grey-headed Woodpecker.

                We were then dropped off again at the temple again to get more good views of the two Ibisbills again and a Wallcreeper just downstream along with the great selection of riverside birds as we walked back to the hotel arriving just before dusk.   The day wasn’t quite over with brilliant views of an, always stunning WHITE’S THRUSH feeing in the hotel garden and better views of the Nightjar sp. that we had been seeing each evening which were enough to confirm it was an INDIAN NIGHTJAR.

Brown Fish Owl

Great Hornbill

Yellow-bellied Fantail

Long-tailed Shrike

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike

Plain Martins

Blue Tiger

INDIA Day 12 - 20th January

The day started well from the hotel roof with a smart male Peregrine hunting from a nearby tower (a dark peregrintor type) and 3 Goosanders flying upstream new for the trip but the highlight was an adult PALLAS’S FISH EAGLE which flew upstream early morning.  

We then spent all day walking up the Kosi River from opposite our hotel with some obvious highlights as we connected with several of our trip targets first, an awesome WALLCREEPER found feeding along the river just upstream – it was just foraging in amongst the big boulders in the stream bed, I wasn’t really expecting that way of feeding and then 3Km upstream at the busy temple we had excellent views of 2 IBISBILL feeding along the stream, foraging like fancy Curlews!

Other new birds along the river included a female Black-throated Thrush just as we got to the riverbed, a cracking near-adult GREY-HEADED FISH EAGLE which flew downstream, perched up giving good views before heading off downstream again, a little group of odd BAR-WINGED FLYCATCHER SHRIKES and a brilliant COLLARED FALCONET which flew in to land briefly just as we got back to the hotel – another one of the trip targets.

The river itself was full of birds with four species of Kingfisher – Crested, Common, White-throated and Pied, hundreds of Little, Great and Cattle Egrets, Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers, Little Ringed Plovers and Greenshank, River and Red-wattled Lapwings, lots of White-capped and Plumbeous Water Redstarts, Blue Rock Thrush, Brown Chat, loads of Wagtails - Citrine, Masked, White-browed and Grey, hundreds of Little Cormorants, Long-tailed and Grey-backed Shrikes, plenty of Black Kites and decent flocks of Red-rumped Swallows, Brown-throated Martins and Dusky Crag Martins.

Ibisbill

Pallas's Fish Eagle

Wallcreeper

Red-wattled Lapwing

Crested Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Black Kites - govinder and lineatus