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Monday, November 12, 2012

Sultanpur and around - 11/11 in 2012

Despite absence of an official birdwalk posting for yesterday, several of us landed up at Sultanpur and were pleasantly rewarded with few good birding hours to kickstart the week of Diwali. Birding within the NP was as usual good, with Hume's warbler, Bluethroat, Red-breasted Flycatchers, Oriental White eyes, Scaly-bellied Munia and Ashy Prinias creating a lovely music in morning sunlight. Waterfowl comprised of Shovellers, Pintails, few Gadwalls, flocks of Graylag Geese, a lone Bar-headed Goose, Common Coots, Little Grebes and few Euraisan Wigeons. Pochards were again conspicously missing. Painted Storks, Greater Cormorants, Darters and a single Eurasian Spoonbill flying overhead were seen. Black-necked Stork was at it's nest. Sind Sparrow on the trees lining the approach to waterbody was good to spot as well. A lone Bonelli's Eagle harried the ducks and in turn was harried by Drongos and Crows a tenth of it's size. No other raptor spotted within the park.

Soon, we decided to check out fields behind the Monkey point which is little ahead of NP. Most of the area is freshly ploughed and there was lot of human disturbance. Still managed to spot some interesting species here. Flock of Plain Martins, Streak throated Swallows, a lone Long-billed Pipit, few Tawny Pipits, Indian Bushlark, flock of Spanish Sparrows, Silverbills, Crested Lark, Greater Short-Toed Larks and ultimately a Variable Wheatear, looking tired, sat on a fieldpost for what seemed like eternity untill another one joined it and they flew together in the fields. A Eurasian Wryneck sat quietly at the base of a shrub, shielding itself from the Sun, totally unperturbed by our presence. We didn't need binoculars to see all it's patterns. It sat so close. Admiring it's cryptic beauty with naked eyes, we quietly moved away leaving it sitting there.

The other group reported a Short-eared owl, an Isabelline Shrike, Eurasian Curlews and Common Cranes from fields.

On the way back, we stopped at Basai for a few minutes and were thrilled to see Sarus Cranes at close quarters in the fields. Flocks of Weavers, probably Streaked Weavers are inhabiting the fields. Common Starlings, Ruffs, Green and Common Sandpipers and other usual waterfowl were seen. White-tailed Lapwing and Little-ringed Plover were nice to spot too. As we prepared to reverse the cars, Sarus Crane took to air like a shot from Top Gun, circled back in the air and decided to fly towards us, leaving us totally thrilled with the experience.
Overall, a very satisfying birding.
Complete list of birds is below followed by the map of area.
SpeciesScientific Name
Grey FrancolinFrancolinus pondicerianus
Indian PeafowlPavo cristatus
Greylag GooseAnser anser
Bar-headed GooseAnser indicus
Comb DuckSarkidiornis melanotos
Lesser Whistling-duckDendrocygna javanica
GadwallAnas strepera
Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
Spot-billed DuckAnas poecilorhyncha
Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
Northern PintailAnas acuta
Common TealAnas crecca
Eurasian WryneckJynx torquilla
Brown-headed BarbetMegalaima zeylanica
Common HoopoeUpupa epops
Green Bee-eaterMerops orientalis
Indian RollerCoracias benghalensis
White-throated KingfisherHalcyon smyrnensis
Greater CoucalCentropus sinensis
Rose-ringed ParakeetPsittacula krameri
Rock PigeonColumba livia
Laughing DoveStreptopelia senegalensis
Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
White-breasted WaterhenAmaurornis phoenicurus
Purple SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
Common CootFulica atra
Sarus CraneGrus antigone
Black KiteMilvus migrans
Bonelli's EagleHieraaetus fasciatus
Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
Red-wattled LapwingVanellus indicus
White-tailed LapwingVanellus leucurus
Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
RuffPhilomachus pugnax
Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
DarterAnhinga melanogaster
Little CormorantPhalacrocorax niger
Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Little EgretEgretta garzetta
Grey HeronArdea cinerea
Purple HeronArdea purpurea
Great EgretCasmerodius albus
Intermediate EgretMesophoyx intermedia
Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
Indian Pond HeronArdeola grayii
Black-headed IbisThreskiornis melanocephalus
Black IbisPseudibis papillosa
Eurasian SpoonbillPlatalea leucorodia
Painted StorkMycteria leucocephala
Woolly-necked StorkCiconia episcopus
Black-necked StorkEphippiorhynchus asiaticus
Oriental White-eyeZosterops palpebrosus
Lesser WhitethroatSylvia curruca
Common BabblerTurdoides caudata
Large Grey BabblerTurdoides malcolmi
Jungle BabblerTurdoides striata
White-eared BulbulPycnonotus leucotis
Red-vented BulbulPycnonotus cafer
Plain MartinRiparia paludicola
Wire-tailed SwallowHirundo smithii
Streak-throated SwallowHirundo fluvicola
Blyth's Reed WarblerAcrocephalus dumetorum
Booted WarblerHippolais caligata
Common TailorbirdOrthotomus sutorius
Common ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita
Hume's WarblerPhylloscopus humei
Greenish WarblerPhylloscopus trochiloides
Indian SilverbillLonchura malabarica
Indian BushlarkMirafra erythroptera
Greater Short-toed LarkCalandrella brachydactyla
Zitting CisticolaCisticola juncidis
Ashy PriniaPrinia socialis
Plain PriniaPrinia inornata
Streaked WeaverPloceus manyar
White WagtailMotacilla alba
Citrine WagtailMotacilla citreola
Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
Tawny PipitAnthus campestris
Long-billed PipitAnthus similis
Spanish SparrowPasser hispaniolensis
Sind SparrowPasser pyrrhonotus
Purple SunbirdCinnyris asiaticus
Black DrongoDicrurus macrocercus
Rufous TreepieDendrocitta vagabunda
House CrowCorvus splendens
Rufous-tailed ShrikeLanius isabellinus
Long-tailed ShrikeLanius schach
Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
Asian Pied StarlingSturnus contra
Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
Bank MynaAcridotheres ginginianus
BluethroatLuscinia svecica
Oriental Magpie RobinCopsychus saularis
Indian RobinSaxicoloides fulicatus
Siberian StonechatSaxicola maurus
Pied BushchatSaxicola caprata
Variable WheatearOenanthe picata
Red-breasted FlycatcherFicedula parva

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