Flamingos - Mumbai bird race (HSBC)

Great birding experience!

It was a most awaited and special day for me, since for last two years I was not able to participate in HSBC bird race but amazed to hear about it. This year in Feb09 I finally made it to HSBC bird race with a great team - Flamingos.

Mr. Sunjoy Monga declared just before a couple of days of actual event about the team I'll be a part of. For my surprise I was put in a (special) team which led by a young lad named Master Sooraj Bishnoi. I heard and read about him on internet as I came to know about my team lead. I have never met him or seen him earlier, and even other members are new to me. Though I spoken to his mom Mrs. Rama Bishnoi (most helpful & cooperative), I was having double mind about how much we are going to explore with this young kid leading us in the actual filed. So I kept it guessing till the day I met him and we started our adventure.

Flamingos -

1. Master Sooraj Bishnoi
2. Mrs. Sooraj's Grandma (very active member)
3. Mr. Rajnikant Mirkar
4. Master Chinmay Mirkar
5. Mr. Jayesh T. (Pro. photographer)
6. Mr. Girish Chonkar (myself)
   

Mr. Jayesh T, who was not actually a part of the registered flamingo team but joined us for birding and photography which is his passion and profession, was also a great help in the fields, thanks for his active participation and guidance.

We planned to meet early morning (in the dark) at Bandra (E) on the day; Thanks to Mrs. Rama that she already arranged their own vehicle for transport of the team. We already decided the root and places to visit for birding at the bird race event, and most of the places were the first time experience for me and I liked all of them after this experience. All the team members agreed on not too many places to visit or over stretched root just for sake of it, but we opt for enjoying the real bird watching and spreading the awareness in new comers like me, which is the real purpose of the Bird race. The root and places we visited are as given below.

1. KBS (Karnala Bird sanctuary)
2. Uran, J.N.P.T.
3. Kharghar Hills
4. Belapur

To all our surprise Sooraj started as his name suggests (Sooraj = Sun) shining as we started from KBS, and the age barrier in the various team member vanished. I learnt a lesson here, the age is not important at all but the actual experience what is count, so I started feeling being in a right team for this event.

The list of birds we have seen, heard and noticed as a team. (Though I remembered just a few of the wonderful ones we came across am giving them below in a list format. which I remember)

• Rufous woodpecker,
• Common kestrel,
• Shikra,
• leaf birds,
• Bulbul (white whiskered, red vented...)
• Green bee eaters,
• Shrikes,
• Pied avocet,
• Mallard (male, female),
• Drongo (ashy,
• White bellied, racket tailed),
• Indian roller,
• Sunbirds (purple rumped, purple sunbird,...)
• Common stonechat
• White rumped munia
• Oriental skylark...

and the list went on and on but couldn't hit a century.

A whole day of just being with birds and with other birders in the field, It was the most memorable day of my life. Now waiting and preparing for the next year bird race.

Click the link to see some of the selected pictures of the bird race day from Jayesh's picture gallery from Picasa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jayeshpt/Feb2009

for bird race info check this link

http://www.indiabirdraces.com/punebr.htm

Till then

enjoy birding

Mumbai Bird Race 2008 - Desert Wheatear

Yes, Desert Wheatear was the name of our team (Venkat, the captain, Vidyut, Harsh, Yogesh) that participated in the Mumbai Bird Race 2008. Desert Wheatear is a small migrant songbird from North America and Eurasia having a distinctive white rump. Venkat had spotted this elusive bird, a day prior to February 17, on one of the open lands at Uran. We were lucky to spot it again at the same location, a little towards late afternoon, trying to proclaim its territory, among the resident larks and warblers.

We started the bird race at the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. As we entered the sanctuary, the sunbirds: Purple Rumped, Purple, Loten’s greeted us. They were fleeting in the morning sun. Some paused for a while for Venkat’s lens. Close to these birds was a male Paradise Flycatcher, following us for a few meters, eager to be noticed. Once we noticed it, perched on a twig, we saw another juvenile flycatcher attempting to gain our attention.

As we approached a steep climb, we saw, to our surprise four types of Drongos: Ashy, Black, Racket-tailed, Bronze, all trying their luck for an early morning meal. Some of them were trying hard to mimic other birds; as if they wanted to help increase our bird count. Venkat, a seasoned birder, was quick to point out that we are been fooled by the Drongos. I later found out (and this is interesting), the literal meaning of the word Drongo is a fool. So, here we had some fools trying to fool us!

On reaching a certain height, we were trying to regain our balance and our breath when Venkat’s trained eyes spotted a Puff-throated Babbler, silently foraging in the dry leaves. Looking at it, so very well camouflaged, I was wondering whether it was from this bird that the army learnt the art of camouflage; the leafy dress code that the army sometimes sports.

Jungle owlets were the next on our wish list. Venkat had spotted them the previous day at a particular spot but they were nowhere to be seen. Owlets are very difficult to spot. Well! If you ask any birder, he will agree that most jungle birds are difficult to spot, except when they voluntarily greet you with their calls, pose in front of you, just as the Paradise Flycatcher did, or are bright colored.

In between, during our climb, we heard the Crested Serpent Eagle’s call and hoped to catch a glimpse of this magnificent bird once we reached a clearing. On our way to Karnala, we had seen the Black Kites, which is a common site in Mumbai. We also hoped to see other birds of prey. While this thought lingered in our minds, we suddenly spotted a Rufous Treepie, eating its way to glory. We were enjoying this site when the Large Green Barbet’s call distracted us; the call seemed to come from a nearby location. I have always heard this bird but never seen it. This time too, I could only hear and not see!

Black, Purple, Rufous, White, Red were some of the colors that we had seen until now. We anticipated some more colors. A flash of yellow suddenly crossed our sight. It was the Black-naped Oriole, bright yellow in color. Its harsh call was interjecting the Large Green Barbet’s call.

As we moved on, we intermittently noticed a pair of Bronzed Drongos following us. The Black-naped Oriole also tried to remind us of its presence once in a while. It was almost afternoon and we could feel the heat. A covered tank at the beginning of the Hariyal trail served as a good resting spot. Food and water were next on our mind. We guzzled some water but had to wait until we were outside the sanctuary for food.

Mornings are generally believed to be the best time for bird activity as it’s when the birds are on the look out for food. When we were about to consider moving to our next destination Uran, there was a sudden flurry of activity in a nearby bush. It was a blue bird and then a white bird followed by another light blue bird. Was it the blue effect of the water we drank I wondered? In between all this commotion there stood a black bird with a chestnut colored belly, almost as if it was meditating. Well the blue birds were the flycatchers: Black-naped Monarch, Tickell’s Blue, and Verditer, all female. The white male Paradise Flycatcher was trying his tricks to impress them. The black bird was everyone’s favorite Whiterumped Shama. Believe me it was a treat to our eyes, almost a well-orchestrated silent show. We enjoyed it to our eyes content.

It was time to move to Uran. We had to increase our bird tally and the open-field and water birds were our next target. On our way we waited at a fruiting tree and got a glimpse of the Yellow-footed Green Pigeon and the male Asian Koel. The Green Pigeon is the state bird of the Maharashtra. It was gobbling juicy figs, while the Koel watched it.

The next destination, before we reached Uran was an open-field. The Common Hoopoe, a bird that I had seen at Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, was swinging its fan-shaped crested head. On the gound, near the bushes, were the Ashy Prinias. The Indian and the Magpie Robins, House Sparrows, Rosy Starlings, and Chestnut shouldered Petronias were interspersed in the habitat. The open-field had more in store for us; the Greenish Warblers, Stone Chats, Asian Palm Swifts, and Barn Swallows, all made our day. Overhead flew the Plum-headed and Roseringed Parakeets. Unlike the forest habitat, birds in an open-field are quite obvious.

We reached Uran at around 2.00 pm. The sun was almost hitting the water at an angle that made it very difficult to distinguish the birds. But with great patience and with the help of our binoculars we could identify the following birds (10 to 50 in number): Indian Cormorant, Spot-billed Duck, Northern Shoveller, Gargeney, Ruddy Shelduck, Cattle Egret, Lesser Flamingo (Juvenile), Black-headed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Indian Pond Heron, Grey Heron, and Black-headed Ibis. Water birds just like the open-field were busy foraging and waiting to greet us conspicuously.

A few minutes later the water invited a lone Marsh Harrier. Then there were numerous White-throated Kingfishers and to our viewing pleasure not 5 but 10 to 12 Red Avadavats. We also spotted the Yellow Wagtail, Ruff, Long-tailed Shrike, Purple Moorhens, and the Sanndpipers: Common, Wood, and Curlew. We had to later visit another water body to spot the Jacanas: Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed.

At the end of the day, we submitted our logbook with a total tally of 110 birds at the Maharashtra Nature Park in Mahim. All in all, though we didn’t win the race, it was a great first time experience for me-actually an experience of a lifetime!