Thrushes

Back inside Bharatpur again and still looking for the more elusive species. First stop was the nursery for some Thrushes, a good plan that went awry when I flushed two Dusky Eagle Owls from a nearby Kadam tree but, despite best efforts, I couldn't get anywhere near them without re-flushing them. But, back to Thrushes and a bit of a wait until Tickell's Thrush gave itself up by a leaking water pipe closely followed by an Orange-headed Thrush and another Tickell's.

Next up was Siberian Rubythroat, one had been spending much of it's time in a gully by the checkpost but was really elusive, I was going to give a bit of time to this but there was no need as it showed itself after a few minutes (speaking to another birder later who had spent 4 hours there and still hadn't seen it !), plus the added bonus of a roosting Collared Scops' Owl in the same area.

It was now time to head for the Temple tea stall, not for anything in particular, I was just running low on water. I couldn't resist a few shots of a very showy Red-breasted Flycatcher on the way. Water bought and tea drank and time to check the drainage channel for the unlikely chance of a Bittern or two and bingo.... juv Black Bittern about 10 feet away.

And that was the day over, with the addition of a few jaunts into the Acacia scrub and more open areas (mainly for photos of Indian Jackal).

Black Bittern

Bank Myna

Indian Jackal

Orange-headed Thrush

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red Avadavat

Siberian Rubythroat

Tickell's Thrush

White-eared Bulbul

 

Collared

Spent most of the day in Bharatpur looking for one bird - Collared Scops' Owl, after visiting all the known roost sites with no luck, managed to find one at a new site and giving great views to boot. In between checking all the sites, bumped into a few other bits and pieces - several Greater Spotted Eagles, a few Indian Grey Hornbills, 2 Black-necked Storks, a Wryneck, a couple of Black-shouldered Kites and up to 8 Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers.

Black-necked Stork

Black-shouldered Kite

Collared Scops' Owl

Indian Darter

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Greater Spotted Eagle

Ring-necked Parakeet

Wryneck

Bharatpur

Two weeks off work and what to do? Idea... try and find a cheap flight to somewhere, and I did and now I'm in India for the next 10 days !!
Starting with a few days at Bharatpur. Now that there are cycle rickshaws and guides for the park, I decided to hire one of them for the day to get a few difficult species, well worth while as they only charge 8 quid for the whole day - and my guide did very well indeed at finding stuff. First up on his challenge was to find me a Dusky Eagle Owl, no problem, we just went to an active nest viewable from the cycle way. Although you could see the bird sitting quite easily, there was no chance of any photos as the nest was about 300 metres away through a tangle of branches. Next up was Large-tailed Nightjar and after 2 hours walking the forest edge in 30 degree heat, finally flushed one for a brief flight view and then nailed it on the deck for some crippling views. And the final challenge that I set my guide - Black Bittern - near impossible, but no, after some 90 minutes of searching manages to find one less than 10 feet away from the path in a tangle of waterside branches.
The bits in between were spent just enjoying being out and about and seeing some daylight for a change.

Large-tailed Nightjar

Long-tailed Shrike

Lesser Whistling Ducks

Rufous Freepie

Spotted Owlets

Black Bittern - showing well !

Indian Soft Shell Turtle

....and some Snakes

October

That's it ! work, work, work and no time for birding. As is shown by the accompanying photos, I managed to do the patch on very few occasions.

Common Stonechat

Blackcap

Brambling

Barnacle Geese

Reed Bunting

Wheatear

Whinchat

Sibe Chat ?

Wimped out and only went out on the patch after the rain had stopped, though it was still blowing a gale, but the place was crawling with migrants - mainly Song Thrushes (87) and Robins (29). In addition to this - 1 Short-eared Owl, 3 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling, 1 Siskin, 7 Wheatear, a Jack Snipe, 5 Grey Herons, 31 Wood Pigeons, 5 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff (inc 1 'sibe' type), a male Redstart, 1 Black Redstart, 2 Reed Buntings and 6 Redwing. Still quite a few geese around too - 110 Barnacle Geese and 320 Pinkies. So after seeing that lot, as I was heading home past Colonial Place, up popped at Stonechat onto a nearby fence, on first views I was thinking it was a bit colourful for a Sibe, but the bird had an unmarked apricot coloured rump and seemed to have dark underwings, I managed to get a few crap shots of it before it flew off into the gardens. Despite quite a bit of searching, I couldn't relocate it, but by then it was nearly dark. Less wind forecast for tomorrow, so will have another look in the morning.

Blackcap

Brambling

Short-eared Owl

Siberian ? Stonechat

Song Thrush

Geese

Out on the patch in the first south-easterly that has coincided with my time off work, I managed to get a good couple of hours patching before the rain came in. Although birding was difficult at times in the 50mph winds, there were still quite a few migrants about - 11 Song Thrush, 3 Goldcrest, 7 Blackcap, 4 Wheatear, 1 Brambling, 1 Swallow and a Woodcock. A bit of a surprise was 295 Pink-footed Geese and 131 Barnacle Geese all on the deck at the back of the Loch, also a bit unusual was a Black-tailed Godwit in front of the house.

Blackcap

Black-tailed Godwit

Barnacle Geese

Pink-footed Geese

Wheatear

Ruby Four

Just back from Levenwick and my fourth Siberian Rubythroat, I couldn't manage any photos as viewing was pretty restricted and by the time I'd found a better place to view from it was nearly dark. Even though the bird is a first winter male, it didn't look that much dissimilar to this one (photographed in India)