India Part 2

Thursday 20^th

Another early start as we were being picked up at 5.30 so we took a packed breakfast with us to the airport. We had a domestic flight on IndiGo to Kochi; our original flight was at 10am but they cancelled that and put us on the earlier one at 08:10. 

Leaving Mumbai

Coming in to land at Kochi

We landed at 09:50 but took an hour a get out of the airport as someone left their walking stick on the plane. We met up with our guide/driver for the rest of the trip, loaded up the car and headed off to our accommodation, a family-run homestay. We arrived in time for lunch where we were greeted by an Indian Giant Squirrel that was feeding a metre away off our balcony.

Indian Giant Squirrel

Huntsman Spider in our bathroom

We then got ready for our first afternoon birding in the Western Ghats at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary.

Forest stream

This area has a lot of regional endemics and it didn’t take long before we starting seeing some of them with Malabar Flameback, White-bellied Woodpecker,  Malabar Woodshrike, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher and a lovely pair of roosting Sri Lankan Frogmouths amongst other more widespread birds. 

Sri Lankan Frogmouth

White-bellied Woodpecker

Blue-eared Kingfisher

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

Common Kingfisher

Indian Blue Robin

Female Malabar Trogon

Male Malabar Trogon

Asian Vine Snake

We stopped for coffee at a roadside café late afternoon which had a lakeside view and added Blue-tailed Bee-eater and Brahminy Kite.

Back at the homestay we went up on the rooftop terrace towards dusk where a Great Eared Nightjar flew over. We then did two very successful owling sessions either side of dinner, seeing Indian Scops Owl, Mottled Wood Owl, Brown Boobook, Oriental Scops Owl and a couple of other nocturnal critters.

Brown Boobook

Indian Scops Owl

Mottled Wood Owl

Oriental Scops Owl

Anamalai Pit Viper

Indian Giant Flying Squirrel

Friday 21st

After an early breakfast we spent the morning birding the local area of Thattekad from 7am. The first bird seen was Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, quickly followed by two Malabar Grey Hornbills, both regional endemics. We walked up an old lava flow to a viewpoint and were soon joined by a couple of other birding groups as this was clearly the place to stand while our guide went in search of a roosting Bay Owl. We also met a rather miserable Irish crew who then followed us around for the rest of the trip.

There were plenty of birds to see and photograph and the guide’s young son, a budding birder, found a distant pair of Brown Fish Owls. 

Brown Fish Owl

Crimson-backed Sunbird

Golden-fronted Leafbird

Orange Minivet

Malabar Grey Hornbill

Malabar Imperial Pigeon

Rufous-bellied Eagle

Brown Shrike ssp lucionensis

butterfly sp

Common Lascar

We went back to the homestay for lunch, stopping briefly for a couple of distant Asian Elephants in a river.

Asian Elephant

 We spent the rest of the afternoon birding from the rooftop of our homestay while our guide again went in a vain search for the owl.

Bonnet Macaque

Common Myna

Lesser Whistling Duck

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Cinereous Tit

Black-rumped Flameback

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Vernal (AKA Infernal) Hanging Parrot

Saturday 22nd

We went back into the forest after breakfast for a last bit of birding in the area but it was raining so we didn’t get too much. We left mid-morning and checked out and drove to our next destination, Periyar NP. We did a little bit of birding en route before arriving at the Abad Green Forest Resort late afternoon. We had a wander around the grounds, seeing our only Clamorous Reed Warbler of the trip.

Black-rumped Flameback

Heart-spotted Woodpecker

Plum-headed Parakeet

Shikra

White-bellied Treepie

White-cheeked Barbet

Two more as yet unidentified butterflies

Oriental Garden Lizard

South Indian Flying Lizard

We couldn’t get a drink at the hotel, nor at any of the subsequent hotels in Kerala as it had been a dry state up until July when the sale of alcohol was legalised, albeit with many restrictions. Most of the hotels don’t even any bar areas so they aren’t able to offer drinks. 

India Part 1

This was a private trip to Southern India concentrating on the Western Ghats endemics organised via Bluetail Birding with a short pre-tour extension.

Monday 17^th

I met up with Lynne and Neil airside at Heathrow T3 mid-afternoon and we headed for the nearest coffee shop. It wasn’t long before we were boarding our 18:00 Virgin flight to Mumbai. I’d elected for Premium Economy for the extra legroom and the welcome drink of prosecco also went down nicely!

Tuesday 18^th

We landed at 08.20 local time in India’s second largest city, home to 23 million people. Black Kite kicked off our trip list with a few seen floating around the airport. Once through immigration we collected our bags and met up with our driver who took us a short distance through the city to our hotel. We couldn’t check in for a while and then decided to rest up for the remainder of the day as we had nothing scheduled.

Wednesday 19^th

We had a very early start as we had to drive out of the vast city and northwards to Tansa. We picked up our guide, Prathamesh Desai, at a nearby rail station and arrived at the reserve at 7am having consumed our packed breakfast. The day was all about seeing Forest Owlet but there was time for general birding as well. Green Warbler was heard as soon as we got out of the car and we heard many more during the day and did eventually see one. We taped in a Mottled Wood Owl which flew over the clearing a couple of times being pursued by mobbing Black Drongos and briefly landed where we could see it before disappearing back into the forest.

Mottled Wood Owl with mobbing Drongos

We drove a short distance to the main area for the owlet and one soon started to call. It took a while to get decent views but the pair decided to give themselves up in the end. Also seen in the area were Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Indian Grey Hornbill and Alexandrine Parakeet. We went to a nearby location and saw another Forest Owlet – there are several known territories in the area.

Forest Owlet

With the main target safely in the bag we spent the rest of the day birding the area seeing Rufous Treepie, Indian Golden and Black-hooded Orioles and Grey-breasted Prinia. We stopped at a bridge over a river where several Chiffchaffs (probably Siberian) and a Blyth’s Reed Warbler were feeding. In the sunshine, raptors began to appear and Oriental Honey-Buzzard and White-eyed Buzzard were both seen.

Asian Green Bee-eater

Black Drongo

Indian Golden Oriole

Malabar Woodshrike

White-eyed Buzzard

Yellow-throated Sparrow

We went off for lunch and a rest at the reserve where we were entertained by a family of Peafowl chicks that had been rescued and had soon adopted people as substitute parents, one even climbing up me and falling asleep on my shoulder! 

Reserve entrance - made out of plastic trees!

napping Peafowl chick

We resuming birding the area in the afternoon; it was a lot quieter but we did manage to find Red-headed Bunting, Small Minivet and Cinereous Tit before stopping at 17:30. 

Blue Tigers

Common Sailor

Common Tiger

A couple of unidentified frogs

Large Wood Spider

Slender Skimmer

We dropped our guide back at the station and started the long drive back to Mumbai where the evening rush hour had ground the traffic to a crawl and we didn’t get back to our hotel until 21:15, some three and three-quarter hours later. We had a late dinner then packed for tomorrow’s departure. 

Week in Norfolk

At the beginning of November I had my regular annual visit to Norfolk with my friends John & Janet. We had to move the dates a bit which meant travelling up by train on Sunday. Typically they chose that weekend to do some engineering works so we were already destined for the dreaded rail replacement bus. However, our plans to take an early train were scuppered when they cancelled it at the last minute due to a faulty train.

An hour later we were on our way and it went fairly smoothly from then on, getting on a coach at Cambridge North which took us all the way to Kings Lynn where we got the local bus up to Hunstanton. We had a few Red Kites and Buzzards en route but not the hoped for Whooper Swans which are normally in fields along the railway.

After checking in at the guest house we strolled along the seafront, seeing a few Oystercatchers and Turnstones.

Sunset over The Wash

On Monday morning we had a quick vismig session from the seafront. There was a strong southerly blowing so the conditions weren't great but we logged around 24,000 Starlings.

Migrating Starlings

After breakfast we took the bus to Titchwell and spent the whole day there. It was quite breezy but the original forecast of 40mph winds had luckily changed so it wasn't too bad. We started off going around the woodlands and were shown a tree containing a roosting Tawny Owl. It was very difficult to see but eventually we managed to piece enough of it together, while behind us a Yellow-browed Warbler called a couple of times.

As it was low tide there was no point hurrying to the beach so we took our time checking the lagoons and doing the hides. Amongst the waders was a single Curlew Sandpiper, an unusual sighting in November as they should all be wintering in Africa by now.

Curlew Sandpiper

Pink-footed Geese were constantly flying over in large skeins while smaller groups of Brent Geese dropped in and landed on the lagoons.

Brent Geese

Pink-footed Geese

Great Egret

When we did get down to the beach, the sea was fairly quiet with just single Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver. After a hot drink at the cafe we went back onto the main path and waited for the evening roost where the highlight was at least 35 Marsh Harriers.

On Tuesday we did another pre-breakfast vismig, seeing far fewer Starlings (4000) but a big increase in Chaffinch with almost 300 coasting. A surprise was a Goldeneye which flew out of The Wash and headed straight inland.

We spent the rest of the day at Holkham, starting off with a slow amble down Lady Anne's Drive. 

Shaggy Inkcap

There were quite a lot of Pink-feet on the marsh and a solitary White-fronted Goose. As no Shorelarks have been regularly reported we skipped the usual spot and walked west along the pines and checked out both hides. 

Pinkfeet

The usual assortment of woodland birds were picked up along the way including a vocal Treecreeper. At the Joe Jordan hide a single Cattle Egret wandered around the resting cows trying to get them to move without joy.

Cattle Egret and resting bovine

Red Kites, Buzzards and Marsh Harriers were regularly on view.

Common Buzzard

Several late Common Darters were making the most of the mild conditions but we didn't see any butterflies.

Common Darter

In the afternoon we cut through the woods to the beach and had a look at the sea where a single Red-throated Diver and a small flock of Common Scoter were present. We left mid-afternoon, checking the fields for Grey Partridge but didn't find any.

The pre-breakfast session on Wednesday gave us 14,000 Knot heading down towards Snettisham and another 11,800 Starlings and 650 Chaffinch with a few wheezing Bramblings amongst them. Most unusual though were two Yellowhammers which followed the coasting finches.

We elected to revisit Titchwell rather than go anywhere new as the wind had died down and the forecast was now suggesting a dry and bright day. It ended up being a good choice as we saw even more birds (79 species compared to 76 on Monday) and several good birds. We tried for the Tawny Owl again but couldn't find it in the same tree. The Yellow-browed Warbler had a two minute burst of calling then broke cover and flew past us before totally disappearing.

A bit further along the trail we finally managed to track down one of the Firecrests, although there were meant to be five in the area. We spent some time trying to find a Bittern but none were on show, just the usual Great Egrets.

Great Egret

At the beach, the sea was again just about devoid of birds but a couple of Snow Buntings had been found on the dunes so we walked along to see them. As we went back to the lagoons and entered the hide, someone excitedly waved us over and said American Golden Plover. I took a look in his scope and sure enough there was one.

I got my scope on it, it was just behind the main Golden Plover flock and kept being chased off by Lapwings but showed well, albeit distantly before  disappearing behind an island. 

Checking on my records later on, it was my 6th AGP in the UK, four of which were on the Scillies.

Record shot of American Golden Plover

Muntjac

A Muntjac feeding at the back of another lagoon went onto the deer list with Chinese Water, Fallow and Roe Deer all seen earlier. We didn't stay right to dusk but the Marsh Harriers were beginning to drift into roost as we left.

On our last morning we only had time for one pre-breakfast session before going back home. It ended up being the best of the week with a whopping 61,000 Starlings flying past. At one point we were engulfed in an enormous flock and we couldn't hear anything except for their wingbeats.

Chaffinches drifted over in decent numbers again with 380 counted and at least 13 Bramblings went over. A Stonechat-like call coming from the nearby railings was tracked down as the bird revealed itself as a Black Redstart.

All too soon we were travelling back on the train from Kings Lynn, but at least on this journey we added one final species as we saw several large flocks of Whooper Swans in the fens. We finished with 107 species, another successful late autumn trip to Norfolk.

October birding & moths

October has the potential to be the best month of autumn but this year it was pretty quiet in London. Visible migration (vismig) - counting birds flying over on their way to their wintering grounds - is typically at its peak and there were a few decent days but the weather conditions weren't that good locally, although some sites in London seemed to be better placed.

Rainham Marshes

I managed eight visits this month and added one new year bird - Merlin. Although I missed what was presumably the same tame juvenile that hung around Ken Barrett hide earlier in the month, I did see it zoom past Butts hide a bit later. One day I'll get a photo of one.

Water and Rock Pipits returned this month and one of the former was reasonably obliging in front of Butts hide but a bit distant for a decent photo.

Water Pipit

Black-tailed Godwits increased in number during the month and often showed well over high tide when they fed on the reserve. They've all now moulted into their drabber winter colours.

Black-tailed Godwits

In the second half of the month a female Garganey was found which stayed around a while but could be tricky to track down.

Sleeping Garganey with Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal

I didn't manage to connect with the two Glossy Ibis that briefly dropped in but there's still a lot in the country so plenty of time left. On Halloween a probable Richard's Pipit was seen on the tip but had long disappeared by the time I arrived.

The final thing of note at Rainham (apart from the welcome re-opening of the Shooting Butts hide) was a Feathered Thorn moth which was roosting on the outside of the visitors centre on 31st.

Feathered Thorn

Beam Parklands

I visited a dozen times this month and the increased coverage paid off on the 26th. I was over at dawn for some vismigging when I heard a distant call in the trees. It sounded like a Yellow-browed Warbler but was just too far away to confirm so I hurried over. Eventually it called again and I was close enough to sound record it. I heard it a few more times but never managed to see it as it remained deep in a dense patch of sallows. They're still a fairly rare bird in London with typically no more than a handful of records each year so it was a nice addition to the site list.

I've had the usual finches on vismig here: Chaffinch, Linnet, Siskin & Redpoll but no Brambling yet.

Dagenham Chase

Nine visits in October, most of which were early morning for vismig. The best bird was a flyover Rock Pipit, the same day that several other sites in London recorded them. They're pretty scarce here with just six previous records, the last being in 2016.

Other sites

I visited a number of other local sites: Parsloes Park, Mardyke OS, Central Park, Goresbrook Park, Barking Riverside, Beam Valley CP and Bretons Park.

Moth trapping

With the nights getting colder, the number of moths flying has drastically reduced and a spell of rainy weather prevented me from running the trap. However, I still managed to add some new species this month.

Blair's Shoulder-knot

Meal Moth

Double-striped Pug

Feathered Ranunculus

Red-green Carpet