On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 10:01 PM, Udiyaman Shukla <udishukla@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,My father and me decided to visit the scrub forests and woodlands at Sanjay Van this morning and what a morning it was! We arrived at our usual gate at about 6:15am.Upon entering the area, we noticed that the sun was just peeking from behind the clouds and this gave the sky a beautiful glow. Within a few minutes, the call of a Grey Breasted Prinia rented the air though it remained elusive to the eye. Also seen was a large group of sparrows at a feeding spot. We took a path that leads to the water body. The usual birds were present-some Lapwings, Spotbills in flight and a Cattle Egret. Moving on, we heard many Peafowl and Francolin. I heard a high pitched lark-like call being repeated over and over again, but couldn't check it out due to thick tree cover.Finally, we arrived at an area when the paths diverged. We took the path leading to Dry Scrub. There was a little fight taking place here. An Indian Robin was driving away some magpie robins which it thought did not belong in such thorny environs.Many more Indian robins were heard or seen. Over here we took a trail. There was a big group of Jungle babblers here (at least 20 birds) that made such a racket that they drove away probably every speciality of this area around the trail. Hence, no Common Babbler or White Eared Bulbul could be spotted (latter was spotted later). We tried our luck with a trail further on. This led to a feeding spot and at is edge was a big target species-A group of Baya Weavers! About four birds were eying us nervously as i looked at them through binocs. But a bright red bill within the bush startled me. And then the head of a small bird with a face mask was also seen. This bird was the star of the day. A Red Munia! A lifer for me. We got back on the main path and then onto another trail. here i got my second lifer, a pair of Common Woodshrikes!We got back to the area where the path forked and tried the second path. A few confusing turns later we were in bushland with short trees here and there. A trail from here led to a good view of the water body. At the water body we saw 2 pairs of hyperactive White Browed Wagtails, Black Winged Stilts, A pond Heron, a Little Cormorant etc. We also saw a pair of Treepies in the nearby wooded area.Once back on the bushland path, we soon took a trail that led us deeper into this prickly area. Many Greater Coucals were heard. Often young acacias were present on the trail and they would prick our shins when passed by. But all this was well rewarded. I saw a small bird flying to and fro in front of me. Then we saw a bunch of high rocks huddled together and over here were many Baya Weavers! A bird on a nearby bush when looked through binocs turned out to be one more Red Munia! We observed Bayas who, in the company of Indian Silverbills were feeding on grain scattered on the ground. I counted about a dozen bayas but there must have been more in the nearby bushes and trees. We stuck around here for some more time and the feeding birds did not mind us too much. The Red Munia soon retired into a bush. The other birds however stuck for some photos i took with my father's mobile phone.Now, the heat was catching on and we decided to head back. There was a small delay though, as a family of pigs blocked our path. As we came near the entrance, i looked at the water body from a small garden. But nothing interesting there. Right before leaving i checked out the water body from yet another point. Near it was small a patch of tall grassland. There were quite a few waterhens here but i think some interesting birds must be coming there during winter. At the corner was a Little Egret and a Black Ibis. Also, a Drongo was present and i heard both Orioles and GB prinias. In fact, these were heard throughout the walk but we could not spot them.Now, that i was content, we moved out of the area with a Shikra flying overhead. A few minutes later, we saw a Honey Buzzard from the car that marked the end to our rewarding morning.This morning revealed about 50-52 species in 1 hour and 40 minutes, which is quite good for summer. After this visit i would suggest that the delhi birders should try to organise more walks to Sanjay Van and from the gate i entered from, the one on Aruna Asaf Ali Marg (near ICSSR)Thanks,Udiyaman
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