Five of us-Dr. Surya Prakash, Chand, Shruti, Dharamveer and I- decided to give Phase 1 & 2 of Yamuna Biodiversity Park a look this morning. Early morning showers did not dampen our spirits (do they ever?) and we reached phase 2 of the park shortly after 7am.
-- This was my first visit to the area and I was quite surprised by the abundance of Paddyfield Pipits! I have honestly never seen so many in one place before. The damp grasses on either side of the trail held loads of wagtails-Citrine, Yellow and White were spotted. A couple of Wire Tailed Swallows that were perched on reed stems were joined by a pair of Plain Martins. Zitting Cisticolas "zitted" from within tangles of vegetation and a Bengal Bushlark revealed itself briefly before shooting back into the tall grass.
We now decided to explore "Shyam Ghat" in the hope of getting a glimpse of the Indian Skimmer that was spotted here not long ago. Unfortunately the water level was high and not conducive to Skimmers. Nevertheless, several Oriental Skylarks put up a good show as they performed their hovering song flight in the skies above. A flypast by 15 odd Northern Shovellors was a nice addition. It had been cloudy all this while but the sun began to come out now and this rose to some beautiful reflections from the water.
It was in the backdrop of these silvery reflections that I followed a Black Headed Gull in full breeding plumage as it flew along the river and this was a lovely sight. Nearby, a flock of Baya Weavers perched on the reeds and studied us...while we in turn carefully studied them!
Now we headed back to the point we had started from in the morning. A pair of Greenshanks flew low across the water while another pair of Gadwall bobbed around lazily. A Bengal Bushlark almost evaded detection but we managed t spot it hidden in the wet grass. The reeds in this areas seemed to hold a good number Graceful Prinias as many of them were singing from the long grass.
We got back in our cars and set off for the next (and final!) destination: YBP Phase 1. Bird activity was good despite the time being past 11am. The forest areas yielded Spotted Owlet, Lesser & Hume's Whitethroat, Common Rosefinch amongst others. A female Eurasian Marsh Harrier flew low over us...and stopped abruptly on seeing that it was being watched. The tall grass held plenty of Red Avadavats...the males were just starting to dawn their breeding colours.
At 12 noon, we called it a day and dispersed...but not before amassing a tally of 83 odd species. It was a Good Friday after all!
Thanks for reading,
Udiyaman
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