Birding in our school

Hello !

In the earlier post, we mentioned our school area as a famous birding site in the city. We also discussed about how our relationship with nature started. So now we'd like to tell you about the birding in our school area i.e the New Palace ; the official residence of the royal family. The palace was built in 1818. And in 1985, the school was started. It is famous for the natural habitat around.
New Palace Area (NPA) has extensive area of almost 30 acres. There is also a beautiful lake in the campus that covers about 4 acres of land.

This lake is favoured by many species of waders (wetland birds) such as Indian Comorant, Eurasian Spoonbill, Lesser-Whistling Ducks, Storks, Herons etc. Some of them are all year residents and some are winter visitors. This lake is a part of an enclosed piece of land that contains domesticated emus, deer, geese, peacocks, hares etc. Painted Storks and Grey Herons build their nests on the trees near the lakes shortly after the monsoon. These birds live in colonies near the lake and also when building their nests. But this lake is fenced and trespassing is prohibited. We can spot some of them flying around the campus on the shoreline as well.


There is a dry old tree amidst the lake. It is a regular perch of Cormorants and Ibises.
There were also some irregular spottings like White-Bellied Sea Eagle, White Stork etc but we were unable to photograph them.

I remember the day when we spotted the White-Bellied Sea Eagle for the first time. Pushkar was photographing the munias and I was keeping a watch over the lake. Suddenly, all the cormorants that were perching flew away. I called Pushkar and we saw a huge bird on a tree on the other side of the lake.
We naturally thought it was a heron and began photographing it. But after taking some shots, when we play-backed the images and enlarged them to the full extent, we realized that it was no heron. This was the first ever sighting of the species in NPA.

Rest of the lands of NPA are covered with grass which is a habitat of many birds like Munias, Doves, Mynas etc. These grasses are the nesting sites of Scaly-breasted Munias  in the Monsoon.
These munias perch on the electric wires as well as the trees. They form groups to reduce the time in predator's vigilance and to increase the feeding efficiency. Their feeding technique can be predicted by the ' Optimal Foraging Theory ' where animals minimize time and energy spent to maximize food intake.

This area was first developed in the year 1884. Some of the old Banyan and Peepal trees are the nesting sites of Spotted Owlets, Common Mynas, and Rose-ringed Parakeets.

We can also spot Common Flameback in the rainy season. 

Spotted Owlet on the Banyan Tree

Coppersmith Barbet

 Another hotspot of this birding site is the soccer ground of the school (named as the Polo Ground). The large ground is located behind the palace where many birds like wagtails, pipits, larks, baya weavers are regularly spotted. Another seasonal spotting in the area is the Common Hoopoe. But the bird cannot be spotted easily because of the camouflaged colors. The old abandoned part of the ground is covered with tall grass. Munias feed in the grass in large groups in the evenings.

Common Hoopoe

Other Munia Species like Red Munia, Tricoloured Munia  reside in the grasses of Polo Ground.

Red-Munia Female

These small birds are observed by the predators like Shikra, Booted Eagle, Red-Headed Merlin. We were lucky to get the photos of the Red-Headed Merlin. It swooped down in the grass and killed a Red Munia. It was being chased by the Brahminy Kite but the kite was unsuccessful. The light conditions were bad so we were unable to get some decent shots.

Red-Headed Merlin with its kill

The New Palace Area is a major tourist attraction in the city. Thousands of tourists visit the museum daily. People keep roaming and littering in the campus which has led to the pollution of the land. Bird activities get affected due to the increased amount of disturbances such as vehicles, urbanization etc. Many housing societies are getting developed around the NPA which is going to be a major cause of habitat destruction in the future. We can conserve these habitats by planting specific species of trees and preserving existing habitats.

Here's a list of birds of NPA

	Bird Names	Scientific Names
	Indian Peafowl	Pavo cristatus
	Lesser-Whistling Ducks	Dendrocygna javanica
	Spot-Billed Duck	Anas poecilorhyncha
	Painted Stork	Mycteria leucocephala
	Asian Openbill	Anastomus oscitans
	Woolly-Necked Stork	Ciconia episcopus
	Black-Headed Ibis	Threskiornis melanocephalus
	Red-Naped Ibis	Pseudibis papillosa
	Eurasian Spoonbill	Platalea leucorodia
	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
	Purple Heron	Ardea purpurea
	Intermediate Egret	Egretta intermedia
	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
	Indian Pond Heron	Ardeola grayii
	Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis coromandus
	Cinnamon Bittern	Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
	Indian Cormorant	Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
	Great Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo
	Little Cormorant	Microcarbo niger
	Black Kite	Milvus migrans
	Brahminy Kite	Haliastur indus
	White-Bellied Sea Eagle*	Haliaeetus leucogaster
	Marsh Harrier	Circus aeruginosus
	Shikra	Accipiter badius
	Tawny Eagle	Aquila rapax
	Booted Eagle	Aquila pennata
	Red-Headed Merlin	Falco chicquera
	Purple Swamphen	Porphyrio porphyrio
	Common Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
	Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra
	Barred Buttonquail	Turnix suscitator
	Black-Winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus
	Red-Wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus
	Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos
	Wood Sandpiper	Tringa glareola
	River Tern	Sterna aurantia
	Blue Rock Pigeon	Columba livia
	Laughing Dove	Spilopelia senegalensis
	Spotted Dove	Spilopelia chinensis
	Rose-ringed Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
	Common Hawk-Cuckoo	Hieroccycx varius
	Indian Cuckoo	Cuculus canorus
	Barn Owl	Tyto alba
	Spotted Owlet	Athene brama
	Asian Palm Swift	Cypsiurus balasiensis
	Indian Roller	Coracias benghalensis
	Common Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis
	White-Throated Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis
	Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis
	Green Bee-Eater	Merops orientalis
	Common Hoopoe	Upupa epops
	Indian Grey Hornbill	Ocyceros birostris
	Coppersmith Barbet	Megalaima haemacephala
	Common Flameback	Dinopium javanense
	Common Iora	Aegithina tiphia
	Small Minivet	Pericrocotus cinnamomeus
	Scarlet Minivet	Pericrocotus speciosus
	Long-Tailed Shrike	Lanius schach
	Indian Golden Oriole	Oriolus kundoo
	Black Drongo	Dicrurus macrocercus
	White-Throated Fantail	Rhipidura albicollis
	Rufous Treepie	Dendrocitta vagabunda
	House Crow	Corvus splendens
	Indian Jungle Crow	Corvus culminatus
	Grey Tit	Parus cinereus
	Red-Vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus cafe
	Red-Whiskered Bulbul	Pycnonotus jocosus
	Dusky Crag-Martin	Ptyonoprogne concolor
	Barn Swallow	Hirundo rustica
	Wire-Tailed Swallow	Hirundo smithii
	Red-Rumped Swallow	Cecropis daurica
	Blyth's Reed Warbler	Acrocephalus dumetorum
	Paddyfield Warbler	Acrocephalus agricola
	Common Tailorbird	Orthotomus sutorius
	Ashy Prinia	Prinia socialis
	Common Babbler	Turdoides caudatus
	Large Grey Babbler	Turdoides malcolmi
	Oriental White-eye	Zosterops palpebrosus
	Jungle Myna	Acridotheres fuscus
	Common Myna	Acridotheres tristis
	Brahminy Starling	Sturnia pagodarum
	Rosy Starling	Sturnus roseus
	Pied Bushchat	Saxicola caprata
	Pale-Billed Flowerpecker	Dicaeum erythrorhynchos
	Purple-Rumped Sunbird	Leptocoma zeylonica
	Purple Sunbird	Cinnyris asiaticus
	House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
	Baya Weaver	Ploceus philippinus
	Red Munia	Amandava amandava
	Spotted Munia	Lonchura punctulata
	Tricoloured Munia	Lonchura malacca
	White Wagtail	Motacilla alba
	White-Browed Wagtail	Motacilla maderaspatensis
	Yellow Wagtail	Motacilla flava
	Indian Robin	Saxicoloides fulicatus
	Oriental Magpie-Robin	Copsychus saularis

Origins of our Blog

Hello again ! 

We'd like to tell you how our relationship with nature started. Me and +Pushkar Mankar were old buddies who later got admitted in the same tuition. We soon realized that the tuition arranged a camp in the month of November(as well as in April) to the paradise of birders, the Forest of Dandeli. The camp was hosted, managed and supervised by +abhijeet patil  and +Banda Pednekar ( two well-known nature lovers and birders). We immediately got ourselves enrolled for the 3 day camp. We had been to the forest many times but this camp changed our life, rather, our perspective. 

After returning from Dandeli, we bought a pocket guide to city birds and started spotting birds in nearby areas. To our advantage, our school area was one of the birdwatching sites in our city. So we used to go birdwatching everyday after school. We had only one camera (owned by Pushkar) which was used by both of us. Eventually, we developed a hobby of photographing birds and confirming the ID with the teachers. We documented local bird species but intermittently, we also spotted some rare birds such as White-bellied Sea Eagle, White Stork etc. But we had limitations in the photo quality and zooming. 

White-Bellied Sea Eagle

Our knowledge about birds was continuously being proliferated. We upgraded our field guide and started searching for new birds. We traveled to many other birding sites near the city with our teachers and some friends. We spotted some new bird species but again we had limitations with the camera.

We clicked some terrible photos with the point & zoom camera but we had no choice. We continued doing it. The condition was , we spotted some great birds but we could not shoot them properly. These are some photos we could click with that camera :P.

Little-Brown Dove

Short-Toed Snake Eagle

Indian Cormorants and Little Cormorants

So we decided to upgrade our photography gear after the board exams. We searched for DSLR operations and tutorials on the internet. After comparing a lot, I bought a DSLR and a telephoto zoom lens and even Pushkar did some time after. By now, we had also started contributing our photos to India Nature Watch. 

We visited Dandeli again in April 2013. It was a great trip again. We photographed many birds but we weren't accustomed to our cameras yet. After returning, we learnt about the essential functions in the cameras for doing wildlife photography.  In our vacation we regularly photographed and documented birds. We bought a professional field guide of Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Gradually, our knowledge about nature and its phenomenon broadened. We developed considerable skills of observation and concentration through nature. Our approach towards things became more specific. Nature taught us to live life in a simple manner and we enjoyed it. Our interest in nature grew and we have never looked back since. The joy of watching birds and animals in their natural habitat and observing their behavior shows you the importance and beauty of nature. Sharing those moments with our friends and family helped us spread the joy of nature.  This is how we have developed ourselves as nature-lovers, photographers etc. 

So after being linked with nature for over 2 years, we've developed this blog which focuses on conveying the importance of nature, wildlife, their habitats and conserving them. Hope you'll like it. Thanks for reading !

November 2013

Introduction

Hello ! This is our first post on this blog. This blog is aimed to make people aware of conserving nature and the habitats that are important for the survival of a particular species. This blog will also be a personal account of trip reports, what we saw, the habitat, the time, observations made, conclusion etc. We try to photograph habitats and the animals found there to convey the importance of them. We hope to change people's perspective about nature and god, how they're the same and why we need to/should conserve them. Next post is on its way for you. You can leave your feedback at forestersinfo@gmail.com. Thanks for reading !