Following
an overnight train journey we arrived in Delhi and went to a nearby hotel for a
shower and breakfast before heading to Okhla Bird Sanctuary. We arrived just
after sunrise and I was very surprised to see the Yamuna River totally empty –
I mean no water at all! However, we picked up numerous new birds for the trip
including the four species I always target here. First of all, there were more Yellow-bellied Prinias around than I
have ever seen before here, followed by Striated
Babbler which was equally as numerous.
 |
| Striated Babbler |
 |
| Yellow-bellied Prinia |
It took a while longer to catch up
with Striated Grassbird, but
eventually we had decent looks at a displaying bird. The final key species
wasn’t seen until we decided to return to the shade of the trees, and boy was
it hot here today. But after a distant scope view of a probable female White-tailed Stonechat, a cracking male
appeared much closer and began to sing and display by fanning its tail
revealing the white inner webs….
 |
| Yep, definitely a White-tailed Stonechat...! |
There
were numerous other good birds this morning and particular favourites were some
Red-naped (Indian Black) Ibis, Painted Stork, Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon, flocks of Bar-headed Goose flying over, Indian
Spot-billed Duck, Dusky Warbler,
Taiga Flycatcher, and Brown-headed Barbet.
 |
| Bar-headed Geese |
 |
| Indian Spot-billed Ducks |
There was
also Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, Asian
Koel, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Ashy Prinia, Indian Robin, Baya Weaver,
Citrine Wagtail, and some Nilgai as well.
 |
| Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon |
And that
was our birding finished in incredible India and we ended up with 311 species
seen in 10 days…
Looking forward to returning to India next year for a Snow Leopard expedition, as well as our South India & Andamans tour......
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