Corbett

We woke pre-dawn to the calls of Large-tailed and Savanna Nightjars around the Dhikala compound and after breakfast headed out on our jeep safari around the grassland. It was wonderful to listen to the sounds of the jungle coming to life and as we drove around the grassland following the edge of the forest a small herd of Indian Elephants emerged onto the track in front of us. 

Elephants

At least 6 animals with a youngster tagging along were present and as we watched them heard the alarm call of a Sambar from behind us. We spent the next 30 minutes or so chasing the calls and waiting for a Tiger to appear without much luck. But still saw Jungle Owlet, a pair of Black-chinned Babblers, Short-billed, Long-tailed and Scarlet Minivets, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo and Maroon Oriole. 

Black-chinned Babbler

In the grassland a Chestnut-crowned (Large) Bush-warbler only showed briefly, but a female Slaty-blue Flycatcher was a little more obliging nearby. Blyth’s Leaf-warbler and Lemon-rumped Warbler, Hen Harrier and an Eurasian Wryneck was seen well. Moving on we had an Aberrant Bush-warbler that wasn’t so successful at skulking in some tussocks beside the track, and both Zitting and Bright-capped Cisticola showed very well. A Black-throated Thrush perched out in the grassland was a bit out of the ordinary, and we also had both Steppe Eagle and Pallas’s Fish-eagle – oh and we did get another Tiger this morning. Without trying hard at all we were driving through an open grassy area when we could see a guy waving to us from 100m away and sped towards his jeep and there it was, a fine male Tiger striding into the forest. 

Tiger - again!

We drove along a trail into the same forest and parked up and waited. After a short wait, it reappeared and walked though the forest to our left and eventually crossed the track in front of us giving amazing views. How lucky were we? Upon arrival back at the lodge we spent a very pleasant hour scanning the Ramganga River, lake and grassland below our lookout point. Highlights here included a pair of Black-necked Storks, 8+ Black Storks, a flock of Small Pratincoles, Ruddy Shelduck, an Osprey, 2 Great Black-headed Gulls, plus a few Gharials and Marsh Muggers. In the afternoon we drove along the Sambar Road which meant crossing several little tributaries of the Ramganga River which was a very scenic route and we got off to a great start with a perched Lesser Fish-eagle, which we would also see flying overhead giving its distinctive call later. 

Stork-billed Kingfisher

A Pygmy Wren-babbler was only glimpsed a while later but a fine male Ultramarine Flycatcher and a Stork-billed Kingfisher were very obliging, as was a Streak-throated Woodpecker. Crossing the streams we found a pair of Crested Kingfishers, White-capped River-chat, River Lapwings, more Elephants, before entering the forest. 

White-capped River-chat

Here we had Pied Flycatcher-shrike and a few other common species but it was a little quiet. So on our return we had a perched Mountain Hawk-eagle, as well as Alexandrine Parakeet, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler, our first Ashy Woodswallows and best of all, a pair of Great Hornbills that slowly flew overhead. 

Great Hornbill

Another great way to end a successful day. 

Corbett at Last

We left Delhi early doors and drove up to Corbett national Park, stopping at Tiger Camp for lunch. As lunch was not quite ready for us, we walked down to the river. Lots of raptors were soaring around the clear sky and we had Red-headed, Himalayan Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Black Kite and an Oriental Honey Buzzard as well. Margaret made the find of the morning when she spotted a Wallcreeper several hundred metres downriver, which prompted a brisk walk to get closer views. We also had White-capped Water-redstart, White-browed Wagtail and a Grey-backed Shrike as well before returning for lunch. Afterwards we set off into Corbett NP in three gypsies (jeeps) with our luggage going in a 4^th vehicle ahead of us. It was several kilometres to the park entrance and along the way we had Spangled Drongo, Plum-headed Parakeet, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Common Woodshrike and Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker. Once inside the park things livened up and it was a very pleasant drive through rolling hills covered in dense forest, along river valleys and through grassland to our destination at Dikhala. 

Yellow-throated Marten

We kicked off with Red-breasted Parakeet, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Short-billed Minivet, Lemon-rumped Warbler, Pied Flycatcher-shrike,  a few White-crested Laughingthrushes and Yellow-throated Marten. As the scenery got ever better as we followed some huge  boulder-strewn rivers we saw Changeable Hawk-eagle, Collared Falconet and a cracking Pallas’s Fish-eagle. Time was slipping away fast so we had to speed up our journey but still managed flocks of Grey-winged Blackbirds and at one gulley a superb Long-billed Thrush was watched feeding right out in the open, oblivious to us watching it. What a bird! 

Long-billed Thrush - record shot!

So we eventually arrived at Dhikala compound around 6.15pm and were regaled with stories of a Tiger on a kill just a few kilometre away, which made our minds up what to do first thing tomorrow morning!

Sultanpur

We went straight to our hotel upon arrival in Delhi in the early morning and had breakfast before heading out to Sultanpur – a drive of about two hours. As soon as we arrived we headed over to the main area of pools and had cracking views of a pair of Sind Sparrows which were nesting in a hole in a tree right below the track. 

Sind Sparrow

This is such a range restricted and local species so was a great way to start the mornings birding. We also found an Eastern Imperial Eagle perched in a large dead tree and several Ferruginous Ducks, both new species for us. We also got word that a Baikal Teal had been present recently so we sifted through several thousand waterfowl, but to no avail. 

Black-necked Stork

We also found Black-necked Stork, Greater Spotted and Booted Eagles, another Brooks’s Leaf-warbler, a pair of Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers, and a surprise find in a Yellow-browed Warbler. There were loads of birds here and it was a very pleasant few hours watching all the activity with numerous egrets, herons, storks. Then we drove back to our hotel after a picnic lunch and met up with the new members of the group joining us for the second half of the tour. 

Another Day Another Tiger

Our final jeep safari into Ranthambhore saw us travelling along Route 3, and this turned out to be not only a very scenic area but also held more birds than other sections of the park we had visited. At the entrance gate inside the park a flock of Plum-headed Parakeets were feeding on the floor right beside us, and a Peacock was rather unobtrusive. We had a close pair of Painted Spurfowls, which was a great way to start. 

Plum-headed Parakeet

Peacock

Painted Spurfowl

There were several lakes that held a lot of the usual birds and we spent some time observing the overall scene as Marsh Muggers cruised by close to shore and all the usual egrets, herons and waders were dotted along the water’s edge. At the first lake there was a distant Crested Serpent-eagle which was new for the tour, but best of all was an Indian Stone-curlew standing in the shade of a tree next to another lake. 

Indian Stone-curlew

We’d spent a few hours going around all of the good areas and were just about thinking of leaving when a canter went speeding by us in the opposite direction. They were obviously aware of something we weren’t so followed them in hot pursuit and after a bumpy, dusty fast drive we pulled up behind a group of 6 or 7 other jeeps and sure enough, there was a rather large female Tiger sitting amongst some bushes under the trees. She was partially obscured but kept moving around and she looked huge compared to the other Tiger we saw a few days ago. 

Our Second Tiger

After 20  minutes or so she got up and went over to her recently killed Sambar and dragged some branches and leaves over it and walked off into the jungle. And that was it. The whole episode made us fully appreciate the amazing encounter with our first beast the other day. On the way out of the park we had a close perched Indian Vulture, followed by a soaring Red-headed Vulture, and a Rat Snake to end our wildlife encounters here. 

Rat Snake

In the afternoon we drove to Mansarovar Lake for a quick look and was surprised to find 9 Great Black-headed Gulls present, as well as a whole bunch of common birds but had nothing new to add to our lists since the Common Iora in the car park of our lodge. All that remained to do was make our way to Sawai Modhpur train station and catch the overnight sleeper train to Delhi – and all the chaos that always surrounds such an event!

Ranthambhore Day 2

Had a change of plan this morning and decided to not go on safari but use our canter to go explore the fields and canyons about half an hours drive away. A good move as it turned out because we finally caught up with Striolated Bunting, a relatively recent split from House Bunting, and had amazingly close views as I called one in and sure enough it did come in – to within about 2 metres!! 

Striolated Bunting

Amidst a quite dramatic area of badlands and canyons we also had White-capped and Crested Buntings, Grey-breasted and numerous Rufous-fronted Prinias, Grey-throated Martin and others. Moving on down to a small river bordered by fields and tall rushes we had Crested and Oriental Skylarks, and both Paddyfield and Tawny Pipits in the same field as the village kids were playing cricket. 

An Asian Openbill, Indian Black Ibis, Purple Heron, Marsh Harrier, Long-tailed and Great Grey Shrikes and Sykes’s Wagtail were all present. But by now it was getting hot so we drove off and headed back to the lodge, checking a few arid areas for more larks without success, but we did spot a close Indian Courser beside the road which was very nice indeed. 

Indian Courser

In the afternoon we had a safari back in the reserve along route 5 and scored with two Brown Fish-owls, Indian Vulture and Large Cuckooshrike, plus the usual Sambar, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar and Ruddy Mongoose. 

Spotted Deer

Brown Fish-owl

In the evening we went out in search of Indian Stone-curlew which a few of the group managed to get on as it flew out of some Acacia trees and groups of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse flew over. But then I called in an Indian Little Nightjar which circled us several times, a Large-tailed Nightjar then flew over the trees behind us and a Savanna Nightjar called overhead and was spotlighted but it never came back in for seconds. So what a lovely way to end the day!