Quick
calls were made to birder friends Ritul Mehta, who wanted to test his new
200-400 lens, Sudha Iyer who I hadn’t met in ages, Jayanti, her mom came along
too, and Abhijeet Avate, an experienced bird-watcher and data reviewer on eBird,
the world’s largest biodiversity-related science project, with more than 100
million bird sightings contributed annually by eBirders around the world. It
was mutually decided to go to the Bopdev Ghat area near Kanifnath Temple about twenty
odd kilometres from Pune. Abhijeet graciously agreed to accompany us as he was
the only one well versed with the area and knew the terrain like the back of
his hand, apart, of course, from his extensive knowledge about the bird life of
the area.
It
was a chilly Sunday morning, there was a nip in the air. The rising sun had
painted the sky in varied hues of orange and pink. There was a tiny speck of a
bright and colourful iridescent cloud as the sunlight diffracted off tiny,
uniform droplets of water collected in the thin clouds, creating a vivid
rainbow of colours. Bird song greeted us as we leisurely drove up the Bopdev
Ghat towards Kanifnath temple. It was a huge flock of about a hundred
red-rumped swallows basking on the overhead wires that we took as a signal to
get out of the car! Soon it was a bird fest! A couple of grey francolins, usually
shy birds, walked boldly on the low ridges across the fields at close range. A
lone baby (juvenile) bay-backed shrike foraged for insects in a termite nest,
flying to a thorny acacia bush periodically to bask in the sun. Brahminy
starlings, laughing doves, lesser white-throats, silver-bills, long-tailed
shrikes went about their morning routine oblivious of our presence.
 |
| Juvenile Bay-backed Shrike |
 |
| Juvenile Bay-backed Shrike |
After
feasting our eyes on these winged wonders, we drove further up the ghat,
alighting from the car periodically. The constant scanning of the skies by Abhijeet’s
keen eyes yielded a few birds of prey. A Eurasian kestrel hung in the wind, a
masterpiece of aerodynamic control, before plummeting toward its prey. A little
distance away, a black-winged kite hovered effortlessly, scanning the ground
below with unmoving eyes.
We
were to witness two highlight moments that morning. The first came when we sighted
the Long-billed Pipit - Anthus similis. This was a rare sighting in the Pune
region. While paddy-field, tawny and tree pipits, etc. are common in the area,
the long-billed is rarely seen here. This made our morning fruitful indeed. Pipits
are small, slender-bodied, ground-dwelling songbirds which are closely related
to wagtails. They prefer rocky hillsides with some scrub or open woodland,
where they feed mainly on insects that they pick off the ground. They also nest
on the ground.
Continuing
to drive higher up after the entertaining display of the two raptors and the
unlikely Long-billed Pipit, we reached a rocky spot where Abhijeet suggested we
stop to take in the view of the surrounding mountains and the burgeoning city
below. The sun was now quite high and how can a birding trip be complete
without food?? Sudha and Jayanti's yummy idlis with podi chutney and my pudina
chutney sandwiches were like the proverbial cherries in the cake!!! While enjoying
the scrumptious breakfast, Ritul noticed leopard pugmarks. They looked fresh.
There seemed to be two of them. Certainly the second highlight on the day! As we examined
the pugmarks in awe, a local boy on his bike frantically waved at us shouting in excitement
“bibtyache pugmarks ahet pudhe”. We heartily waved back at him saying “ithe
suddhdha ahet!!!” Later as we walked higher up, the pugmarks were there too indicating
that the cat had moved in that direction and there were probably one or two
cubs alongwith the adult. The trail lead
from the rocky hill-top right up the dusty road….. Such an enigmatic animal is
the leopard, that the mere knowledge of its presence brings joy and elation!!
A
flock of four Steppe eagles gave us our parting shot.
Thanks
Abhijeet Avate for the wonderful experience!! Ritul was happy to get his hands
on his new 200-400 lens and the tutorial on how to carry the camera on the mono-pod
by Abhijeet!! Sudha and Jayanti your idlis were yummmilicious and yes Sudha,
some reunions don’t need effort!! Hope to do this again, very soon.
Missed
you my dear friend Shilpa... But you were with us in spirit...next time no
making excuses 😉
#Long-billedpipit #Longbilledpipit #Anthussimilis
Enchanting
ReplyDelete