Saturday, 8 March 2025

India; Northwest - Day 14: Mount Abu & Little Rann of Kutch

   Fortunately the sickness of the previous day had all but passed overnight, meaning I was back to full strength and able to get out birding properly. We returned to the same area where we had seen the Avadavat the previous evening, but failed to find them. Instead we had nice views of more Indian Black-lored Tit, a few White-spotted Fantail and a brief Red Spurfowl. The area across the road was also birded for a short while, and here we had a group of around 10 White-capped Buntings, as well as three distant Green Avadavats.

  After 90-minutes birding the aforementioned area we carried on up the road, before we stopped to check the area of road above the Mini Nakki Lake. We initially stopped to check out a Crocodile that was swimming in the lake below, but then stopped and started birding when two Red Spurfowl appeared in the road, with one seemingly displaying. Pawan mentioned that this could be a good area to check for Sulphur-bellied Warbler, so we set off here and it did not take us too long to find one hopping around on the rocks below us. Another bonus species we had here was a nice confiding Indian Scimitar Babbler.

  Sadly the other car had continued and missed out on all the action, so we continued to meet up with them where we got to see a flock of around 15 Green Avadavats, followed by a short stop to see a smart Crested Bunting, which was sadly distant. Still, we had to return to the area around the Nakki Lake before breakfast, but our return visit produced none of the birds that we had seen.

  It was another long drive from here on, leaving at 11:00 and only arriving at our final destination at the Little Rann of Kutch at 18:00. There were a few highlights along the way, including many Bengal Sacred Langur as we descended Mount Abu, and a smart female Greater Painted Snipe in a dirty roadside pool in the middle of a town as we approached our destination.

  Just before our lodging we drove over a bridge which had good numbers of hirundines circling, so we stopped for half an hour to check if they were Streak-throated Swallow! And they were. A little investigative work found a colony of elaborate nests underneath the bridge, with the birds coming and going in little bursts. In the same area we had plenty of Little Swifts, 40 Common Cranes, a Caspian Tern and three Rosy Starlings. It was an excellent way to round off the day!

Species List:
Mount Abu: Indian Peafowl, Red Spurfowl, Grey Junglefowl, Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Greater Coucal, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Red-wattled Lapwing, Indian Pond Heron, Common Buzzard, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-headed Barbet, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Plum-headed Parakeet, White-spotted Fantail, Long-tailed Shrike, Rufous Treepie, House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Cinereous Tit, Indian Black-lored Tit, Common Tailorbird, Ashy Prinia, Dusky Crag Martin, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Hume's Leaf Warbler, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Indian White-eye, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Bank Myna, Indian Robin, Black Redstart, Purple Sunbird, Green Avadavat, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Tree Pipit, Crested Bunting, White-capped Bunting,
Little Rann of Kutch: Grey Francolin, Feral Pigeon, Laughing Dove, Little Swift, Common Crane, Spotted Redshank, Caspian Tern, Black-headed Ibis, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, House Crow, Streak-throated Swallow, Rosy Starling, Bank Myna, Purple Sunbird, House Sparrow, 

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