Hoskote birding with few surprises

 Morning hike at Hoskote was highly productive. I saw many new birds in the 2 hours long exploration. Here are the photos...

First sighting in the lake was a Spot-billed Pelican, floating peacefully... 

Four Painted Storks were busy fishing together...

A Grey Heron was gliding smoothly...

A Black-winged Stilt with his small meal...

Saw these three Asian Openbill storks. They looked intense...

Then I saw the first of the 3 types of sandpipers for the day. This is the Wood Sandpiper...

Then I saw the first of the 3 types of warblers for the day. This is the Booted Warbler...

A Black Drongo was seen next, gaurding his territory...

Also seen was a Hair-crested Drongo...

Perched on the same tree was a Rosy Starling...

Next was the pocket-sized-loud-mouth - Ashy Prinia...

Second warbler variety of the day - Clamorous Reed Warbler...

And the third warbler variety - Sykes's Warbler... 

A male Purple Sunbird flew in to nectar in the Milkweed plant...

A Black-headed Ibis...

A Common Kingfisher was sitting on the wire and singing...

I returned to the place where I had seen the Asian Openbill storks. I found another weird group...

Common Sandpiper was the second variety of sandpiper for the day...

And the third variety of sandpiper was seen close by - Marsh Sandpiper...

It was nice to watch the ballerina movements of the Black-winged Stilt. I combined all shots in this collage...

The pretty Water Hyacinth flower...

And the last bird for the day was the Indian Pond-Heron... 

Overall, it was a productive hike. I hope you liked the post. Please post your thoughts in the comments section below... 

A short birding trip to Jaipurdoddi

Last weekend a birdwatcher friend suggested to go for a birding trip together. Wanting a break from solo birding, I accepted the idea with great anticipation. Jaipurdoddi forest was selected as the destination. Here's a photo tour...

We started at 5:30 AM and soon Sujeesh and I were on the newly laid road to Ragihalli...

I was so glad to see the newly asphalted road. A small stretch is still in bad shape as road work is yet to be completed...

Sighting of a Rufous Treepie prompted our first halt. It vanished as soon as we pulled out our cameras. I turned my camera towards the rising sun...

We reached Jaipurdoddi by 7 AM. By now the light was good and I could hear a lot of distinct bird calls. The sun was getting harsher...

A Yellow-billed Babbler welcomed us...

A Bay-backed Shrike flew in...

This particular area proved a great place for sighting a variety of birds. A Common (well, not so common) Iora flew in next...

A Green Bee-eater was active in morning sunlight...

Tracking a darting Blyth's Reed Warbler is most frustrating. Here's what I could capture...

Sighting of a Small Minivet was one of the key highlights of the trip...

Also seen among the natural flying things was this unnatural one... 

A Common Tailorbird came next...

We saw a Green Bee-eater near the grassland...

A White-browed Wagtail made an appearance...

More excitement was brought in by the sighting of an Oriental Honey-buzzard gliding overhead...

A juvenile Squirrel...

A Black Drongo was busy taking insects...

An Oriental Garden Lizard caught our attention...

A Yellow-billed Babbler couple...

Last sighting of the day was this male Pied Bushchat... 

By 10 AM, the harsh sun forced us to pack up and return. We went back satisfied by the morning sightings and made plans to return soon for an evening birding session.

Hope you liked the post. Please post your thoughts in the comments section below...