I believe everyone has a special place to visit
where you feel like visiting in your own time.
I have the same….
And Today
I’m going to share
one of my favorite place
where
I always would like to visit during my free time…
In fact every weekend I used to visit this place.
A place where I use to spend some quality time
with nature and a lovely God’s creation called
‘Birds’.
The place is in between the concrete jungle of
Greater Faridabad, a small farm land
around a village named ‘Faridpur’.
The area being used by locals
for different type of cultivation
in different season.
The place is also good for bird watching from Car.
On 9th March 2019,
I visited this place very first time
and spotted
49 different species of birds on the same day.
For me,
the place becomes
a favorite hotspot for bird watching
I spotted 100 plus birds
from the same area
including
some rare
and good birds.
The habitat is very good for
Black Francolin
A State bird of Haryana,
male is around 31–36 cm,
weight around 283–566 g.
Female weight around 227–482 g
and the wingspan
50–55 cm.
Males are about 10% larger than females
Adult males are generally black,
white patch on face
and
chestnut collar around the neck.
Adult females are with rufous buff upperparts,
blackish centers
and chestnut patch on nape
and lack of white patch on face.
The bird is more vocal during breeding season
and can be found
calling from
tree stump,
roof of the house
or
even a big poll.
Another francolin from the same areas are
Gray Francolin,
A 30–35 cm, male 255–418 g.
female 200–365 g.
greyish brown upperpart,
boldly streaked with pale buff and
finely barred and chestnut underpart.
The bird can be seen here through-out the year
but mostly active
during breeding season.
The Partridges is also known for
lay the biggest clutches
of any birds, with 14 to 15 eggs usual.
Only the female incubates the eggs,
but the male is invariably close by.
Both sexes are attentive parents.
And
the young can feed
as soon as they leave the nest
and
are capable of their first proper flight
at 15 days.
During the rainy season one can spot
Rain quail from the same area.
The shy Barred buttonquail
is also active during breading period
and they nest mainly in the summer monsoon months.
The male bird is around 13·5–17·5 cm
& 35–52 g
where female is 47–68 g in weight.
The females are brighter than male
with blackish throat
and central breast.
This small drab running bird,
generally avoids flying until you reach very closely.
Indian Peafowl are quite common,
and one can spot through-out the year.
A 40–44 cm long, Indian Stone-curlew
also known as ‘thick knees’ due to their
large heavy looking legs,
can be found in different fields.
One can easily identify them with
their long yellow legs, short yellow beak with black tip,
large yellow eyes,
largely whiteish face and blackish eye stripe.
Both the sexes look alike.
Their streaky sandy brown plumages
help them to camouflage against
sandy soils during the day when they are mainly inactive
The Red-wattled Lapwing are also quite common
and can be found everywhere in the field.
Another Lapwing,
which is not common in many part of India
but you can find the same quite often here.
They are very shy lapwing
and always alert in the field.
Outside the farmland, there is a dump yard,
where villagers put dead bodies of their cattle.
And Egyptian Vulture are often seen here
while feeding on those carcass.
They are the smallest of all vultures
and can reach 54 to 70 cm in length
and 1.6 kg to 2.4 kg of weight.
They have a wingspan of 146-175 cm.
The black kite can be seen while most of the time
hovering in the sky.
And if your luck favours
you can spot Bonelli's Eagle too.
Shikra, a small but powerful urban accipiter
can be found most of the time here.
During the monsoon months,
Grey-bellied Cuckoo are most vocal
and can be heard from various locations
The mythological bird, Jacobin Cuckoo
also known as Pied Cuckoo,
or Pied Crested Cuckoo
can be seen here.
In parts of north India,
the bird is known as the “chatak",
or the one that lives on drops of rain.
Another cuckoo with glossy black
with dull lime green bill
and have ruby red eyes
Asian Koel
are more vocal during the breading season.
The bird is Shy, despite being noisy.
Usually stays hidden in dense foliage.
Calls from treetops with wide canopy
and much more often heard than seen.
Greater Coucle also known as Crow Pheasant
and known by various local names
such as
Mahoka;
Kamadi kukkar;
Kuka,
Bharadwaj,
Hokko,
Kalli kaka
and many more local names.
They also breeds in rainy season:
mainly Jun–Sept in India
Another shy and lipstick bird Sirkeer Malkoha
are little rare but spot from the same area as well.
The colourful Indian Roller
give their appearance in summer months.
The busy ‘Green Bee-eater’
are also quite common
during summer and monsoon months.
One can spot them easily while
feeding on small insects & butterflies.
Another bee eater from the same area is
Blue-tailed Bee-eater,
who generally
here in the month of July – August
feeding or various fields.
The Eurasian Hoopoe can be seen
while feeding on the ground
The laughing dove
Rock Pigeon
Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
Rose-ringed Parakeet
are quite common here.
And
some time Alexandrine Parakeet
also appears here.
There are few water bodies near the farm area
where you can find many water birds
during different season of year.
The two pair of Lesser Whistling-Ducks
are fairly common and can be seen in different mood.
The bird is also known by
Indian Whistling Duck,
Javan Whistling Duck
or Lesser Whistling Teal
The bird can be seen often perching on trees
near water bodies,
giving rise to
the alternate name 'Tree Duck'.
They called whistling ducks because of their call.
and they eat mostly water plants,
nibbling on their seeds and shoots.
The Knob-billed duck which is
almost double in size to Lesser whistling-ducks
are
uncommon to this area.
They also called Nakta in South Asia.
And also called as Comb Duck
because the male has a round knob on top of the bill,
which is particularly prominent in the breeding season.
Indian spot-billed duck is a bird of freshwater
lakes and marshes in fairly open country.
They are very common to this area.
They are mainly grey ducks with a paler head and neck
and a black bill with bright yellow tipped.
The bird is in a size of Mallard
and both male and female
have similar call to Mallard.
An excellent swimmer and diver
who pursues its prey underwater
‘Little Grebe’
can be found at pretty much any open body of water
across most of its extensive range.
The bird is also known as Dabchicks.
The bird breeds in small colonies
in heavily vegetated areas
of freshwater lakes and like other grebes,
it nests on the water's edge.
The one thing I really like about the Egret & heron
they are very focus while searching their food.
Indian Pond Heron are very common in India
but can be easily missed
when they stalk prey
at the edge of small water-bodies.
Locally they known by
‘Khunch Bagula’
and they are solitary foragers.
A small white egret known as Little Egret.
Their plumage is all white, long black legs
with yellow feet,
slim black bill
and long plumes on its head
and neck during the breeding season.
At one time, they were hunted
coz of their plumes for decorating hats.
They stalks its prey in shallow water,
often running or shuffling its feet.
They also stand still and wait to ambush prey.
A stocky white bird adorned with buff plumes
in the breeding season
and has mainly white plumages in non-breading.
The cattle egret has gone through
one of the most rapid natural expansion of any bird.
They are originally native to Africa and Asia.
Unlike most other herons,
it feeds in relatively dry grassy habitats,
often with cattle or other large mammals.
It catches insect and small
vertebrate
prey disturbed by these animals.
It also ticks and flies from cattle.
Near the pond one can see
Little Cormorant while drying their wings.
The other common species near the water bodies are
White-breasted Waterhen.
Despite being called
‘Waterhens’, they are not very good swimmers.
A widely distributed White-throated Kingfisher
also known as the White-breasted Kingfisher.
They often found well
away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey
that includes
small reptiles, crabs, small rodents and even birds.
The Common Moorhen swims like a duck
and walks atop floating vegetation
like a rail with its long and slender toes.
They are easily recognised
from its dark plumage
apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and
a red facial shield.
Snipes are shy birds and they
tried to be camouflage
with the nature if they found any threat.
But during the breeding period
I found Greater Painted snipe many times in open.
This is the one bird where females are more beautiful
than male.
They occupy wetland habitats
and sometimes inhabit human-made areas
such as as rice fields.
Common snipe can be found here
in wet grassy areas of marshes & ponds.
Their long pointed bill
helps them to probe
in the mud for snails, insects and earthworms.
The Black-headed Ibises
usually found in inland marshy wetlands
and on the coast while feed on fish
frogs and other water creatures..
They also known as the Oriental white ibis,
Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis.
Red-naped Ibis also known by
Indian Black Ibis.
This species is less aquatic than
other
species of ibis in North India
They mostly breed between March to October.
They are omnivorous and their diet includes
frogs, fish, earthworms,
lizards and small snakes and even seeds.
Common Greenshank can be seen near water bodies
during winter times.
The other waders like Green Sandpipers
are also common during the winters.
Marsh Sandpipers
Temminck's stint
And Ruff
Can also be seen during winter
The electric wire most of the time filled with swallow.
and near the water bodies…
one can spot Barn swallow
few centimetres above water surface,
often
picking insects out of water
or drinks exclusively by skimmingwater surface
and lapping up water with their lower mandible.
The another swallow with rufous-chestnut crown
and forehead, glossy blue upperparts; wings and tail
black with blue gloss,
Their common name is derived from their very long,
fine outer tail feathers
which trail behind like two wires.
The Long-tailed Shrike
And
Black Drongo
are also can be seen here.
Red-vented bulbuls are pretty common
and can be seen at various field
during early morning
Sometimes Yellow-throated sparrow
came into field to collect nesting material
and for feeding
The Baya’s also do the nesting here
and during the breeding period
can be seen here on various field.
The other birds from the same area are..
Tickell's Leaf Warbler
Blyth's Reed Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Bank Myna
Brahminy Starling
Rosy Starling
Indian Robin
Purple Sunbird
Indian Silverbill
Scaly-breasted Munia
Indian Bushlark
Bengal Bushlark
Long-billed Pipit
Blyth's Pipit
Paddyfield Pipit
And few other…
I wish, the area remains same
so that
these lovely birds
keep on coming
on the place year after year.
