Here is a recap of an afternoon trip made on 25th July 2009 when we came across 4 species of Cuckoos near Jaipur. While some of you may well spot several more Cuckoos in a day's birding if you explore more suitable terrain in different parts of India, but for us semi-desert dwellers of Jaipur , a day like this is special because some of these Cuckoos are rare summer / monsoon visitors.
S had piqued my interest about a new location where he said we had every chance to come across two species of birds high on my 'to do' list at that time - the White-naped Woodpecker and the White-naped tit (....as it would happen we saw neither that day).
So on Saturday afternoon N and I took the Jaipur-Chomu highway. We branched off at Chomu towards Samode and soon found our 'hot-spot'. This is where the road first cuts across a section of the Aravallis. On either side the hills tower overhead. A narrow glade runs along the base of the hills. Abutting the slope is a shallow ravine which drains the rainwater from the hills. It is a scenic and desolate spot, which we were later to discover was the reason it is not the safest (but that's another story).
A Common Hawk-Cuckoo ( Hierococcyx fugax) was calling close by, the tone rising in pitch steadily. We quickly had our gear organised and set off on foot. I have often found it difficult to actually sight this bird even standing right under the tree where the calls emanate from. This occasion was no different. Within a few minutes the bird flew off to another copse across the road.
The monsoon had broken a few days ago and there was fresh grass carpeting the glade. This had attracted several butterflies - some tiny ones like Blues, and others like Plain Tigers, Danaid Eggflies and Common Emigrants. A brilliantly coloured Blue Pansy favoured the damp ditch.
Soon our attention was attracted by an unfamiliar call from the hillside. We moved closer carefully, but the calls ceased immediately. We scanned the boulder-strewn hill which rose steeply, dotted with some acacias and several bushes. A faint movement behind a kair bush (Capparis decidua) enabled us to train our binoculars on a skulking bird. It was grey (darker grey upperparts), with a fleck of white on the wing , and white tips to tail feathers. The relatively smaller size and a quick reference to the guidebook confirmed the male of the Grey-bellied Cuckoo ( Cacomantis passerinus). The bird was quite wary and kept moving to deeper cover all the time.
Meanwhile, the glade was full of bird activity triggered perhaps by the profusion of insects and plants given life by the recent rains.
Prinias were plentiful. The grey-breasted prinias were now displaying their breeding colours which indicate their name. Plum-headed parakeets streaked overhead calling excitedly. Indian Silverbills swarmed the ground and low perches. There was a mixed group of Great Tits, Common Woodshrikes and Small Minivets. Other birds which I have found difficult to see in the non-winter months in Jaipur like the Pied Bushchat and Oriental White-eyes flitted about. Refreshingly, we saw White-eared Bulbuls rather than their ubiquitous (urban) red-vented cousins.
We had recently observed one of my favourite summer visitors - the Indian Pitta, but it was not here today. Golden Orioles stood out as bright patches of colour in the brown ( now burgeoning green) foliage.
We decided to follow a narrow goat-track winding upwards. I had passed by a small dark bird without so much as a second glance thinking the song was that of a Indian Robin, when N called me back with much gesticulation, and we actually had a beautiful male Crested Bunting in full song. Females dotted the steep grass-covered hill close by.
We could hear a noisy rabble of birds ahead as the track turned. Soon we were looking down at a breeding colony of Baya Weavers. The males were now sporting bright yellow caps and chests. The excitement was palpable and several males had already part- constructed their nests, suspended from the ends of branches of kikar trees.
As we climbed higher, we heard the familiar calls of the Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus)overhead. A pair flew across the crest of the hill allowing us good views.
This year we had been observing the Pied Cuckoo since the middle of June at several locations, but every new sighting was a delight.
Soon we were clambering up a saddle-back. The hill rose higher to our left with the path zig-zagging up to a temple. To the right the land fell away in a series of ravines - not unlike the badlands of the Chambal.
It was here that we saw our fourth Cuckoo of the day. Or rather a pair of them. These Cuckoos were much larger than the Grey-bellied. Even though we could not get very close, the defintive ID was made by the call. The Eurasian Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus). Again, we had observed this bird at another location a few weeks before, and had heard them calling at other places. But never 4 different Cuckoos at the same location. Does the Asian Koel qualify as a Cuckoo, I wonder. Because that was around too, as everywhere else.
By now the day was getting on and we decided to turn back.
As soon as we descended to the grassy glade I almost stepped on and flushed a covey of Quails who exploded away with a whirrrr of rapid wingbeats. Startled, I was concentrating on putting down my next footstep when N called and pointed to a brightly colored bird perched on a Ber bush ( Ziziphus mauritiana). It had bright rufous upperparts, and was quite enjoying its meal of a hairy caterpillar. On the same bush was also a tiny Ashy Prinia. For a moment we were puzzled, then the call gave it away. It was a hepatic female of the Grey-bellied Cuckoo. The male called in reply from the general direction we had seen it earlier today.
Perhaps some reader could let me know if the Grey-bellied Cuckoo breeds around Jaipur at this time of the year. The Ashy Prinia sure looked like a prime candidate for a foster parent.
Well that's it for this post... in the next few I hope to give you a flavour of some of the other Jaipur birding locations (like Chandloi lake, Jhalana Reserved Forest, Nahargarh Reserve Forest and Jal Mahal and others) and some of the other 'special' birds that we have been seeing there.
S had piqued my interest about a new location where he said we had every chance to come across two species of birds high on my 'to do' list at that time - the White-naped Woodpecker and the White-naped tit (....as it would happen we saw neither that day).
So on Saturday afternoon N and I took the Jaipur-Chomu highway. We branched off at Chomu towards Samode and soon found our 'hot-spot'. This is where the road first cuts across a section of the Aravallis. On either side the hills tower overhead. A narrow glade runs along the base of the hills. Abutting the slope is a shallow ravine which drains the rainwater from the hills. It is a scenic and desolate spot, which we were later to discover was the reason it is not the safest (but that's another story).
A Common Hawk-Cuckoo ( Hierococcyx fugax) was calling close by, the tone rising in pitch steadily. We quickly had our gear organised and set off on foot. I have often found it difficult to actually sight this bird even standing right under the tree where the calls emanate from. This occasion was no different. Within a few minutes the bird flew off to another copse across the road.
The monsoon had broken a few days ago and there was fresh grass carpeting the glade. This had attracted several butterflies - some tiny ones like Blues, and others like Plain Tigers, Danaid Eggflies and Common Emigrants. A brilliantly coloured Blue Pansy favoured the damp ditch.
Soon our attention was attracted by an unfamiliar call from the hillside. We moved closer carefully, but the calls ceased immediately. We scanned the boulder-strewn hill which rose steeply, dotted with some acacias and several bushes. A faint movement behind a kair bush (Capparis decidua) enabled us to train our binoculars on a skulking bird. It was grey (darker grey upperparts), with a fleck of white on the wing , and white tips to tail feathers. The relatively smaller size and a quick reference to the guidebook confirmed the male of the Grey-bellied Cuckoo ( Cacomantis passerinus). The bird was quite wary and kept moving to deeper cover all the time.
Meanwhile, the glade was full of bird activity triggered perhaps by the profusion of insects and plants given life by the recent rains.
Prinias were plentiful. The grey-breasted prinias were now displaying their breeding colours which indicate their name. Plum-headed parakeets streaked overhead calling excitedly. Indian Silverbills swarmed the ground and low perches. There was a mixed group of Great Tits, Common Woodshrikes and Small Minivets. Other birds which I have found difficult to see in the non-winter months in Jaipur like the Pied Bushchat and Oriental White-eyes flitted about. Refreshingly, we saw White-eared Bulbuls rather than their ubiquitous (urban) red-vented cousins.
We had recently observed one of my favourite summer visitors - the Indian Pitta, but it was not here today. Golden Orioles stood out as bright patches of colour in the brown ( now burgeoning green) foliage.
We decided to follow a narrow goat-track winding upwards. I had passed by a small dark bird without so much as a second glance thinking the song was that of a Indian Robin, when N called me back with much gesticulation, and we actually had a beautiful male Crested Bunting in full song. Females dotted the steep grass-covered hill close by.
We could hear a noisy rabble of birds ahead as the track turned. Soon we were looking down at a breeding colony of Baya Weavers. The males were now sporting bright yellow caps and chests. The excitement was palpable and several males had already part- constructed their nests, suspended from the ends of branches of kikar trees.
As we climbed higher, we heard the familiar calls of the Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus)overhead. A pair flew across the crest of the hill allowing us good views.
This year we had been observing the Pied Cuckoo since the middle of June at several locations, but every new sighting was a delight.
Soon we were clambering up a saddle-back. The hill rose higher to our left with the path zig-zagging up to a temple. To the right the land fell away in a series of ravines - not unlike the badlands of the Chambal.
It was here that we saw our fourth Cuckoo of the day. Or rather a pair of them. These Cuckoos were much larger than the Grey-bellied. Even though we could not get very close, the defintive ID was made by the call. The Eurasian Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus). Again, we had observed this bird at another location a few weeks before, and had heard them calling at other places. But never 4 different Cuckoos at the same location. Does the Asian Koel qualify as a Cuckoo, I wonder. Because that was around too, as everywhere else.
By now the day was getting on and we decided to turn back.
As soon as we descended to the grassy glade I almost stepped on and flushed a covey of Quails who exploded away with a whirrrr of rapid wingbeats. Startled, I was concentrating on putting down my next footstep when N called and pointed to a brightly colored bird perched on a Ber bush ( Ziziphus mauritiana). It had bright rufous upperparts, and was quite enjoying its meal of a hairy caterpillar. On the same bush was also a tiny Ashy Prinia. For a moment we were puzzled, then the call gave it away. It was a hepatic female of the Grey-bellied Cuckoo. The male called in reply from the general direction we had seen it earlier today.
Perhaps some reader could let me know if the Grey-bellied Cuckoo breeds around Jaipur at this time of the year. The Ashy Prinia sure looked like a prime candidate for a foster parent.
Well that's it for this post... in the next few I hope to give you a flavour of some of the other Jaipur birding locations (like Chandloi lake, Jhalana Reserved Forest, Nahargarh Reserve Forest and Jal Mahal and others) and some of the other 'special' birds that we have been seeing there.
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