Wade in the Water – Birding at Phillaur – Part 6

December 15, 2019Medium Sized Birds, Migratory Birds, November 2019, Phillaur, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Wadersbirds, birds of punjab, birdsofindiaonline, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Wade in the Water – Birding at Phillaur – Part 6

Local birding is much more exciting to me compared to going to far off places to witness a complete new set of wildlife. So, I began this season’s birding adventures by visiting the place that I consider as ‘One of the Finest Spots for Birding around Phillaur’ – Sutlej.

Great Cormorant

December 11, 2019Cormorants, Large Sized Birds, Resident Birdsbirdsofindiaonline, Cormorants, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Great Cormorant

(Phalacrocorax carbo)

Size(80-100cm): It is the largest Cormorant found in India.

Area: Widespread resident over much of India.

Habitat: Lakes, rivers and other water bodies.

My two words: It is the largest of all the Cormorants found in India.

Indian Cormorant

November 30, 2019Cormorants, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Wadersbirdsofindiaonline, cormorant, indian cormorant, wildindiaArjun Basandrai

Indian Cormorant

(Phalacrocorax fuscicollis)

Size(60-63cm): It is a large Cormorant larger than the Little Cormorant but smaller than the Great Cormorant.

Area: Widespread over much of the region except the North and North-West.

Habitat: Several Fresh Water and Salt Water Bodies.

My two words: This specific Cormorant is found only in India, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

This Cormorant has a bronze brown-black plumage. The Breeding Plumage is metallic black with distinctive short white-tufts. The non-breeding plumage is browner and the bird develops a yellow patch of bare skin around the throat.

Little Cormorant

November 28, 2019Cormorants, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Wadersbird and snake, birdsofindia, birdsofindiaonline, cormorant, little cormorant, wildlndiaArjun Basandrai

Little Cormorant

(Microcarbo niger)

Size(48-52cm): As the name suggests, it is the smallest Cormorant that can be found in India.

Area: Widespread resident over much of the region except the Trans-Himalayas

Habitat: Lakes, ponds, river and estuaries. Basically any water body.

My two words: A very common sighting across much of India. Can be easily spotted around any water source where there is enough to fish for and live.

Cormorants (Phalocrocoracidae)

November 15, 2019Cormorants, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Migratory Birds, Resident Birdsbirdsofindiaonline, birdwatcherArjun Basandrai

Cormorants (Phalocrocoracidae)

Cormorants are medium to large sized fishers. All the 3 species of Cormorants that are found in India are dark coloured. Some species have coloured facial skin. The Great Cormorant has yellow and a white gular patch, the chin is yellow with a patch of white skin after yellow.

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 4 – The Moon Lake – Chandra Taal

August 11, 2019June 2019, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Trips to Spitichandra taal, featured-post, lahaul spiti trip, spitiArjun Basandrai

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 4 – The Moon Lake – Chandra Taal

On 28 June, 2019, a beautiful day dawned with a promised chill and some overhanging clouds over Kaza.

At around 1 in the afternoon, we packed up and began on an amazing journey towards Chandra Taal!! The day was jampacked with a lot excitement and surprises.

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 3 – Local Sightseeing

July 23, 2019June 2019, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Pigeons, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Trips to Spitibirds, hikkim, horned lark, key monastery, kibber wildlife sanctuary, komic, lahaul spiti tripArjun Basandrai

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 3 – Local Sightseeing

After a tiring journey from Kalpa to Kaza, we were all too tired, so, we woke up quite late at around 8-9 am. As it was quite late to go anywhere far off, the plan for the day was to visit the beautiful villages around Kaza.

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 2 – Entering Spiti

July 20, 2019Doves, Finches, June 2019, Medium Sized Birds, Pigeons, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Trips to Spitibirdingwitharjun, birds, birdsofindiaonline, birdwatcher, bunting, canon, dove, flowers, hp, lahaul spiti, lahaul spiti trip, mountains, mummy, nako, spiti, spiti trip, spitit, trip to spitiArjun Basandrai

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 2 – Entering Spiti

The next and the most important and thrilling stage of the trip was entering Spiti Valley…!!!

There were NO bird sightings and ONLY Landscape Photography till we were somewhere near Nako.

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 1 – Entering Kinnaur

July 10, 2019June 2019, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Trips to Spitibirds, bulbul, bunting, chukar, kestrel, lahaul spiti, lahaul spiti trip, lizard, photgraphs, redstrat, spiti, spiti trip, thrush, tit, wagtailArjun Basandrai

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 1 – Entering Kinnaur

This June break, I visited a place which was on the top of my ‘Want to go’ List – Spiti.

We began our long journey on 23 June, 2019, 5 am.

The first day was a direct and no birding journey to Rampur. On 24th we started early in the morning.

Birding Evenings – An evening at Okhla Bird Sanctuary

June 17, 2019Birding Evenings, Large Sized Birds, May 2019, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, Trips, Trips to Okhla Bird Sanctuary, WadersAsian Pied Starling, Birding Evenings, Black Kite, Blackcrownednightheron, Canon Eos7D, Coppersmith Barbet, Indian Golden Oriole, Okhla, Okhla_wildlife_sanctuary, Purple Heron, Purple Sunbird, Red-whiskered BulbulArjun Basandrai

Birding Evenings – An evening at Okhla Bird Sanctuary

I attended a 12-day Summer School at Amity University from 27 May to 7 June. It was then that I found out about an amazing Birding Spot only 10 mins from the university. I decided to pay a short visit to the Sanctuary on the evening of the last day.

An hour at Kanjli

June 8, 2019Accipitridae, April 2019, Large Sized Birds, Medium Sized Birds, Resident Birds, Trips, Trips to KanjliArjun Basandrai

An hour at Kanjli

Kanjli is a 1200 acre man-made wetland near Kapurthala in Punjab. It was created to facilitate irrigation in the surrounding areas.

Sutlej Diaries – Birding at Phillaur – Part 5

April 20, 2019March 2019, Migratory Birds, Phillaur, Resident Birds, Small Sized Birds, TripsArjun Basandrai

Sutlej Diaries – Birding at Phillaur – Part 5

On March 2, 2019, I went again birding near Sutlej on my Motorcycle. The day had a solid start with the sightings of an Oriental Honey Buzzard, Pied Bushchat and a Eurasian Marsh Harrier (no photographs).

Birding With Arjun

Travel, Birds, Photography and more…

Wade in the Water – Birding at Phillaur – Part 6

Great Cormorant

Indian Cormorant

Little Cormorant

Cormorants (Phalocrocoracidae)

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 4 – The Moon Lake – Chandra Taal

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 3 – Local Sightseeing

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 2 – Entering Spiti

Spiti Sojourn – Spiti Valley – Part 1 – Entering Kinnaur

Birding Evenings – An evening at Okhla Bird Sanctuary

An hour at Kanjli

Sutlej Diaries – Birding at Phillaur – Part 5