We sighted an impressive 108 species of birds in the 2 days at Kabini….let me start with a visitor to our shores, which does an amazing feat of travelling, the

BARN SWALLOW:

There will be more of this bird later in the post, which contains

LOTS of birds, see at leisure only….

One of the common ones that we started the trip with, was the RUFOUS TREEPIE: Other travellers from afar were the YELLOW WAGTAIL: and the GLOSSY IBIS: Other birds in the paddy fields on our way included the WOOLLY-NECKED STORK; Here are two of them! In a water body adjacent to the road, we were delighted to watch this COMMON COOT family (I've never seen Coot chicks before...they are such 'cooties'!) swimming around: A beautiful PHEASANT-TAILED JACANA posed next to a water lily: At the Kabini campus of JLR, we enjoyed watching the antics of the HOUSE SPARROW: here's a young one out "on the tiles"! On the jeep safari, we were lucky enough to spot three different vultures! Alas, the top of the jeep being closed meant that I could not get a photo of the King Vulutre, but I twisted around enough to get SMS (Shamelessly Mediocre Shots) of the LONG-BILLED VULTURE and the WHITE-RUMPED VULTURE An old and beloved common raptor was this BLACK-WINGED KITE: Regular sightings in the forest always include the CRESTED (CHANGEABLE) HAWK EAGLE and the equally beautiful CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE: We were able to see many varieties of Woodpeckers; here's a WOODPECKER silhouette: and a WHITE-BELLIED WOODPECKER on a tree-trunk: The beauty of the MALABAR PARAKEET was stunning: A JUNGLE MYNAH preened itself before us: I also decided to take a shot of the COMMON MYNAH as Shreeram said it was quite a difficult bird to photograph...don't you like the light on the bird? One music-note-tailed bird was the RACKET-TAILED DRONGO: We saw several of the CHESTNUT-TAILED (MALABAR) STARLING: A handsome, very young GREY JUNGLE FOWL ran across the jeep's path: At several places, we found a WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER posing for us; here's one, preening: Here are more photos of the BARN SWALLOW on the Kabini backwaters: We saw a GREY HERON on the backwaters, too: On the banks of the Kabini, we were stunned to see several ORIENTAL PIED HORNBILL families in the bamboo thickets: earlier, we'd seen several of the INDIAN GREY HORNBILLS in the trees on the way to Kabini: id Such large and beautiful birds! Here are what I call "Indian Grey Wagtails"! They move their tails to balance themselves, I suppose.... One bird which we were very happy to see was the BROWN FISH OWL and for the first time I got it when it was NOT looking right down into the water! I've already posted about the GREAT CORMORANT

How I wish I could have photographed all the other birds (total of 108 species!) that we saw….but at least, though the light was fading, I got an SMS of the fastest bird in the world, the majestic

SHAHEEN (PEREGRINE) FALCON:

You can see the bird list

here

What a wonderful and productive trip! Next up, butterflies, mammals, and others….and I’ll do a people post after that…by the time I finish all these, I’m sure to have gone on the next birding trip, too!