Firstly, I must mention that going by all the signboards in this small town, we were visiting….U.K., which is the way the state, Uttara Khand (northern area) is referred to. Well….

This is dedicated to my dear friend

AMS

unfailingly helpful in my stumbling, forgetful path of birding….

here

is the wiki about the town of Dhanaulti…but the following photographs were all taken on the drive to, and from, Dhanaulti and Dehra Dun.

One of the most common birds was the

HIMALAYAN BULBUL:

another was the GREAT BARBET: The BLACK BULBUL often showed itself, and fittingly, I took a silhouette shot! Not so common, the CHESTNUT-BELLIED ROCK THRUSH did not give me any good view of the more colourful male: But I got a nice one of the female: I also managed one of the BLACK-LORED TIT (that is also found in Bangalore!) At Buranskhand, we saw a lot of these little YELLOW-FRONTED GREENFINCHES: Everywhere, there were STREAKED LAUGHING THRUSHES But never in the light! At one point, we saw some exquisite LONG-TAILED MINIVETS: and at several places, I saw the RUFOUS SIBIA However, the raptors were what took our breath away, as they soared high over the slopes. Here are a couple of shots of the HIMALAYAN GRIFFON: I got just one shot of the STEPPE EAGLE winging its way over the crags: the LAMMERGEIER VULTURE swooped close once or twice when we were not ready...but then, it was high up again, gaining height within a matter of seconds!

But my favourite was that great beauty of the sub-Himalayan crags, the

MOUNTAIN HAWK EAGLE:

I’ll say bye for now with one more shot of this majestic bird: