Birding Nagarhole and The Serai Resort, India

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When: October 2024 Weather: Cool 22C

NikonP900

When we are not on safari ..and when we ARE on safari, we’re always birding…..

Daybreak at the Serai Resort, Kabini, the Serai resort is much more comfortable than the Jungle Lodges at the main tiger reserve but a bit inconvenient…

After our water safari on day 2, we spent an hour on the grounds of the Serai resort, walking around the greenery and listening to the bird calls…between our rooms 10 and 11 and the restaurant, I heard this strident 2-3 tone call which Merlin identified as possibly the uncommon Puff throated babbler….

this beauty then appeared….indeed a puff throated babbler…a lifer..
puff throated babbler
then everywhere we heard the call of the greenish warbler…
greenish warbler
and along the road leading out of the resort….the female purple rumped sunbird
male purple rumped sunbird
green bee eater
ashy prinia
red vented bulbul

So just an hour in the grounds yielded the above birds….our final morning we set off for our last safari hoping for the black panther….but alas….

At 615am, the light was terrible but our guide spotted this in the trees….the light morph of the crested serpent eagle…apologies for the poor image but it was really dark…
Brown fish owl in the dim dawn light
Brown fish owl
another crested hawk eagle
the woods are lovely dark and deep….a la Robert Frost
then here the ‘normal’crested serpent eagle for comparison with the light morph…
Crested serpent eagle
Hullo…
No felines this morning…but a small family of elephants kept us company
He was deciding whether to charge the other vehicle or us….in the end he walked away
the insistent screech of a woodpecker attracted us….
the lovely white bellied woodpecker
and a couple of hill mynahs watched over us

4 safaris, tiger sighting, leopard sighting and a fleeting glimpse of a mother and baby sloth bear with many splendid bird sightings made this a wonderful return trip to an Indian Tiger Reserve..Nagarhole…highly recommended.

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