Chappar Chiri and Motemajra Birding

Chappar Chiri and Motemajra 27 April 2013

Rajiv Das and I drove through Chappar Chiri to Motemajra in the afternoon and had some delightful sightings. The four most outstanding were the grey francolins, floating nest of Little Grebe with its occupants, Spotbill family on an outing and the Pheasant Tailed Jacanas in their breeding plumage, in that order.

Our fun started with the spotting of a flock of Scaly Breasted Munias in the reeds in swamp just short of Chappar Chiri. Although they did not permit us any pictures, yet the sight of a flock of around 11 birds was a pleasure in sheer numbers! It was here that we heard the call of Black Francolin which continued for all the time we were there.

As we drove further I saw a pair of Grey Francolins feeding in stubble of a freshly harvested wheat field. We parked the car and waited inside as they were headed in our general direction. Soon the were with in grabbing distance and offered us great full-frame close ups. In the field were flocks of Rock Pigeons, House Crows, Collared and Spotted Doves, Common Mynas and Pied Starlings. A few Black Kites were also sitting in the field...perhaps feasting on mice!




We moved on after a while and in the barren ground near the Tower, there were obiquteous Red Watteled Lapwings and a few Hoopoes too. The shrubs and overhead wires had Black Drongoes and Green Bee Eaters perched on them making sorties for snatching up every passing insect. The little village drain had a few Cattle Egrets splashing around for food. There were also a pair of Paddyfield Pippits scurrying through the drying grass on business best known to them and chirping all the while.

The traffic suddenly increased as we hit the Khara- Landran road and birds kind of vanished except for the Common Mynas dodging dextrously between the feet of pedestrians, searching for fallen scraps.

The water body at Motemajra has been cleaned of the  hyacinth and looks pristine. it still has a large number of birds in and around it. We drove around till beyond the Gurudwara and saw Pheasant Tailed Jacanas in their wedding finery. They kept us entertained  and offered many photo opportunities in the nest and generally faffing around bickering over real and imagined territorial transgressions or just Lilly-trotting ( incidentally they are also known colloqually as 'Lilly Trotters').



Amidst the Comb Ducks, Little Grebes, Spotbills, Common Moorhens and White Breasted Waterhens there was a pair of Gargneys, few Purple Moorhens and three Common Teals. As we were leaving, two families of Spotbills were 'spotted', one comprising of 6 and other of 8 ducklings along with the parents. On our way back, we just drove down to the scrub beyond the culvert towards Banur and had another interesting encounter with another pair of Grey Francolins resulting in a few more great pictures. And imagine stepping out of the car at home and being welcome by a whistling song of Common Babblers!

Bird List:
1. House Sparrow
2. House Crow
3. Common Myna
4. Pied Starling
5. Bank Myna
6. Hoopoe
7. Jungle Babbled
8. Eurasian Collared Dove
9. Laughing Dove
10. Spotted Dove
11. Black Kite
12. Black Francolin ( heard)
13. Grey Francolin
14. Black Shouldered Kite
15. Shikra
16. Black Drongoes
17. Green Bee Eater
18. Red Watteled Lapwing
19. Paddyfield Pippits
20. Scaly Breasted Munia
21. White Breasted Waterhen
22. Purple Moorhen
23. Common Moorhen
24. Little Grebe
25. Comb Duck
26. Little Cormorant
27. Gargneys
28, Common Teal
29. Pheasant Tailed Jacanas
30. Pond Heron
31. Purple Heron
32. Great Egret
33. Green Shank
34. Red Shank
35. Wood Sandpiper
36. Purple Sunbird
37. Ashy Prinia
38. Tailor Bird
39. Pigeons
40. Rose ringed Parakeets
41. Crow Pheasant
42. Golden Oreole
43. Common Coots
44. Rock Chat
45. Oriental Magpie Robin
46. Rufous Tree-pie
47. Red vented Bulbul
48. Common Babbler
49. White Breasted Kingfisher

May you always hear the birdsong!