ARAI Hill, Birding with a Non-Birdwatcher Friend 29th Feb 2020

Nasir, is my best friend but, seldom we go anywhere together keeping bird watching in mind. Usually we meet at coffee shops, his or my house, cinema halls, theatre etc. But, on the eve of 28th Feb 2020 I called Nasir and asked him if can join me for bird watching (birding) at ARAI Hill. He was ok with it. “Ok” because he is not really a bird watcher or bird photographer. So, his main concern was “will I be able to locate any bird?” We laughed at it.

Next day morning we met at a tea stall near the Dashbhuja Ganpati bridge. Then we went to ARAI Hill together. We parked at near the ARAI campus since there was a lot of crowd near first parking area and immediately started walking towards the quarry. We were casually talking about the birds and coronavirus news while walking. Coronavirus was The News at that time but, not an immediate threat for India. We quickly made our way to quarry.

There were people in the quarry and around its rim as usual. I could see a couple of photographers near the waters in the quarry. And some folks with their dogs playing around in the ponds.

It may sound cynical but, I am completely against taking pets near the ponds or any ecosystem for that matter. Also, I am against human beings jumping around in the waters where a lot of birds and animals are trying to live peacefully. I believe as a responsible and nature-aware citizen we MUST respect the nature and follow her rules when outside. Anyways..

I was able to spot usual waterbirds at the ponds like Little Grebe, Cormorant, Red wattled Lapwing.

But looking at the overall scene, I decided to move towards southwest part of the quarry, towards the meadows behind the Vetal Baba temple. Don’t be fooled by the map image it’s a big meadow. Also, I will advise not to roam around far away from population if you are alone! This advice is for everyone, not to scare aware of the harsh reality of this place.

We felt a little better on this side of the quarry since there were very few people around. It was a nice cloudless yet hazy and misty morning I must say. So the visibility was moderate in the beginning!

As soon as we entered the meadows, the first bird I spotted was a beautiful Female Eurasian Stonechat. Honestly speaking we just entered the meadows through a gate in the wall around Vetal Tekdi and here she was staring at the gate. I was not totally prepared. I tried to take a photo swiftly but it came out a little bit fuzzy. Yet, she looked beautiful!

She immediately flew off. With some disappointment I moved on. But, my friend Nasir was happy to see the bird! It was new for him. He was happy to just see the bird (he was not taking photos, just joined me for “watching” the bird) This thought gave me motivation and reminded me of the whole point ie “Locate/spot the bird and enjoy watching it. That’s what bird watching is all about! Photography should be secondary objective while birding..”

Locate/spot the bird and enjoy watching it. That’s what bird watching is all about! Photography should be secondary objective while birding..

With that motivation I moved towards the meadows and grassy area. I was greeted by another common yet exceptionally Obstinate (dheet as I call them) bird. I spent a good ten minutes following her into the leafless branches and the rocks.

And then a not so colorful yet, a beautiful migratory bird, Asian Brown Flycatcher and then another usual friend Long Tailed Shrike

This Long Tailed Shrike, I must admit was looking even more prominent and vibrant with the green leaves of Babul and black-brownish background of the meadow. It went away after sometime and we moved on the trail towards south.

With these nice shots, we walked down further towards south. The sun was coming out of mist and it was getting sunnier, clearer. I spotted another common yet a dheet and good looking bird Indian Robin Male on a tree branch nearby.

For some reason I thought, I should follow it. Nasir was tagging along listening to my commentary about birds. I could see he was thinking and trying to understand. We both followed this male Indian Robin. But, this time since it came down on the ground for breakfast. There were some remnants of artificial wildfire of sort. Due that the ground got exposed and lots of insects were out on the ground.

So we also had to crouch on the ground to get closer to it without scaring it away. It was first time, Nasir crouched on the ground! I was extremely cautious. Finally we were able to come so close that, at some point of time the bird was so close that I could not set my focus even at lowest focal length of the lens ie 150mm. Here are some good pics I took. The Indian Robin was at about 3 ft from us.. fearless!

After sometime we decided to keep it having fun with its breakfast and moved on, onto the trail. It was almost 9:30 AM by this time and it was much brighter than the time we began our birding at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi. We were talking about our lives too but, I won’t put it here. It was just two friends having a good time! Nasir was feeling good. He said he never saw any bird from such small distance.

We were walking down the trail. We were surrounded by dried burnt grass, some new green grass, rocks and black brownish soil. There were some babul trees and bushes in between. I could hear chirping of all kinds of birds around. But, I could spot any bird nearby. Meanwhile, I took out my phone, took some photos of the terrain as well as me and Nasir.

After some fun time we moved on the trail. It was around 10:15 AM and I mentioned spotting a Peacock at the same time during my last visits. Peacocks on ARAI Hill can be spotted mostly after 10 to 10:30 AM. While we were walking and talking about Peacocks, I heard a Peacock call from behind a small hump in front. We immediately became alert and ducked down trying to gather cues. We were looking around if Peacock is really around us. Nasir was in front of me as you can see from the photo above and I was afraid his movement might scare away the peacock.

But, fortunately Peacock was still there. It was climbing up towards the Vetal Baba temple. First I spotted a blue object moving across the dry woods and grass. It was a Peacock or Male Peafowl. I tried to move forward with caution and started clicking rapidly before it could vanish. It was looking beautiful in this foreground and background.

When it went up the hill and disappeared in the woods, we stood up. The first object I observed far away in front of me was a white spot! I zoomed in to the full 600mm and saw that that white spot was a Black Winged Kite. For a moment it looked very odd, out of place white spot in the trees. Please take a look how it looked even after maximum zoom.

We saw it flying around for some time. We were at some height compared to it. The background was perfect. I took some shots and we left it alone and moved further.

After some steps we decided to take a U-turn and walk back towards quarry. This trail follows the southern rim of the ARAI Hill.

After choosing trail we spotted a couple of commonly found birds. Purple Sunbird, Small Minivet and Green Bee Eater (I did not get a good shot at Green Bee Eater)

We kept walking, it was around 11 AM by this time. Soon we struck gold or should I say my friend Nasir struck gold! It was Nasir who spotted Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher at the rim of the hill in the rocky patch. I felt so good that being a beginner or non experience bird watcher, Nasir generated enough interest in birds to spot a bird which I missed! It felt good 🙂

We kept walking towards quarry. While walking at the rim of quarry we spotted a Spotted Owlet sitting on a leafless tree across the pond. It was difficult to spot it given the background and excellent camouflage.

There were now very few people around the quarry. Only a few lovebirds (as I call them) hanging around and a few young folks having a good time walking around and enjoying the weather. This time we turned back towards where we came from instead of having a walk around the quarry. We walked on the rim moving towards northern side of the quarry. It was not much warmer than morning and we were thinking about going back home.

Even though I am more interested in birds and animals, once in a while I take photos of insects like this vibrant Red Dragonfly

Since it was just around 11:30 AM a time neither suited for brunch nor for lunch for us, we tried to stay around the quarry to see if we can spot something more. Ponds were filled with water plants and muddy. I was almost sure that I can certainly spot some water birds. All them were new to Nasir except Spot Billed Duck. We entered the quarry and stayed on the ramp most of the time.

We were able to spot Moorhens, Common Coots

And then another Indian Robin Male on a tree nearby yet again. Even though it is common, I can never stop myself pointing my camera towards it!

And then a couple of cleared shots at Common Coot

Then a good looking Little Grebe. It troubled me looking this beautiful fellow swimming around garbage thrown in the pond like plastic bottles. This is the reason I am all for strict restrictions and heavy observation of Forest Ministry at this place. We the people do not behave properly when it comes to preservation and conservation.

Then a White Browed Wagtail far away from us. Due to the rocks around and also reflections off the water, I could not get a really nice shot before it disappeared but you can easily recognize it.

And that was it! It was around 12:15 PM, it was getting hot and we started feeling hungry enough to move out of the quarry. Nasir was happy, I can see it on his face. It was a new and unique experience for him. One sentence I will always fondly remember from that birding trip from Nasir is that,

“From today onward I will always keep an eye on the trees, on the ground and on every movement in the trees. From now onward I won’t be able to resist looking at the bird, watching its characteristics instead of ignoring it calling it ‘some kind of sparrow or simple bird’!”

Read more ARAI Hill Bird Photography/ Birding Blogs here