So finally, I made up my mind and planned to go out to ARAI Hill (Vetal Tekdi) for bird watching. What was a very ordinary event a few months ago, suddenly made me nervous that day? Thanks to Covid-19 pandemic, I did not go outside for birding for about 6 months. It was something I never suffered before. On Friday evening I made up my mind and decided that no matter what happens, I am going to for Bird Watching and Bird Photography to ARAI Hill this weekend! So, naturally I called my friend Nasir who is now familiar to my readers from this previous blog.
Honestly, I did not know what to expect. I just took my gear and hit the road at 7 AM in the morning. It was slightly cloudy but I no rains were mentioned in the forecast. Me and Nasir went up the hill. I was taken aback when I saw substantial number of people up on the hill. There were bikes parked outside on both sides of the road. I did not expect so much humanity on the hill especially during these days. It slightly worries me. you know social distancing etc. I was wearing my mask but during Covid-19 times fear of crowd has become normal. Anyways, we directly went up the hill towards quarry. It was green, muddy, and beautiful!
We went near the quarry to take a brief look to check what can be the lovely place for birding. I was looking beautiful with clouds and greenery. I took some quick pics with my phone.
After looking at the amount of humanity near and inside the quarry we decided to move towards Southern side of the quarry or “The Meadow” as I call it fondly. I was happy and looking out for birds in the green and grey background.
As soon as we crossed the wall and entered the meadow, we were greeted by a tiny little bird Female Grey Breasted Prinia. (While taking the photographs all a sudden I realized that how much was I lacking the practice of taking snaps of the birds in the wild. I felt a sad and embarrassed at the same time. But, moved on as joy of being out in the open fields was bigger than this thought)
This was the first time in my life I was taking the photograph of a Grey Breasted Prinia. It may sound a bit over joyous since this bird is common but, it was my first time! We were still standing just a few feet away from the wall thinking about where to go. Because all we could see was this.
We couldn’t see a cleaner way to roam around. Slowly, were we moving through about 3 ft tall grass. Yet we decided to move towards south. We were hearing chirping and fortunately there were not many people on this side for bird photography.
As per my expectation we spotted the bird Grey Breasted Prinia Male. Fortunately, this bird was not scared of random person holding a camera with big lens around it! I took up my camera and went on clicking several pics of this beautiful bird. Again, it was my first time of seeing a Grey Breasted Prinia! This photo is not so clear yet being the first ever, I thought of including it in the blog ЁЯЩВ
After getting excited I composed myself and woke up the bird photographer and bird watcher within me. Then, I took several more photos of this tiny beauty.
It was a delight I must tell you all. After being at home like a caged bird, now I was free in the nature doing what I like with my best friend. What else does anyone want? After this nice encounter with Grey Breasted Prinia, we moved ahead in our bird watching journey.
It was very wet, boggy, and muddy. Seriously speaking we were not finding a good path to follow. I was spending more time and energy to balance myself. Here’s how it looked.
We tried to follow the path shown above but believe me it was very difficult task. Ground was slippery and boggy. We walked some feet inside and decided not to move ahead. It was another natural reason to stop where we were..
There were several more along with cows and their calves. Usually, I try to stay away from confronting these animals in the open. Believe me, I can confront a beast but not cattle. I don’t why but it is the truth. I will recommend everyone to be cautious when you see cattle around in the open fields. A tiger or a leopard will run away but these household animals know humans. and worse they are never afraid of us!
Yet, we decided to stay where we were. I took several photos of this family as well. Fun has no bounds!
A Bull at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi 
Another Bull at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi
Anyways, while standing there, our old friend Female Grey Breasted Prinia again came to visit us. Of course, I was not going to miss this opportunity.
Then nothing happened for some time. No sounds, no movements. Meanwhile I took another selfie with my friend. Last time there were no masks but this time.
After waiting for some time and seeing kites flying around. Nasir spotted a bird flying towards us. It was Honey Buzzard. It was circling above with grey background of the clouds. I took several (eventually wasted) photographs but managed to capture a couple which are OK as records.
Then there was silence yet again. I was trying to avoid directly looking towards cattle but, when I gazed, I saw a white spot in a bush far away in that direction. It required to zoom in to 600 mm on my Sigma 150-600 mm. Knowing fully that the image of bird might not come as clear as expected, I went ahead and took the photos. This effort paid off! It was Juvenile Long Tailed Shrike.
So, this is how it looked like, do you see any whitish dot on the right side of the horns in the bush?
Yes, it was the Juvenile Long Tailed Shrike. Here’s how it looked when zoomed in. (Just a reminder that, my position was such that the ox would have thought that I am aiming my camera “the thing” at him. Which honestly is not really a promising idea in case the ox is in bad mood) Yet. I took some quick snaps before it became annoying to this ox.
After this photo I gained some confidence, and I moved some steps towards the bird or should I saw towards the Ox?!
After this photo we decided to step back as it felt a bit awkward that other cattle animals had also started looking at us. We moved back towards the quarry in search of some other birds. We caught parent of this juvenile Long Tailed Shrike! ( ЁЯЩВ ) but at far distance
Although, Long Tailed Shrike is not an uncommon bird but during this time, it was good to find a couple of juveniles since they are difficult to capture. For example, this Juvenile Bay Backed Shrike. It looked beautiful.
I quickly took a couple of photos before it noticed us
After this slight off the track birding, we moved back towards the quarry and started exploring west side of it.
While walking we spotted a couple of commonly spotted birds, Baya Weaver Male and Female.
One of the biggest problems I faced during this time was the grass! I could not move closer to birds since there was no ground! And I was not prepared to jump in the grass without any proper gear. So, I had to snap this Baya Weaver couple from a long distance 100-125 ft. Cloudy background with zero sunlight added to the overall gloominess.
And then. guess what my friend Nasir spotted the Gold! I was caught up between two emotions viz embarrassment and joy. Embarrassment since Nasir spotted it before me and joy because eventually, I got a chance to see this beauty!
Ok. jokes apart but, honestly, I was genuinely happy to spot the Gold. The Male Eurasian Golden Oriole.
Eurasian Golden Oriole Male at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi 
Eurasian Golden Oriole Male at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi 
Eurasian Golden Oriole Male at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi
It was such a nice feeling to spot this migratory bird during that time!
But after this sighting there wasn’t much around. Everything had gone quiet, greyish just like the weather. No more chirping, no more flapping. So, we called the day! I don’t why but I took snaps of the graffiti on the wall while returning.
For those who don’t know, it is a dark and painful chapter. Please my blog about it for more details.
Graffiti in Memory of Tigress Avani 
Graffiti in Memory of Tigress Avani 
Graffiti in Memory of Tigress Avani 
Graffiti in Memory of Tigress Avani
We left the Meadow with a greyish feeling.
It was indeed a unique experience to visit my favorite birding spot post Covid lockdown. In a way it was good to see that the life is returning to normal but, honestly crowd at ARAI Hill worried me as well. Let’s hope for the best!
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