“Sleep can wait, I’m going birding”. As a way of life it’s a pithy summary, a clear statement of intent, and an expression of bravado that hints at the Damoclean Sword awaiting the foolhardy birder who really thinks that he can do without “A chamber deaf to noise and blind of light”…or it’s the resigned realisation that a severely delayed flight means that you get to your hotel at 04:30 when you’ve previously arranged to go birding in just 90 minutes time and rolling over and ignoring the alarm-call is not an option. Not an option because a) the birder you’ve arranged to meet is also having to get up very early, and b) because such is the ambition of the Big Year and a determination to win a war of attrition with friend and rival lister Graham by never sleeping (the thinking going that maybe I can run up such a huge list that he gives up by April and we can stop this listing challenge - something (frankly) that chaps in their forties just should never have started in the first place…)

So it was that after 30 minutes of dozing, a quick shower, a bag of cashew nuts from the mini-bar, a jolting and bone-shaking car ride, and witnessing yet another dawn rise, I found myself waiting for Venkateswaran Krishnan (known - fortunately - by his friends as Venkat) as House Crows, Black Kites and Ring-necked Parakeets noisily greeted the morning in the polluted skies of yet another city - in this case Mumbai, the city formerly known as Bombay, and one of the most densely-populated places in the world.

Venkat, whom I’d not met before, had responded to an RFI on the Oriental Birding Yahoo group offering to take me birding - despite having to remain fresh and alert for a 24 hour Bird Race beginning the next day! I was very conscious that he was making a mighty effort on my behalf, and I was determined to be alert and upbeat. I have to admit though that when a motorbike pulled up next to me and a smiling Venkat suggested I hop on I was overcome with visions of imminent death and felt close to chucking the whole thing in on the spot and going back to bed immediately. Fortunately I didn’t, because not only did we end up having an excellent day’s birding, the motorbike journey lasted less than a minute as Venkat only needed to whip us round the corner to where his car (which he described as “Mr Bean’s car with bits falling off it”) had been parked overnight.

Birding with someone for the first time is always a bit of a game: as you drive along getting to know each other you need to try to work out what sort of birding level your new colleague is at, what level he thinks you’re at, whether you’re on the same page as far as what you want the day to achieve goes etc etc. It can be a tricky few minutes if things don’t go well: I remember a morning getting off to an appalling start when the birder I was due to spend the day with began by asking if I was married (at the time I was) and then complaining that most aircrew were, in his opinion, gay - which was against his religious beliefs - and should be put up against a wall and shot. He was muttering something about what he’d like to do with immigrants when I jumped out at a stop light and cut short our day out…

No such problems with the affable and extremely likeable Venkat, who is someone you feel at ease with almost straight away. An experienced birder he asked me what I wanted to see, and suggested a couple of sites before deciding that Karnala Bird Sanctuary, a rocky, deciduous forest on the Mumbai-Goa NH-17 road, would be the best bet. Covering about 12 sq kms., and just 50km from Mumbai, Karnala is on the circuit of most local birders and has a list of around 200 species which includes many migrants (especially warblers) as well as scarce and sought-after residents like Grey Junglefowl, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, and White-rumped Munia (plus a couple of green-pigeons, Pompadour and Yellow-footed, that Venkat just couldn’t ever find and was starting to think were somehow avoiding him deliberately). Unfortunately it is something of a well-known picnic spot too, which I’m starting to realise is code for “a place where young Indian couples go to get away from their parents”. Consequently, he said, as the day wore on there would be more and more people arriving and lurking around the trees scaring the horses…”It’s a shame,” he said, “we didn’t start out a bit earlier”! Maybe next time, Venkat, maybe next time…

The most productive area at Karnala is apparently the first 500m from the entrance gate to the rest-houses, where an old road winds through some mature forest full of sunbirds, warblers, Chestnut-shouldered Petronia, and - apparently - the mythic green pigeons. Almost immediately we found Crimson-backed, Purple-rumped and Purple Sunbirds, Common Iora, Black Drongo (the first of four species of drongo), and had good views of a Jungle Owlet which came in to some pishing we were using to attract the petronias. It was pretty good birding, but Venkat - who had just spotted a Rufous Woodpecker investigating an ant’s nest half-way up a tree - expressed his disappointment that true to form there were, though, no pigeons…

Jungle Owlet Glaucidium radiatum malabaricum

Common Iora Aegithina tiphia

Further up the track we found a White-rumped Munia in some long grass with a Syke’s Warbler (below the guest-houses) and heard our first Brown-headed Barbets (a regional endemic), but it wasn’t until almost an hour later that we hit a superb bird-wave and the birding began in earnest. As is the nature of bird-waves the birds involved soon disappeared, but not before we’d logged (amongst others) Western Crowned Leaf-warbler, White-rumped Shama a pair of Asian Paradise Flycatchers, more Common Iora, a Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (possibly the least colourful of any of the world’s fulvettas), two Black-rumped Flameback (large and striking woodpeckers), another Jungle Owlet, a Rufous Treepie, more sunbirds, and a small flock of the stunning Plum-headed Parakeet - the male of which is a uniquely coloured bird with goggly eyes that for all the world look like they’ve been found in a toy-chest and stuck on as an afterthought…

Male Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala

Female White-rumped Shama Copsychus malabaricus

Golden-fronted Leafbird Chloropsis aurifrons

Most of the above were of course new for my Year List, but who really cares when the birding is that good? The constant changes in exposure as the sunlight came through the branches made photography difficult so I don’t have many photos unfortunately, but swiveling your head to get onto yet another small bird in the undergrowth isn’t the optimal situation for photography anyway. Far better just to relax and enjoy the sights frankly…

In the next few hours, as the temperature climbed (and the trail climbed higher and higher), we tried our hardest to find another wave like that one but didn’t have too much luck. There was a trickle of new birds of course - Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Crested Serpent-eagle for instance - but it wasn’t until we’d turned around and started back down the trail that we found another flock of birds. Far less co-operative than the first we nevertheless managed to find a Black-naped Monarch amongst what was essentially similar birds we’d seen before.

Female Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva

Half-way back to the car I was starting to wind down (it was the equivalent of six in the morning at home and I was starting to feel a little weary to be honest) when Venkat suddenly pointed into the undergrowth to the left of the track. I could see nothing but leaves, and after a few minutes of searching I had to accept that I’d dipped on a lifer - Red Spurfowl. Funny how missing something is more memorable at the time than actually seeing something: hopefully other birders will understand where I’m coming from…

With adrenalin pumping, and far more awake now, we wandered back towards the car where we bumped into another small group of birds. Yet again there were new ones in amongst species we’d previously seen, and Venkat got onto a Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher at about the same time as I picked up two (then three) Puff-throated Babblers hopping and scrabbling about under a large bush. A little pishing finally gave us our best views of Brown-headed Barbet and a female Asian Paradise Flycatcher - but still no pigeons much to a puzzled Venkat’s chagrin…

Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima zeylanica

Back at the car Venkat asked me if I wanted to carry on birding or go back to the hotel. Carry on, carry on, I replied. How about we get some lunch first then, he asked, and head down to Uran and some wetland birds in an hour or so? Oh, yeah, food - THAT is definitely a good idea…

Now, why you may be asking, would I drop this detail into an already long report? Because as we came back out of the little restaurant (conveniently just down the road from the reserve) after lunch I happened to notice something perched at the top of a tree across the main road. It looked somewhat - well, pigeon-like! Swinging binoculars round as fast as we could we were soon getting excellent views of one of the most striking columbiforms I’ve ever seen. For those birders more used to thinking of pigeons as nodding little grey things shuffling about for bread in a local park, have a look at the beautiful Yellow-footed Green Pigeon in the photo below…Worth the wait eh? In the same tree we added Coppersmith Barbet to the day list, and had excellent views of a female Common Koel (the devil’s own cuckoo? check out that glowing red eye…) guzzling the same fruits as the pigeon. Never stop looking, my friends, never stop looking…

Yellow-footed Green-pigeon Treron phoenicoptera

Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea

Okay, the next part of this trip will be online soon, but in the meantime if you’ve any comments or questions please feel free to use the form below…

Day List (underlined species new for the year): Karnala Forest and Uran
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 1; Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger 6; Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis 1; Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 2+; Purple Heron Ardea purpurea 1; Great Egret Egretta alba 10+; Little Egret Egretta garzetta 1+; Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii c)10; Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 30+; Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus 2; Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus 2+; Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus 2+; White Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia 1+; Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 50+; Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea 3; Northern Pintail Anas acuta 20+; Garganey Anas querquedula 6-10; Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 20+; Common Teal Anas crecca 2; Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus 3; Black Kite Milvus migrans 50+; Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela 1; Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 1; Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 2; Shikra Accipiter badius 2; Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio 3; Bronze-winged Jacana Metopidius indicus 1; Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 30+; Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta c)50; Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus c)10; Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 3-4; Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura 1; Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa c)20; Common Redshank Tringa totanus 3-4; Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 4-5; Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia c)20; Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 3+; Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 1+; Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii 3+; Ruff Philomachus pugnax 30+; Brown-headed Gull Larus brunnicephalus 50+; Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica 8-10; Yellow-footed Green-pigeon Treron phoenicoptera 2; Ring-necked Parakeet Psittacula krameri 30+; Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala 6-10; Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis 1+; Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea 3; Jungle Owlet Glaucidium radiatum malabaricum 2; Asian Palm-swift Cypsiurus balasiensis 2; White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis 4; Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis 10+; Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima zeylanica 3; Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala 1; Rufous Woodpecker Celeus brachyurus 1; Black-rumped Flameback Dinopium benghalense 2; Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark Eremopterix grisea 2; Rufous-tailed Lark Ammomanes phoenicurus 4; Oriental Skylark Alauda gulgula 1; Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 4; Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 1; Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus 2; Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus flammeus 2; Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus 5-6; Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer 2; Golden-fronted Leafbird Chloropsis aurifrons 2-3; Common Iora Aegithina tiphia 4-5; Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis 2; Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus 1; Syke’s Warbler Hippolais rama 1; Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius 1 (+Heard); Hume’s Warbler Phylloscopus humei 1+; Western Crowned Warbler Phylloscopus occipitalis 1+; Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva 1; Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher Cyornis tickelliae 1; White-rumped Shama Copsychus malabaricus 1+; Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata 2; Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti 1; Black-naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea 1; Asian Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi 2; Puff-throated Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps 3; Brown-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe poioicephala 2; Purple-rumped Sunbird Nectarinia zeylonica 2+; Crimson-backed Sunbird Nectarinia minima 2+; Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica 10+; Loten’s Sunbird Nectarinia lotenia 2+; Thick-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum agile 1; Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach 4-5; Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus 8-10; White-bellied Drongo Dicrurus caerulescens 2-3; Spangled [Hair-crested] Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus 1; Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus 1+; Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda 1; House Crow Corvus splendens ++; Common Myna Acridotheres tristis 20+; Asian Pied Myna Sturnus contra 1; Rose-coloured Starling Sturnus roseus 3; Chestnut-shouldered Petronia Petronia xanthocollis 6-8; Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus 2+; Red Avadavat Amandava amandava c)10; Indian Silverbill Lonchura malabarica 2; White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata 1

Year birds: 58
Total for the Year: 453

Interested in more reports from India? Have a look at Sultanpur Jheel, January 22 2008