[C300]

The mighty Himalayas is a special place for Bird Watchers. The lush green forests with mountain streams is a perfect refuge to numerous birds and wild animals. Despite high altitude and cold winters, its a global biodiversity hotspot.

We visited Devbhoomi Uttarakhand last month in search of these mountain beauties. Spent couple of days at foothills of Sattal before visiting the higher altitude forests of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. Spotted more than 100 species during the expedition including some rare and exotic birds endemic to the region.

Sharing few pictures from the trip:

Himalaya - Abode of Gods.





Pristine forest of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary



Some fun with fresh snow



Now the Beautiful Birds.

Himalayan Rubythroat portrait



Common Green Magpie...very rare and uncommon bird







The beutiful Himalayan Monal male on the snow. Its the state bird of Uttarakhand and National Bird of Nepal



Monal female with Rhododendron tree in the background. Its state tree of Uttarakhand.



A perfect camouflage



Yellow bellied fantail.. always on the move and difficult bird to photograph





Alpine Accentor..Loves high mountains





Russet sparrow..Male and Female







Red-billed leiothrix.. a colourful small bird

[C300]

Its time for some Woodpeckers..

Black-naped woodpecker male and female



A closer look





Scaly-bellied woodpecker..a rare sighting







Borwn-fronted woodpecker with its colourful cap



Greater yellownape woodpecker.. early morning light





A closer look. Golden yellow colour glowing in morning light



Himalayan woodpecker in natural habitat



and the smallest of the lot. Grey capped pigmy woodpecker

[C300]

Blue-fronted Redstart.. amazing colours.



Himalayan Bulbuls cozying up in early morning light





Slaty haeaded parakeets..Male and female.









Steppe Eagle.. big and royal





Yellow-billed blue magpie and Red-billed blue magpie. Common bird in this part of Himalaya.





Long tailed shrike. Another regular visitor

[C300]

Few colourful Pheasants join the party

Koklass Pheasant Male.. the star of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary







Another beuty from Pheasant family.. Kalij Pheasant male and female





A closer look



Red Jungle fowl Male and Female





Lastly a distant photo of Chukar Partridge..another colourful member of the pheasant family.



Its time to introduce few nocturnal members from the Owl family. These are special birds.
With superior vision and hearing abilities they are stealth hunters. Near 360 degree head movement allows them to keep a close watch on surroundings.
Owls have a special place in our mythology. Owl is symbol of wisdom and fortune and worshiped as Vahana of Goddess Laxmi.

Brown Wood Owl..one of the largest owl in this part of the world



Tawny Fish Owl...keeping a close watch



A collared Owlet...smaller member of the family



Jungle owlet at Jim Corbett National Park

[C300]

Some colourful Finches join the party.

Scarlet Finch male. Vibrant red colour.



..and female



Pink Browed Rosefinch male and female





Common Rosefinch female



Red headed bullfinch males..cute little bird





Plain mountain Finch.



Spot-winged Grosbeak female.. rare sighting.. its a close relative of Finches.

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section.

Beautiful pictures C300, absolutely pro level! Thanks for sharing.

[roy_libran]

Thanks for sharing these, and all excellent pics. Undoubtedly worth mentioning that all these photos and sightings cannot be the product of just one trip.
Most of these are from different locations and across different seasons. You can also perhaps add the locations and season for each of these birds to help other members get an idea of the labours involved.
By the way, are the waders and raptors still to come?

[turboNath]

What an amazing thread , C300 !

My personal favourites from your collection have to be -

1)Koklass Pheasant
2)Pink Browed Rosefinch
3)Chukar Partridge

I loved your earlier thread 'Birds of Old Magazine House - Ganeshgudi, Dandeli' but this one just takes the pictures to a whole new level !

[Liverpool]

Mind blowing content. Pictures are of National Geographic level. Sharpness is absolute spot on. Please keep them coming. What camera body and lens don you use? Did you use a flash and a diffuser? Just curious to know about the gear in use. Keep birding it’s the best way to be close to nature and a great stress buster.

[majumon]

Amazing photographs just mindblowing just like watching Discovery channel. I too have a fancy for birdwatching since they had couple of bird race events conducted every year and our office used to sponsor that was fortunate to go around with some expert birdwatchers and got exposed to several names. Very happy so see such rare collections, keep watching and clicking. How did you manage to click such small birds with so much of clarity, must be carrying a real heavy gear I guess. Or can you use the digiscope to capture the images or that is only for viewing.

[gatsby_great]

Excellent pictures. Clearly a great deal of skill, effort as well as patience are involved behind this work. Would love to see more.
I lost most of the bird images from my Valley of flowers trek but gradually re-collected some of them. It's such a paradise for birds. Hope to visit again.
Please keep up the good work.

[ais]

Excellent pictures, that too with identification and information about each bird. What a beautiful world we live in!

I have no knowledge about Himalyan birds. Could you kindly identify this bird I clicked near Mcleodganj? Picture was clicked with a mobile phone camera, so couldn't be sharper than this.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by ais

Excellent pictures, that too with identification and information about each bird. What a beautiful world we live in!

I have no knowledge about Himalyan birds. Could you kindly identify this bird I clicked near Mcleodganj? Picture was clicked with a mobile phone camera, so couldn't be sharper than this.

Verditer Flycatcher

Here you go - Welcome to the world of Passeriformes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verditer_flycatcher

If you wish to get deeper, I highly recommend "Birds of The Indian Subcontinent - by Grimmett, Inskipp". It is available on the Google Play Bookstore and has great images, descriptions and audio calls.

[i20ian]

Wonderful photos. Sattal has always been in my bucket list for a long time. Could you please share some accommodation details for birding purpose.

[srikrishna717]

Amazing birds and outstanding photography.
Please share the equipment details as well. Safe to assume you had a 600mm lens?

Thanks a lot for sharing these