29 March 14 - Indian Owl Fest

I've just completed writing the last post for the Indian trip which visited Calcutta, the Andamans, the Western Ghats, Gujarat & Rajasthan. Out of the 420 species of birds seen, I managed to photograph 342 species (over 81% of species seen). However, to spin these photos out a bit further, I've decided to pull together some posts on particular themes. So here is the first of them on the Owls seen on the trip. On the trip I managed to see 11 or 12 species of Owl depending on taxonomy & all species seen were photographed. On the Andamans, I saw Orintal (Walden's) Scops Owl which Clements currently lumps as a subspecies of Oriental Scops Owl, but Rasmussen splits. I can't tick it at the moment as I also saw Oriental Scops Owl in the Western Ghats & I keep to a Clements taxonomy for simplicity.

I can't tick this Owl at Periyar

India is a great country for seeing Owls & seeing them well. In most countries, Owls are something you look for at night & we did see several species after dark. However, due to the large game animals & the number of sites I visited which are Tiger reserves, then looking for Owls after dark is often not possible (the Andamans being the main exception on my trip). But the result is the local Indian guides have become good at finding Owls in daytime roosts, where with care, you can get some good photos & more importantly not disturb the Owls. I'll leave you to enjoy the Owls.

Andaman Scops Owl: Jirgatna, Andamans (23 Dec 13)

Indian Scops Owl: Nominate subspecies bakkamoena, Thattekad, Western Ghats (5 Jan 14)

Indian Scops Owl: Subspecies gangeticus, Bharatpur, Rajasthan (28 Jan 14)

Bruce's Scops Owl: Desert Coursers, Gujarat (14 Jan 14)

Oriental Scops Owl: Parambikulam, Western Ghats (2 Jan 14)

Oriental Scops Owl: Parambikulam, Western Ghats (2 Jan 14) 

Oriental (Walden's) Scops Owl: Chiriya Tapu, Andamans (24 Dec 13)

Rock Eagle Owl: Jungle Hut, Western Ghats (29 Dec 13) 

Rock Eagle Owl: CEDO, Gujarat (19 Jan 14)

Dusky Horned Owl: Bharatpur, Rajasthan (28 Jan 14)

Brown Fish Owl: Parambikulam, Western Ghats (2 Jan 14)

Jungle Owlet: Parambikulam, Western Ghats (1 Jan 14)

Jungle Owlet: Parambikulam, Western Ghats (2 Jan 14)

Spotted Owlet: Subspecies brama, Jungle Hut, Western Ghats (29 Dec 13)

Spotted Owlet: Subspecies indica, Desert Coursers, Gujarat Ghats (14 Jan 14)

Andaman Boobook: Chiriya Tapu, Andamans (22 Dec 13)

Hume's Boobook: Chiriya Tapu, Andamans (22 Dec 13)

22 Dec 13 - Andaman Forest Birding At Last

Brian arrived on time from his flight from the UK & there was time for some lunch before heading out birding. The first site was some native forest at Chiriya Tapu, about an hours drive from Port Blair. First stop was a roadside beach to catch up on a few of the local waders.

Eastern Reef Heron: This dark morph Egret is on the Western most end of its range which gets as far as Australia & the Pacific

Pacific Golden Plover

Lesser Sandplover: With another Pacific Golden Plover for size comparison

Common Sandpiper: A more familiar species to UK birders

 

Collared Kingfisher: This Kingfisher is as happy with beaches & mangroves as the freshwater in Gandhi Park

Carrying along the road we entered several miles of good forest. Here we quickly found a mixed flock of Alexandrine & Long-tailed Parakeets, Green Imperial and Andaman Green Pigeons, Asian Fairy-bluebirds & White-headed Starlings. Clearly, there were some good fruiting trees in the vicinity.

Andaman Green Pigeon: This has been recently split from the Pompadour Green Pigeon & is endemic to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Green Imperial Pigeon: This is a widespread Asian Pigeon

Alexandrine Parakeet: The endemic Andaman subspecies magnirostris

Long-tailed Parakeet: The endemic Andaman subspecies tytleri

Asian Fairy-bluebird: This is a male, the female is a dull steely-blue

White-headed Starling: This is an endemic forest Starling with a lot of character

The Andamans are on the same time zone as the rest of India, but being so far east it's starting to get dark around 17:00. Therefore, it was onto the coast part of Chiriya Tapu, where there are some open fields around the forest edge, to look for some of the local Owls. As we reached the forest edge we saw our only Andaman Serpent Eagle. There are 2 Serpent Eagles on the Andamans: the dark Andaman Serpent Eagle and an endemic race of Crested Serpent Eagle. In the failing light, I only had time for this record shot of the Andaman Serpent Eagle, after better & identifiable scope views.

Andaman Serpent Eagle: Totally overexposed or arty - I will leave you to decide

There are 5 species of Owl on the Andaman Islands: Andaman Barn Owl, Andaman Boobook, Hume's Boobook, Andaman Scops Owl & the Walden's Scops Owl (a distinctive subspecies of Oriental Scops Owl which some authorities split off). Of these the latter 4 are fairly easily found in the forest areas, but the Barn Owl is tricky and it was the only species we failed to see as it has moved into more urban areas around Port Blair. First stop was to look for Andamans Nightjar which we saw on the forest edge, but I failed to get any photos of it. The Boobook Owls were more cooperative & we had good views of both species. At 9 inches long they are intermediate in size between a Scops Owl and Tawny Owl.

Andaman Boobook

Hume's Boobook: Although appearing similar to the Andaman Boobook in this poor photo, the calls the 2 Owls were giving as they were being photographed were very different

Even with the hour drive back to Port Blair we were back at the hotel by 20:00, having seen 2 new Owls and a Nightjar. If only night birding was that easy elsewhere in the world.