Birding in Himachal hills

Oriental White-eye

A wedding invitation brought me to a small village near Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh.  Hamirpur gets it's name from Raja Hamir Chand of Katoch dynasty, who ruled over this region from 1700 to 1740 AD.

Lesser Flameback Woodepecker

Away from the dust and grime of the cities, the birds were brighter, easier to spot and photograph. Many were attracted by the wedding feast and food scraps thrown out from the community kitchen. Among these were varieties of woodpeckers, magpies, bulbuls and mynas. The lesser flameback and brown fronted woodpecker were bold enough to pose for the camera.

Brown-fronted Woodpecker

Great Titmouse

Red Billed Blue Magpie

Birds as well as humans enjoyed the wedding feast; everyone sharing the joy of auspicious occasion, showering their blessings and good wishes on the married couple and their families.

#birdwatching #indianbirds #woodpeckers #birdingwindow #birding #himachalbirds #naturelovers #nature

Birding around Mukteshwar

Mukteshwar is a quite hill township in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. The small town is perhaps better known for the man-eating tigress that terrorized people in the neighboring villages in late 1920s and was killed by Jim Corbett in 1929.

    No tiger, spotted near Mukteshwar in recent years, however leopards are seen occasionally  around IVRI forest reserve near the town. Jackals, mountain goats and various species of birds can be spotted around fruit orchards and forests of the area.

Black and Orange flycatcher

The area is now a popular tourist destination in summer, known for the panoramic views of the Nandadevi and Trishul mountain range of the Himalayas. This part of Uttarakhand is also famous for fruit orchards of plums, apricots, apples, peaches and sweet lime. Known as the "fruit basket", Mukteshwar orchards send supplies all over India. Frequent visits to Mukteshwar for work in the last 1-2 years, have given me a chance  to photograph the beautiful species of birds of the Himalayan ecosystem. Sharing pictures of a few of them that I could capture this spring season.

Barn Swallow - It makes a new mud nest in the project site office every year.

Black Throated Tit - A tiny bird, hunts for insects in bark of apple and plum trees on site.

My camera card always ended up having more pictures of the scenic views, village life and birds than the project site. Once, while going through site photographs in an office meeting, the images of a local home with cattle pen popped into the slideshow. Our structural engineer asked bemusedly, "What is this?" My boss immediately quipped,"Contractor and his site team", and everyone burst out laughing.

This bird is part of Quality Check Team. Can be seen checking steel reinforcements here :)

Grey headed Canary Flycatcher

Black Lored Tit looks more like a stylish bulbul but can be easily distinguished by black streak across lores

Hoping to capture images of other birds when I visit Mukteshwar next. More feathered friends coming soon.   :D

#birding #indianbirds #himalayas #birdwatching #birdwatchingphotography