Bird Sightings at Forest Hut

I & Shree have always had a liking for wildlife. After coming to the farm in 2018, our passion got wings. We both developed a great interest in birdwatching. We have been birding for 3 years now. Every new bird that is sighted, is like a treasure.

Here are a few of the interesting sightings…

June 2019, Monsoon – Great Hornbill

It was around 3:00 in the afternoon, but the weather was cool and misty. The plantation was in full swing.

The Crested Serpent-Eagle, otherwise seldom heard, let alone seen through the rains, was very vocal that day. It had been uttering shrill notes since the morning. All of us were busy with the plantation, and we heard this strange throaty barking call coming from the direction of the Varoti Wadi Devrai, no more than half a kilometer away from our farm. An old lady from the neighboring village claimed she had never heard this sound before. And then we saw them.

From a distance we thought they were birds of prey. But then we saw the giant bill, the white-striped wings, & the bright yellow casque. As they came closer, we saw that they were much bigger than birds of prey. The pair of Great Hornbills flew majestically towards us, standing out against the lush green forested mountains behind. We stood, enchanted, to the spot. The giant birds perched on a tall tree in our farm. They sat there for a few moments, before soaring away into the mist.

As farmers of the forests, they are known
Black & Yellow plumage, they own
4 feet tall when full-grown

I still return to that memory & think it was a dream. One of the many gifts from nature.

April 2023 – Black-crowned Night Heron

It was 10:30 in the morning. We were under a Ficus tree in our backyard. It was fruiting, and there was a great variety of birds who were there to feed on the fruits. As we walked under the tree, we heard a loud flutter as an Indian Grey Hornbill flew of towards a denser canopy. We had evidently disturbed it. We followed the hornbill towards the taller trees. Shree was craning his neck to catch a glimpse of grey through the foliage. We did see something grey. But it wasn’t the hornbill. It was something white & black. In a rush of excitement, we realized that this was something new. This bird was much, much bigger. We strained with our binoculars, until we could get a proper view. We first thought it was a penguin up there. A closer look revealed that it was so motionless that it could only be a heron.

Behind the Green foliage, keeping out of view
Can only see patches of pearly-white hue
Sitting as motionless as a statue

The Black-crowned Night Heron posed there for us to photograph & observe to our fill. Another one of the many gifts from nature.

But these not the only unforgettable sightings. We’ve been maintaining a list of all bird sightings at Forest Hut.

No.	Common Name	Month Sighted-in	Location	Notes
1	Jungle Bush Quail	June – October	Through out the farm
2	Grey Junglefowl	Year round	Mainly in the Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation
3	Indian Peafowl	June – November	Below the Food forest
4	Wooly-necked Stork	N/A	Flying high overhead	Only three sightings so far
5	Black-crowned Night Heron	April	Acacia Forest	Only one sightings so far
6	Indian Pond Heron	Year round	Mainly on the river-bank
7	Grey Heron	N/A	West Pond	Only one sightings so far
8	Little Cormorant	Year round	Mainly flying overhead
9	Peregrine Falcon	N/A	Flying low
10	Oriental Honey-Buzzard	Dry season	Flying overhead
11	Black-winged Kite	Dry season	Visible perch on bare tree
12	Brahminy Kite	N/A	Acacia Forest	Only one sightings so far
13	Indian Vulture	November – March	Flying high overhead
14	Short-Toed Snake Eagle	N/A	Flying overhead	Only one sightings so far
15	Crested Serpent Eagle	Year round	Through out the farm
16	Shikra	Year round	Through out the farm
17	Black Eagle	May	Above house	Only one sighting so far
18	Cattle Egret	N/A	Flying overhead
19	Crested Hawk Eagle	October – March	Flying overhead
20	White-breasted Waterhen	July	Westside of house	Only one sightings so far
21	Red-wattled Lapwing	Year round	Flying overhead	Heard more than seen
22	Oriental Turtle Dove	October – February	House site
23	Spotted Dove	Year round	Through out the farm
24	Yellow-footed Green Pigeon	N/A	Terminalia paniculata ahead house	Only one sightings so far
25	Rose-ringed Parakeet	October – December	Veggie-garden Terminalia paniculata
26	Plum-headed Parakeet	October – January	Kharel in Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation & Veggie-garden Terminalia paniculata
27	Common Hawk Cuckoo	May – June	Through out the farm
28	Southern Coucal	Year round	Through out the farm
29	Barn Owl	N/A	Acacia Forest	Only one sightings so far
30	Indian Eagle Owl	November – March	Flying overhead	Only one sightings so far
31	Indian Nightjar	November – March	N/A	Heard only
32	Wire-tailed Swallow	November – March	Flying overhead
33	Indian Roller	Dry season	Flying Low
34	Brown Wood Owl	November – March	Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation	Heard more than seen
35	White-throated Kingfisher	Year round	Through out the farm
36	Common Kingfisher	Year round	Near river	Only one sightings so far
37	Green Bee-eater	Mainly dry season	Through out the farm
38	Common Hoopoe	Dry season	Terminalia Paniculata ahead house	Only one sightings so far
39	Indian Grey Hornbill	November – March	Acacia Forest
40	Malabar Pied Hornbill	July – August	Flying high overhead	Only one sightings so far
41	Great Hornbill	June	Flying from West to East – Perched at Acacia Forest	Pair – Only one sightings so far
42	White-cheeked Barbet	Year round	Through out the farm
43	Coppersmith Barbet	March – May	Ficus tree in Backyard
44	Common Woodshrike	Year round	Through out the farm
45	Common Iora	Year round	Through out the farm
46	Small Minivet	Year round	Through out the farm
47	Orange Minivet	June – October	Through out the farm
48	Long-tailed Shrike	Dry season	Mainly around Karvands
49	Indian Golden Oriole	November – March	Through out the farm
50	Black Drongo	Dry season	Through out the farm
51	Ashy Drongo	December	Through out the farm	Only one sightings so far
52	White-bellied Drongo	February – May	Big D. Brandisii
53	Indian Paradise-flycatcher	November – February	Eastern Slope
54	Rufous Treepie	N/A	Through out the farm
55	Indian Jungle Crow	Year round	Through out the farm
56	Indian Yellow Tit	Year round	Through out the farm
57	Barn Swallow	November – March	Flying overhead
58	Oriental Skylark	Year round	N/A
59	Red-whiskered Bulbul	Year round	Through out the farm
60	Red-vented Bulbul	Year round	Through out the farm
61	Clamorous Reed Warbler	Year round	Through out the farm
62	Puff-throated Babbler	Year round	Through out the farm
63	Indian Scimitar Babbler	Year round	Through out the farm
64	Jungle Babbler	Year round	Through out the farm
65	Lesser Hill Myna	November – January	Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation
66	Jungle Myna	Year round	Through out the farm
67	Brahminy Starling	Year round	Through out the farm
68	Malabar Whistling Thrush	June – August	Through out the farm	Heard more than seen
69	Orange-headed Thrush	November – January	Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation and Veggie beds
70	Oriental Magpie Robin	Year round	Through out the farm
71	Indian Robin	Year round	Through out the farm
72	Pied Bushchat	Dry season	Through out the farm
73	Verditer Flycatcher	November – February	Mulberry on upper veggie beds
74	Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher	Year round	Food Forest
75	Jerdon’s Leafbird	August – September	Terminalia Paniculata on top veggie bed
76	Purple-rumped Sunbird	September – December	Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation
77	Crimson-backed Sunbird	September – December	Zone 4/5 – Native Plantation
78	Purple Sunbird	Year round	Through out the farm
79	Scaly-breasted Munia	Year round	Through out the farm
80	White-rumped Munia	Year round	Through out the farm
81	Yellow Wagtail	November	Near River
82	White-browed Wagtail	December	Near house
83	Common Rosefinch	February	Through out the farm