It all began for me on 17th Jan 2016 when I finally decided to take my Camera with me to ARAI Hill aka Vetal Tekdi in Pune. I always knew that ARAI Hill was an excellent spot for bird watching but the time I realized this I was in USA. So I spent many days thinking about birding at ARAI Hill. When I returned back to India in September 2015, I started going out for bird watching. I must confess here that the prime reasons ARAI became my favourite spot were my cousins Akshay and Akhilesh Khare who would make me jealous by showing their bird photos at ARAI Hill while I was in USA.

On 17th as usual, I convinced my father to accompany me. It was rather easy to convince him as he had often been my partner of crime whenever it came to nature! We began our journey rather late. I was going to do bird photography at ARAI for the first time! I was almost 8:30 – 9 AM when we actually reached the spot. I was not sure what to expect at this moment as the sun was up and it was getting hot. But, my experience with my father is that, I spot some good variety of birds when my father is around.. Oh yes I am superstitious 🙂

I was carrying my Canon 70D with 55-250mm lens (not the best for bird watching though) While walking from the parking lot to the Vetal Baba Temple I spotted a bird sitting on top of the tree which initially looked like a normal sparrow from distance. But, when I zoomed in a bit I was happily surprised to see the beautiful migratory fellow who migrates to South Asia in Winters from Central Asia.. The Grey Necked Bunting or The Grey Hooded Bunting.

This bird is seen in India during winters. It is slightly easy to identify this bird due to the grey hood. Also whenever you are searching for the buntings look at their eyes. You can observe round black eyes as well a white streak near cheak in the above photo.

I shot a migratory bird within 5 minutes of our journey! It was a good beginning according to me. As soon as I clicked the photos, the boys who were playing cricket near the parking lot (yes we play cricket near forest areas too hehe) made noise and it flew away. We continued our walk keeping our eyes on the top of the trees and on the electricity cables. Usually birds bask in the early sun while sitting on these places.

We were just 100 mts from the the Vetal Baba temple when I saw another bird on the electricity wire. My research says that it is Tawny Pipit. Another Indian winter traveler! It was sitting on an electric wire at some distance. My second migratory bird sighting of the day (Yay!! I knew it was going to be a good day by now)

Here’s another one but, it’s not very clear

It was almost 9:45AM by the time we reached Vetal Baba Temple. There were some people busy doing exercises as usual. We moved quickly towards the quarry.

The first bird I saw was Rufous Treepie sitting on the tip of a Nilgiri Tree. It was easy to identify it due its long tail,light brown body and white spots on the dark tail. It was apparent that, it was very used to human beings around it. I did not see any movement from him when we moved towards the tree. I was expecting it to fly away. I quickly took some photos of it.

A Female Rosefinch another migratory bird from north distracted me for a minute. I took a couple of its photos. I was slightly disappointed not to see male rosefinch though

I moved my attention back to Rufous Treepie. It flew to another tree. The good thing was that the branch on which it was sitting was not that high and also it was facing east direction so it helped me approaching the bird. I took some better photos this time from close range

And finally I was done with this Rufous Treepie and we moved on. It was already 10:15 AM and it was getting even hotter. There were now only a few people near the quarry. We started walking towards the western side of the quarry. That’s when I spotted a Greater Coucal, or Crow Pheasant aka Bharadwaj Bird (in Marathi, my mother tongue). Seeing this bird in the morning time is considered lucky!



And then another Tawny Pipit. Of course I was not going to lose the chance to take a snap at it.

We were moving swiftly through the grass. It was getting hotter by every minute. A few minutes passed without any movement or sighting. All we could here was sound of grass due to wind and crickets making deafening noises. While moving away from the edge of the quarry my father spotted a white bird on top of a tree. It was now time for the big guys to take the stage. It was Black Winged Kite! It was sitting high up on the tree so I could not take nice photos but I tried to remain still and managed to take a couple of identifyable photos at maximum lens zoom.

I moved a bit closer and got a better shot

We kept looking at the kite and finally after a few minutes it flew away! We again started our wandering around the quarry. By this time we spotted a very common shrike called Bay Backed Shrike. It was looking bright and beautiful in the sunlight.

I heard some nocking noise from the woods nearby but, I kept concentrating on the shrike as I could not see where the noise was coming from. We followed the shrike a bit. It was also not scared of seeing people around. I took another good photo of Bay Backed Shrike where one could see really bright colors! It was beautiful for sure.

I could still hear the nocking sound from the nearby woods. Me and my father decided to check out where it was coming from? It took us some time to find out where the sound was coming from through the woods. There were a lot of birds chirping and flying around but none of them were capable of making such noise. It was definitely a woodpecker. After a good 5-10 minutes search we finally located it! It was.. I finally spotted it. Unfortunately, it was again sitting at the top of a tree. I tried to take as many shots as I could. Although, none of them are super clear, yet my research tells me that it was Yellow Crowned Woodpecker aka Marahatta Sutar.



Here are some more record shots (this is what we bird photographers call it when the photo is barely enough to identify the bird)

Yellow Crowned Woodpecker Record shot 3

Yello Crowned Woodpecker Record shot 4

Honestly, I was getting a bit tired by this time. There was chirping and flapping but, none of the birds were special or worth taking photos eg Myna, Bulbul, Sparrows etc. Sun was completely out and even though it was January we were feeling the heat. Fortunately we both were wearing appropriate gears (Important tip.. having right gear, equipments, clothing and water is must while birding around!) Also, I was satisfied with the sightings by this time.

Yet, as nature lovers do, me and my father still thought of taking another stroll around western edge of the quarry away from the people. And guess what! It flew right in front of us and landed into the grass and.. No I will let you guys guess what I saw in the grass? We moved towards it with caution yet again. It was unaware of our presence, having its insects lunch. It is a very beautiful feeling to see such a creation of the nature for the first time. Checkout the photograph below and see if you can identify that beautiful creature..

Did you find it? No? Well .. it’s a Hoopoe commonly known as Eurasian Hoopoe! Here’s the next shot, where you can see it in the grass. It was so neatly hidden in the grass. An awesome camouflage!

I quickly moved to the other side of the hump and waited for it to turn around and come towards me. For some reason I was confident that it will come along this way. My father standing on the other side of the hump but not near the bird so it didn’t get scared. Our team work helped here. I was hinding behind the grass taking as many snaps as I could. I was lying on the ground just like a sniper! The hoopoe was walking around the grass, some of which was burnt. It was enjoying the insects, not bothered about us..

Finally it started climbing the hump as I expected. I lied down carefully on the other side of a narrow passage between the grass, all set to take the snaps! Here’s a gallery of the photos I took of this hoopoe.

Then it flew away and sat on a tree. We followed it there as well and took some more photographs. I felt it easier that way as it was now easier to track it with sky blue and green leaves background.

At one point it yawned and its crest feathers (feathers on the head) spreaded. The photo came out to be a weird looking one.

Lastly, a really nice pose and it flew away.. I was so lucky to see this bird so close to me and for such a long time!

Adios Amigos Mr Hoopoe

Me and my father both were tired by this time. And we started walking towards the parking lot after Hoopoe went away. For some reason I did not keep my camera in the bag. We were walking swiftly as it was getting late for the lunch and also was getting really hot. I was feeling happy and full and everything such kind. When the Hoopoe flew away I thought the game was over for the day. But, my luck had planned something else for me. The Black winged kite which we saw a couple of hours ago had come down near the pond to quench its thirst. Taking snap of a bird and that too like a kite drinking the water is a chance no one can lose. I was glad that I had my camera handy with me. Even though I was tired I managed to take a couple of record shots.

Black Winged Kite At Pond 2

And this was the end of the First Bird Photogrpahy visit at ARAI Hill or Vetal Tekdi. Since then I have not stopped going there and the Hill has not stopped surprising me as well!

I am not sure how much time we spent on taking the photographs of these beautiful birds but, when I was done with taking photographs of this Hoopoe I felt satisfaction and humbleness. I am not sure how to explain it but, when you see so many wonderful creations of nature within few hours you feel grateful and humble for sure. That’s the beauty of the nature.

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