Jungle Buddies hosted a private forest birding tour to Karnala Bird Sanctuary for our guests from United States.

The weather was overcast as we began looking for birds right from the entry gate. As we entered the sanctuary we were greeted by a Greater Racket Tailed Drongo just outside park gate hiding inside foliage. We took the Hariyal Trail which is of the  best trail in the sanctuary when it coming bird sighting index, we spotted quite a few White Rumped Shama individuals and heard a few more forest species until reaching the watch tower. 

Climbing onto the watch tower we had a good view of the surrounding area. The first birds we came across were a pair of Golden Fronted Leaf Birds, a pair of White Bellied Drongos were seen chasing each other, Red whiskered and Red vented bulbuls were omnipresent. 

We decided to move ahead and Within a few meters we got a glimpse of the uncommon Malabar Parakeet, an endemic species which was once wide spread across Mumbai region,but now restricted to Norther Konkan areas only. 

From Hariyal Trail we took another adjoining trail called mortaka. This was where we got the best sightings of the day. We saw a pair of banded bay cuckoos, couple of Pygmy woodpeckers, Lesser flameback, golden fronted leaf birds, common woodshrikes, grey breasted Prinias, yellow throated sparrows and other many more forest birds. 

Tracing our steps back to Hariyal Trail walking towards the pond we could hear a whistle of  Malabar whistling thrush, puff throated babblers,  and also saw vigors sunbird, common ioras and a Juv Crested Serpent Eagle perched right above the pond.

With this we concluded our trail and managed to record 40 odd species.

Private birding tours compared with group always come with added advantages like personalized experience sharing by wildlife expert on tour and mostly important the tour date is as per your schedule. If you or your family members are interested in a private nature walk, do connect with us on 9821455643/8879715427. We will be happy to plan a memorable tour for you.

Ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S110740046