Just before the monsoon arrives some very special birds appear onto the scene. 

During May end the forests around Mumbai, Konkan and surrounding regions reverberate with the call of the Indian Pitta. Jungle Buddies hosted an exclusive trip in search of this sought after bird. 

The trail began with sighting a Racket Tailed Drongo perched silent. There was a flock of 20 odd Jungle Babblers busy with their feeding frenzy nearby. Just after covering another 100 metres we were able to see our first Pitta for the day, it flushed from the ground and went deep into bushes, but we did find a few Orange Headed Thrushes along the same trail. 

Heading back from where we began, we saw another Racket Tailed Drongo feeding off the bark of a tree. This guy allowed us to have loads of pictures. Meanwhile we could also hear Pitta calling from different directions. Later we were able to trace one feeding in the leaf litter that was unbothered by our presence. 

From here we headed for another trail walking along the road and a Common Hawk Cuckoo flew right towards us and perched, had amazing views of this bird as well. The last bird of the day was a lifer for most of our buddies and we were successful in finding the Indian Scops Owl to end a fantastic forest birding trip.

Ebird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S112274602

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