Jungle Buddies hosted yet another birding trip to the grasslands of Saswad. The weather seemed to be on our side as it hadn’t rained since Saturday, except for a couple of showers.

We were astonished to see the a different look of the grasslands as it was foggy all over and the light was low, contrary to the harsh sun that blazes over these open swathes of land.

We had sighted a couple of birds like Black Drongos, Indian Robins, Indian Bushlarks and Scaly Breasted Munias while on our way.

We began looking out for birds and were greeted to a male Rain Quail calling from atop a bund, a Yellow Wattled Lapwing landed in the backdrop. We also saw a male Baya Weaver busy making its nest and a Bay Backed Shrike perched on the top of a tree close to where we stood photographing the rain quail.

After walking a little ahead we saw a couple of Pied Bushchats, Indian Bushlarks, Tawny Larks, Ashy Crowned Sparrow Larks, Eurasian Collared Doves and to a lone Red Collared Dove. A flock of Large Grey Babbler landed right in the sheet of pink flowers that had covered the ground in some places. Deciding to move ahead we saw a different bird, that had perched very low on a shrub. A Lifer for almost everyone, it was the White Bellied Minivet female. We started to approach the bird and in process flushed a Rock Bush Quail that landed a couple of meters ahead and dashed into cover. The female minivet had flew further ahead when it started to fly back towards us and thats what led to us sighting the male as well.

What else could we wish for? Returning to our car we came across a few more Rain Quails, Grey Francolins, Indian Silverbills, Large Grey Shrikes and Long Tailed Shrikes.

We decided to explore another location and try to cover some more species and managed to see a flock of Yellow Wattled Lapwings, Indian Bushlarks, Tawny Larks, Tawny Eagles, Eurasian Coots, Barred Buttonquails and a few other commoners.

To add to the list of wildlife, we also saw many Indian Gazelles and a Monitor Lizard basking in the sun.

To sum it up it was a lovely trail filled with lots of surprises followed by a lip smacking lunch.

The tour end with some lovely memories and photos to cherish forever.

Ebird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/74958