Jungle Buddies tours hosted its first trip of the season to the scrublands of Haji Malang Hills in search of Elusive Painted francolin and to observe other resident birds as September is the breeding season for most of the resident species.

We reached the spot at around 7:30 am, engulfed in a fog the visibility was on the lower side and due to heavy downpour in the past few days the trail was full of slush and water puddles still we could immediately catch the rasping high pitched calls of the painted francolin, trying to spot the bird within the tree was difficult and as we approached it flew away. Continuing on our trail we encountered many Siberian Stonechats and Long-tailed shrike giving signs that winter migrants have slowly started to arrive.

Many resident species of birds were seen in nesting activity including Scaly-breasted munia, Baya weavers, Black breast weavers and Red avadavats either busy making nests or seen collecting nesting material.

Again after a while, the calls of the Painted francolin could be heard and this time we managed to track the bird at a distance and got a few clicks in before the bird dashed for cover.

A few other sightings included Cinnamon bittern, Rudy breasted crake, Jungle bush quail, Shaheen falcon and a failed hunt attempt by Black-winged kite.

eBird checklist

https://ebird.org/checklist/S118562258

Stay tuned for upoming Jungle Buddies Tours.