Airoli - March 2007

Map of the places we visited in Airoli in relation to the station.

My first visit to Airoli and I was surprised by the variety of bird life

that can be seen.
It reminds me of the habitat as near TS Chanakya.

We started with the marshes near the sector 17.
The tide had still not started coming in so there were few waders.
We saw here the little egret, pond heron, common redshank, greenshank,

marsh sandpiper, white breasted waterhen , red wattled lapwing and black

tailed godwith in breeding plumage.

Then we headed towards an open ground a few meters ahead under the expert

guidance of Mr. Julius.
It was a huge ground with around 300+ black kites sitting on it.
It was an amazing sight.


We had stopped just before that as we saw a lot of bird activity.
There we saw the white cheecked bulbuls,


common kingfisher, ashy and plain

prinias, yellow eyed babbler.


In the open areas there was a small pond on the edge of which we saw a

white breasted kingfisher perched on a stone and a long tailed shrike.



Along the side is a trail on the left of which there are marshes again.
There again where nearby we could see the yellow eyed babbler at a very

close distance.

Few distance ahead in an open area we could see a large group of small

birds. They were red munias.


There were also a huge number of laughing doves on the ground and trees

with black drongos.


Another big flock of birds landed on the ground nearby and we were amazed t

o see atleast 10+ yellow wagtails.



This is the first time I had seen so

many yellow wagtails together.

Later we saw a lone oriental skylark , Hoopoe and a field pipit




Crossing the ground we advanced towards the creek where we got to see a lot

of waders.





In between at a small water hole we saw a lone sandpiper after a detailed

discussion and studying its flight it was confirmed that it was a green

sandpiper ( in flight green sandpiper's black underwings can be seen while

in wood sandpiper it is white. Also wood sandpiper has yellow legs)


Also we came across an ashy crowned sparrow lark and pied bushchat.


All in all it was a very satisfying bird watching.

Bird list
1. Red whiskered bulbul
2. White cheeked bulbul
3. Little egret
4. Cattle egret
5. Pond heron
6. Common redshank
7. Greenshank
8. Marsh sandpiper
9. Common sandpiper
10. Green Sandpiper
11. Black tailed Godwit
12. Black winged stilts
13. Stints
14. White breasted waterhen
15. Clamarous reed warbler
16. Blyth's reed warbler (heard)
17. Ashy prinia
18. Plain prinia
19. Common kingfisher
20. White breasted kingfisher
21. Red munia
22. Long tailed shrike
23. Yellow eyed babbler
24. Common babbler
25. Ashy crowned sparrow lark
26. Field pipt
27. oriental skylark
28. Yellow wagtail
29. Black kite
30. Little cormorant
31. Hoopoe
32. Northern shoveller
33. Pied bushchat