Mount Abu (August 9-12th 2006)

Geologically speaking, Mount Abu is not part of the predominantly sandstone and quartzite Aravali range. Mount Abu is much younger and is composed of a greyish Synorogenic Granite which is actually not a pure granite and contains traces of Biodite or soft mica. this makes the granite unusable for any ornamental use and is also the reason why the stone has not been quarried in Abu and the mount is well preserved. Abu rises quite high and is gradual on the eastern side and quite sheer on the western side. The highest point of Mount Abu is Guru Shikhar and is at an elevation of 1721m. The habitat is unique to Rajasthan and Mount Abu boasts of a variety of fauna and a lot of bird endemics. It is also the stronghold of the Sloth Bear and the Leopard.
The most recent ornithological work is the checklist of birds of Mount Abu by Harkirat Sangha and Dhirendra Devarshi and is a valuable, comprehensive and up-to-date account of the state of avifauna and conservation of this unique and diverse habitat.

The craters:

9^th August, 2006.
Four of us (2 birders, Me and Megha and 2 non-birders, My Mother and Masi) had a pleasureable 4 day trip to Mount Abu. The route taken was Jaipur – Ajmer – Beawer – Pali – Sojat – Sirohi – Abu Road – Mount Abu.

Roads were a mixed lot. Some places craters on the road and at some places road in craters, but mostly smooth and we managed to make it in 10 Hours with couple of stoppages in between at picturesque locales. Notable was the granite formations at Ber after Beawer.

The Ascent

The Climb to Abu, apart from being most picturesque and beautiful, is also most pleasurable esp. when you have the constant company of Grey-breasted and Ashy Prinias in their full song. Great-tits, Jungle Babblers and Red-vented Bulbul’s were also fairly common. At an elevation of some 800m (as told by my Casio Pro-trek) a small bird was observed as it flew to a Pipal tree. What caught my eye was the behaviour of the bird. Instead of the usual perching on the branch, it was creeping vertically on the bark. It was far and light was poor and I saw the bird for just 2 sec. It could have possibly been a Spotted Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus) but I am not sure hence a ???.

House swifts, Dusky-crag Martins, Red-rumped Swallows were all quite common as were the Indian Chats, Indian Robins and Oriental Magpie Robins. Rose-ringed Parakeets were by far the noisiest of the lot. The forest on the slopes, as you go up looked well protected and there were numerous signs of the forest department educating the commoners against plastic bags and feeding the animals – both is prohibited in Mount Abu. The monsoon clouds were just round the corner and had taken over the Mount completely and we were in the thick of it in the rest of the journey. It rained heavily in the night and stayed put through the night. We stayed at the Hotel Sunset Inn, a medium class hotel, abutting the forest Department in Mount Abu. ”There goes my birding” naturally were my last thoughts before sleeping.

The room with a view (A tea session with the endemics)

10^th August, 2006. Early morning was extremely foggy with visibility of no more than 10’. I got some respite around 7:30AM when it cleared up magically and birding activity started at once. The morning tea besides the big hotel room window was where I started off. My day was made immediately by my first lifer of the trip. A White-spotted fantail (Rhipidura albogularis) calling and fluttering around the branches in the young eucalyptus of the abutting forest area. This is an endemic species and has recently been split from the other race Rhipidua albicollis (White-throated Fantail). The beautiful Black-lored Tit (Parus Xanthogenys) was the other Endemic that I saw shortly afterwards, a bird that I had wanted to see for a long time. Other birds seen from the window were Brown-headed Barbets, Spotted Doves, Eurasian-collared Doves and the recently split Indian Jungle Crow (Corvus [macrorhynchos] culminatus)- another endemic. Mount Abu preserves a small isolated population of Red-whiskered Bulbul’s and they were plenty and about. Two Jacobin Cuckoo (Pied Cuckoo) were heard calling and were later seen locked in combat with each other quite like the Black Kites.

Walk in the rain

While the non-birders went to the Nakki Lake for a boat ride, I started to take a walk through the town. It was near the Bhrama Kumari Peace park that the first of the Scaly-breasted Munias (Lonchura punctulata were seen in a group of c10 on a Guava tree. A White-spotted Fantail, a Purple Sunbird and Brown-headed Barbet were subsequently seen and a Black-lored Tit was heard calling. The flashing yellow in the Eucalyptus tree at the back was observed by a 10X50 and they revealed a Common Iora, that to calling. It was then that the monsoons closed the birding session as it started to rain heavily. We headed back to the hotel as the car stereo teasingly played “Raindrops keep falling on my head…”

It rained so throughout the day and into the night.

The Pomatorhinus

The morning of the 11^th looked promising with little sun in the morning. Outside the hotel, I happened to look on the ground and saw something really tiny on the ground jumping about in the puddles. Smaller than many insects, about 1cm in length, it was a frog. The tiniest I had ever seen. It was difficult to capture on camera and I tried my best to get it. I managed a few decent ID shots there.

With guidance from Mr. Kiran Chavda, a residing naturalist in Abu, we went towards the Mt Abu sanctuary to an area called Trevor’s Tank. The drive to the tank was absolutely superb. The Tank however is not a tank as the name suggests – it’s a small lake. The place is amazing and the forest around it is very well preserved. The rain had started again and a big Noisy Gujrati group arrived just then and that was the end of it. We moved on slowly in our car towards Guru Shikhar, completely enveloped in clouds. The clouds would magically clear up now and then and would give fantastic views in between to the surrounding areas of the plains. It was quite futile in terms of birding but it was while coming back that I saw a bird in the bambusae near the road very close to the garbage dump. It was my fourth lifer, the beautiful Indian Scimitar-babbler (Pomatorhinus [schisticeps] horsfieldii). I did manage to get some ID shots of it.

A Black-rumped Flameback and a female Yellow-fronted pied Woodpecker were seen shortly afterwards. Back at the hotel, the only other bird seen was a lone Shikra, sitting in the highest canopies of the pine trees besides the hotel.

The Descent

The descent back to the plains on the 12^th was marked by a big mixed group of Red-rumped Swallows and Dusky-crag Martins hawking insects in flight near the road. An Indian Pigmy Woodpecker was seen moving about near the road on an Acacia tree. The other notable birds that were seen were a Grey Hornbill, Black-headed Cuckooshrike and a Common Woodshrike – all near the foothills.

On coming back, the only stoppage was at the wetland at Ber which had Sarus, Lesser-whistling Teal and some Red-wattled Lapwings along with some fine wild growing water Lillies. Shortly afterwards a European Roller gave us fine views on an electric wire besides the highway near Beawer.

Overall a great trip even though missed out on the three other endemics: The Grey Junglefowl, Indian Blackbird and the Green Avadavat.

• September 13, 2006
• Uncategorized
• 2 comments