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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nepal has implemented a nation-wide lockdown. With no way to visit any of my favorite birding spots, I had to make do with the area around my house. It wasn’t that bad though – I’m lucky to be living in a rural area, and I was able to finish the morning’s birding with almost 60 species. Late March and early April is an interesting time for birds in Nepal. Spring visitors have begun arriving, and most of the wintering species are still present. This makes for a larger bird list and an interesting assortment of species you don’t get any other time of year. I started birding at 7:00 AM. Right as I walked outside my front door, I was bombarded with birdsong: an Asian Koel, Eurasian Cuckoos, Oriental Magpie Robins, Blue-throated Barbets, Long-tailed Shrikes, and Spotted and Oriental Turtle Doves were all singing loudly. Soon I heard a hoopoe singing its oop-oop-oop song from a distant tree. But the song didn’t sound quite right for a Eurasian Hoopoe, so I raised my camera and looked through the viewfinder. It wasn’t a hoopoe – it was a Red-collared Dove! Red-collared Doves are becoming increasing uncommon around the valley and are now rare to the northern end. Besides a single record during winter, I had never seen any before at this location. It was an exciting find, although I didn’t get any quality photos. If the dove stays here for the summer, though, I’ll get more chances. I continued out further into some fields. Several Barn Swallows and Gray-throated Martins dipped low to the ground in their pursuits of insects. An Indian Golden Oriole sang from a nearby tree, having just arrived from its northern migration the day before. A few Jungle Mynas and Common Mynas foraged in some stubble. One Common Myna posed for me, showing his orange facial skin. I worked uphill towards several bamboo groves in hopes of getting photos of one of the Verditer Flycatchers that could often be found there. On my way up, I accidentally flushed a female Asian Koel, who landed on a branch in front of me before flying away into a deeper clump of bamboo. I walked a little bit further before finding a niche to settle down in. As soon as I was still, I noticed more birds around me: Crimson Sunbirds, Hume’s Warblers, a Taiga Flycatcher, and Olive-backed Pipits. One of the pipits flew out onto an open branch and allowed me to capture one of my favorite type of shots: Ashy Drongos called noisily from a nearby perch, a Black-winged Cuckooshrike sang from nearby, and a larger dove-sized bird flew over me with undulating wingbeats. What was it? I didn’t have long to wait – a pair of Great Barbets started singing their loud duet. It’s one of my favorite bird songs. Here is a video of Great Barbets from hbw.com: Then I saw movement over me in the corner of my eye. It was a male Verditer Flycatcher, and he let me snap his photo before flying away. His mate showed up a few minutes later carrying nesting material in her bill. I was able to get a photo of her as well, though it was a bit noisy because of the low-light conditions in the shaded bamboo grove. My last surprise of the morning followed shortly after: a male Blue-throated Flycatcher landed for a brief moment in front of me, and I was able to get his photograph. He only entertained me two seconds before flying to a more secluded perch to sing his song. This was my first sighting of a Blue-throated Flycatcher this year. eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S66346011 #backyardbirds #sangla #covid19 #birding #springvisitors

Spring is definitely on its way! After a four-mile bike ride over dusty dirt roads, I had reached my starting point: the edge of the Chhatre Deurali valley. Chhatre Deurali is a rural area nestled under the northwest side of Nagarjun. I took a small dirt road that wound down into the valley. As soon as I left the main road, birds were everywhere. Gray-headed Canary Flycatchers and Black-lored Tits called from the canopy. A pair of Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers called from lantana. And Black Kites and Steppe Eagles soared overhead. The 15-minute bike ride down went smoothly. But in Nepal there is always a bitter twist to the landscape: for every downhill, there is another, and often steeper uphill. There was a small stream after I reached the hill. Two pairs of Bronzed Drongos hawked insects from trees, And Great Barbets and Blue-throated Barbets called from inside the forest. A Collared Owlet also called twice, but it was too far into the jungle to try to locate. After the road wound down to the creek, it went uphill again, and as I pedaled uphill, a male Crimson Sunbird and two Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters revealed themselves. Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters are fairly common in rural areas in Nepal, and they are found at higher elevations during their breeding season. This was my second sighting of the species during the year: the first being near my house two days before. Right near the bee-eaters were a pair of Gray Bushchats. Gray Bushchats are typically found on shrubby hillsides, and this was the perfect habitat for them. Pied Bushchats, their more common cousin that’s also found in suburban areas, were also present. After finding the Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, I turned around. I had a long uphill in front of me, and then four more miles till I reached home. Though the uphill was hard, everything was going fine till I accidently flushed a Great Barbet from a branch right in front of me, where I could have got an excellent photo. I’ve been trying to get a nice shot of a Great Barbets for months, but so far, I haven’t been able to. I stopped my bike to look for it, and although I didn’t find the barbet, a stumbled across more bulbuls: numerous Himalayan and Red-vented Bulbuls, and four Black Bulbuls. I was able to get a nice shot of a Himalayan Bulbul. Besides the bulbuls, there were also several other species present: Oriental White-eyes and Hume’s and Gray-headed Warblers. A Black-winged Cuckooshrike also called from a nearby tree: a whistled heee-heee-hew. The Cuckooshrike was another sign that spring was coming; Black-winged Cuckooshrikes are shy and secluded during the winter months, but very vocal during breeding season. This was the first bird that I’d heard singing this year. As I was nearing the end of my uphill, I came across another bird wave with Himalayan Black-lored Tits, Gray-hooded Warblers, and one Velvet fronted Nuthatch. The nuthatch brough my checklist total to 43 species. Later, when I was almost home, I stopped to check a tree where I’ve previously seen Spotted Owlets, and I was able to get a nice shot, though I hope to obtain a better one in the future. eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S65642825 #spottedowlet #himalayanbulbul #nagarjun #birding