The day after the wedding, I was picked up by my guide at the rustic hotel in Hathras. He had rented a local car with a driver in Hathras, as this extra day of birding was not included in the main itinerary. The focus for this day was to explore the surroundings and find species we would not likely encounter later. We decided to visit a couple of eBird hotspots near Hathras. First, we drove to a place called Patna Pakshi Vihar (Patna Bird Sanctuary), a nice wetland some 50 km east if Hathras. Here we managed to find 92 bird species. Not that many new ones (lifers) for me, but still a very good start in terms of number of species. We also saw some Nilgai antelopes, and a single Golden Wolf.
On our way back to Hathras we stopped and searched some fields near a railway track and found some nice weavers and a babbler species that was new to me. All in all, a nice day, and we managed to tick off many species we would not encounter in the dryer areas further west in Rajasthan.
Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), the largest antelope of Asia
Pundhir Bird sanctuary
Golden Jackal (Canis aureus), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Western Marsh Harrier / Sivhauk (Circus aeruginosus), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
Patna Bird Sanctuary
Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Painted Stork
Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Sarus Crane (Grus antigone)
Little Cormorant (Microcarbo niger), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis)
Great Cormorant / Storskarv (Phalacrocorax carbo), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) Patna Bird Sanctuary
Medium Egret (Ardea intermedia) Patna Bird Sanctuary
Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Greylag Goose / Grågås (Anser anser), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Lesser Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna javanica), Patna Bird Sanctuary
One of the locally rarest species was actually the Mallard, Patna Bird Sancturay
Common Pochard / Taffeland (Aythya ferina), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Gadwall / Snadderand (Mareca strepera), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Bronze-winged Jacana (Metopidius indicus), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Gray-headed Swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Male Nilgai antelope
Patna Bird Sanctuary (Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall and others)
Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), one of the most common species in India
Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii)
Green Sandpiper / Skogsnipe (Tringa ochropus)
Little Grebe / Dvergdykker (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Ruff / Brushane (Calidris pugnax)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Pundhir / Patna Bird sanctuary
Patna Pakshi Vihar
Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Patna Bird Sanctuary
White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)
Striated Babbler (Turdoides earlei)
Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)
Red-collared Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica)
Scarlet Skimmer (Crocothemis servilia)
Slender Skimmer (Orthetrum sabina)
Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina), probably the rarest species we found at Patna Pakshi Vihar
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)
Jungle Babbler (Turdoides striata)
Bank Myna (Acridotheres ginginianus)
Indian Pied Myna (Gracupica contra)
Asian Tit (Parus cinereus)
Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense)
Eastern Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis striolata), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Wire-tailed Swallow (Hirundo smithii)
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)
Bluethroat / Blåstrupe (Luscinia svecica)
Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Common Chiffchaff / Gransanger (Phylloscopus collybita). In India, as in Norway, this is a species one encounterss everywhere
Red-breasted Flycatcher / Dvergfluesanpper (Ficedula parva), Patna Bird Sanctuary
Probably Red-breasted Flycatcher. Taiga Flycatcher can be very similar, however, the guide said RBF for this one
Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis)
Plain Prinia (Prinia inornata)
Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)
Scaly-breasted Munia
Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus)
Black-breasted Weaver and Baya Weaver
Red Avadavat - female (Amandava amandava)
Red Avadavat - male
Black-breasted Weaver (Ploceus benghalensis)
Black-breasted Weaver