Bird Photography at Ananthagiri Hills Vikarabad

TRIP 1: September 2014

If you talk about bird watching combined with a trek in the serenity of the nature, Ananthagiri Hills will be one in the top of the list. If you talk about a weekend getaway from Hyderabad, Ananthagiri Hills surely is worth the option. If you talk about a long drive on a day trip somewhere near Hyderabad, Ananthagiri Hills Vikarabad will definitely not disappoint you. However, there is only one catch - choose the perfect season based on the purpose of your visit.

For weekend getaways, long drives and any other leisure visit, best season to go will be during and after the monsoons.

For birding, it depends on the location you visit. Ananthagiri Hills has multiple bird watching points and trekking spots. This season is best for the spot near Kotpally Reservoir. All other spots and treks are too dense and make it extremely hard to spot and click.

This was our first visit there and none of us was aware about the terrain and the location. Hence we couldn't click many. However now we know where to see, at what time and in which season. At the end of the day with a trek of around 4 hours we somehow managed to click some birds.

(For me personally it was a strange feeling. Now I know the feeling when a batsman scores 199 in test and is waiting for that 1 more run to get to his double century. Before this trip I was at 197 with 2 new species added to my list, now standing at 199. I really wished that I got my 200 today alas will have to wait for some more time.)

The beautiful Yellow Crowned Woodpecker (don't get fooled by the bright red nape, that's how it is)

Yellow-crowned Woodpecker Male

Green Bee-eater

Laughing Dove

Long-tailed Shrike juv

Plum-headed Parakeet Male

Plum-headed Parakeet Female

Rose-ringed Parakeet Male

White-bellied Drongo

Yellow-billed Babbler

White-browed Fantail

Plain Prinia

Our Group

TRIP 2: 18-Oct-2014

This was not a birding trip per-se and more of a picnic outing. However once a birder, how can you not wander your eyes to see that one elusive species. And there I was, successfully spotted 2 lifers and also was happy to spot the Grey Francolin near Hyderabad.

Distance: 100 km one way upto Kotpally reservoir.

Black-winged Kite

Grey Francolin

Rock Bush Quail

Birding Trip 3: December 2017

Brown Fish Owl

White-bellied Drongo

Great Tit

White-browed Wagtail

Little Stint

Lesser Goldenback 

White-browed Bulbul

Chestnut-shouldered Petronia

Green Warbler

Kotpally Kayaking

TRIP 4: JULY 2018

Yellow-crowned Woodpecker

White-bellied Drongo

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Red-rumped Swallow

Pied Cuckoo

Serpent Eagle

Asian Koel Female

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Coppersmith Barbet

TRIP 5: AUGUST 2019

White-naped Woodpecker female

Tawny-bellied Babbler

Rufous Treepie juv

Asian Koel male juv

Common Iora male

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Wild Boar

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Indian Grey Hornbill

TRIP 6: SEPTEMBER 2020

Primarily a driving experience combined with some birding of course. 

Enjoy the dashcam video below, 

Bird Photography at Bidar Blackbuck Resort

Drive from Hyderabad to Bidar

Trip 4: 06-Jan-2025 

Our 1st Bidar trip was in 2014, when we were just starting with our birding adventure. Since that 2014 trip, a lot has changed in term of our birding and photography. That time I was carrying Canon 70D with Canon 400mm f/5.6 prime lens. Now I'm using Canon R5 with Canon 400mm f/4 prime. That's a significant improvement and upgrade in photography gear. We are much better birders now and we are far more skilled in photography than what we were 10 years ago. And that is quite evident from the quality of the images that we click these days. However, a lot of credit goes to mirrorless Canon R5 and the 400 f/4 glass. 

It has been 5 years since I last been to Bidar and the planning for this trip happened just all of a sudden. The JLR property is an ideal place to visit if you are a bird lover. Not only you will find the variety in the different types of species, but more than that you will find all of these species in numerous numbers in itself. This gives you enough chances to click each of them to your heart's content. Their naturalists are good enough for beginner birders but not that knowledgeable for advanced birders like us. I still went out with them one morning for the nature walk, not because of their knowledge about the birds but because I feel nice if somebody is alongside me when I spot a bird. 

Enjoy the pics below, that I clicked on this trip. 

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

Purple Sunbird male

Common Kingfisher

River Tern

Common Tailorbird

Ashy Prinia

Small Minivet male

Common Rosefinch male

Little Grebe

White-spotted Fantail

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Purple Sunbird female

Grey-breasted Prinia female

Blyth's Reed Warbler

Oriental White-eye

Oriental Magpie Robin

Indian Robin female

Common Iora female

Ashy Drongo

River Tern

Little Cormorant

Great Cormorant

White-breasted Waterhen

Indian Pond Heron

White-browed Bulbul

Indian Golden Oriole

Green Bee-eater

Indian Peafowl male

Common Tailorbird

White-browed Wagtail

Long-tailed Shrike

Blackbuck male

Blackbuck female

Blackbuck male

Trip Summary: 1st Trip to Bidar Dated 02-Sep-2014

Distance: 140 + 140 KM (Click here for Google Maps) 
Birds Spotted: 50+ (22 New Species for me - taking me to 196 species overall) 

After so many years in Hyderabad, finally discovered a weekend trip which is definitely worth revisiting. Bidar is highly under-rated when it comes to bird watching and photography. People visiting here are so contented with Blackbuck sighting, Boating, Kayaking, Coracal Ride, Historical Monuments, Forts, etc. that Birding takes a back seat. Tourists hardly spend any time exploring the area for possible bird sighting probably because of lack of interest in this topic.

However, for me, the sole purpose of this visit was to spot as many bird species as possible. By the graciousness of the rain gods, a little bit of effort from my end and at last some wonderful luck on my part, I was able to spot and click more than 50 different species of birds (with 22 species which I have never clicked before)

I always feel that luck just seems to find its way into my camera. This trip was no surprise either. It felt as if whichever direction I turn my head - there's a different bird perching on the branches. Enjoy the pics below, I really want to visit this place once again and this time probably will stay for more than 1 day.

Coppersmith Barbet

Baya Weaver Male

Baya Weaver Male

Streaked Weaver

Long-tailed Shrike

Indian Courser

White-browed Bulbul

Black-headed Cuckooshrike

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Lesser Whistling Duck

Spot-billed Duck

Rufous-tailed Lark

Indian Bushlark

Sykes's Lark

Singing Bushlark

Indian Silverbill

Scaly-breasted Munia

Black-headed Munia

Brahminy Starling juv

Laughing Dive

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

Red-wattled Lapwing

Yellow-billed Babbler

Purple-rumped Sunbird Male

Purple Sunbird eclipse

Gull-billed Tern

Pied Bushchat

Eurasian Spoonbill

Common Babbler

Plain Prinia

Grey-breasted Prinia

Wooly-necked Stork

Green Sandpiper

Grey Heron

Common Myna

Great Egret

Glossy Ibis

Pied Kingfisher

Rufous Treepie

Greater short-toed Lark

Blackbuck

Fox

Langur

Common Mormon

Common Lime

The Resort

TRIP 2: 19-August-2018

Common Iora Female

Common Iora Male

Long-tailed Shrike Juvenile

Blackbuck Female

Indian Courser Juvenile

Indian Courser

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Female

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Male

Eurasian Collared Dove

Plum-headed Parakeet Male

Shikra Juvenile

Indian Silverbill

Indian Peacock

Red-rumped Swallow

TRIP 3: 29-DECEMBER-2019

This was again another quick trip to Bidar with some friends and their family. Somehow this has now become the go-to vacation spot for all Hyderabadis. Included with a cool long drive from Hyderabad, who wouldn't want to spend the weekend and relax in such a beautiful place.

The following are the wildlife pictures that we clicked followed by the driving summary.

Montagu's Harrier male

Pallid Harrier Female

Red-vented Bulbul

Montagu's Harrier Male

White-browed Bulbul

Coppersmith Barbet

Brahminy Starling

Blackbuck

Blackbuck

Blackbuck

Blackbuck

Blackbuck

Langur

Hume's Whitethroat

Common Rosefinch female

Blue Rock Thrush (lifer)

Tawny coster

The following stats were downloaded from "MY AUDI" app . The data below is correct except the km/l figures. The km/l figure which is indicated below is what the the car display shows. Now we all know that the actual number is much less than that. I prefer to calculate the km/l only through one method and that is tank-fill to tank-fill. It provides a more realistic number always. So, for the below trip the tank-fill to tank-fill was around 13 km/l. Now that is anyway very impressive, considering the car was Audi A4 Petrol.

Hyderabad to Bidar

Bidar to Hyderabad