Lucknow – Dhanachuli – Lucknow
The entire list of bird species that I saw is as below, followed by the pics.
- Ashy Drongo
- Barn Swallow
- Black Bulbul
- Black Francolin
- Black-headed Jay
- Black-throated Accentor
- Black-throated Tit
- Blue Whistling Thrush
- Blue-capped Redstart
- Blue-fronted Redstart
- Booted Eagle
- Brown-fronted Woodpecker
- Coal Tit
- Common Stonechat
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Great Barbet
- Greater Yellownape
- Green-backed Tit
- Grey Bushchat
- Grey Treepie
- Grey-backed Shrike
- Grey-headed Woodpecker
- Grey-hooded Warbler
- Himalayan Bulbul
- Himalayan Buzzard
- Himalayan Woodpecker
- House Sparrow
- Jungle Crow
- Jungle Myna
- Lesser Whitethroat
- Long-tailed Minivet
- Long-tailed Shrike
- Oriental Turtle Dove
- Oriental White-eye
- Red-billed Blue Magpie
- Red-rumped Swallow
- Rock Bunting
- Rose-ringed Parakeet
- Rufous Sibia
- Russet Sparrow
- Scaly-bellied Woodpecker
- Spotted Dove
- Streaked Laughingthrush
- Striated Laughingthrush
- Upland Buzzard
- Verditer Flycatcher
- White-tailed Nuthatch
- White-throated Laughingthrush
- Yellow-breasted Greenfinch
TRIP 1: March 2023
Total driving distance: 406 onward + 406 return = 812 km
Total time: 8 hours onwards and 9 hours return.
Average fuel economy: 14.2 kmpl
Car: Audi A4 Petrol
Passengers: 3 adults
Luggage: Full bootPlace of stay: Rituraj Homestay (https://goo.gl/maps/WNsLH41g5BW3HpPV7)
Dhanachuli is like a second home to us. My parents used
to visit Dhanachuli every year and stay there for the entire summer. Incidentally,
I never got a chance to visit until now. This time I was staying in Lucknow for
about a month and I realized that it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to
visit and see this place. I had the Audi too with me, so the journey should
also be very comfortable. Apparently there is a problem with the 4G/5G
connection, hence I planned to stay for only the weekend. A couple of days’
stay, only to know what the place is and what kind of potential it has for
birding and the potential for a long term stay.
Dhanachuli is quite pristine, compared to Nainital /
Mukteshwar, there is hardly any tourist traffic here and the village is not at
all crowded. Perfect for a long term stay. Birding is phenomenal, at an
altitude of 7000 ft, you can easily imagine how beautiful the bird life will
be. If I list down the species that I saw in a matter of 2 days, anybody would
be surprised.
The drive till Dhanachuli from Lucknow was smooth. Since it
was the month of March, the summer vacation did not start yet, because of that
the roads near Bhimtal were completely deserted. It might have saved us about
an hour compared to the regular time that it takes usually. We left Lucknow at
5-30 AM and managed to reach Dhanachuli by 1-30 PM. The return journey wasn’t
that great though. By mistake I took the route through Bareilly / Khutani and I
wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. Too much of traffic compared to the road via
Pilibhit. Onward journey was through Sitapur, Sitarganj and Pilibhit, which is
much better as far as traffic movement and road condition is concerned.
Enjoy some of the pics below.
 |
| Black-throated Accentor (lifer) |
.JPG) |
| Rock Bunting (lifer) |
 |
| Rock Bunting (lifer) |
 |
| Russet Sparrow male |
 |
| Grey Bushchat male |
.JPG) |
| Blue Whistling Thrush |
 |
| Himalayan Bulbul |
 |
| Long-tailed Minivet female |
 |
| Long-tailed Minivet male |
.JPG) |
| Streaked Laughingthrush |
.JPG) |
| Blue-fronted Redstart female |
.JPG) |
| Grey Bushchat female |
 |
| Common Stonechat female |
TRIP 2: JUNE 2023
Total driving distance: 406 km onward and 406 km return
Total time: 8 hours onwards and 8 hours 46 minutes return
Average fuel economy: 15.5 kmpl
Car: Honda Amaze Petrol
Passengers: 3 adults
Luggage: Full boot
This was our second trip and this time neither I had the Audi with me, nor I had my camera gear. Whatever i could click I did it with my mobile. Was lucky to click a lifer butterfly. It was a wonderful season to visit, harvested Peach, Plum, Apricot and Potato with help from Raju (owner and farmer of Rituraj homestay).
 |
| Green Hairstreak - Theclini |
 |
| Peach tree @ Rituraj Homestay |
 |
| French hydrangea |
 |
| Dhanachuli Altitude |
 |
| Apricot, Peach and Plum harvest @ Rituraj homestay |
 |
| Apple tree @ Rituraj homestay |
 |
| View of Himalayas from Rituraj Homestay |
 |
| Glassy Tiger |
 |
| Evening view from our home |
 |
| Himalayan view from our home |
 |
| Mother of Pearl Moth |
TRIP 3: DECEMBER 2023
Total driving distance: 406 km onward and 406 km return
Total time: 8 hours 8 minutes onwards and 8 hours 30 minutes return
Average fuel economy: 15.0 kmpl
Car: Honda Amaze Petrol
Passengers: 3 adults
Luggage: Full boot
The fact that I will be making 3 trips to Dhanachuli this year, is way too overwhelming, considering I did not make a single trip before this year. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every chance to go there and I'm looking forward to many more such occasions.
Once again, as it was last time, this was a totally unplanned trip. Since I was not aware about this trip, so I did not bring my camera gear from Hyderabad. Unfortunately, because of that, I missed to click a lifer Blue-capped Redstart male. It was so easy to see that bird all around multiple times, and everytime I saw it feeding nearby, I missed my camera so much.
Atleast, I got to ID it well and I'm sure next time I go to Dhanachuli in winters, I'm definitely going to carry the gear along.
TRIP 4: NOVEMBER 2024
Total driving distance: 406 km onward and 406 km return
Total time: 7 hours 40 minutes onwards and 8 hours return
Average fuel economy: 17.0 kmpl
Car: Honda Amaze Petrol
Passengers: 3 adults
Luggage: Full boot
Route: via Bareily (not via Lakhimpur - Pilibhit)
The route via Bareily has significantly improved, resulting in a time saving of around 45 minutes in the entire journey. My objective in this trip was to take my chances with the Blue-capped Redstart but I never imagined that I will get another lifer in the form on Upland Buzzard. I was casually sitting on the terrace enjoying the sun when all of a sudden i spotted the raptor hovering over my head. I just casually clicked it and then opened my book to ID the pic and what a lucky sighting I had.
 |
| Upland Buzzard (lifer) |
I was on the lookout for this bird on the same tree where I missed it last year. Although it was a chance sighting this time as I spotted it only one of the four days I stayed here. But nevertheless, it was a lifer and I was so happy that I managed to get a beautiful shot.
 |
| Blue-capped Redstart male (lifer) |
All the four morning for which I stayed there, I went out for birding in the early morning hours. I walked around the property where I was staying, within a radius of 1 km. The morning hours especially were very fruitful. Although I did manage to click a few good shots even in the evening.
My chance sighting brought me to this Scaly-bellied Woodpecker female, which i saw after 9 long years. Last time I saw it was in the apple orchards of Khajjiar. That time i was using 70D with 400 f/5.6 (no IS). This time I had R5 with 400 f/4 and I am also 9 years experienced in photography. No wonder I got such a beautiful shot. But once again, a big shout out to Canon R5 for being so phenomenal. My photography has significantly improved since I started using that gear.
This trip was well planned in advance, hence I had the chance to bring my camera. I'm not sure whether it was my luck or was it the season, but bird watching was just awesome this time.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
