Guided bird-watching tours with Abhijit

Delhi is one of the finest capital cities anywhere in terms of avian diversity. It offers something interesting in every season, and its remarkable variety of habitats and species makes for an excellent introduction to North Indian birding.

I am an experienced bird-watcher, and I'm available as a professional guide to interested visitors on day trips in and around Delhi. I prefer to work with groups of up to three people, but with sufficient notice I may be able to accommodate larger groups and guide longer tours outside Delhi (especially in Uttarakhand).

“One of my best birding experiences in India was with Abhijit. His level of knowledge is astounding. His ability to spot birds both visually and via sounds is nothing short of remarkable.

In addition to that, he made wonderful arrangements for our trip and was a friendly, wonderful companion the whole time. I am a photographer and he even volunteered to help me carry my equipment!

I look forward to the day I can go on another birding trip with him and give my highest recommendation to him for anyone who is considering his services. Please feel free to contact me if you want to hear more about what a great guide he is.” — Steve Mandel, USA

Please write to me to discuss the possibilities. I can help you to plan the best use of your time in Delhi. If nothing else, I may be able to recommend other guides or agencies that can help you.

You can contact me at ams@toroid.org

Bird-watching with me

I like to conduct relaxed day trips, taking plenty of time to observe each species and learn about its characteristic features, vocalisations, behaviour, and interactions with other species in their habitat. I love "birding by ear" and chasing down interesting calls and songs. I try to gain a deeper understanding of each location and its bird life through the seasons, rather than concentrating on any particular species.

If your objective is only to see the largest possible number of species in a given time, I'm not the right guide for you. But you don't need to neglect your life list to enjoy birding with me: I have added up more than a hundred birds in a day on several occasions, including many prized North Indian species.

If you will be birding in other parts of India, I would be happy to help you with your preparations, and I can discuss identification strategies and details—with beginners or more experienced observers—for a range of species, including difficult groups such as warblers and pipits.

About me

I have been watching birds for over twenty years, and have become seriously interested in ornithology during the last five. I have been devoting more and more time to studying birds, and my growing interest in habitats and ecology has prompted me to start learning about plants and insects as well. Birding is a hobby, not my profession; but I enjoy introducing other people to the birds of my area.

I have been involved in some research and conservation efforts (focused on Pheasants) near Munsiari in Uttarakhand, and am trying to survey and document the habitat and altitude preferences, vocal range, and breeding ecology of the many poorly-known Himalayan species that occur there. I am particularly interested in subalpine forest habitats.

I try to stay abreast of the latest developments in ornithology, and I enjoy various secondary aspects of bird-watching, such as taxonomy and nomenclature. Since 2005, I have been solving photo-identification problems of varying difficulty from across the subcontinent on mailing lists such as delhibirdpix. I'm a member of the records committee for the Chandigarh Birding group.

You can read some of the things I have written about birds on my web site (e.g. field guide recommendations) and in my journal (e.g. trip reports).

Experience

I have led a number of successful day-trips to Sultanpur, Okhla, and their surroundings. These are areas I know very well: I lived near Sultanpur for some years, I now live near Okhla, and I visit both places often. (Contact me for references.)

“We spent a day with Abhijit at Okhla at the beginning of November 2009. His knowledge and experience quickly became very obvious despite his unassuming manner. We were well aware of our limited knowledge in comparison but felt very at ease with his friendly manner and wish to share his expertise. We were especially impressed with his familiarity with all the songs and calls which is such a bonus and aid in identification.

We feel sure that it would be very difficult to find another guide so well acquainted with the Delhi area and its bird life and we would therefore highly recommend him to anyone wishing to visit this area.” — Rosemarie and Colin, UK

I have also conducted introductory sessions on bird-watching in the Himalayas—as part of a larger course on montane ecosystems and livelihoods—for groups of students from the USA, the Netherlands, and India. We also did some basic surveying exercises and saw many birds on a three-day trek through warm-temperate, cold-temperate, subalpine, and alpine habitats above Munsiari (here's a report).

Most of my serious bird-watching experience has been around Delhi and in Uttarakhand, the latter including well-known places like Binsar, Pangot, and Sat Tal as well as more remote and demanding areas not often visited by bird-watchers. I also know the Morni hills area in northern Haryana well, I'm familiar with Bharatpur, and I've done some very enjoyable birding in Goa, Orchha, and West Bengal.

Charges

As of 2010, my standard rate for a six-hour day trip with a small group (2–3 people) is INR5000 (approximately €70 or US$110). Send me email to discuss the details, or to request a quote for a different itinerary or a larger group.

You can contact me at ams@toroid.org

Abhijit Menon-Sen <ams@toroid.org>
http://toroid.org/ams/
2009-12-10