Whoa, You Won’t Believe My Insane Birding Day at Yenkathala!
Okay, guys, picture this: I’m scrolling the Hyderabad Birding Atlas WhatsApp group, and BAM! After three whole years of begging for it, they drop the news—Yenkathala trip! My jaw hits the floor. That huge raptor pic in the announcement? Massive wings, total boss vibe—it got me PUMPED. Cold mist everywhere, but who cares? This was gonna be legendary. Logistics coming soon, and I’m already losing it!
Night before? No sleep, zero. Excitement explosion! I grab my backpack, strap the camera tight, load two SD cards, plug in phone and battery to juice up. Clean those lenses till they sparkle. Lay out clothes so I can dress in 10 seconds flat. Alarms at 3:25 and 4 AM? Yeah, but my brain’s racing like “Birds! Lifers! Adventure!” Tossing all night dreaming of wings.
Morning hits—I’m up before the alarms, buzzing like I’d chugged 10 sodas. I made breakfast…… for the first time in my life! Scarf toast and eggs super fast for power fuel. We’re on a tight schedule for rare birds, so we skip the first meetup at and zoom straight to Patancheruvu. Sudhir Uncle, Meena Aunty, Arjun, and Sarveshwar are there grinning—high-fives all around! Quick tea, then convoy roars off. 45 minutes of bumpy, wild roads feels like forever, but we burst into Yenkathala…
FIRST SIGHTING—BOOM! Oriental Honey Buzzard, perched like a king on a dead tree way up a hill. Silhouette against the grey sky? GIGANTIC. My heart’s thumping—trip off to an epic start!
The Oriental Honey-buzzard is a pretty awesome bird of prey that hunts wasps and bees using its long claws and special feathers that help protect it from stings — basically a superhero raptor with a sweet tooth! It soars high in the sky with flat wings and has a weird pigeon-like head, which makes it look super unique compared to other hawks and eagles, and some even travel long distances when they migrate each year. And when you hear them, they sometimes make high-pitched whistle sounds, especially during mating season — like their own birdy language!
Sky’s all heavy clouds, super dim for photos, but I’m scanning this muddy puddle and—WHOA—a Eurasian Spoonbill! My FIRST lifer of the day! It glides through the water, sweeping that weird spoon bill side to side, all elegant. Light’s moody and low, but I sneak the perfect angle. Click click! Nailed a crystal-clear shot—the white feathers pop against the mist. Chills, dude!
Spoonbills have this crazy spoon-shaped bill that they sweep side-to-side in the water like a treasure detector, sensing tiny fish, bugs, and shrimp with their SUPERPOWERS OF TOUCH! Some spoonbills travel insane distances from Europe and Asia down to warmer places, and boom — they show up in India in winter like they’re on a secret bird pilgrimage. Unlike herons that tuck their necks, these birds fly with their necks stuck out straight — totally giving sky serpent energy!
Then we hit the Yenkathala grasslands—endless waves of dry grass to the horizon. Sun finally pokes one ray through the clouds, spotlighting this harrier gliding low, hunting like a ninja. Montagu’s Harrier—lifer TWO! And get this: suddenly the sky’s ALIVE with them! Harriers everywhere—north, south, east, west—diving and soaring. I’m yelling “LOOK!” non-stop. Pure magic!
Montagu’s Harrier is a super cool bird of prey that migrates huge distances. They’re really elegant flyers, gliding low over open land with long, narrow wings and doing amazing aerial “sky-dancing” displays during courtship. These harriers nest on the ground in tall grass or crops, lay a few pale eggs, and eat things like rodents, birds, reptiles, and big insects while they hunt.
We push deeper, meet more birders, and this kid Riyaansh—my age!—jumps in with us, plus Arjun and Sarveshwar. Instant besties! Car bouncing through unknown paths till dead-end. Riyaansh’s dad says “Park it, walk!” So we hike rocky trails, bushes chirping like crazy—red munias flashing red, prinias zipping, grey-necked buntings hopping, plum-headed parrots screeching. Heaven!
Spot this tiny bird—thought shrike, but NOPE! Siberian Stonechat, super rare migrant! Female comes CLOSE for awesome pics; male poses far off.
Stonechats are tiny, robin-sized birds that often sit on top of bushes and flick their wings and tails like they’re super excited, and their name comes from the weird call that sounds like two stones being hit together! They’re usually bright and cool-looking, especially the males with their black head and orange-red chest, and they hunt insects by swooping down from their perch like little bird ninjas!
We backtrack—no spoonbill, but Green Sandpiper pops up wading. Quick tea, then tackle this steep 10-foot hill—rocks sliding everywhere, harsh sun blasting, but we make it! Silhouette overhead: Pallid Harrier! Breath gone… then poof, vanished.
Detour for construction—see a Bay-backed Shrike chowing cricket on thorns. Stay in car, don’t spook it! Foot walk next: harriers, larks, Zitting Cisticolas, prinias everywhere. Sun’s brutal, shots hazy, but whatever. Then—FLUSH! Worker scares 20 Sandgrouse! They split; I see the hiders and whisper to Sudhir Uncle. He coaches stealth: creep slow… almost… they BLAST off! Got record shots tho. Group quiz—Riyaansh nails “Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse!”
End of day, saying bye, and LAST SECOND—raptor on dead tree! We rush—oops, scare it off! It rockets up. Peregrine Falcon? Nah, White-eyed Buzzard, we decide. 47 species, tons of lifers, muddy and wiped but ALIVE. Yenkathala? Best. Day. Ever. Who’s coming next time?!
Crayzeeworld 
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