Magic weekend

Friday evening and off to Phansad. This time of year is soo nice in Maharasthra, hot sun in the day, cool evenings, low humidity and light breezes make for what, to me, is a near ideal climate. As the end of winter approaches many of the forest trees are flowering and this makes, not only for delicious scents and wonderful sights but also a magnet for wildlife. We arrive late and find the forest lodge full and Sadha the caretaker nowhere to be found, I end up sleeping under canvas on a concrete floor. Not a fantastic night I have to say! As soon as the sun was up we were off for a walk down to the local village to check out the birding. Good but not fantastic, all the usual suspects but nothing else. Whilst walking I learned that there was another ‘foreigner’ staying along with a guide from the BNHS, this man, an Australian apparently, has written The field guide to the birds of East Africa. Wow, an uber birder, staying at Phansad! I was extremely interested to meet him and, arriving back at base there is indeed a ‘foreigner’ eating a bowl of breakfast Poha. I say hello and he replies in an extremely unOzzie voice. Turns out he’s from London although now lives in Canberra, and yes he’s written the aforementioned field guide but - it’s a novel! It's title is ‘A guide to the birds of East Africa – A Novel’ . His name is Nick Drayson and he’s a naturalist/novelist and it turns out an extremely agreeable fellow.
After breakfast we jump in my car and head down to a favorite water hole, Nick is wandering about turning stones and, (beginners luck?) finds a beautiful but unbelievably aggressive little Wolf Snake. Then we drive down to Murud for the usual beery lunch where Nick and I discuss the wonder that is 'A good pint of English wallop'and swap increasing outrageous birding stories before heading back up the mountain and more birding. We visit an area of jungle that we have never been to before and, barely out of the car, we see a Blue Faced Malcoa, a lifer for me! High fives all around but within half an hour we have also clocked up Humes and Large billed Leaf Warblers, two more lifers ending a looong dry spell for me. Excellent!
After a short siesta we’re back to the water hole, we’ve been hearing about this ‘ere Sri Lankan Frogmouth for months now but never seen or heard beak nor feather of it and so we sit in silence and watch the dusk fade to night, its a wonderful experience with certain caveats...the birds settle down and the bats and moths come out. We’re smothered in deet but the mossies seem to take no notice and we are surrounded by a hungry and persistent swarm of them. Twice we heard, indeed I recorded, the screeching cry of the Frogmouth but in the end we are forced out of the jungle by the shear number of bitey things.
The next morning the extent of the damage is clear, not only a zillion mossie bites but I have at least a dozen bites from the Argasid soft tick which I know are going to drive me crazy with itching over the next three to four weeks, they are already swollen and weeping. It seems that nothing can keep these little horrors at bay and all my compatriots are suffering equally. Nick tells us that he has suffered equally in Australia with Argasid bites and recommends a scrubbing brush to relieve the itching! We try to forget about the long list of nasty tick borne diseases.....
Sunday morning say our goodbyes and head down to the local beaches but apart from Turnsones and Sand Plovers there is little about and so we decide to tackle Kankeshwar.
I have often been birding around the bottom of this large and forbidding hill and once started the climb up the x hundred steps to the temple complex at the top but on that occasion was driven back by the sun and fear of sunstroke. This time I have a hat and some water and we decide to ‘go for the summit’ as the top is an excellent spot for raptor watching. It’s a hard and hot plod up the steps and for the most part there is no shade, our hearts are soon pounding and the sweat gushing. This is one of those climbs with many false summits which you make an effort for only to find yet another steep section ahead. At one point we see a Cobra hastily retreating into the bushes. Eventually , exhausted and dehydrated and sun scorched we reach the top and are able to admire the temples of Hanuman, Shiva and Ganesh and settle down on the edge of a cliff with a view across twenty kilometers or so to the coast. Spotted eagles, Common buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard glide past at intervals concluding a fab weekends birding. Walking back down ( in flip flops) turns out to be more painful than the walk up and my leg muscles are still hurting as I write this, four days later……