The Dona Paula Plateau Region - Not just an abode for Larks

Map

This is the my first winter visit to the area and the sightings just keep on getting better and better. So much that we also saw an Isabelline Wheater(still not got confirmation of the ID but I'm pretty sure it an Isabelline.)Varun and me also spotted other scrub land birds like the Pallid Harrier, Common Hoopoe, Brown Shrike and the Tawny Pipit.
Our day started well with a Shikra perched on a coconut tree.We both stopped and took a few photos of it.

Shikra

We then entered through the small entrance and hoopoe whose photo is above was. As soon we entered it flew of from there. We didnt know what it was then. So we walked three or four steps forward and saw the hoopoe call from under a bush and there it was. Probing the ground for insects. We watch it for sometime and then when it came out in the open we clicked a few shots. The morning light made this photo even more beautiful.

Hoopoe on the ground

As we walked further Varun spotted a Long-Tailed Shrike on a bush. We waited at a distance to see how it hunts. It tried to get something that looked like a frog, but it didn't get it. Then suddenly we stated hearing Lark calls, so we decided to click few pictures to the Shrike and go to see the larks. We could have waited for more time but it sounded like there were many larks ahead.

Long-Tailed Shrike

Now I really think whether it was a good decision to follow those calls because as soon as we got up the larks flew off. They looked like the Indian Bush-Lark but I don't know for sure. The next moment itself the Shrike had caught an insect and flew with it on the bush which was right where we were before. I didn't want to disturb it so we moved on. We then spotted some Cattle Egrets in their non-breeding plumage and a few Jungle Mynas and immature Rosy Starlings.

Jungle Myna

I heard some squeaking calls from some distance away so we went to see what it was. The bird making the call turned out to be a Scaly-Breasted Munia. There were two adults and an juvenile. I was able to get some good pictures of this "Family".

immature

Adult

We then walked toward the straight road to see whether the larks had flown there. As we were walking I saw a brown bird of prey just circling above. I couldn't believe but it was a Pallid Harrier. This one was a female. I could get some very good photos of it.

Pallid Harrier

We clicked few shots and went ahead. We didn't spot anything in the area for about half an hour. We decided to go towards the football field and try our luck there. As we were walking we saw White-Browed Wagtails, Grey-Breasted Prinias and Tailorbirds. When we reached the football field Varun saw a bird that was like a lark but it was very white and plain. He clicked a photo and showed it to me. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a WHEATER. No wheater had ever been spotted in Goa so we were very excited. We suppressed it though, and slowly homed in on the bird.

It flew off but we stayed in the vicinity, just in case it showed up again. When we were siting down in the grass there 5 Sykes Larks flew down. They were fearless and so we could get some really good photos of them.

Sykes Lark

Sykes Lark

Sykes Larks

Like we had predicted the wheater returned and Varun got up and clicked two really good photos of the bird.

Isaballine Wheater