Episode 18: Birding in South India and beyond with Deepa Mohan

Every good city needs a generous birding guide, one who is empathetic and loves to explore nature around her. If this intrepid explorer is empathetic, generous and inclusive, that’s even better. Deepa Mohan is one such wildlife enthusiast and explorer in Bangalore, India. In this podcast, we discuss the many aspects of Deepa’s birding all over India, about how to count birds, about going to the same location many times and some of her favourite birding areas in India. Some of the locations Deepa mentioned in an around Bangalore: Hoskote Lake, Begur Lake, Bannerghatta National Park, Bannerghatta biosphere, Ankasamudra, Eagle Nest, Talle Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, Jaipurdoddi, Manipal, Western Ghats. Unusual species include over-wintering birds, vagrant species such as black-capped kingfisher, a blue throat wintering in Anekal Lake, a Demoiselle Crane, a dark sided flycatcher in Nandi Hills. The location that Deepa mentions early in the podcast– the one she took me to in the morning, is Muninagara Kere. Her ebird checklist from that outing is here. When we asked Bangalore-based, experienced birder, Deepa Mohan to provide a bio, this is what she sent. It is typical of her understated humour. “Deepa Mohan, age 66, Carnatic  musician, theatre reviewer and quiz buff, turned into an avid amateur naturalist and bird watcher.  Loves writing about the outings and her experiences.”