The Forest Beyond My Balcony
How hundreds of quiet mornings revealed the changing seasons and more than seventy bird species on a familiar Pune hillside.
There are mornings when I do not have to travel anywhere to go birdwatching. I simply step onto my balcony.
From my apartment, I look across NDA Hill Valley, adjoining the forested hillside of the National Defence Academy in Pune. The landscape includes patches of woodland, scrub, open grassland and a seasonal stream running through the lower ground.
To someone passing by, it may appear to be just another green hillside on the edge of the city. Over time, however, this familiar view has become one of my most regularly watched birding locations.
It began as a simple morning routine.
Before starting the day, I would spend a few minutes at the window or on the balcony, watching the hillside and listening to the calls drifting across the valley. Some observations lasted no more than ten minutes. Others continued longer when an unfamiliar sound or unexpected movement caught my attention.
Most mornings ended with a short checklist submitted to eBird. Repeating this almost every day gradually built a record of the birds using the hillside through different seasons.
A Familiar Cast of Residents
At first, I noticed the birds that were easiest to recognise. Indian Gray Hornbills crossed the valley in their heavy, undulating flight. Rose-ringed, Alexandrine and Plum-headed Parakeets moved noisily between the trees. Coppersmith Barbets called from exposed branches, while Rufous Treepies travelled through the canopy.
White-throated Kingfishers regularly used prominent perches from which they could watch the open ground below. Indian Peafowl and Gray Junglefowl occasionally emerged from the vegetation, while bulbuls, prinias, tailorbirds, sunbirds and Indian White-eyes kept the nearer trees busy.
Some mornings brought larger silhouettes. Black Kites regularly circled above the valley, and on fortunate days a Bonelli's Eagle appeared over the ridge before disappearing beyond the hillside.
These residents gradually became familiar, but the valley was never limited to the birds that remained throughout the year. As the seasons changed, so did the voices outside my window.
When the Monsoon Begins to Call
By late May and early June, the hillside begins to change. The first showers deepen the green, fresh vegetation spreads across the open ground and mist begins to settle over the distant trees.
Yet the arrival of the monsoon is announced just as clearly through sound.
The Common Hawk-Cuckoo is among the most persistent voices. Its repeated call travels across the valley, sometimes continuing long after the bird itself has disappeared into the foliage.
The Gray-bellied Cuckoo adds another distinctive voice from somewhere within the wooded slope. The Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo is often more difficult to locate, even while it continues calling from the canopy.
Another seasonal visitor I particularly look forward to is the Black-headed Cuckooshrike. Although often shy and inconspicuous, it sometimes chooses an exposed perch almost directly in front of the balcony. For a few moments it can be watched clearly before quietly slipping back into the trees.
Over the years, these birds have become part of how I recognise the season. The monsoon does not arrive here only as rain. It arrives as a chorus of familiar voices returning to the hillside.
The Hillside Through the Seasons
Winter brings an entirely different set of birds. Greenish Warblers move quietly through the foliage, while Blyth's Reed Warblers call from dense vegetation. Red-breasted Flycatchers appear on open branches, and Black Redstarts use exposed rocks, rooftops and perches.
One of the more unexpected visitors was a Eurasian Wryneck—a subtly patterned bird that could easily have gone unnoticed without careful observation.
Ashy Drongos replace the familiar Black Drongos in some parts of the valley during winter. Scaly-breasted Munias gather among grasses, while Spotted Owlets, Shikras and Little Swifts add their own presence to the changing landscape.
Other birds appear less predictably. Asian Woolly-necked Storks, Little Cormorants and Little Egrets occasionally pass through or fly over the valley. Gray Francolins and Jungle Bush-Quails remain close to the ground and are often detected by their calls before they are seen.
No single morning reveals the full diversity of this place. The larger picture becomes visible only through repetition—by returning to the same viewpoint through different months, seasons and weather.
More Than Seventy Species
By 15 June 2025, I had recorded more than seventy bird species from NDA Hill Valley.
The number is satisfying, but what matters more is how repeated observation has changed the way I experience this familiar landscape.
In the beginning, I searched mainly for movement. Today, I usually listen first. I recognise many birds before seeing them and know some of their preferred perches and calling locations.
I also notice the return of seasonal visitors and the changes in activity brought by summer heat, monsoon rain, mist and cool winter mornings.
The hillside may appear unchanged when viewed from a distance, but every season brings a different arrangement of birds, calls and movements.
The landscape itself may not have changed very much.
I have.
A Small Personal Field Station
Without planning it, this balcony had become a small personal field station.
There were no fixed survey routes, hides or elaborate equipment. The method was simply to look at the same landscape repeatedly and record what appeared.
A single checklist captures only a brief moment. One morning may contain bulbuls, parakeets, prinias and crows. Another may add a cuckoo, a passing raptor or a winter migrant.
When those small records accumulate, they begin to reveal which species remain throughout the year, which return with the monsoon, which appear only in winter and which pass through unpredictably.
Repeated observation also makes subtle changes easier to notice. A familiar call returning after several months becomes a sign of the changing season. An uncommon visitor stands out against the familiar rhythm of the hillside.
This is one of the quiet strengths of citizen science. A short checklist made from a balcony may appear insignificant on its own. Repeated over hundreds of mornings, it becomes part of a meaningful record of a place.
The Forest Beyond the Balcony
Birdwatching has taken me to rainforests in the Western Ghats, remote forest roads and many remarkable landscapes across Maharashtra. Those journeys remain an important part of how I experience nature.
Yet this valley outside my home has taught me something equally valuable.
We often imagine that meaningful wildlife encounters belong to distant forests, sanctuaries or famous birding destinations. Sometimes they do.
But nature also reveals itself through ordinary places, provided we return often enough to notice what changes.
Sometimes the most rewarding birding location is not the one that requires a long journey.
Sometimes, it is simply the forest beyond the balcony.
About Parag Kokane
Parag Kokane is an observer of nature whose work combines field observation, natural history, wildlife photography and writing. Through Wildscapes, he explores the forests, freshwater ecosystems and everyday wildlife of the Western Ghats, sharing stories that encourage readers to look more closely at the natural world around them.
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