Sattal is a beautiful town situated at the lower Himalayan range in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. The name ‘Sat tal’ means seven lakes. These seven inter-connected freshwater lakes are a paradise for nature lovers and bird watchers because of the versatile topography of the landscape and the variety of migratory birds found here.

As it was only a day trip, we had left Ranikhet at the break of dawn so we could start the birding session on time at Sattal. Drive time to Sattal from Ranikhet is around 2 hours.

We started our birding trip from Graphic Era University at 7am by looking for small birds along the roadside in the nearby bushes. While photographing a flock of Common Rose Finches and Yellow Breasted Green Finches, we spotted a pair of Rufous chinned Laughing Thrush. I had never seen these colorful birds before. Three lifers in one go! the first 15mins of this trip filled us with so much of anticipation that we could not wait to see what this beautiful hill station held in it’s lush green forests.