Grey-headed Fish Eagle, SG Botanical Garden, Sep 2015

Singapore Botanical Garden is an amazing place to sight birds. We saw this Grey-headed Fish Eagle sitting on the trees, for a long time. It was our first sighting of this bird, and we were excited. As the name suggests, this raptor is a fish-eater. This eagle is smaller in size when compared to the other eagles. The bird's head is grey in color; underbelly and legs are white, tip of the tail feathers is black-white, and body is brown. The bird can be seen in South Asia, India, and Sri Lanka.

For more information, see Grey-headed fish eagle Wikipedia.

Grey-headed Fish Eagle

White-throated Kingfisher at Lalbagh, Bangalore

Pelicans were not the only birds at Lalbagh today. Among the other birds that we sighted was the White-throated Kingfisher. This bird caught an insect, sat on a tree, smashed the insect against the branch, and then ate the hearty breakfast. The bird moved from one position to another, allowing the sunlight to play well. This bird seems to be a resident at the garden. Previously I observed it enjoy a dip in the lake; couldn't capture photos.

Here's a collage of the bird's breakfast ritual.

White-throated Kingfisher

Regards,
Asha

Spot-Billed Pelicans at Lalbagh Lake, Bangalore, 2015

Hello friends,

It's been a long time since I updated my blogs. Today I share photos of Spot-Billed Pelicans that have visited the Lalbagh lake, Bangalore. In fact, these birds can be seen in several lake in and around Bangalore. The most famous birding sight being Kokkrebellur. The birds migrate during October, and stay until their young ones are born. This year around these birds have a little early, and their number is better than the previous year (on this day). Last week I also sighted Painted Storks; unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. Today, the storks were missing.

The Lalbagh lake seems have good amount of fish and insects for these birds to feast upon, The lake itself has sufficient water. I was surprised that the human chatter and presence (walkers and tourists) didn't seem to affect the serenity of these birds. They swam closer to the fence of the lake, and flaunted their beauty. If you visit the lake, take a moment to observe activities of these birds. Kindly don't feed them.

Sharing photo-collage...

Pelicans

Regards,
Asha

Birds and Mammals - Ooty 2015

Birds at Ooty sighted during end of Feb and beginning of Mar 2015

We drove from Bangalore to Ooty via Mudumalai, and returned through Gudalur. Both route were amazing to sight animals and birds. The forests were dry; some trees were ready to flaunt tender leaves. While I was wondering if summer will be a dry one, rain showered!

As we drove, we sighted birds but couldn't stop to click photos. Beautiful peacock welcomed us at Mudumalai forest reserve. We saw deers, samba deers, Hanuman langurs, Nilgiri langurs, giant squirrels, and wild boars. We stopped at Pug Mark for lunch, and found out that they had sighted a tiger and a leopard during the morning safari. We were tempted to take the evening safari but then our destination was calling us.

At Ooty, we saw Common Mynas, Spotted Doves, and Red-Whiskered Bulbuls everywhere. The Mynas population seems to out-beat the population of Crows. The Bulbuls weren't shy to be near humans; they happily sang and socialized with their own kind.

The Botanical Garden, Fernhill, Cairn Hill, and a drive around Ooty are good places for birding. We didn't visit Doddabetta, which is excellent to see Nilgiri Pigeons. Cairn Hill has a lot of birds. We were happy to see the Nilgiri Pigeon in flight. We heard and saw several birds, but couldn't photograph them as they perched high and, at ground level, the thicket wasn't favorable to get clear photos of the birds. We watched mating pair of Giant Squirrels. Nilgiri Langurs sat high above the trees, and observed us keenly. Was a pleasant visit to Cairn Hill!

The list of birds that we saw/heard:

1. Ashy Prinia
2. Blackbird
3. Black-Orange Flycatcher
4. Pied Bushchat
5. Hoopoe
6. Lesser Yellow Nape
7. Common Myna
8. Nilgiri Robin
9. Flowerpecker
10. Canary Flycatcher
11. Bushchat
12. Heron
13. Common Kestrel
14. Red-Whiskered Bulbul
15. Red-Vented Bulbul
16. Peacock
17. Bird of Prey (yet to ID)
18. Cormorant
19. Egret
20. Common Crow
21. White-Throated Fantail
22. Oriental White Eye
23. Greenish Warbler
24. Sunbird
25. Shrike
26. Sparrow
27. Drongo
28. Indian Roller (Bandipur)
29. White-Breasted Kingfisher
30. Common Kingfisher
31. Grey Francolin (Bandipur)
32. Jungle Fowl (heard calls)
33. Brahminy Kite (on Bandipur to Mysore road)
34. Wagtail
35. Jungle Babbler
36. Spot-Billed Pelicans (Nanjangud-Mysore road)
37. Black Kites (Mysore road)
38. Laughing Dove
39. Parakeet

Birds

List of mammals that we saw:

1. Hanuman Langurs
2. Nilgiri Langurs
3. Wild Boars
4. Spotted Deers
5. Samba Deer
6. Giant Squirrels
7. Bonnet Macaque 

Mammals

For photos of flowers, see Colorful Flowers of Ooty.

Regards,
Asha

Indian Grey Hornbill - Ocyceros Birostris

Was a pleasant surprise to spot the Indian Grey Hornbill at Jaipur (especially when not on a bird-watching tour)! During early morning, it was their call that made me search for the birds. There was a pair; they flew and hid among thick lush branches. Their heavy flight with the grey-black-white wings was worth watching. Quietly observed them till my neck hurt, and then moved away.

Indian Grey Hornbill at Jaipur

Regards,
Asha

Birds of Bhutan September 2014

During my visit to Bhutan, I managed to photograph a few birds. I couldn't photograph some birds or some of the photos aren't clear. There were several birds that only my eyes captured. I have video (no sufficient light) plus audio recording of chirping of birds. The last photo (on which copyright printed) is Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler; supposed to be rare to sight. Well, I'm happy that I have secret birding places to go back to, at Bhutan. 

Birds of Bhutan

The birds of Bhutan sighted during my visit are as follows:

1. Red-Billed Chough
2. House Crow
3. Pigeon
4. Grey-backed Shrike
5. Oriental Turtle Dove
6. White-capped Water Restart
7. Drongo
8. Black Kite
9. House Swift
10. Common Kestrel 
11. Russet Sparrow
12. Eurasian Tree Sparrow 
13. Red-Vented Bulbul
14. River Lapwing
15. Common Myna
16. Eurasian Hoopoe
17. White Wagtail
18. White-throated Kingfisher
19. Grey Treepie
20. Rufous Treepie
21. Long-tailed Shrike
22. Sandpiper
23. Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler 
24. Oriental Skylark/Yellow-browed Tit?
25. Green-backed Tit
26. Yellow Billed Blue Magpie 
27. Spotted Dove

Regards,
Asha

Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus Himantopus

Early morning we went for a walk at the Jal Mahal lake, Jaipur. The sunrise was beautiful; the Jal Mahal looked splendid. The Black-winged Stilt were one of the birds that we saw at the lake. The two stilts were a little away from one another. After a while, they moved closer to each other, and moved in one direction. The entire scene was serene. Easy to recognize these birds with their characteristic Red/Pink legs and slender long beaks.

Black-winged stilts

Regards,

Asha