Bulbullied!

The hatchlings of bulbuls.

Unfortunately only one surivived. One was taken away by a bird of prey and one lost its life while trying to fly.

Three

One more egg...

The bulbul seems to be adjusting to our routine. It is not seen near the nest early in the morning when we go there and is seen during noon time hatching. Again it leaves the place in the evenings and comes back after 6pm. The whole night it is undisturbed. We removed everything around the nest that could propel a cat into it and elevated the swing for further safety.

Red Vented Bulbul egg

Nest 2022

I have written about nests around my home in this blog. Link given below. https://soniajohn.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-nest-fallen-nest-nest-not-place-to.html Last year it was a Purple Sunbird(മഞ്ഞത്തേൻകിളി) which built its hanging nest on our clothes line. It seems hardly bothered about our presence there and confidently laid, hatched and flew away with its chick.

This year a Red-Vented Bulbul (നാട്ടുബുൾബുൾ) went further by choosing our swing chair as its preferred spot.

The very chair in which every morning and evening someone or the other of my family members relax. It is really surprising as it is open and at arm’s reach. The construction is in progress now. Yesterday evening, I went up the terrace. Since the bird was not there I sat on the couch near the swing and was listening to music when suddenly something dashed against my leg and bounced. It was the bird with a small twig in its mouth. It perched on the chair and stared at me, then flew to the nearby potted plant and perched on it again watching me. I got up and walked away to the other end of the terrace. It flew back to the chair and continued its work. Its partner too flew in. The bird already has a nest in a tree in our compound.

Every year it lays egg there. We realised that it is the presence of three naughty kittens downstairs that prompted the birds to shift. The kittens climbed the tree and disturbed its nest. Anyways it is a pleasure to watch the bird confidently building its abode.

The Aerie

The eagle eggs hatched and I spotted one eaglet. On a closer look, torn plastic sheets were visible inside the nest. Probably to camouflouge the hatchling which has white down feather.

Lock down Bird watching

The bane and boon of lock down during this pandemic are many. One of them is getting time for bird watching. The lock down seems to have unlocked lots of space for the birds to fly around unhindered. The trees behind our home are teeming with varieties of birds that we haven’t seen (or noticed) so far. It was really a pleasure watching them. I could even spot an eagle in its nest far away. 

Kingfisher

 

Rufous treepie

Falcon

Golden Oriole

Purple rumped sunbirds  

Purple Sun bird

Bee Eater

Bulbul

Coucal

Woodpecker pecking the wood

blue fly catcher



And the most exciting of all...an eagle in its nest on top of a tall tree far away!

My Winged Companions

                                               

It has been a long time since I have written a post. The fact is I didn't care to look around for quite some time now. Recently I was sitting in the car alone for an hour waiting for my son to come back from his music class. It was a pleasant time with slight drizzle and tranquility around when all of a sudden a flock of birds caught my attention with their chirps. 

It was a delight watching them as the very tiny birds flew very close to my car window ( may be they didn't see me).  I could closely and clearly watch them pecking at the wet ground pulling out worms and relishing it. Suddenly two birds flew down, sat on the fence and the stronger of the two put a worm into the mouth of the weaker looking one. It looked so queer to me as I have heard of only baby birds being fed by mothers.

Intrigued by the sight, I searched the net and found that the behavior is called Allofeeding and it is common among birds and the reasons are many. Really an hour of bird watching turned out be very delightful with a new information. 

The return of the Pigeons!

The pigeons are back and with a vigor. I have mentioned earlier how they were driven away by the bulbuls ( http://soniajohn.blogspot.in/2010/12/my-feathered-companions.html ). Now they had built nests in the old niche and wherever they could around my house. Day and night my home is filled with their cooing sound. This summer when I was away on vacation they even invaded my kitchen. When I came back it looked like a battle field with many fancy mugs and glass gel candles broken, feathers sticking here and there. Finally they were pushed out but they seem reluctant to leave.

Two days back while cooking breakfast two of them came out from the attic like cavity of my kitchen. Since how long they were there, I was not sure. One of them sat on the exhaust fan just above the stove and was watching me cooking. Now a days I don't get time for bird watching, may be for a change they might have come to watch me :)). My kids were frightened that it will harm me. I convinced them about this innocent creatures and sent them to school. The salt and pepper coloured pigeon looked awesome. The grey one somehow managed to get out by pulling the net from the ventilator.

Perched on the exhaust fan, the pigeon observed my cooking very keenly. I am sure it learned by that time how to make mashed potatoes. Its eyes were really captivating. No wonder beauty is often associated with dove eyes. I don't think there is any other bird that trust humans so much. Unaware of the surrounding dangers from the burning stove and the exhaust fan the bird made itself comfortable there. It even posed for snaps. I didn't want to disturb it for some time. I have to finish my cooking and rush to work. Finally the duty to shoo it away fell on my hubby who very tactfully showed it the way to its nest outside my kitchen.  

Bird Watching Locations

This new year we received a desktop calendar of WWF from a friend. The beautiful calendar features birds along with scientific names and descriptions of their habitats. After going through it I could identify some of the ‘tiny nameless birds’ that I had mentioned in my earlier writings(http://soniajohn.blogspot.in/2010/12/my-feathered-companions.html). Two days back I was taking a walk on the terrace when a small bird flew across from the thicket. Startled by the unexpected intrusion in its flying space by me the bird chirped, flipped and flew back to perch on a tree. The shiny purple bird provided a picture of stark contrast amongst the tender green leaves. I recognized it as the purple sunbird which, very coincidently, is the bird of March in the calendar. This bird is usually seen during spring season and it feeds on nectar from flowers. In the process these birds help in pollination.

Scientific Name: Cinnyris Asiaticus.

There are many bird watching locations across the world for bird lovers who like to travel any extend to pursue their hobby.  

Mauritius is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Black River Gorge is the largest national park of this island nation. This park houses rare and endangered species of birds. Another place in Mauritius to spot birds is the Casela Bird Park. 

The Big Six of birds, the lappet faced vulture, fishing owl, marital eagle, ground hornbill, kori bustard and saddle-bill stork, are found at the Kruger National Park in South Africa which is a great place for bird watching

The Rio Formosa National Park at Moncarapacho in Portugal is an excellent bird watching location.

In Gulf of Papagayo tourists will find the half moon conure or orange fronted parakeet aplenty along with other exotic birds.

Liberia, an important city of Costa Rica has lots of natural wonders and forests making it great for bird watching.

St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean Sea is blessed with rain forests where tourists will spot rare tropical birds.

Isla Contoy, located near Cancun is a national park and a bird sanctuary where exotic species of birds are found.