Observations during isolation

When you are confined in the house, just looking out of the balcony can bring you interesting sights. What caught my attention was a pair of rose ringed parakeets trying their best to make their young one fly. 

They tried using different tactics including coaxing it with some extra feed. 

I saw one more family member joining in for some extra moral support. Finally all of them manage to push the young one off the edge of the bough. (you can see it in the video)

The booming sound came from my right side and it was the Bharadwaj (Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant) who was responsible for it. He was hidden behind the leaves but I could see his body moving with the "coop coop coop" sound. 

The common Crow was all intrigued by the size of Bharadwaj. 

The female cuckoo sat on the next tree, probably on the lookout for a suitable nest where she can lay her eggs. 

There was a Black Kite perched high up stoically looking at all that was going on 

Meanwhile romance was up in the air (literally) where courting was in progress while balancing on a wire 

The Sunbird and his friends like to visit our garden as soon as I finish watering the plants 

They literally cavort on the leaves getting themselves all wet and then shake themselves dry. It is a daily routine I like to watch.

The Ashy Drongo was another regular in our area. This one saw me pointing my camera at her and she decided to take off 

This is a bee eater I suppose and is very quick in her moments 

I think this cartoon by Bath sums up the present situation.

 The Black Kite finally decided to call it a day and leave his perch. He must have been wondering about the change in the atmosphere with no honking and finding the air quality a shade better. 

Bird Watching

It is a good feeling when you are able to identify the birds around you. 

Had been for a bird walk this morning at Empress Garden (Pune) conducted by the Rupa Rahul Bajaj Centre for Environment and Art.  

The Indian Paradise Flycatcher was very elusive and I managed to get one shot of her long tail. 

Spotted many Grey Hornbills and what I observed was that they are always in pairs or in three.  

It was easy to spot the Ashy Drongo with his fork tail and most of my pictures turned out to be silhouettes. 

The white breasted waterhen is around waterbodies and is very shy, so had to take a video shot from far. 

The Black Kite was there in all her majesty and it was fun to watch the crow having a flying duel with the Kite.

The team gets excited when they spot and identify a particular bird. 

Kedar sharing some knowledge about the birds.

I have strung up the pictures and videos to make it into a small video.

Thanks to the bird walk, I now know that this is the purple sunbird who visits my terrace garden daily morning.

Hope to do more bird walks and spot more birds.  

Bird watching

It is a nice feeling to know that you have completed three fourth of the journey before the sun rises. 

Had been to Bhigwan for bird watching. Being there early had its advantages. I could shoot some good silhouettes. 

You had to point your camera in any direction and you are sure to catch two or three birds in one frame. Long beak, short beak, curved beak, gap in between beak.  Asian Open bill stork is identified by the gap in between the beak. 

 It was just coincidence that the nostrils of this open bill stork was in line with my camera by which I could see the light passing through and through.  

The eyes of this Night Heron is very mesmerizing. 

  

The painted stork breeds on trees either in mixed colonies along with other water birds or by themselves. Here this one has come down for fishing.

The Grey headed swamphen (Purple swamphen) has an elaborate courtship display holding water weeds in his bill and bowing to the female with loud chuckles. I noticed that they have huge feet.

Purple swamphen

I saw one of them pulling out a weed. He uses a lot of energy to pull out that weed which is almost six feet deep underground. After all the trouble he just leaves it and goes, perhaps not happy with the roots to be presented to a prospective bride. (you can see it in the video) 

The black headed Ibis had its beak open.

It was fun to see a pair of the Spoonbill wading in the water, hunting for fish. 

Spoonbill

Looks like this pair of Black Winged Stilt birds were out for a synchronized walk.

 Clicked some birds sitting on a wire like this Black Drongo and the Pied Bushcat 

 Black Drongo

 Pied Bushcat (male)

 Pied Bushcat (female)

The black bandit mask is very prominent in this Bay Backed Shrike.

Bay Backed Shrike

These wagtails were busy trying to catch some insects in the field. They were agile and quick. You can see the insects against the rising sun. 

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

The green Bee Eater sort of blended well with all the greenery around him.

Green Bee Eater

The Grey Heron scanning the sky line while the black winged stilt trying to locate a fish.

Saw a pair of Ruddy Shelduck (also known as Brahmini Duck) lazing in the water. 

The nest of the Glossy Ibis is a platform of twigs and vegetation positioned one to seven meters above water level. 

Glossy Ibis

The Painted Stork kept walking, meeting new friends along the way. While wading, he stirs the bottom with one leg, while the beak is ready to catch the fish. 

  The bullock carts were busy going into the fields to pick up the sugar cane 

These are later transferred to the tractors or trucks. 

Each tractor had a good sound system with huge speakers on either side. So you can hear a variety of songs blaring out when you pass a convoy of tractors.

People usually go to Bhigwan to see Flamingos but as per this local guide none of them made a landing as the water level was too high.

    

The local fishermen made the most of it by using their boats to catch fish.

The exact location where I clicked these pictures.