Subdued Monsoon and native village birding

Monsoon has revived the landscape of our native village and it is pleasure to behold such a mesmerizing scene. The greens are saturated, the environment is lush with birds, the paddy fields are blooming, the seasonal streams are alive and why not there is beautiful play of clouds in troposphere. All these comes with soaring humidity levels which we need to bear in tropical coastal areas.

Meanwhile I landed in native village after a long gap of 6 months. That's massive gap indeed. We drove through misty winding roads of Charmadi Ghats and welcomed by monsoon rains as we approached boundary of coastal Karnataka. It rained heavily in my village that day but terminated once we reached. This year monsoon has been lacklustre thanks to climate change. The rains have shifted to north India especially owing to continuous low-pressure areas. These LPAs are dumping massive precipitation at some places in a week. The precipitation is huge that they dumped almost season's rainfall in matter of just 2 weeks. The excess rains are boon to some places however depriving rains at our region. It was evident from the low velocity of monsoon streams lacking vigour and depth. I could clearly see the base of the stream which we usually get to see during October end. There were beautiful sunset/sunrise everyday which is recurrent during monsoon season thanks to rains. However, my excitement was low owing to lethargic monsoon. Never seen such a deficient monsoon season in recent years.

The moderate September rains provided hope of revival of monsoon. But still not terrific like last year. Despite the rains lacking intensity, paddy growers are happy that rains are sustaining. This is crucial for standing water in paddy field. This time of year is vital for paddy growth since the cultivation needs standing water for the nascent paddy grains to evolve into mature consumable product. The sustained rains with mild sunlight provided that hope for first 15 days. However, nature can turn things around. The rains stopped completely for a week almost. It is predicted to revive around 25th September which is not guaranteed. The quirky monsoon pattern has prompted farming community to abandon the cultivation job. It is impossible to predict the vagaries of monsoon which takes high toll on investments of farming community. The dry days with intense sunlight have rendered paddy fields arid. The rains are badly needed for 15 more days for the crop to mature. Hopefully monsoon gives good news at least from 25th onwards without any surprises. Perhaps this would be final spell of South West Monsoon before conclusion. Keeping fingers crossed. Overall a year to forget in terms of monsoon and look forward for brighter days in 2022.

Meanwhile birding has been pleasant so far in my native. Birds were the only factor that induced enthusiasm in me. I spotted plenty of new birds and discovered the birds that were present in Bangalore. The blooming of monsoon streams have increased the bird population nearby our house and thus adding to my joy. The overcast skies were problematic at times but somehow the lens managed them quite well. It was same set of birds with early morning melodies/babbling with few additional ones. The paddy fields lure plenty of tiny birds which were not visible during winter. The migratory birds were absent though especially Indian Paradise Flycatcher. Let me unfold the maiden birding journey in my native after I bought new tele lens.

Lets start with our morning melody star Red-Whiskered-Bulbul :-). They are plenty here and only active bird throughout the day.

The next one is eternal commotion creator, The Jungle babbler. Glad to see them again. I missed them greatly at Bangalore. Their clamour has reduced perhaps due to rains. But they are active throughout the day and pleasure to watch.

The common bird with daily routine is Black-Rumped flameback

The rufous treepie was pondering on something

The white cheeked barbet was vigilant 360 degrees for any possible threats before it could feed on papaya tree for breakfast.

The surprise visitors were the white rumped munias. The sweet little birds found some time after heavy shower to enjoy the Sun. The birds feed on paddy grains before they resort to relaxation.

The oriental magpie robin whistles throughout the day. They are shy too! Difficult to grab sometimes.

The purple rumped sunbird was busy sucking nectar from flowers.

Some more barbet pictures from when it perched on electric line for a while steadily.

I have plenty more to share. Stay tuned!

Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries