Birding needs lot of patience and observation!

I occasionally cut my jogging at times if I spot new birds but birds are not patient enough to stay back. Similarly one day, I cut down my jogging routine by one km after seeing flame-throated bulbul. I grabbed my camera and reached the spot but bird was missing obviously. Later I heard vernal hanging parrot in flock of 6-7 birds and snapped one picture. The constant movement of vehicles on busy Sunday could not retain the tiny bird steady nearby canopy. I had to contend with single picture. Hope to grab some more decent shots before I leave to Bangalore.

The red-whiskered bulbul was constantly singing near the dense canopy. I was surprised with its call since they choose human habitats more than jungle. When I looked closely it was none other than flame-throated-bulbul. They have nearly same call like red-whiskered bulbul. Unfortunately, the bird was quite distant from my position and was hid behind dense foliage. When they came open, I grabbed one picture which went out of focus. Later they seemed to notice me and escaped to forest area which was impossible to track. One thing I learnt is if you hear red-whiskered-bulbul call nearby dense canopy of forest, then its flame-throated-bulbul for sure. I was surprised by its escape since in all 3 past occasions they were staring at me with familiar look and happily ignored :-)

To ward-off my disappointment of not clicking flame-throated-bulbul, this golden fronted leafbird  (or jerdon's leafbird) called me when I neared house. The body was shabby though. The bird was busy preening and rigorously cleaning the body. After a while, it escaped to forest. This one is yet another elusive bird in my list and this time as well was golden opportunity missed since the azure background would give nice backdrop for green bird. Not bad sighting though! 

There is always this tiny guy who gives perfect pose in front of humans. The bold white rumped munias always visit backyard early morning to cheer me up!

The same day evening, I spotted Malabar Pied Hornbills and my camera framed it. The perch was distant and hence not a clear one to rejoice. Villagers were saying that the number of them visiting village this year has decreased or not sure they would visit at later point of time. Last year, there were many as per their information but unfortunately, I did not spot any. Hope to get few decent shots soon!

The rufous babblers are common here during twilight but rarely come open. The poor ISO performance of camera does not allow me to capture decent images. They have peculiar calls and always forage in undergrowth. The calls are conspicuous but not as receptive as jungle babbler. This one I captured with ISO1600 which barely shows as rufous babbler. I have never seen them open during morning hours or broad day light. These are also one such bird which are exclusive to few parts of India including west coast.

The white throated kingfisher with a message. It was cloudy and dark. Still it has to continue its work to grab some dinner. Unlike humans, these birds cannot grab meals at night. Hence be it cloud or shine, sunny or rainy day, you have to manage and get the work done. If you don't move on, ultimately you will suffer. Whatever day looks like, you are responsible for your survival. Be it dark or light, do not forget to persevere. Sun will come out some day to cheer you up!

One thing I learnt is birding needs observation and patience. Luck ensues experience. Now I know how to recognize flame-throated-bulbul and for sure confident to find them again!

Few days back, we had pitch dark sky but relatively less rains. Flaming clouds during sunset but rains did not match the flaunting skies. Perhaps it is testimony to the weakening Westerlies and it was time to bid adieu to South West monsoon of the year 2021

But that did not happen. A Low Pressure Area in Arabian sea is bringing back westerlies to our village. Overnight we had heavy rains and next day morning, a pinch of rainbow along with little thunder. It did not rain though but provided hope for further rains. Rainbows are sign of hope and my hope of spotting the elusive birds increased too!

And clouds gathered during evening again triggering hopes of more rains.

 Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries