Oct 5th afternoon I was looking down at rain water on the trees below. I happened to notice a little bird bathing in water drops in papaya leaves. Then it took a short flight and perched on branches of Singapore cherry tree. The air was laden with light mist. Here are a few shots of the little bird enjoy its bath.
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Pigeon captured on 21st Aug 2023 when was Sun was close to the western horizon.
Besides cuckoo, pigeon too seems like a lazy bird. I felt to so after seeing a pigeon's nest, a low heap of twigs positioned to prevent its eggs from rolling away. No privacy, no comfort, no security from predators, nothing. Yet, the bird thrives. Once they move into a certain space they just drive out other birds. They take over the entire space and litter it with their droppings. They appear to be cute with their cooing and grunts however they can be a pain.
The crow pheasant stayed perched for a couple of minutes while I kept my Nikon P900 aimed at it. It's a shy bird, just doesn't stay still knowing there's a human close by. I was lucky to have got these close-ups. Of course, I have to thank my Nikon for its amazing zoom ability.
Kannada speaking people call it Ratna Pakshi which translates to ruby bird. You might've guessed why ruby. Yes, because of the crow pheasant's ruby red eyes.
People consider it good luck to see Ratna Pakshi. I guess the bird's elusive nature, it just goes out of sight the moment it knows its being watched.
Back in July 2020, I has captured pictures of another crow pheasant at my uncle's place. Do check out the pictures of that Ratna Paskshi.
.........April 28th morning. Pushpa spotted this handsome creature resting on the neighboring apartment building. In a moment I decided to take a few shots so I got my cameras. I shot 30+ shots in a few minutes and sharing four of them here.
The king of our skies heard the camera beep when it locks on the subject. The king was curious about the sound and started looking around. Is it a bird or a squirrel or some other creature. It's expressions were childlike. Ironic isn't it ironic that a predator like an Indian Kite is capable of being guileless.
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On Feb 22nd Sunday morning I had skipped a function and spent an hour at Kelageri lake park. Sitting on the low platform in the shade of a cherry tree, I watched the waters and life on it. There are several clusters of hyacinth floating close-by. On the clusters were several birds, both webbed and palmated feet. The ones spotted and shot were water-hen, grey duck, white heron, spotted duck and purple heron. All these birds were busy looking for food. They have to feed as much as possible during the day time. Unlike human beings they do not feed after dark except nocturnal birds.
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This little beauty was on our utility wall. Got a few shots in our old Samsung C1 Pro mobile phone.
Longhorn beetles feed on dead trees helping the process of decomposing wood. Sometimes they feed on live trees too. As I remember, I'd not seen this insect earlier. This is the first time I've seen this insect.
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Saturday morning while plucking flowers in our building's parking space I heard a strange call. A few minutes later I could locate the source. It was coming from a coconut tree. From the fourth floor balcony I got a clear view of two birds perched upon coconut tree.
The other birds was partly hidden by coconut leaves. They let watch and take pictures for a couple of minutes before they took off.
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A spotted munia pair have built their nest in our hanging garden. Unlike the previous nests this time they've converted a live grass into a nest. Hoping to get better shots of the nest in future.
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Pushpa spotted a mongoose on our street, close to our apartment building. The mongoose ran towards it's den which is under a ramp.
As soon s the mongoose descended into the rainwater drain, another mongoose popped it's head.
Then as Pushpa moved forward and close to the mongoose, another mongoose appeared. Nice little family :)
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Caught this cuckoo yesterday afternoon. It was hunting insects. It sensed being watched, became restless and disappeared into the foliage.
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This week's Sunday morning was towards Navalur. First we go into the village, then go along the lake embankment and take the 6-km straight road. The road cuts through black soil fields, it's peaceful barring three or four bikes or cars at the max. This time wanted to do a short ride meaning not exceeding 20 km. The morning air was misty and cool. Around the 10th kilometer we stopped for a short break. We took a few pictures in the dim light. We were about to restart when Pushpa heard and saw a couple of deer sparring. We could hear their horns clash and it was such a lovely sight. We realized they weren't deer but blackbucks. The handsome creatures clashed several times.. they seemed to be playful youngsters. We must've watched them five minutes before they stopped their game and then suddenly ran deeper into the fields.
During our earlier rides around Navalur we had seen deer, peacocks, owls and a rat snake. Wild life sightings have made our mornings, and those rides remain memorable.
One more interesting thing here was the duck-shaped tree.
A shot of the road, rider and bicycles.
You might want to check out earlier bicycle ride posts.
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Seen during my early morning bicycle rides. Four or five days earlier, there were four such pups, all black-n-white. I guess someone must've taken two of them. The sight of five black-n-white furry creatures was a sight to behold. Unfortunately I couldn't stop to take a picture that morning.
Second week of August 2024, a bulbul pair started visiting our utility area. It's a hint that the pair would be having children soon. The pair brought in twigs and coconut strands to make a nest. They weaved their nest over the two previous nests already present in the same space. I a week or so three eggs were laid and incubation began. The eggs hatched in less than two weeks. The pair got really busy fetching food for the always hungry chicks. The pair was very watchful and turned hostile whenever we went to the balcony for chores. On September 7th morning around 11 AM the chicks emerged from the nest and perched on our clothesline. They were ready to leave the safety of the nest and become independent. This was a rare sight- the mother and her three chicks perched together. Father was close by, looking out for threats. Once the chicks are out of the nest, there's no turning back. They could barely fly yet they are raring to move on. Few minutes after this shot two of the chicks flew out, their parents staying close by until their wings gained strength. The last chick stayed back a couple of hours more and then flew down.
Fortunately there are plenty of trees and plants behind our apartment where the chicks could take shelter and remain safe until they were fully ready. I hope all three are fine and flying around in our locality.
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