Pied myna (Asian pied starling): Gracupica contra

Pied myna (Asian pied starling): Gracupica contra

 

Pied myna or Asian pied starling: Gracupica contra

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Subcontinental bird.

Group operators.

Interstingly, they were co-murmuating with flocks of Bank mynas Common starlings in this instance.

 

Photographed at Dhankot village, Basai wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India on 6.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens



Common starling: Sturnus vulgaris

Common starling: Sturnus vulgaris

Common starling: Sturnus vulgaris

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Mainly winter visitors to Northern subcontinent.

This is an adult in non-breeding plumage.

Interstingly, they were co-murmuating with flocks of Bank mynas and Asian pied starlings.

Common starlings murmurating with Asian pied starlings and Bank mynas

 

Photographed at Dhankot village, Basai wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India on 6.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens



Black kite (Juvenile): Milvus migrans

Black kite (Juvenile): Milvus migrans

Black kite: Milvus migrans

Maturity: Juvenile

IUCN Status: Least Concern

 

Photographed at Dhankot village, Basai wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India on 6.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens



Pallas's fish eagle: Haliaeetus leucoryphus

 Let me begin with an admission – I’m not particularly good yet at instant identification of birds of prey in the field. I look for silhouettes in the shadows of trees and for profiles in grasslands, and, shoot first and ask questions later. I don’t wait as far as photography is concerned for raptors can be terribly skittish. Rarely do birds of prey allow me sufficient time or permit me audience close enough for my meek lenses to capture their majesty. Meek lenses are the bane. Therefore, when I spotted a large, pale-headed silhouette towards a distant corner of Aasan Lake, I knew I had something special waiting. It was too distant for even my upgraded camera lens. Quickly I assessed the area for paths leading to that corner of the lake. I spotted a room…kind of a guard room in the forests thataway…surely there would be a path, even a motorable one perhaps on that bank of the lake…I dumped the chakotra I was eating into a nearbytrash bin, summoned Suresh who was driving me around, and we made haste down the sloping road towards where a path might branch off. Sure enough, there were two worn wheel tracks cutting straight into that neck of woods. We boarded the wheel tracks with our own transportation and drove as quietly as we could, all the time keeping a keen eye on the eagle in the middle.

The Pallas’s fish eagle – by this time I had plucked out my edition of Grimmett and Inskipps and furiously flipped the pages to hone in on the identification while Suresh drove – was probably surveying, or secure in its isolation, or sunbathing after an wholesome meal made out of any one of the teeming waterfowl varieties surrounding it, or merely displaying its comparatively sedentary trait. Whatever the reason, it was all good for us. Precious time was gained to get as close as we practically could.

But the trail ended abruptly at the forest edge. I leapt out, my equipment in hand and jogged carefully towards the lake. One couldn’t be too obvious lest one disturbed birds – that would give me away - and one had to feel for solid footholds in what was fast becoming marshy gloop among the lakeside reeds. I crept through the slush and reeds without kicking up a fuss, found a firm muddy high point barely larger than the palm of my hand, which, even though quite distant, was as close as I could get; set up my monopod and carefully inserted my toes alongside onto that high-point, praying I wouldn’t come down in a splash equipment and all, and went on to click as many photos as I could. Multiple shots, simply because I was trembling all the time with all the excitement and attempt to keep balance on that small piece of firm ground; and fully zoomed out photos, sensitive as they are to movement, were bound to be affected by my trembling.

Anyway, I recorded a few decent shots of this eagle listed as Vulnerable in IUCN Red List.

Pallas’s fish eagle: Haliaeetus leucoryphus

IUCN Status: Vulnerable

Main Features:

1.      Pale head and neck in adults.

2.    Dark brown upperwings.

3.    Underwings also dark brown.

4.    Tail is mainly white (not visible in this shot) with a terminal dark band.

5.     Soars and glides with flat wings.

6.    Flying silhouette, in addition, reveals long, broad wings, with protruding head and neck.

7.     Sharp talons.

8.    Almost 3/4ths to a full metre in size.

9.    Call is mainly a hoarse bark – kvo kvok kvok.

Photographed at Aasan Barrage, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India on 8.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens

Crested lark: Galerida cristata

 

Crested lark: Galerida cristata

IUCN Status: Least Concern

 

Photographed at Dhankot village, Basai wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India on 6.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens

Red avadavat: Amandava amandava

Red avadavat: Amandava amandava
Red munia

Manna Dey planted a munia inside my head while giving voice to the side character of a rustic gawaiyya in a Hindi film of late 60s or early 70s, set to music provided by Shankar-Jaikishen and with lyrics penned by Shailendra: the munia has been chirping in my mind since.

Everybody has enjoyed the song I refer to which begins with a chorus that goes - chalat musaafir moh liya re pinjde waali muniyaa, and the verse going something like ud ud baithi halwaiya dukaniya - but the true beauty of the bird and song as a whole was revealed to me when I first realized what a Red munia, or Red avadavat, or Lal munia was.

I’ve seen this bird aplenty growing up – on the grasslands and fields that dotted the ancient Aravalli range that once existed as Delhi’s spine. I just didn’t know then that this bird was Red munia.

Among those who relish keeping birds in a cage, the munia is popular due to the splash of colours and its beautiful song. I don’t know why they’d want to do that. They’re missing the dance. The elaborate mating rituals. Be that as it may, even when caged, the munia’s song is so happy. Take my word for it, it is quite something else when the munia sings as a free bird…lilting…matching the sine-wave curve of its flight-dance. The song reaches the ears far before the eye spies the tiny bird. The morning brightens in an instant and all one can do is switch off all engines one has running in and around, and submit one’s silence to be overwritten by the uplifting melody of the munia’s song. And this remarkable natural rhythm and melody has been captured in the song I mentioned before. To my level of awareness in such matters, it is the best attempt at recreating the soul of a munia’s song in one created by man.

This male Red avadavat was with his group, a gawaiyya of the scenic fields of Dhalipur village on the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border, belting out a carefree song among the reeds of standing bajra; flitting - singly and as a group - from stalk to stalk and into the bushes. Savannahs, low bushes, fileds in cleared areas of forests are their theatre. I must have spent almost an hour sitting engrossed in the cool aromatic moist-earth field, listening to their song, observing their ways, absorbing the experience.

The sun wended its way up, crunching underfoot the dewy coolness of dawn, and I, almost reluctantly, knowing I had to move on, lifted my camera to take a snapshot of this common, carefree, dancing minstrel of happy songs.

The munias are an old fascination and their song and dance flipped back many pleasant pages – my attention was the minimum I could give in return. Keep them free.

Red avadavat: Amandava amandava

Synonyms: Red munia; Lal munia (Hindi) Incidentally, Lal not only refers to the red colour but also stands for boy in rural Hindi belt. Breeding plumage of the male is brilliantly red, with spots and for the rest of the year they are duller. Breeding seasons vary from place to place and molting begins accordingly.

Gender: Male.

IUCN Status: Least Concern.

Photographed at Dhalipur village, near Aasan Barrage, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India on 8.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens

 



Large-billed crow (Himalayan): Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius

Large-billed crow (Himalayan): Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius

 

Dhalipur is a picturesque village in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on the banks of Asan Lake. Nestled at the feet of Timli Range, which lies to its south, Asan Lake and river to its north, River Yamuna to its west, it is a peaceful outpost near the border with Himachal Pradesh. In fact, the Shimla Bypass coursing through the Timli Range forms its southern border, but I took the northern route via Herbertpur and reached Dhalipur by taking a rough track forking off Chakrata Road - which goes on to Paonta Sahib about 15 kms. away – soon after crossing the Asan Barrage and going down through the fields to the village.

I reached Dhalipur at dawn after driving through the night from Delhi. The sky was lightening grey - too early for the camera sensors but not too soon for my city nerves; the cool and refreshing breeze whistling through the confluence of Yamuna and Asan rivers; various waterfowl croaking to my left and a symphony orchestrated by various hidden arboreal and grassland birds ringing in my ears as I walked down the track inhaling deeply the aroma of mountains and the scent of dew-moist fields.

A feldegg subspecies of Yellow wagtail flew in low, landed, breaking my exploratory stride, almost tripping me, and, having snatched attention, instantly took off in a streak of black and yellow. I stared after seduced, but my engrossment was cracked by a guttural grack…grack in my right ear. I looked up. Perched atop a stone fence post, almost within reach, was a Large-billed crow (Himalayan). A Pahari kuwwa or Junglee kuwwa welcome to a shard of paradise.

Large-billed crow (Himalayan): Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius

Synonyms: Sanskrit: Van kak; Hindi: Pahari kuwwa, Junglee kuwwa.

IUCN Status: Least Concern

 

Photographed at Dhalipur village, Asan Barrage, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India on 8.11.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens

 



Oriental honey-buzzard (Male): Pernis ptilorhyncus

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male)
Pernis ptilorhyncus

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male) with active nictitating membrane
Pernis ptilorhyncus

 

Ranthambore, this time around, was a pugmark better than my previous trip two weeks ago. Alright, make that many pugmarks – of mother and cubs instead. I didn’t spot a stripe and neither did mom, son, aunt and uncle, but we spotted a few birds, reptiles and mammals. In addition to the pugmarks of course. One of them was this bird:

Oriental honey-buzzard (Male):  Pernis ptilorhyncus

Synonyms: Crested honey-buzzard (English); Maduha (Sanskrit); Shahutela (Hindi); Tena gaddu (Telugu)

IUCN Status: Least Concern

The appearances are highly variable in the six subspecies identified.

Main Features:

1.      Long and broad tail.

2.    Narrow neck.

3.    Small head – usually grayish or grayish-brown.

4.    Small bill.

5.     Male has grey face – as in Plates 1 and 2 above – while females have browner face (Female– Link to an earlier post for comparison)

6.    Male has brown iris – see Plates 1 and 2 above. This bird has an active nictitating membrane (third eyelid, whitish) which offers additional protection to the eye.

7.     Females have yellow iris instead. (Female - Click link to compare)

8.    Male has two black tail bands and three dark underwing bands.

9.    Female has three dark tail bands and four dark underwing bands.

10.                        Has small crest or hindcrown (clearly visible in earlier post- Female) at back of head, the size of which is highly variable, and resembles that of local species of hawk-eagle. This form of mimicry is thought to be a survival tactic for the protection of the weaker honey-buzzards.

11.  Soars with flat wings. Silhouette shows a shallow ‘w’ shape.

12.Back is dark brown to grayish-brown.

13.Underparts and coverts range from dark brown through rufous to white. May be unmarked, streaked or barred.

14.Lacks dark carpal patch on underwings.

15. The six subspecies of this bird are divided into two main groups – a migrating northern population with one subspecies – P.p.orientalis, and a sedentary southern one containing five subspecies, of which, P.p.ruficollis is found here and has a more pronounced crest/hindcrown than the migrant orientalis subspecies. (The Female Oriental honey-buzzard in my earlier post belongs to ruficollis subspecies)

16.Typically have an undulating, sine-wave-like flight pattern.

17. Have short bare tarsi, relatively straight claws, adapted to digging and walking.

What do they eat?

Take a guess! Generally prefer honey-combs along with larvae, pupae and bees or wasps or hornets inside them, but they are not averse to other elements of a predatory bird’s diet.

Scaly feathers around eye and head protect from stings of bees, hornets and wasps it preys on.

Nests high up in trees. Usually made of sticks, twigs and leaves.

 

Photographed at Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India on 19.10.2014

along with Mom, Sharang, Aunt Ramani and Uncle Achyut Ramaiah.

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens.

 

References:

1. Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (Second Edition). ISBN: 978-0-19-807722-0.
2. K.N.Dave (2005). Birds In Sanskrit Literature (Revised Edition). ISBN:81-208-1842-3.
3. Indian bird names - BNHS-ENVIS 
4. ARKive.org

Greater flamingo (Juvenile): Phoenicopterus roseus

Greater flamingo (Juvenile)
Phoenicopterus roseus

 

Greater flamingo: Phoenicopterus roseus

IUCN: Least Concern

 

 

Photographed at Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan, India on 18.10.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens. 

Black-shouldered kite (Juvenile): Elanus axillarus

Plate 1: Black-shouldered kite (Juvenile):  Elanus axillarus

Plate 2:  Black-shouldered kite (Juvenile) in flight:  Elanus axillarus

Black-shouldered kite (Juvenile):  Elanus axillarus

IUCN Status: Least Concern

On a grey uncertain day at Tal Chappar.

Mature bird may be seen in this post (Link to blog post) from an earlier birding trip.

The parents of this bird were busy foraging nearby to feed this recent juvenile.

Glad I spotted this bird and added it to my list.

Photographed at Tal Chappar, Distt. Churu, Rajasthan, India on 31.10.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens.



Montagu's Harrier (Juvenile) : Circus pygargus

Plate 1: Montagu's Harrier (Juvenile)
Circus pygargus
Flight, Plumage

Plate 2: Montagu's Harrier (Juvenile)
Circus pygargus
Flight, Underside of plumage

Plate 3: Montagu's Harrier (Juvenile)
Circus pygargus
Crouching over kill of a small bird

Plate 4: Montagu's Harrier (Juvenile)
Circus pygargus
Flight, Face profile and underparts

Rajasthan is a state I have been independently exploring since 1977, from different perspectives. Mostly done by road, main perspectives have been: tourism; observing natural scenery – I love the solitude and shifting scenes of the desert landscape; pilgrimage; to sample authentic cuisine cooked in rural/rustic kitchens; an easy weekend escape from Delhi’s humdrum along with my son; and of course watching wildlife and birding. Through these forays into the state I’ve frequently fallen into the trap of presuming that I’ve seen every inch of it only to be surprised by a new twist. One such inch was Tal Chappar, a wild patch of savanna grassland situated in Churu district.

It is a birder’s paradise – a couple of days spent there can yield a rich list of sightings of species, especially predators.

This is my first recorded sighting of Montagu’s Harrier. An active juvenile who showed me how Montagu’s Harriers hunt, bask, or simply sail the currents surveying their territory. Unfortunately, some of the interesting events happened at a very large distance from me, much beyond the lucid scope of my camera-lens system for pictures of any clarity. For instance, capture of prey and feeding upon it. Or for instance the perched pose. Maybe I’ll be luckier on another trip. That said, fact remains that I saw such events with my eyes (and aids such as binoculars), and that matters more I guess. At least I managed to photograph decent flying images of this bird and other raptors.

Montagu’s harrier:  Circus pygargus

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Pallid harrier and Hen harrier – the former more than the latter - offer challenges to correct identification of Montagu’s harrier, with regard to juveniles, immature adults and adults of both sexes. However, the females and juveniles of Pallid and Montagu’s harriers can be most confusing. At least for me.

It is a winter visitor to large parts of India.

To understand how I identified this bird as Montagu’s harrier (juvenile), it is necessary to broadly know parts of a wing, a diagram of which I shall use from Wikimedia Commons with proper attribution.



Plate 5: Parts of bird's wing
1 = Primary remiges, 2 = Greater primary coverts, 3 = Alula, 4 = Secondary remiges, 5 = Greater secondary coverts, 6 = Median secondary coverts, 7 = Lesser secondary coverts, 8 = Tertiary remiges and 9 = Scapulares
By Muriel Gottrop (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Main Features:

1.      This bird was about 40-50 cms in size and a wingspan close to 100 cms.

2.    First off, the typical facial look (Plate 3 – apologies for poor quality of image), kind of owlish if you know what I mean, identifies this as a harrier of some sorts. We take it up from there and narrow down to the correct diagnosis. Which one is it? What sex? What age?

3.    Plate 4 shows the face in profile – definitely a harrier – and the rufous hue of the undercarriage points us to a juvenile of the species. Combined with the overall colour and pattern, we know this is a first-year juvenile. At this stage, it is difficult to tell the sexes.

4.    We now wait for the bird to climb higher so we can look at the patterns on the underside besides the silhouette in flight. (Plate 2)

5.     As it soars, one can note the darker upper part (back) of the body (Plate 1) and combined with rufous undercarriage, definitely a juvenile.

6.    Let’s refer to the wing patterns (Plate 5) above: Primary feathers that form the ‘hand’ have indistinctly barred bases, unbarred fingers and dark trailing edges. (Plate 2) . This is typical of Montagu’s harrier.

7.     Turning to facial features (Plate 2 & Plate 4): more white around the eye in the case of Montagu’s harrier; deeper white supercilium; broader white cheek extending upto the loreal area in comparison with Pallid harrier; smaller dark ear coverts; only a faint spotted and streaked half-collar around neck in comparison to clear white unspotted round collar in case of Pallid harrier; dark neck sides with streaks instead of solid colour.

8.    Underparts are rufous coloured and show streaks on either side of breast extending up to flank area. (Plate 2 & Plate 4)

9.    Evenly banded tail on the underside (Plate 2) instead of plain underside of tail of Pallid harrier.

 

Glad I spotted this bird and added it to my list. 

Any suggestions and discussions are welcome.

 

Photographed at Taal Chappar, Distt. Churu, Rajasthan, India on 3.10.2014

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens.

 

 

 



Pale Sand Martin: Riparia diluta

Pale Sand Martin: Riparia diluta
ssp. indica

Pale Sand Martin: Riparia diluta
ssp. indica

I found a few Pale Sand Martins sitting on the power cables slicing through the fields of Jajjhar district in the Bhindawas-Khaparwas region. The JLN Escape channel, which takes away the excess water from the wetlands created from influx of water through the JLN Feeder canal system during times of lift irrigation failure, flowed beneath them. I was at a distance of about 20 metres from them, standing on the small stone bridge over the channel. I suspect the martins had carved out their nests in the tall and thick mud mounds banking the channel. As per internet and what I heard from some passerby there, there is a proposal apparently by the local men to line this canal with either tiles or concrete.

As for now,

IUCN Status: Under Review / Least Concern.

Pale Sand Martin:  Riparia diluta . 

 

I suppose the subspecies might be indica. The taxon is under discussion according to Birdlife International (external link) ; however, there is a body of work available including Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp and Richard Grimmett (Avis-IBIS FES).

The Clements Checklist of Birdsof the World, 6th Edition (external link), now maintained by The CornellLab of Ornithology, Cornell University, NY, U.S.A, and published in 2007, has accepted the species in its published checklist of birds.

Global Biodeversity InformationFacility (GBIL - external link) also cites The Clements Checklist while providing details of this species.

Features:

1.      Winter migrant.

2.    About 10-12 cms in size.

3.    Upperparts are brownish-grey

4.    Brown breast-band (The chest pattern is so clear in this bird that I struggled with its differentiation from Riparia riparia. I went by the geographical distribution – though Riparia riparia has been spotted in the region, the commoner subspecies in this region is said to be Riparia diluta. I welcome comments and discussion here.)

5.     Shallow fork in tail. (Favours Riparia diluta as per my knowledge sources. Flight photo might have shown clearly but I did not capture any of worthy quality. Just blurs at that zoom distance.)

6.    The birdcall might have helped differentiate but it was impossible to listen to their call at the distance with noisy tractors, trucks and jugaads with blaring music keeping my ears pre-occupied and me on my toes on that narrow canal bridge. Also, there were other birds. I admit I couldn’t make out the call with any certainty.

7.     The flight pattern was stuttering I suppose. They didn’t fly great distances – just from the mud banks to the wire and back. (Favours Riparia diluta )

Controversies aside, I’m glad I spotted this bird and added it to my list.

Photographed at JLN Escape Channel between Bhindawas and Khaparwas, Distt. Jajjhar, Haryana, India, on 12.10.2014 an hour, or a bit more, after sunrise.

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm Lens