Birds Near My House

  Dark clouds over the woods                The monsoon in Mysore has been quite harsh in the past 2 years. Once a parched dry landscape in December was unrecognizable in the months of August. The heavy rainfall has made the land here overgrown with greenery, tall grass, and weeds all over the place. The overgrown weeds, grass, and greenery give shelter and protection to some creatures and birds.  Peafowls and other birds like Grey Francolin, Common Hoopoe, etc love to forge amongst the overgrown bushes and trees for various insects and reptiles. This is the season when even invertebrates and reptiles like snakes, and garden lizards move around to find shelter from storms and other predators.  When thunder strikes the onset of a storm, Peafowls are the only species that get excited by the sound. Other creatures are terrified by it. Also, peafowls can detect the sound before the sound reaches the human ears. By the time we ...

  As the cold settles here around the end of October, the environment loses its sparkle when most of the trees lose their leaves, flowers and become bare. So does the grass and few weeds which wither and turn brown. The peafowls are less heard in this season since their call becomes scratchy due to the foggy climate.   However, most of the birds do not lose their sparkle and are remain active during this very season. Several birds migrate here from various places. Two species of Munias are common here. Indian Silverbills and Scaly-breasted Munia . They come in small flocks of 6-10 and forage the fields and meadows around the layout for seeds. They are often seen in groups on the wires around the early mornings of late October. Once I woke up to the low sound of someone plucking grass nearby. I went out to the terrace to check and sighted the tiny birds of sparrow size making a nest with long grass between the wall and 6 running pipes to the...

  A few months after winter leaves the environment dry and parched. Warm weather seeps in and life begins once again with the help of the pre-monsoon rains to bring out greenery on the layout, garden, and trees. Vibrant flowers blossom everywhere attracting all sorts of birds here. This is Spring and it is indeed the most hectic phase of all the seasons. Most of the birds are often seen in this season. When the heat becomes unbearable then it is the peak of Summer. It is indeed the season of Mangoes, the king of the fruits. There are different varieties of mango trees around our layout. We have one in our garden. This is also the season where the water bowls get emptied quickly and need to be refilled at least two to three times a day due to the regular bathing times of all small to medium birds. All the birds’ activities, breeding, and their constant calls begin from early morning till late in the night-time. Sometimes I hear a few unique calls and tunes around this tim...

Rosy Starlings on the tree  On one late winter morning, my mother and I were on the terrace drying some clothes. Suddenly we caught sight of some 100s of birds performing an artwork flying dance in the air (Murmuration) just above the abundant trees of the woods. It was an awe-inspiring scene! We wondered which birds would perform such a flying dance in the air. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera to capture this spectacular moment. Later, these 100s of birds had settled down in the woods just behind our house. They were so boisterous that the woods were filled with constant chirping in the daytime. Twice or thrice, I even focused my binoculars on the trees they had perched, trying to identify these birds but could not find their identity.   Unfortunately, I could not give much time to study these birds. They stayed just for a few weeks in the woods and left the place. A few months later, while I was doing some research on birds came to know that these...

                Babblers - This species is completely new to me. Once I was enjoying the sparkling sunrise on the terrace and working on my laptop. Suddenly, I heard a shrill shriek resembling a call of palm squirrel, just a few feet behind me on the railing. I froze to the spot and turned around to spot a small bird of greyish brown with a pale head. I first assumed it as a Jungle babbler, but it had a shrill and high-pitched call.  Later I came to know it is the Yellow-Billed Babbler with the help of Google search. These babblers are lively, gregarious, and noisy in nature, often come in groups of 6-7 and spend most of their time on our terrace, in the backyard, and around the greenery of our layout.  We refer to them as ‘jingling bells’ as their calls were constant and sound like many ‘Jingle bells’ jingling. They have less fear of humans.          Also, they are the first sp...