My Encounter with the Spring and Summer Birds

 

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 time. In the Initial stage, I was not able to identify most of the calls, except for the ones I encountered in the various cities. Gradually, it took two years to figure out some of their identities.

Most of the birds like Rose Ringed Parakeets, Common Mynas, Jungle crows, Bulbuls are attracted to mangoes and often visit the trees frequently to relish the fruits. Peafowls and Asian koel will find their coarse calls going smoother after relishing the Mangoes on trees. Peafowls stroll often towards the mango trees. There is one opposite my house. Hence, during this season they change their roosting place in a nearby mango tree.

 

Asian Koel call is common in the cities as well as in rural areas. These birds are easy to spot since they are most active in this season. I have seen them often moving in and around the mango trees along with the other birds to relish mangoes.  Koel also relishes the berries of the curry leaves tree.

 Black Rumped Flameback & White Naped Flameback are mostly heard at the onset of the spring and summer season. I have seen them foraging around our premises and garden for invertebrates with their shrill and loud calls in the mornings as well as in the evenings. Black Rumped Flameback calls are often confused with White-throated Kingfisher’s call.

Once My mother mistook Common Hoopoe’s metallic call for the beep sound from the solar inverter. These insectivorous birds are frequent visitors of spring and summer. They forage the garden as well as corners of the premises for insects and lizards. Sometimes it makes a loud tapping sound on the window glass in the afternoon disturbing the peaceful quiet environment.

There are some birds who loved to be hidden in the forest, but not for their calls. One of the most obvious callers is the Common Hawk Cuckoo who starts its shrill ascending calls several times at daybreak, which is an 'alarm clock' of the neighborhood. They sometimes call around the afternoon and evenings too.

 Another caller is a naughty schoolboy whistler I e Malabar whistling thrush, often heard mostly around summer as well as the start of the monsoon season. By the call, I do feel it is a human whistling in a slow and casual manner. The barbets, White-cheeked, and the coppersmith Barbets sometime come out in the morning times, often seen near a water bowl. Most of them call during the daytime.