Valley School, Bngbirds 4th Sunday outing, 241223: email to Bngbirds io egroup
As usual, the year picks up speed; after limping through the frist few days and weeks, things speed up, and before we know it, our daily calendars have just a few pages left to tear off!
It's Christmas Eve, and we all gathered together in the comfortably nippy morning at the gate of Valley School, and after the most-of-the-group photo was taken, we divided ourselves into two groups, some electing to follow Chandu, Garima, and Ulhas with his super new scope, and others with me...Seshadri, Vidisha, and MBK (that's our affectionate way of referring to Dr M B Krishna) Our group walked towards the west, on the concrete path that was laid last year.
Well, all of us had actually started the birding even before the photograph, with an Indian Grey Hornbill calling for attention (and getting it in full measure!) on a faraway tree. As we started, a Golden Oriole, and a White-bellied Drongo, sitting far off, glinteed golden yellow in the sunlight and we set off hoping to see more.
We were not disappointed! A White-throated Kingfisher flew past in a flash of cobalt blue; a Coppersmith Barbet came, perched on top of a bare tree for a while, allowing us to look and click, before flying off.
It looked as if we might not even be able to complete the trail, as at several points, we stopped to look at many birds which were out looking for their morning meal (or drink, if we consider the nectar from the flowers, especially from a Silk Cotton Tree...where we saw several species of birds!) Out came the binoculars and the bazookas, and all of us had a great time feasting our eyes while the birds feasted their little tummies. A group of Sunbirds...Purple, Purple-rumped, and a Loten's pair with their oversize beaks; Indian White-eyes. Drongos (both the A and B variety, that is, Ashy and Black!), Spotted and Laughing Doves, some LBJs or Little Brown Jobs as we call the Warblers, and Pale-billed Flowerpeckers Tawny-bellied Babblers glowed orange in the light.
We heard several birds as well. Puff-throated Babblers (which later showed themselves too), Yellow-billed Babblers, a solitary Yellow-eyed Babbler....I was trying to enumerate the birds names and it sounded as if I was babbling, too.
A Peacock, with a fresh long tail growing out, perched in the tree and made its harsh call, as did an Iora. Overhead, Pond Herons, Little Egrets, and the common raptors of our skies, the Black and Brahminy Kites, made their appearance evey now and then. I do think I saw an Orange-headed Thrush in the clutter, but since it was too brief and no one else saw it, I did not include it in my checklist.
Rose-ringed Parakeets squawked at each other. We got a few Jungle Mynas as well as our usual Common ones. Some less usual sightings were the Black-headed and the Large Cuckooshrike, and a Grey-bellied Cuckoo which vanished quickly into the foliage.
Nor were birds the only lovely sights. We saw many Common and Crimson Roses, some Pansies, several varieties of Blues (Lyacaenids as they are called) and Grass Yellows, dotting the air and adding to the beauty of the scene.
And...the scene was so beautiful! There are times when I don't need to look for birds, butterflies or insects at all; the greenery around, the golden morning sunlight falling in oblique rays and dappling the path, the trees bending over the sluggish stream at the brigde...I would love a walk in the School campus any time, even if I was told I could not see anything else! I pointed out several interesting trees, plants, and medicinal herbs to those around me. I find them fascinating, though I am never sure if my audience shares my enthusiasm or are just giving me a patient hearing until they can scan for the next bird!
Well, we speeded up a little after we crossed the bridge, and coming via the large Fig tree and quickly noting several kinds of spiders, grasshoppers and Katydids, we arrived at the canteen area, where chai and raagi biscuits were kindly provided by the School. Contentedly munching, we exchanged notes...but all conversation suddenly stopped as the Ficus tree suddenly sprouted Small Minivets and two flashy Paradise Flycatchers (we had already got a great haul of Flycatchers on our trail). This gave rise to what I call the BLD ...Bird Location Dialogue..."Where? Where?" ..."Can you see that thick horizontal branch? Look at the Y behind it and look further...".... "OHHHH! YESSS!" (the last indicating that the person had located the bird, too! )
Ulhas brought out the Super Scope. Obviously, that is not the brand name, but why I call it so is because this model can a. Track birds as they move, and b. instead of each person having to put their eye to the eyepiece and peer in for a look, the image is displayed on an electronic pad, allowing several people to see the bird being focused on. What a marvel! (I am hoping to see more of it tomorrow on my walk at Saul Kere, where Ulhas has promised to come with it.)
He decided to do a panoramic shot and there were moments of mirth. First, we all sat still while the device slowly rotated (we don't know which part of the rectangular device mounted on the tripod, had the camera!) ...and Ulhas announced that this was not successful. Swarna took a mobile shot, remarking that there was nothing like old technology...but Ulhas ried a second time...only to have what I dubbed the Green-backed Canteen Bird (a lady in a green coverall, who was going to collect the chai/biscuits from the canteen!) walked across, all unaware of her photobombing and our silent and intent stares at her. His third attempt, which we patiently sat through, was successful, and we felt very "Big Brother is watching us" as the device panned across. We hope to see the video shortly...Ulhas will tell us where he is posting it.
We had a discussion about the breakfast venue; we have not been very happy with Paakashala lately, so we went up to Udupi Garden, a little further on Kanakapura Road, It was terribly crowded, so we all sat where we could and yet found time to chat, laugh and joke with each other as we downed our regular breakfast items. We dispersed hapoily, full of the warmth not only of the camaraderie of the nature-loving community, but also of the sun, which does not seem aware that this is winter in Bangalore!
Here are the things I have recorded:
eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156980027 (70 sp)
iNat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-12-24&place_id=any&user_id=deemopahan&verifiable=any (http://tinyurl.com/2brmh6mh )
Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720313579577/ (26 photos)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160301052813878&type=3
I have made a blogpost of the morning's outing (I regularly maintain regular records these days) on LiveJournal (which I have used since 2005 and is now a Near-Dead Journal!) at
https://deponti.livejournal.com/1435955.html
backed up to WordPress as always, at
https://deponti.wordpress.com/2023/12/24/valley-school-bngbirds-4th-sunday-outing-241223/
Read only if you have the time and the inclination...this is just something I maintain for my own reference.
Cheers, and wishing you the best for the last few days of 2023,
Deepa.
It's Christmas Eve, and we all gathered together in the comfortably nippy morning at the gate of Valley School, and after the most-of-the-group photo was taken, we divided ourselves into two groups, some electing to follow Chandu, Garima, and Ulhas with his super new scope, and others with me...Seshadri, Vidisha, and MBK (that's our affectionate way of referring to Dr M B Krishna) Our group walked towards the west, on the concrete path that was laid last year.
Well, all of us had actually started the birding even before the photograph, with an Indian Grey Hornbill calling for attention (and getting it in full measure!) on a faraway tree. As we started, a Golden Oriole, and a White-bellied Drongo, sitting far off, glinteed golden yellow in the sunlight and we set off hoping to see more.
We were not disappointed! A White-throated Kingfisher flew past in a flash of cobalt blue; a Coppersmith Barbet came, perched on top of a bare tree for a while, allowing us to look and click, before flying off.
It looked as if we might not even be able to complete the trail, as at several points, we stopped to look at many birds which were out looking for their morning meal (or drink, if we consider the nectar from the flowers, especially from a Silk Cotton Tree...where we saw several species of birds!) Out came the binoculars and the bazookas, and all of us had a great time feasting our eyes while the birds feasted their little tummies. A group of Sunbirds...Purple, Purple-rumped, and a Loten's pair with their oversize beaks; Indian White-eyes. Drongos (both the A and B variety, that is, Ashy and Black!), Spotted and Laughing Doves, some LBJs or Little Brown Jobs as we call the Warblers, and Pale-billed Flowerpeckers Tawny-bellied Babblers glowed orange in the light.
We heard several birds as well. Puff-throated Babblers (which later showed themselves too), Yellow-billed Babblers, a solitary Yellow-eyed Babbler....I was trying to enumerate the birds names and it sounded as if I was babbling, too.
A Peacock, with a fresh long tail growing out, perched in the tree and made its harsh call, as did an Iora. Overhead, Pond Herons, Little Egrets, and the common raptors of our skies, the Black and Brahminy Kites, made their appearance evey now and then. I do think I saw an Orange-headed Thrush in the clutter, but since it was too brief and no one else saw it, I did not include it in my checklist.
Rose-ringed Parakeets squawked at each other. We got a few Jungle Mynas as well as our usual Common ones. Some less usual sightings were the Black-headed and the Large Cuckooshrike, and a Grey-bellied Cuckoo which vanished quickly into the foliage.
Nor were birds the only lovely sights. We saw many Common and Crimson Roses, some Pansies, several varieties of Blues (Lyacaenids as they are called) and Grass Yellows, dotting the air and adding to the beauty of the scene.
And...the scene was so beautiful! There are times when I don't need to look for birds, butterflies or insects at all; the greenery around, the golden morning sunlight falling in oblique rays and dappling the path, the trees bending over the sluggish stream at the brigde...I would love a walk in the School campus any time, even if I was told I could not see anything else! I pointed out several interesting trees, plants, and medicinal herbs to those around me. I find them fascinating, though I am never sure if my audience shares my enthusiasm or are just giving me a patient hearing until they can scan for the next bird!
Well, we speeded up a little after we crossed the bridge, and coming via the large Fig tree and quickly noting several kinds of spiders, grasshoppers and Katydids, we arrived at the canteen area, where chai and raagi biscuits were kindly provided by the School. Contentedly munching, we exchanged notes...but all conversation suddenly stopped as the Ficus tree suddenly sprouted Small Minivets and two flashy Paradise Flycatchers (we had already got a great haul of Flycatchers on our trail). This gave rise to what I call the BLD ...Bird Location Dialogue..."Where? Where?" ..."Can you see that thick horizontal branch? Look at the Y behind it and look further...".... "OHHHH! YESSS!" (the last indicating that the person had located the bird, too! )
Ulhas brought out the Super Scope. Obviously, that is not the brand name, but why I call it so is because this model can a. Track birds as they move, and b. instead of each person having to put their eye to the eyepiece and peer in for a look, the image is displayed on an electronic pad, allowing several people to see the bird being focused on. What a marvel! (I am hoping to see more of it tomorrow on my walk at Saul Kere, where Ulhas has promised to come with it.)
He decided to do a panoramic shot and there were moments of mirth. First, we all sat still while the device slowly rotated (we don't know which part of the rectangular device mounted on the tripod, had the camera!) ...and Ulhas announced that this was not successful. Swarna took a mobile shot, remarking that there was nothing like old technology...but Ulhas ried a second time...only to have what I dubbed the Green-backed Canteen Bird (a lady in a green coverall, who was going to collect the chai/biscuits from the canteen!) walked across, all unaware of her photobombing and our silent and intent stares at her. His third attempt, which we patiently sat through, was successful, and we felt very "Big Brother is watching us" as the device panned across. We hope to see the video shortly...Ulhas will tell us where he is posting it.
We had a discussion about the breakfast venue; we have not been very happy with Paakashala lately, so we went up to Udupi Garden, a little further on Kanakapura Road, It was terribly crowded, so we all sat where we could and yet found time to chat, laugh and joke with each other as we downed our regular breakfast items. We dispersed hapoily, full of the warmth not only of the camaraderie of the nature-loving community, but also of the sun, which does not seem aware that this is winter in Bangalore!
Here are the things I have recorded:
eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S156980027 (70 sp)
iNat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-12-24&place_id=any&user_id=deemopahan&verifiable=any (http://tinyurl.com/2brmh6mh )
Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720313579577/ (26 photos)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160301052813878&type=3
I have made a blogpost of the morning's outing (I regularly maintain regular records these days) on LiveJournal (which I have used since 2005 and is now a Near-Dead Journal!) at
https://deponti.livejournal.com/1435955.html
backed up to WordPress as always, at
https://deponti.wordpress.com/2023/12/24/valley-school-bngbirds-4th-sunday-outing-241223/
Read only if you have the time and the inclination...this is just something I maintain for my own reference.
Cheers, and wishing you the best for the last few days of 2023,
Deepa.