Birdielog - Apr2007(2)

Am not able to make daily entries. So much for those - hmmmm :(

Meanwhile, today's roster includes two or three interesting birds:

1.) A couple of House Swifts, flying really high up in the Richmond Town area. I remember when I would watch birds as a child, there were so many of these within the heart of town. You never saw them perched anywhere, but always flying real high up. Numbers seem to have dwindled considerably.

2.) What I suspected to be a White-Breasted Kingfisher, flying high up right in the heart of the Richmond Town area. Two things about this - one, these birds look confusingly like mynas in flight, unless you can get close enough to see the colours; two, I heard a call like an extremely musical Black Kite, and then saw this beauty. Will confirm this in a day or two if this beauty returns to Richmond Town :)

3.) Tickell's Flowerpecker. This diminutive beauty is very difficult to actually see, because there is a call very confusingly like a sunbird's call. To say that this bird is far more heard than seen would be about 200% accurate :)

From my normal bird habitat, nothing much to report except for the fact that the Orioles, Warblers and Starlings have certainly left and gone up North.

Other than this, I need to record my birdlog for my Kerala trip this weekend. The range would be Kottayam - Tiruvalla, and in particular Vembanad Lake. I present the sightings in no specific order, and leave the reader to his own conclusions:

• Many, many, many Black Drongos. Extremely numerous.
• Lots of Cormorants, both Great and Little :)
• Quite a few Herons, Terns, Egrets and Ducks - will provide a clearer idea in the next few days if possible
• Greater Coucal (first time I ever saw one)
• White-Breasted Kingfisher (numerous)
• Common Kingfisher (first time I ever saw one)
• Lesser Pied Kingfisher (first time I ever saw one)
• Black-Shouldered Flameback? (one of the Flamebacks, anyway)
• Black-Headed Oriole (first time I ever saw one)
• Red-Vented Bulbul (first time I ever saw one)
• Oriental Magpie-Robin

Also did see:

• Lots of what I presumed to be Weaver nests on the coconut trees bordering Vembanad Lake. There were some little birds chirping about, too far away for accurate identification. Probably one of the Weavers.
• Some House Sparrows in one of the railway stations. I record this sighting because they keep getting rarer. Hmmmmm..........:):)