Another spiked hair do .....

Nature a perfect artist ....

(perfect wet- gel look )

The crests of birds are of two types  recumbent or recursive . The recumbent crests have feathers that are straight and lie down essentially flat on the head until the bird  fans them out to where they stand out .The recursive is noticeable even when the crest is not fanned out because it features feathers ,that , when lying down curve upward at the tips ,when standing up , often slightly forward toward the front the head.

The Himalayan Bulbul I assume has recursive crests...anybody out there can shed some more light on it , do let me know .

Happy birding ...

With its shades on .....

The sun is playing hide and seek ...hiding behind white candy floss clouds .

 Hope it rains in the coming days .

Have a fun-filled weekend ..

Happy birding ...

Harbinger of rain....

Rain bird 

They are the monsoon birds -harbingers of rain . 

It is a slender ,long tailed , crested black and white bird .

Its call is loud piu-piu-pee-pee-piu .

When I looked up at the sky I could see dark rain clouds hovering over the vast cityscape ..

Eagerly waiting for a drop of rain to fall on the parched earth.

Myriad colors and hues ....

Great barbet 

They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills .

 A pair of Great Barbet moved up the slope and could see them hopping from a branch to another ...

Nature has bestowed it with a palette of colors ...

Happy Birding..

In the wild woods ....

After a long drive of eight hours we reached a quaint village ahead of Ramgarh .
Tucked between the oak and pine forest on either sides is Sonapani (Himalayan village ).We were pleasantly welcomed by the yellow- throated marten jumping between branches .
At the break of dawn headed for a walk exploring the woods , breathing fresh air and that is when I spotted a pair of white crested laughing thrush hopping from one branch to another and off they flew into the thicket of the woods .

The next day I  was all ready to head for the woods in pursuit of the white crested laughing thrush.As we were getting close to the the woods could hear loud chattering of the birds ...ofcourse the crested thrushes were down there in the woods .Decided to go down the slope  and could spot the crested beauties all around me laughing loud in the forest. 

It all began with one bird on the branch singing away to glory and then one after the other about three pairs of crested thrushes began to sing in group chorus .Each bird had its own calls to contribute -result was birds singing in perfect harmony .I was in aww...... actually a thought  flashed my mind , I was witnessing a

''White crested laughing thrush choir ''

Happy birding ..

In the woods ....

The forest was aloud with the calls of the white crested laughing thrush ..

 I'll be back soon with some more clicks of birds from the foothills of Himalayas ...

Happy Birding ..

King fishers cafe ....

The sun god had still not graced
us with its golden rays ,

but I could hear the musical notes of birds in the background .

We decided to sit by riverside,suddenly

 a bird just plunged in the waters and came out with a fish. The confirmation added to my excitement it was the ''crested kingfisher '' resident of the Himalayas .The crested kingfisher is generally spotted by the forested streams and by riversides of Himalyan foothills .

Clean and clear waters are the key factors in the kingfishers survival.The water has to be clean enough for the bird to see its tiny little prey skimming through the surface .

This pond was like a restaurant for the birds ,perched on the branch peering into  the water below .There stood the others as still as the rock ... 

The king just dived into the waters and was back in a flash with the prey in the dagger like bill.Swinging its neck and knocking the prey against the hard rock before swallowing it down 

 Getting over with its morning meal ruffled its feathers and wings and was ready for its next dive ...

So,there they are  perched again on the rock peering through the waters for the silver flash to glide .This pond would  be rated the best by the crested kingfishers .....so many of them could spotted around .

Kingfisher's cafe....Eat ,preen and refresh...

Happy birding....