Tiny gems of the Forests.....

Only twittering of  birds can pull me out the bed at 5.30 am in the cold morning .I'm obsessed with photographing small songbirds .They are generally  heard more than seen  . It is not a very easy task in the dense forest and thick foliage to spot these birds espically, when they are so busy playing hide and seek .Ok I'm talking about tiny song birds which can be spotted hopping from one branch to another to glean caterpillars and other insects .

Grey hooded warbler

is a species of leaf warbler .There are about 20 species of leaf warblers . They are most famous for the way it ''warbles ''.They are So Small and flit So much making it an impossible task to click these birds .

To click these birds you should have a ''never say die attitude '' quite evident from the video.

And then they grace you with one shot before taking off into the tangled vegetation .....

Will be back soon .Till then ..

Happy Birding  .

Birdie with a cap ......

Grey days have begun to disappear...

my spirits actually soared felt really vibrant and refreshed

 as if after a long hibernation .

So, I decided to pop in to say Hi!!!!

A birdie with a white crown representative of the Himalayan stream avifauna .Rest of the body parts are a glossy black and a chestnut orange .I spotted this bird on the rocks of river Ramganga dashing among the rocks or wading in shallow waters to catch its prey .

Will be back soon with more clicks ...

Happy Birding .

Butterflies of the Himalayas .....

''What the caterpillar calls the end of the world ,

the master calls the butterfly ''

This is going to be a  long ,wordy but a very colorful post to go through ....

Sit back with a mug of coffee ....

I have always been very intrigued by these beautiful two winged  creatures . They could be seen everywhere sailing majestically through the hot air or fluttering from one flower to another . While birding in the foothills of Himalayas I remember an abundance of these flutter-by's...

While writing this post I wondered why this name ''butterfly ''??

 ....name has originated as a contraction of butter-colored flies'' Brimstone butterfly '' first species seen when they awake from hibernation  in Europe...many  more stories to  it . Butterflies are a perfect example of change and transformation so loads of magical folklores associated with it in different societies and cultures .The Native Americans ,Greek , Romans all have different stories to tell. The Zuni people saw butterflies as indicators of weather to come  . The  Japanese view butterflies as souls of living and the dead .

Butterflies are not just beautiful creatures but are crucial bio-indicators . They are barometers of biodiversity and water .Like any creature , a butterfly needs certain conditions fulfilled to survive in a give environment If these conditions are not met , then the butterfly will not leave ecosystem , but the population there will die out .Isn't that really sad .....We are so trapped in our different worlds and chained to our cellphones , internet.... and more .

We in today's world have forgotten the simple pleasures of nature observing a flower bloom and a butterfly come and sit on it with great poise .....

Romancing the rain and dark clouds.......

 Far away from the madding crowd, half a day spent by the side of a pond assimilating all I could in this heaven of peace and watching the pelicans elegantly swimming and romancing the rain.

 The great white pelican is a huge bird and during the breeding season the male has pinkish skin on his face and the female has orangey skin . The male birds are larger and the beak grows in a downward arc ,female bird has a shorter and a straight beak. I assume that this a pair of rosy pelicans swimming in murky green waters ....

 Immature pelicans are grey and have dark flight feathers ....

 Since we have witnessed some good monsoon, so we are going to be graced by some  gorgeous migratory birds in the coming winter. Hopefully, I am going to be back soon with some more clicks of my feathered friends .

Happy birding ....

Acrobatic plum headed.....

I haven't been flexing my photography muscles ....

Will be back soon with some interesting clicks ....

A day with the Bulbuls ....

 Talking of bulbuls... gregarious birds .

They often give me company in the morning when I am in the kitchen cooking up a meal  for my loved ones. In India people  generally throw some grains in the backyard or feed the birds on the roadside .This is where I spotted these birds feeding .

Feeding birds turns out to be a very satisfying and a rewarding hobby . I kept watching the birds observing their behavior and time just flew .....

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 ...