birds

The Eurasian Magpie, or as I like to call it, shalgam (turnip).

Portraits of #birds in their #natural #habitat in #Dhanaulti, just the way I found them, without any filters or cropping.

Somewhere in #Dhanolti. Some time this summer.

The bird is some kind of thrush, I think. Can you help me identify it?

#dhanaulti

Is this the Russet #Sparrow? Seeing sparrows after so long; I don't see them in the cities any more at all.

The Scaly #Thrush . Now that's a #bird I didn't even know existed.

The #Himalayan #Bulbul, बुलबुल

And here we have an Indian Grey #Hornbill #pair.

Wait patiently as this #bird slowly reveals itself to you. The Indian Gray #Hornbill. I don't know why some people find it an ugly bird. I don't. Do you?

Good old White-throated #Kingfisher. Travel all the way to #Rishikesh but find the same old Kingfisher that I see in the cities also. So many Kingfishers in India (https://www.natureinfocus.in/animals/get-to-know-india-s-kingfishers) but all I get is this fellow.

So many #Baya #Weaver #nests. #Birds of #Fagsi.

The #Baya #Weaver #weaves its #nest. #Birds of #Fagsi.

I don't like how Insta crops my pics.

#Baya Weaver, बाया, सोन चिड़ी. #Birds of #Fagsi.

An Indian Yellow Tit performing an electrical inspection in the #evening light.

And an Indian White Eye observing the Tit with consternation, from a safe distance.

The White Eye has a name in almost every Indian language: https://maghaa.com/indian-white-eye/

The Rufous Sibia, spotted this rainy morning in #Dhanolti. #Rufous means #बादीमी in #हिंदी। It is a #bird of the lower #Himalayas.

So apparently I was out #birding two years ago, in #Pangot. Chasing angry wet #birds

The Southern Plains Grey #Langurs also took full advantage of the foliage in the forests of #Dandeli to hide.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #indiaclicks

This pair of Malabar Hornbills was way up in the trees, well hidden. And it was a cloudy morning. Hence I've had to do some post to bring out the details of the pics.

#birdsofindia #birds #Dandeli #Goa #nature #naturephotography

In January we went camping in Dandeli. There we met the Grey Malabar Hornbill, a.k.a. dhanesh, gobre vaayre or kaldal hakki.

#birds #goa #Dandeli #birdsofindia #nature #naturephotography

A sea eagle story. In four parts.

गए तो थे हम सुबह सुबह बत्तख देखने। मगर बत्तख हमें देख कर भाग गईं तो हम भी कमल देखकर लौट आए।

Lots and lots of birdies in a tree

The Green Bee-eater, पतेना

Icarus

The Oriental Magpie-robin

Sind Sparrow. गौरैया।

"Whaddaya say buddy. Do we go in?"

We were lucky to come across a hoard of birds and animals, clustered around the foliage under a tree. I suppose an animal had died there, and they were all having a morning feast. We saw what we thought was a dog, but @upcycling.artist identified to be a jackal. What luck!

The Greater Coucal.

Rufous Treepie.

Can you identify the trickery involved in this photograph.

Black Drongo. Contemplative.

"Sharing is caring". "No, you're the wrong species, dimwit. Birds of a feather flock together. Look at yours and look at mine."

Actually the Robin did not reply to the Sunbird. If it opened its mouth, the insect would be gone.

"I have the goods. In my mouth."

This Indian Robin flitted about for a very long time, from branch to branch, tree to tree, with its catch in its mouth. Was it trying to impress someone?

The Purple Sunbird, female. I've always only photographed the male before, with its striking colours.

And the cuckoo flies away

Would you mind if I posted another couple of pics of the Jacobin Cuckoo. This is the first time I've seen this bird and it is indeed spectacular.

The Jacobin Cuckoo. In India it is considered to be the harbinger of rain. Indeed it had rained in Gurgaon the night before I captured this pic.

तोता। Rose-ringed Parakeet. Just look at the details on the feathers.

Black Kite. चील। This one was really close - so close that I had trouble taking a picture.

It was scavenging from a garbage bin - which is sad.

Binge watch the entire series, they said. What could go wrong, they said. Now look at me eyes.

Blue Whisting-thrush. Again, not a crow as you might assume.

Are you having trouble spotting me on the tree? That's the whole point genius. Its called camouflage.

Just hanging about. Doing my thing. Being plump.

Ninja. I'm a ninja girl. Hai-ya!

Ei! Freddie! Are we doing this or what?

See boss, the thing is, it's the little one's birthday today, and I don't wanna get home all wet and mottled.

The mooning continues. This time by a White-throated Laughingthrush.

My face isn't just stuffed full of food. My face is stuffed IN food. Nom yum yum.

Did you think I'm done with his majesty the Magpie? You thought wrong.

Behold the long tail of the Red-billed Blue Magpie

Excuse me while I puff up my chest to thwart any other birds trying to get at this buffet.

The Red-billed Blue Magpie, y'all. Wait till you see its tail in the next post.

A Plum-headed Parakeet couple, om nom nomming. Repeat after me - awwwwwwwww

La Plum-headed Parakeet. तोता.

I'll be walking.
Walking in the rain.

The Oriental Turtle Dove. Who names these things? Isn't कबूतर enough?

Le Plum-headed Parakeet, तोता. Who refused to eat the plums I offered it, eating बाजरा (millet) instead.

Not your ordinary crow. This is the Grey Treepie.

You have been #mooned

See, bite, gobble.

These pictures of the lesser yellowpane were taken at what is called a "hide". After all the traipsing through rainy Uttarakhand forests with leeches and bugs harassing us, we thought it would be nice to just sit back and have the birds come to us.

A hide operates by offering food to birds. The birds flock to the food and you can observe them from up close. Its what we do in our backyards all the time, and think nothing of. But when you do it commercially, next to a forest, you risk turning wild birds into feral ones.

Not an experience I'd repeat again, most probably. Even though the food offered was just fruit and बाजरा.

When wet in the rain, all birds resemble a chicken 😂

Lesser yellownape woodpecker, कठफोड़वा

See how beautiful the feathers are, of a yellownape woodpecker (कठफोड़वा)

The lesser yellownape woodpecker. कठफोड़वा.

#Mantis. Yes this pic is about the last moments of a mantis. The #Black-headed #Jay is incidental.

M1 calls this Big Chungus Burdus. Mind it.

A Black-headed Jay with a grub in its mouth

Yes yes yes! Finally captured a Khalij Pheasant, तीतर.

One last pic of the Verditer Flycatcher

A Common Tailorbird making its getaway

The Black-throated Bushtit, all wet in the rain.

The #Myna might be Common, but that doesn't make it any less majestic than other birds. मैना.

Kindly appreciate the funky hairstyle of the Himalayan #Bulbul बुलबुल

The humble #sparrow. But then, where do you get to see it in the cities any more.

M1 wants you to consider the possibility that not all birb pics are aligned center

The Verditer Flycatcher, with what else but a fly in its mouth

The Verditer Flycatcher, on its way to catch a fly

A wet and hungry floof with food in its maw

The Eurasian Jay

Peek-a-boo

A Blackbird giving poses in the jungle

It's swallow time again

Yellow-breasted Greenfinch. Got a better look today.

Yellow-breastfed Greenfinch in the house, y'all

Are these two the same species of birb?

गोबदू wren's सिलहुट्टी (silhouette)

To perfectly capture a swallow in flight is a life goal 😁

Babblers don't leave me alone anywhere

The Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher. Leeches are common in the Himalayas during the rains, and we should have been more careful. When M1 finally looked down to see leeches crawling all over our feet, our panic must have been a comic sight to see. The only time before that I've had leeches on me was in 22 years ago, in the Western Ghats. And it wasn't fun even then. Ugh.

The Grey-winged Blackbird. We got attacked by leeches while photographing this guy.

The Pied Bush Chat

The Verditer Flycatcher

Cormorant, drying its wings

Is it not a beauty? Why does it not impress children? Perhaps if it sported an LCD screen...

Peahen

Ménage à trois

The many moods of गौरैया

गौरैया

Be the first to identify all the sparrows in this picture, and get a free pass to 2021.

Kites. पतंगें.

Unidentified butterfly

Parakeet

Do you see it?

Hello passerby 👋🏽

Tawny flanked Prinia

Hard to recognise. Google Lens says that's a tit.

कठफोड़वा

Is that a wren?

Himalayan Bulbul

Bulbul in a tree

Dove 🕊

And a closer look at that bird

Here is another bird in a beautiful tree

And here's the birdy on the tree I was going after.

Here is a closer look at tapes-tree

Time to go home

Photo by Nilay

A bird flits across the newly born Ganga

#uttarakhand #uttarakhandheaven #bird #travel #photo #nature #wanderlust #wild #photography #photo #incredibleindia #travel #travelphotography #travelindia

#Birds of a feather

Same pic, rotated. Let's see which one people like more.

Filters always mess with clouds. Hence, #nofilter

When the AQI is green, even Delhi skies paint beautiful paintings.

#eagle #snowcappedmountain #Spiti #SpitiValley #Kaza

Somewhere in Delhi

बताइए कहाँ

Spot billed duck spotted

घरौंदा