deponti

For some birding friends of mine who, looking at a non-typical tail on a Black Drongo, id'ed it as a Drongo Cuckoo:



Sometimes drongos get a divided tail
Sometimes in this task they fail
If we birders get the id wrongo
It's *we* who're cuckoo, not the drongo!


Here's one pic I took of the BLACK DRONGO, a long time ago:

The BULBs (Bangalore Urban Lady Birders) said they would like an outing to Valley School this morning...I am a member in good standing....so off I went, too!

We found some nice insects to photograph this time; Jai spotted a COTTON STAINER BUG flying along, and when it landed, we snapped it from the front





And from the side!

( a few more images )


As we were turning out on to the main road from the road leading to the Valley School, Jai pointed...and there was this scene of summer and flowers...



What a pity that the Bangalore government is intent on cutting down trees...just look what the trees can give us!


Enjoy the summer in Bangalore, local folks, while I go to the 12 deg Celsius St Louis spring!

We decided that we would go to Valley School on Sunday, and it was a bonus while on our way there, Chandu called up, saying that he and three of his friends were also headed there! I may have seen no lifers, but it was a wonderful morning, and Anush, Madhusmita, Jayashree and I certainly saw a lot of unusual things, if not unusual birds....


Even the usually seen birds have different angles to them; look at the feeding behaviour of some of them!

Here's the female ASIAN KOEL, doing intricate yoga to get at the fruit of the ORNAMENTAL CHERRY tree:




( birds, and other creatures that were very interesting )


The entire area was covered with the rich deep reds of the GUL MOHAR flowers, which is called the May Flower, but is blooming all over in April!





We did see the TICKELL'S BLUE FLYCATCHER but I have posted so many pictures of it, I am not going to repeat it! We also saw the ORIENTAL HONEY BUZZARD.


Trips which are not especially full of drama are still very interesting for the wonderful creatures of "Life Under Foot" that one can see!


Valley School never disappoints me....

As we were returning from the birding session, we found this Banded Kukri (thank you, Seshadri, for the id!)on the path:






The damage near the head made me rather sure that the snake (it's non-venomous) was dead, and that too, because it had been cruelly killed by someone, who then left it on the path. But the others felt that it was alive, and they all photographed it...and then they, too, realized that it was dead.

Somehow the way this snake was killed and left bothered me a lot. I felt very bad about it....just now, I emailed Seshadri about the id and when he gave me the id, I also googled "Banded Kukri" and got this extremely technical (all gobbledygook!) description on

this Wiki link

I had the following conservation with Seshadri, who is normally based in KMTR, or Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (a tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu) but whom I had met yesterday at the Bannerghatta zoo area when he and a group had just finished a herbivore census in the Bannerghatta zoo park....

S: If the snake was dead, you should have picked it up and sent it to me; I would have been able to do a dissection and do a diet analysis. You could have put it in a plastic bag.

D: If you think I am going to carry a dead snake back with me, not knowing where you are and when I can contact you....! ...anyway, I didn't have any receptacle like a plastic bag (I avoid using plastic bags!) with me, either. I only had my camera and my binocs.

S: You could have put it in a camera or binocs pouch.

D. (Shuddering) I didn't have any such pouch with me. (to myself) ..thank goodness!

S: You could have carried it in your hat.

D: My love of wildlife doesn't extend to carrying dead snakes in my hat and going bareheaded in the noonday sun....

(To myself) And I can just imagine the reaction from the kind couple who took me along in their car, and the two others who shared the back seat of the car with me, if I got in with a dead snake in my hat. I might wind up as dead as the snake.

S: Yes, contacting me is difficult, then you would have had to preserve the snake in spirit, and the insides would rot.

D. (Silent and Intensified Shudder.)
to myself: Pastimes that I am likely to detest: Preserving Dead Snakes in Spirit....

S: But this is a good chance to do a diet check.

D. To myself (Forgive the Hindi but it's untranslatable) sAnp nEy kyA khAyA, mujhEy pathA nahin...par usnEy zaroor mAr khAyA thA....

to Seshadri: I felt really bad about the way the snake was killed and left callously on the path, and I was not sure if picking it up would be an ethical thing to do...I felt very bad about it for quite a while....

We insist on killing snakes without bothering to find out if they are venomous or not. Even venomous snakes would rather avoid us and slither off...but where we perceive a threat, real or imagined, we are quicker to strike, than the snake is....

This post is dedicated to mamtanaidu.....who wants to be a herpetologist, that is, one who deals with her pets...

Have been trying out the macro function on the 300mm lens lately....

Here's one shot, taken today morning at Valley School, where I went with the most enthusiastic group of people who just took the JLRNTP in March....

Whoops, forgot the id's. This is the TAWNY COSTER:




Another, taken at the Bannerghatta zoo area yesterday, with Garima,Gayathri,Jainy,Suma and Uma: it's the GRAM BLUE:




The third, also yesterday, it's the CRIMSON ROSE:





Butterflies make good subjects for macro experimentation!

I looked at this photograph of some passion flowers that I took at Valley School:




And it occurred to me, that flowers make good calendars.

So I put up the picture with my thought, on this post on INW , saying that the faded red flowers are Yesterday, the blooming white ones are Today, and the buds are Tomorrow...

And a comment from someone made me think of these words in Hindi...

kal,Aj, aur kal

manAthEy hain yEh phool...

kucch ban jAthEy hai phal...

kucch sookh kar banthEy hai dhool.


(These flowers celebrate yesterday, today and tomorrow...some become fruits, and some wither and become dust...)

Got this from Shyamal. I had forgotten how much it made me laugh the first time I read it, so I laughed all over again!


This is an apocryphal tale naturally. The metal bands used for bird ringing in the US once had the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated: Wash. Biol. Surv. until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:
"Dear Sirs:
While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you, it was horrible."
The bands are now marked Fish and Wildlife Service.

Here's a warbler (possibly BLYTH'S REED WARBLER, possibly not! All those warblers on the bird book pages look exactly alike to me!)





See you lot tomorrow....

I think that I shall never get
A good pic of the Blue-Faced Malkohet.
(Actually, the name of the bird
Is not Malkohet...that's absurd.)
But the stupid Malkoha
Sees my lens... and does Yoga.
It twists and turns and always goes
Into some weird writhing pose.
So I will stop photography
Of that stupid Malkohy....



Blue-Faced Malkoha Valley School 310109


But the colours of Spring...here are the amazing colours on the fresh new shoots on the Banyan tree (yes, that large one right at the end of the open path!)





The stark red of the Scarlet Morning Glory is beautiful, too...





Here's something that someone who is actually 22 years old sent me:



http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/simon_and_garfunkel/leaves_that_are_green.html


Funny how markings on a sheet of paper can move you to tears!

Suddenly, the temperature in Bangalore has shot up after a few days of brrrr-ing...and at Valley School, the signs of Spring have appeared...




In the Western hemisphere, Spring may be a time of release from the clutches of the cold, but here, it's a time when the hot season begins to take hold; especially in Bangalore, where summer arrives earlier than the rest of the country, rather fiercely by mid-February (it also ends with the monsoon, much earlier than the rest of the country!)....but at this time, the mornings are still pleasant.

Several trees are flowering, and the sunbirds take advantage of that...






New life is ...springing forth, and it's a great time to be outdoors!

Now you know why I enjoy my birding trips even if I don't sight a single bird....

Yes, when I get back from Chennai I promise to do my field trip reports on Kaziranga...but I cannot resist, meanwhile, doing my field trip report on Valley School last Saturday, when Vittal , Trupti, Adu, and Trupti's niece Pallavi went off to one of my favourite places....

We met up with sharathm and his friends, and Garima Bhatia and Gayathri Naik, too.

Here are a few samplings:




That beautiful ASHY DRONGO sat on the fruit pod, delicately balanced, and opened the account along with several LARKS, BEE-EATERS, MAGPIE ROBINS and INDIAN ROBINS!

Almost immediately, afterwards, several WHITE-THROATED FANTAIL FLYCATCHERS (you can see how they got their name, at least, the fantail part!) danced around in the bushes, enthralling us:






On we went, to the Banyan tree, where several SMALL MINIVETS (what's the idea of saying both "small" and "mini" to describe what are not very small birds?)



I pointed out the COPPERSMITH BARBET to Pallavi, and she enjoyed looking at the colours:





Pallavi certainly lived up to her reputation of being lucky for bird sightings; this BROWN SHRIKE was proof enough...



Then Vittal got a good shot of the PIED CUCKOO, and we were able to see this COMMON HAWK CUCKOO (which, because of its call, is called the "Brainfever Bird")




This beautiful GOLDEN ORIOLE posed in the sunlight for all of us:





And as we decided to go home, the sight of these INDIAN GREY HORNBILLS flying in in their typical flight pattern was a great bonus:





We also saw two ORIENTAL HONEY BUZZARDS circling in the lower area to the right of the path, opposite the school property; alas, we could not get photographs, but it was a sight to see!

Not bad for a less-than-one-hour jaunt, eh? Thank you Pallavi! :)

My NTP friend (well, that's actually one of the interests we share, but that will serve to identify him!) C suddenly called up on Wednesday, saying he and R were going to Valley School.. I didn't even stop to think if they were inviting me along, I just jumped in, and the poor guys had no choice!

It proved, moreover, to be a real treat, with the light at its warmest, and all the birds (except of course the evil few...more about that later) actually posing in a calm and composed way for us....

Here are C and R, clicking away to glory, and the glory was, the grasses lit up by the morning sun:





( photographs here )


And we found one animal that would predate on all the above...this cat (alas, just the domestic variety, but how sleek and well-fed and totally..feline...it was, as it moved along silently!)




A most enjoyable, sudden trip, and one which recompensed me for this weekend, because I was just too tired to wake up this Saturday in time to go anywhere!

The bird sightings were so varied and lovely that the weekend was a wonderful experience (and you friends thought it was because of your company? cackle, cackle!)....let's see now....we started out, of course, with the CKMP (Crow Kite Mynah Pigeon) and also the Jungle Crow,but then we went on...

Let me start with the end..the very last bird that we saw on Sunday at Ragihalli was this magnificient BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE:







( a wide variety of birds on both days )

We were back on the main road home when I said that we hadn't seen any BLACK-SHOULDERED KITES this time, and alakazam! there one was!





Add the butterflies, the plants, the flowers, the amphibians, the insects, the wonderful greenery, and the people, and that's my recipe for a fabulous weekend! Thank you, everyone who came with me.



*

It's amazing that just when I feel I am not totally ignorant about birds, I start noticing butterflies, and am back to square zero with ids....

I am posting all the photos I have, good, bad (they can't be ugly because they are butterflies!)....and where I have blanks, could you please help out with the ids and be good friends?


Let me start with the known ones like the PEACOCK PANSY:





( LOTS of 'em here, so look only if and when you have time )


no. 9041 is also a PEACOCK PANSY, according to Aditya...





no.9044, a PIONEER, according to Aditya



no.9051,which is a COMMON LEOPARD:




I think that I shall never be
An authority on a butterflea...
What? It's called a butterfly?
Oh, I'll tell you why
I call it that..because I flee
When yet another new one I see!

When I saw this image on my laptop, I *did* try to brush off the ant. So I am very impressed with myself (not for being so dumb but for taking such a snap)..I hope it displays as well on this monitor of yours....






*

The area around the Valley School is one of my favourites; there is never any lack of lovely sights to see. This is the plaque of the Krishnamurthi Foundation Retreat:



The birds we saw over the past two weekends were of delightful variety; the most spectacular of them, were, of course, the ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER, which I could not get on camera at all. But other beautiful birds did co-operate a little more; here's a male TICKELL'S BLUE FLYCATCHER:



( LOTS of photographs here; look at leisure )

Two random images I liked very much, to close this. One was of the raindrops on this thorn:





And the other, the lovely pattern this fallen palm trunk made, across the stream:





Looking forward to more birding trips, as winter progresses and more migrants come into Bangalore!



*

One of my favourite spots is the Valley School area.This morning, anushsh, Jaimon, Mahesh ,KM and I went there for a very enjoyable morning of birding....we met up with Garima Bhatia , Gayathri Naik and Madhavi.....more about the birds and animals we saw, later, but here are two photographs of what the morning sunlight looked like through the foliage...





and here's the view of the bridge over the pretty little stream.....




Morning light through the mist is....not to be mist!




*

Due to the constant rain, the paths and slopes at the Valley School area were full of lush vegetation, and the wildflowers were out in their hundreds, too. Ideal conditions for butterflies and insects and all the "et cetera"s that make Life Under Foot so fascinating!

Of course, I am now a nice certified "L board" when it comes to butterfly id's as well. These creatures have got birds beaten hollow. You have the wings-open appearance,and you have the wings-closed appearance, the male, the female, the larva, the pupa...and just when you think you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel it turns out that this is a butterfly which is mimicking another one! GRRRRRR!

Oh, well, following my usual practice of trying for a couple hours or so on the Net,and if I can't get any positive id, ASK (Ask S Karthik), here are some:

A lovely ZEBRA BLUE:




A HEDGE BLUE;




( more flutterby's )

This beautiful, armoured BEETLE was happily going about its business, unaware that it was being photographed at close quarters!






If anyone can give me any help at all with the flower, insect or any other id's, I will be very grateful....that is, I will be full of grate...!

Actually, Garima, who drove anushsh, Gayathri, and me to Valley School, says that the morning was "low" on sightings; yes, indeed, we did not see too many BEE-EATERS, no LARKS at all, and my usual ORIENTAL HONEY BUZZARD had probably gone to visit relatives for the weekend...but what we saw was interesting enough! One of the most leisurely poses was given by this ASIAN KOEL (male) that almost worried us, so contentedly was it sitting in the tree....



( other avians here )


Garima was able to get a photograph of the spectacular white male ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER, but I had to settle for the rufous plumage of the lady:





Next up, the butterflies, insects and others.....

A quickly-organized trip to the Valley School area resulted in a very pleasant Saturday morning indeed; I am trying to get some butterfly ids, but meanwhile, I thought, what better way to begin a Monday than with some beautiful flowers....


Here's a MORNING GLORY with the backlight illuminating it...





( flora )



Lastly, a raindrop caught on bamboo leaves:

What a lovely weekend....I got to go to the Valley School area on both Saturday (with Bharat, Pratima , Vijay etc) and on Sunday ( Mahesh Devarajan and anushsh)....and attended "Dhwani", the annual fundraiser of Bangalore Kidney Foundation . Excellent concerts and birdsong, and on Sunday it was the birthday of Srikrishna, who works for Unitus ...and met Vikram Sampath , too....it was a hectic weekend but extremely enjoyable, with a good meeting for Clean and Green thrown in as well....when, in the middle of an urban park, we had an excellent sighting of a SHIKRA!

Humans singing and birds singing...what more could one want!

Let me start with some of the butterflies, bees and insects I saw over both days (after all, they have the most eye appeal!)

The JEZEBEL on a LANTANA plant:





A WHITE-ORANGE TIP (yes, *some*times butterfly names make sense!)





( more of the six-footers here )

I loved this arching grass over the bee....






Other creatures will follow, but we are moving our office space and I *H A T E* moving, so I am off now....

My daughter and son in law volunteer for Asha For Education .

As we drove back from Chennai to Bangalore, she wanted to visit the Mahatma Gandhi School run by SEED .

We crawled through all the by-lanes of Sriperumbudur town looking for the school and went past this beautiful "chapparam" being renovated for a small local temple:




( more about Sriperumbudur sights, and the SEED school )

And the connection with the oil slick post?

Well, as we were getting back into the car, I noticed the puddle with the oil (or kerosene) slick, and took a photo of another instance where good things like this beautiful abstract pattern take birth in, and because of, the filth that often surrounds us...