One day we heard a lot of commotion just outside of our house. We saw 3 or 4 purple sunbirds, red whiskered bulbuls and yellow browed bulbuls at the same location, hovering and squeaking around. Though the possibility of a snake was there, it was ruled out because we saw a crow-pheasant (greater coucal) nearby, which is another enemy and nest raider of the smaller birds. Probably there is some bird nest nearby and the crow-pheasant was after it.

The greater coucal, Centropus sinensis, at the scene of action.

As usual, we took our camera and though the birds were in a distance, captured some photographs. These photographs were taken on 15 Feb 2008, from our home at Kerala. As usual, the photographs were processed and closely checked very late, more than a year later. We were taken in for a surprise. All of a sudden there is a snake in the picture! That too, a long snake with its long tail entwined all over the all-spices tree in our backyard…

The male purple sunbird, cinnyris asiaticus (~ nectarinia asiatica), as you see, is in the breeding plumage. They are glossy purple during breeding time and have brownish upper and greyish-white under sides during non-breeding time. You can see the predating snake sneaking through the all-spices tree on the right.

Birds, especially the smaller ones, have an effective (well, sometimes) defense system against snakes. If one of them finds a snake, they make sure that the whole world knows about it, by flapping and chirping out loud. This brings the rest of the community to the scene of action. Altogether, they make an aggressive attempt to mob and drive the snake away.

Red whiskered bulbuls, pycnonotus jocosus, at the scene of action. We had earlier discovered that the red whiskered bulbuls are nesting nearby. Some of these >> red whiskered bulbul nests were photographed around the same time. So it is of ultimate interest to both these birds to get rid of the enemy off their domain.

Yellow browed bulbul, lole indica, at the scene of action.

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Tags: bird nest, birds, birds of kerala, breeding, centropus sinensis, cinnyris asiaticus, crow pheasant, lole indica, nectarinia asiatica, nest, plumage, purple sunbird, Pycnonotus jocosus, red whiskered bulbul, snake, sunbird, yellow browed bulbul

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“This is my papaya!”

“No, this is mine!”

Reminiscing the great papaya fight of 2005 through an old photograph.

Rufous Treepie and Small Green Barbet competing for the papaya.

Birds of Kerala

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Tags: barbet, birds, birds of kerala, dendrocitta vagabunda, indian treepie, megalaima viridis, papaya, rufous treepie, small green barbet, treepie, white cheeked barbet

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Watercolor painting of an Indian Treepie, also known as Rufous Treepie, dendrocitta vagabunda.

The head, neck and breast of Indian Treepie are a deep slate-grey colour, sometimes slightly brownish. The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The tail is a light bluish-grey with a thick black band on the tip.

The Indian Treepie is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through the branches. Its acrobatic dances on the coconut palm leaf (ola) has given it the name olenjali  in Malayalam.

Original photograph of the Indian Treepie, by rocksea, used for the painting :

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Tags: birds, birds of kerala, dendrocitta vagabunda, indian treepie, olenjali, painting, rufous treepie, treepie, watercolor painting

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Silhouettes of the great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, against a murky sky on a misty September morning at the Periyar National Park, Thekkady.

Each bird seems to be in its own mood… and as you watch them, the mood slowly grows into you… Click on the images to see a larger version and get close to each bird!

Orchestrated nest building… the cormorant parents seem to be moving as in an orchestra, holding the long twig with their beaks. Both male and female actively participate in the nest building process.

Do you know that, in Japan, these cormorants have been traditionally trained to catch fish? The tradition is known as ukai. The necks of the cormorants are tied to the boats, tight enough to prevent swallowing. The fishes are later retrieved by the fishermen.

Location of the Periyar National Park, Thekkady:

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Ceylon Frogmouth, Batrachostomus moniliger, also known as Sri Lanka Frogmouth, at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad. Male and Female.

The Ceylon Frogmouths are nocturnal in nature, and are found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka. Their elusive nature kept their existence under the veil of the dense tropical forests for a long time until Dr. Salim Ali found it at the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary (which has since been named after him) in circa 1930. Later it was rediscovered in circa 1990 by ornithologist K. V. Eldhose, at the same sanctuary. Its occurrence, ethology, nesting, etc. have been documented since. The bird is still elusive, due to its adherence to roosting on surroundings with dried leaves which resembles its color tone and camouflages it well.

My first sighting of the Frogmouth was in December 1999, when the nature group Warblers & Waders organized a bird survey at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad and the near by regions including Bhoothathankettu and Idamalayar. The first night we listened to the exchange of the distinctive calls between the male and the female (which could be easily recorded and mimicked) and we saw one of them at a different location later. The excitement was so much that time, and I took a low resolution photograph of that sighting, but one could never identify a bird in it, because it was camouflaged so perfectly!

The frogmouth pictured above is my second sighting, along with Sarah, in September 2007. The location is adjacent to the watch tower inside the sanctuary.

Tiny, wine glass shaped, Cup Fungi, cookeina sulcipes of the Family Sarcoscyphaceae, against a dark background, at the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad. These cup fungi were located near to the place where we found the ceylon frogmouths in the birds section. Vividly colored in deep red-orange, with a pinkish tone. In these two images you can see the fungi gleaming through the dark.

Sarah capturing the Cup Fungi.

These Cup Fungi are not rare, we have often found them on wet logs around our house premises.

Cup Fungi @ home

Location of the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkad:

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Tags: batrachostomus moniliger, bhoothathankettu, bird sanctuary, bird survey, bird watching, birds, birds of kerala, camouflage, ceylon frogmouth, cookeina sulcipes, cup fungi, dense tropical forests, eldhose, frogmouth, ornithologist, salim ali, sarcoscyphaceae, thattekkad, western ghats

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