Aha, everyone who is NOT interested in birding/birdwatching…off to the next post in the friends’ list please!

On Saturday, Anush,Arun,Jaimon, Krish,Mahesh and I went to Lalbagh. The object of our quest was the Mottled Wood Owl that many birders have recently seen in Lalbagh. Of course, Mrs Murphy never goes with high expectations, preferring to appreciate whatever comes her way…but this time, after we had done a lot of other birding (including the SSO’s…Sainath’s Spotted Owlets, for those with memories worse than mine…Golden Orioles, and so on) we went to the area where they were supposed to be, and found….one number Mottled Wood Owl,which, JUST as I reached the tree, was mobbed out of it by the crows! We stood disconsolately around for a few minutes until one of us had the idea of looking in the direction it had flown, and saw the owl, sitting in the casuarina tree nearby. The light was (of course…!) behind it, but I managed this picture…

Just then, more crows arrived to mob the poor bird (which they continued to do as long as we were there) and it flew right back to the tree where we first saw it, and then we tried our level best to get past the branches and twigs.... And then here was a nice side pose: And a pose to the other side, too: And why was the owl looking this way and that? To see whether the other one would join in, that's why! Here they are, partly hidden behind the foliage: They seemed a little more settled, in spite of those crows....

And to show that they were quite comfortable when we reluctantly left, here’s an image I call, Awake and Asleep….