BOS2 (Bannerghatta On Saturday, Two)

March 10, 2009

Last Saturday I couldn’t find anyone with a car for birding, so and I got into Bus no. 365 once again, and of course, both the birding and light were lovely...

We started off with several RED-RUMPED SWALLOWS which were sitting on the wire, preparatory to swooping and hawking in the air. Here’s one, singing its sweet morning song:

red-rumped swallow singing bg 070309

There were several JUNGLE MYNAHS, too, with their blue eyes and their "moustache" over their beaks! Photobucket The fruiting and flowering trees are a haven, and a heaven, for hungry birds just now. Here's a WHITE-CHEEKED BARBET, which I call a "greedy fig"! barbet with fig 070309 bg The area near the Herbivore Safari has this very snazzy male ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER, streaming his tail to and fro in the sunlight and dappled shade: 070309 male paradise flycatcher We saw several GREAT TITs on the bark of the trees, pecking at insects: great tit on bark 070309 bg Several GOLDEN-FRONTED LEAFBIRDS were also busy in the foliage. Here's the lovely-looking male: male leafbird 070309 bg And just to show how good the camouflage of the leafbird is, here's the female eating figs amongst the leaves. How quickly can you spot her? female leafbird fig bg 070309 Even that most common bird, the ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET, looks lovely as it flies up to land on the branch! 070309 parakeet flying bg Other things were very appealing, too, in the golden morning light. Here's the resin on a tree, golden amber: resin on tree bark bg 070309 A little WILD JASMINE flower smiled up at us: wild jasmine bg 070309 The CARPENTER BEES were busy, humming amongst these yellow flowers whose name I don't know: carpenter bees bg 070309 I don't know whether to call this dog a domestic one or not...it certainly looked beautiful basking in the morning light! dog on rock bg 070309 The ponds were full of this beautiful "weed" plant, which Karthik tells me is Ipomeia carnea: Ipomea carnea I liked the spotted surface of the pond, it looks like abstract art! surface of pond bg 070309 It was not a great time for butterflies, but we did see this CHOCOLATE PANSY: chocolate pansy 070309 bg and this BLUE TIGER, hanging on to a twig: blue tiger bg 070309 And suddenly, I caught sight of a DINOSAUR, too... 070309 dinosaur bg ha, ha, that's one of the many life-size models which the Forest Dept has put up here and there in the area! (Some of them are not in good shape...this one has a hole in his leg, for example!)

The “catch” of the day, however, was this LITTLE CORMORANT, lit from behind by the glorious morning sunshine, which was trying to tell me (in real fisherman, I-am-telling-the-gospel-truth fashion) how large the fish was, the “one that got away”! :)

the fish that got away bg 070309

“It was THATTTT large!”

Being just a half-an-hour’s bus ride away from my front gate, Bannerghatta is a lovely area to visit in the morning!