I decided I’d attend the Lalbagh outing this meeting (though I was missing a lovely trip to Maidanahalli that all my friends seemed to be going on! …and of course, when I arrived at Lalbagh, the mist was still upon the waters of the lake:

Much later, when the mist lifted, I got to see this

CRAB:

and this SPOT-BILLED PELICAN floating lazily on the lake: It was nice to see the CORMORANTS and the pelican together on the lake: this ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET seemed to enjoy posing for us! One of the sights that amused all of us was this THREE-STRIPED PALM SQUIRREL flat on the trunk of a historic mango tree. Historic mango tree? Yes. Here's why: We all saw, and no one was able to identify, this huge flower: Update: has identified it for me! It's the Solandra maxima or the GOLDEN CHALICE VINE. Thank you! It was nice to be able to point to first-time birders, this female ASIAN KOEL, sitting on a tree: Females of other species were also busy calling: This ASHY DRONGO made a lovely picture on the Ficus Benjamina tree: MBK and Swamy told me this was not the usual Rock Bees' hive, but the hive of DESERT BEES: and MBK said probably there had been a fungus attack on one corner. Someone had brought some OSTRICH FEATHERS from Africa, and MBK gave a lot of information about birds' feathers: Here are some of the group in the morning: And they are, in our newly-coined term, being "MBK-ed"! This time, MBK demonstrated how fibres of animal and vegetable origin burn very differently....he used some fibre that one visitor had picked up, and someone's hair, for the demo! One can be sure of learning some little-known facts every time one meets MBK...but the info will be given in his inimitable (and sometimes inscrutable) style! The BAUHINIA PURPUREA has started flowering: </lj-cut> It was a very enjoyable morning, and let me close with the morning light shining through the majestic trees of Lalbagh, one of my favourite spots of Bangalore!