Life At Mitthi

Whi..Whi..Whi… Whi, a quick loud whistling sound heard approaching the tree outside the kitchen, near the waterbody. A distinctly different call from the sweet notes of sunbird, oriental magpie, Indian robin or any of the bulbuls. At first, I expected kingfisher or a variety similar to it since our waterbody has plenty of mollies, which attract such birds. By the time I could get a good look at it, it flew away with its catch. I could not get a glimpse of its prey nor its features. Could only gauge its size and color, which is not sufficient information to identify it. Thereafter, whenever I was in the kitchen, I would keep my ears on guard for the whistle. We had good supply of its food so was assured of it. And as expected it did come again. A small bird, dull grayish brown in color, with a dark cheek patch, a pallid white brow patch above the eye, a strong head and a sharp hooked bill. It fed on dragonflies hovering on the water-body. Announcing its arrival with its pec...

Little Green Bee Eater Gujarati Name : લીલો પતરંગો Hindi Name : पतरिंगा, हरियल This little bird transforms our little garden into a playing field. Performing aerial acrobatics to catch its prey in mid air, almost like the game of 'Quiddich' played at Hogwarts by Harry Potter. Like all bee eaters, this one too has a beautiful green plumage with a dark bluish green on its neck. Though small it appears slightly big due to its elongated central tail feather. It is very interesting to watch this bee eater catch its prey which mainly consists of butterflies, bees, grasshoppers, beetles, mantises, dragonflies, moths etc. It first selects a tree/wire to perch on, at a height not more than 10-13 feet. In our garden it is mostly chooses one of the Gulmohar trees or Fig tree. It then eyes its prey, swiftly goes for it, snaps it and returns to its place on the same tree/wire. For insects which have a poisonous sting (bees) or a hard exoskeleton, it hits the prey on the branch to...

Indian White Eye A slight movement on a neem tree drew my attention while chatting with my daughter. Was it just a gust of wind or was there something I spotted from the corner of my eye? Cutting our conversations short, I tried to confirm my intuition. The movement shifted from one branch to the other and from one tree to the other, the subject camouflaged all the while in the new sprouts of the neem and saptaparni trees. Many times, lost the subject and felt a slight despair. Should I go and get my camera to be prepared for a sudden appearance and may be miss the spotting or should I stay and see it first? I stayed there believing that I might get the chance to click it some other time. And so glad I did not move. Straining my eyes to their last nerve, could see a greenish yellow bird, size of a thumb with a bespectacled look. Had never before see it in all these years. A very restless bird, kept hopping so fast that was difficult to keep track. It ne...

They say it is one of the birds which has adapted well to urbanization. But I could never spot or hear them while staying in the city, neither in Ahmedabad nor in Chennai. My early memories of this bird are of the times when we have been to Himachal or Uttarakhand. Hence I thought they were only found in colder regions of India. So, when I first spotted a bulbul in my garden, i was overjoyed. Thankfully it was not a one-off sighting, they are regular visitors at Mitthi. One of the most talkative bird with a very distinct voice. Ptigroo, ptigroo… or pic pic ptigroo…. almost like big rain drops falling onto some metal! No wonder the Persians named the bird – BulBul- after the word ‘BolBol’ meaning a Nightingale. An apt name even by its Hindi meaning (which is talkative). 😊 Bulbul is a monogamous bird and usually bonds for life. I have mostly seem them in pairs. When one of them is not around, their call is distinctly different. The way it tilts its head before calling...