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...

Oriental Honey Buzzard Gujarati Name : મધીયો બાજ Hindi Name : Madhuya Ahmedabad gets really hot in summers ( around 45-48 deg Celcius). Even though we stay indoors, it becomes unbearable without air conditioners. Even animals around our house, dogs, cats and birds reduce all their activities post 11 am only to resume at around 4 or 4.30 pm. So, it is unusually quiet in the garden in afternoons in this season. Last week, while busy with my meeting online one evening, sitting near a window, I saw a shadow of a large bird flying by. Suddenly, all the birds dispersed frantically for shelter. It was definitely a predatory bird which had come for surveillance. I wanted to leave the desk and investigate but that would seem so unprofessional. Oriental Honey Buzzard So, once I was disengaged, I leapt for my camera to take a chance and see if the bird was still around. Fortunately, things had not returned to normal out there. Changing into dull earthy colored clot...

Gujarati Name : તેતર , ધુળીયો તેતર Hindi Name : सफ़ेद तीतर Most of the common birds of India such as parrots, sparrows, peacocks, crows etc play a significant role in our folklores in the form of tales, poems, proverbs or riddles. One of the most popular riddle has Grey Francolin as the lead. तीतर के दो आगे तीतर तीतर के दो पीछे तीतर आगे तीतर पीछे तीतर बोलो कितने तीतर The first time I heard this, I admit, I paid little attention to ‘Teetar’ and was least interested in how it looked. Even though most of my childhood summers I have spent in villages (Baramati) in Maharashtra or (Kapadwanj) in Gujarat, I had never seen nor heard this bird. The first time I heard it was in 2016, when we moved to ‘Mitthi’. For many months I could only hear their call ….’ka…tee..tar…ka…tee…tar’ or ‘ pa…tee..la…pa…tee..la’ while they remained camouflaged. These birds come to feed on the grains we scatter for them at the far end of our garden. One quiet afternoon, a casual glance towards the feeder...

  Hindi name : करांकुल, काला बाझ Gujarati name : કાળી કાંકણસાર                                                                                                                 A rare visitor in a non-monsoon season, this one dropped by last week. Of the 3 species of Ibis found in India, this one prefers an open country side , a little away from the water body, and that explains the stopover at Mitthi. It is also often seen feeding with egrets and other birds on agricultural land being tilled. A crimson red squarish caruncle on its featherless head is what gives it its distinctive name. A large blackish brown bird with blue-green gloss, is difficult to go unnoticed but since they are silent...

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...

Common Iora Male Common Iora Male Gujarati Name: શૌબિન્ગા, શોબિગી Hindi Name: शाऊबीगी What would you do when you are chatting with a close relative, discussing ‘Lockdown’, and you spot an unfamiliar bird few feet away across the French window, in the garden? Cutting short would have been rude and the conversation was nowhere close to an end. So, keeping the person engaged in our talks through monosyllables and on speaker, I tried to get a better glimpse of the bird, all the while remaining indoors. Over my last few months of studying behaviors of various birds, I have noticed something which was very unusual or rather unknown to me. Birds also like to follow a 'Schedule' and 'Pattern'. Post my first sighting of Iora on my purple Kachnar tree at around 4pm, I kept a check on their visit in the same place at around same time. And I was pleasantly surprised to see them visit it again, almost daily. Due to the temperature going up, their timings ...

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...