Last week, Madhurima, who regularly tracks the birds at Puttenahalli Lake had lots of “good news” for us.
“We had a babies’ day out at the lake. First the Coots brought one of their babies out. A Brahminy Kite spotted it and dived towards it, but unsuccessfully. So no casualties. Later the Coots brought out both their babies. Then the White-throated Kingfishers brought out two juveniles and the Wagtails also presented, what looked like a juvenile. And then, an Ashy Prinia brought out a tiny little Ashy Prinia! It was so tiny that we could not see it with our naked eyes.”
The previous day, she had other exciting sightings.
“When I walked into the lake premises today, I saw a pair of what I think are Black-winged Stilts flying out. Then I saw 2 Purple Herons, followed by a flock of 12 Scaly-breasted Munia and then the Oriental White-eye showed up with the missus. And that was not all, after coming home and zooming into the photos of some Little Grebes that I had taken, I realized that they weren’t Little Grebes at all. They were baby Coots. The Pheasant-tailed Jacanas are still here. Hopefully we will have some Jacana chicks soon.”
Bird babies at the lake (Pics: Madhurima Das)
Black-winged stilts and Oriental White-eye (Pics: Madhurima Das)