birding

The resilience of birds never ceases to amaze me. All around us, in the face of "development", I see so many birds which manage to adapt to urban life, and live amongst us. The crow, the kite, the myna, the pigeon... these are the common examples, as are cattle egrets and pond herons. But yesterday, at the busiest of places... the Silk Board junction, I saw these beautiful Red-rumped Swallows flying and perching on the wires! Long may our urban birds last!

May 10th 2015, was celebrated as Global Big Day, when, all over the world, birders tried to document as many species of birds as they could in 24 hours.  However, in India, we also  observed Endemic Bird Day on the same date. It’s not every country that can count a lot of endemic birds; we are lucky to have many of them! What are endemic birds? Like any other species of living creatures, endemics are those which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. (we take the south of Asia as the area.)  The tally in India, this year, was 567,…

Krishna Murthy, whose email id is flutekick@gmail.com writes: This incident happened today at Hebbal lake. We went birding today to Hebbal lake in the morning at 7 30 am. I had parked my car just outside on the road (service road) near the lake entrance, (as the parking lot opens only by 9 30 am). I had taken my camera with me and I had left the bag in the car back seat. We returned by 9 30 am and found that the car glass was broken and the bag taken. The bag had lot of camera accessories.   Fellow birders and…

  “My favourite weather is bird chirping weather.” - Terri Guillemets It is a rather rare occasion when people from around the world get together for a common cause. When it happens, it makes for a marvelous spectacle. The Great Global Backyard Bird Count is one such event, where tens of thousands of people, though separated by geography, are one in spirit. What makes it truly spectacular are the sights that these good folks will be witness to.   This weekend marks the 18th edition of the Great (Global) Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Launched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and…

ook release of "The Song of the Magpie Robin. The autobiography of Zafar Futehally" by Dr K Ullas Karanth.    Wednesday 10, December 2014. 6.30    BIC Auditorium, TERI complex 4th Main, 2nd Cross Domlur II Stage, Bangalore 560071   RSVP 98865 99675

Email to the bngbirds egroup: It was very pleasant to be able to go to Kaikondrahalli Kere after a long time and find that, apart from the dumping and levelling going on down one side of it, the lake is generally still well-maintained. An ambling walk of a couple of hours was very productive from the birding point of view, and we watched the nesting behaviour of the Great Cormorants, and the fishing by almost all of the waterfowl. Several juvenile Brahminy Kites, swooping at the surface of the water now and then, provided the raptor touch. The flock of…

Dr M B Krishna writes:   The birthday of Dr Joseph George who started the group birdwatching activities in Bangalore falls on the first of October. It is now over two years since his demise. So it was thought to have a memorial talk for theoccasion. Since Dr George did so much to show that non full time professionals too could be contributing to our knowledge of birds, it was thought Shyamal would be the best person to give the talk for the day. Especially so since Shyamal's recent visits to the museums in London and Tring have given him new perspectives and hearing bits and…

The second Sunday outing of the Bird Watchers' Field Club(BWFC) in Lalbagh had an unexpected event, with a happy ending. U Harish Kumar writes: On Sunday, the 13th July 2014, at our usual 2nd Sunday Birdwatching outing at Lalbagh, an incident happened. A Flying Fox got entangled to a strong thread (probably that of a kite) - and it was dangling down from a top branch of Bottle Brush Tree by a strong thread. It was struggling to get itself free. Just then, the birdwatchers group was passing by. They stopped, and for a change, they stopped looking at the…

Great (Global) Backyard Bird Count this weekend! Bangaloreans, put your plans for this weekend on hold and participate in the Great Global Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)! Or maybe, you could carry on with your plans, so long as you participate in the Great Global Backyard Bird Count! The Great Global Backyard Bird Count is an annual census of sorts, tracking species and number of birds across the world. Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, it was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds. In the past 14 years, tens…

Gubbi Labs as Part of Path Of Mahanadhi River Exploration Initiative Brings in the Cycle Exploration Tour to Kaveri River       Visit the Battle Field of Anglo Mysore WarsThe British achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Sri Rangapatna and storming the citadel killing Tippu Sultan in Action. We will explore history and visit the places of all important historical places – Sri Ranganatha Temple , Jumma Masjid and the Daria Daulat Gardens, Captain Baey’s Dungeon.   Cycle to Visit the Birds of Ranganathittu Cycle Ride will enable you to see the avian life…