Bird Photography: This is a Campus of Birds. They were Always There!

 'Excellent collection of birds', people comment, and ask, 'where do you find them in this city?' I taking a believable posture and tone proudly say, ‘right in the campus where I live' -St. Anthony's Friary campus, Koramangala, Bangalore. The truth is, every campus in our city is home to numerous birds, if only we had the time and patience to see them. These are natural inhabitants of our city. They unceremoniously survive in the remaining green cover of our city.

We see birds flying by, they are often nameless and colourless in our vocabulary. Spend a little time seeing them, and we gradually realise, they are not the same. Spend a little more time with them, we will soon know even the most obvious about them is not accurate; even what we think about the most common birds. For example, we say, 'crows are black', but now I know that the crows I see are all not the same, all crows are not black –there are house crows and large billed crows; and they are quite distinctive. There are common mynas and jungle mynas, they are different too; and equally distributed. May be we are not excited to see differences. Or perhaps, we are not excited to even see. 

It is one of the positive offshoots of Covid-19 lockdown. I was limited to the campus like a child left in a daycare centre. The gates were closed. As I took regular strolls through the campus, I began to look within. The campus came alive, buzzing with winged friends.

At first I could see birds but could not capture them. Then I knew I must be able to anticipate action –this I think is key to bird photography. There is only one way to anticipate the movement of the bird, study their behaviours and patterns. Know their day –from morning till evening. Know their food habits; most birds spend most of their day by their food. Know their nesting and breeding patterns –the rest of the day they spend with courting, nesting and breeding. I continue to capture birds. Now its is easy. I think the birds have observed (they are keen observers) and learned my daily behaviour patterns. After all we all live together, and must live together –making room for one another. I can hear the friars signing from the chapel, ‘Laudato si’.

Spotted Owlet

WOW! Its an OWL, was my response as I spotted one as I made my watchful and enduring rounds of bird-watching. I saw one sitting in absolute stillness on a branch. I clicked its pictures. It looked at me. It flew to another tree, I followed, and there was its companion. I clicked pictures of both. Then they both flew, I followed again, we reached their hole in an old tree. I clicked pictures of their home too. They were calm and composed –as calm and composed as an owl.
Among the many metaphorical allusions to owls, I love the one of wisdom. Coming from the Greek mythology, owl was a companion of Athene, goddess of wisdom. An owl sat on her shoulder and revealed unseen truths to her. It lighted up her blind side, enabling her to speak the whole truth.

Scaly-breasted Munia

They are also called as Spotted Munias. They fly in raiding for grains, mostly in pairs or more. First sight of it in the garden simply took my breath away. They are so social that they behave as if we have been meeting everyday.

White Cheeked Barbet

White-cheeked BARBET gets its name from its white cheeks and eyebrow. They are mainly solitary birds, though many on campus, they seldom move around in groups. They camouflage among the think green leaves of the tree pecking on fruits, berries and insects. Its splendor gets revealed when it lands on a leafless branch.

Ashy Prinia

I found it dilly-dallying in the thick of a garden shrub. It is so small that its difficult to keep a track of it. I was happy I spotted it in our garden, but the entire day I was seeing it lurking around, but managed no decent pictures of it. Slowly I figured out its trail –from which bush to which hedge to which flowerbed does it tour everyday. Today there were two, my camera and I moved along – hiding, hopping, and clicking.

Asian Koel Female

The Asian Koel is a large, long-tailed, cuckoo. The female is grey spotted on the wings, scaled on the breast and stomach. They come hunting for berries and fruits. They are always on alert, and hide behind leaves.

Asian Koel Male

The male of the Asian Koel is glossy bluish-black. Its eyes are crimson red. They look ferocious but are very shy and slip away as soon as they sense the presence of humans.

Barn Owl

It is a widely distributed species. They usually nest in old or not much used buildings and in rock caves etc. I have seen it flying by during nights, but had no chance to capture it. Finally found it resting in a ventilation of a rather tall building. 

Black Drongo

The BLACK DRONGO (fork tailed drongo) is a common resident in tropical agricultural areas and light forest in India. Two of them caught my attention as they were boldly attacking a kite that was passing by. Drongo is known for its aggressive conduct towards much larger birds, never hesitating to dive-bomb any bird of prey that invades its territory. This behaviour earns it the informal name of king-crow. I waited patiently until the kites were out of site. As I expected, it dove down to the farthest end of the large tree and settled on a scrappy nest –constantly looking around for insects flying by for food, and any invading birds to pick a fight. These birds are busy and restless all day long.

Black Kite

KITES, like its close relatives eagles, soar high, and frequently hover over our cities. April May is the mating and breeding season for kites; they descend down from the skies and spend more time in the comfort of the earth, trees, and their mates. Visiting a camp of kites during this season is not an intelligent decision; but when passion drives your actions, wisdom often leaves the consultation room. As I frequented this camp of kites at the far end of the campus, they became hostile and protective about their space.

Cinereous Tit

They look great with black, white and grey. One day, as I was standing near its nest with young ones, a squirrel passed by. To distract and frighten away the squirrel it began to swing and dance like the birds of paradise. I wished I had my camera with me. 

Common Myna

MYNA is a lively, confident, aggressive, and noisy bird. It can become friendly and perky. The word ‘myna’ means ‘brimming with happiness and joy. These birds really exhibit it in their living. 

Jungle Myna

I was surprised notice that all the mynas on campus are not the same. There are jungle mynas. They look more solid and aggressive. 

Domestic Pigeon

Do you know that pigeons are the worlds oldest domesticated bird. Remember the old romantic postman. Once familiar with the place you can leave them free, they will gather at feeding times. They love being in large numbers. 

 

Greater Coucal

Also called as Crow Pheasant is a member of the cuckoo family. Its a large bird, mostly found alone. Though not very friendly, it in regular interval frequents the garden.  

Indian Golden Oriole

The GOLDEN ORIOLE, in South for its vivid yellow colour called as manjakili, is a sure showstopper. It’s golden colour, gentle gestures, and rare presence make any birdwatcher proud to have a pic of it. It was a joy spotting it. Yellow is the colour of happiness, yes, its colour literally smiles back to you. One day, in my bird watching routine, a golden oriole appeared from nowhere and disappeared in the same smartness and speed. I just managed a few clicks of it, I wish I had more; I went to the same tree over and over again to see if it has come again, but in vain. Hope I spot it again in a more leisurely mode.

Indian White Eye

Indian White Eye, with its yellow colour and white ring around the eye stands out among other little birds in urban green cover. I spotted a pair and followed them as they laid eggs and hatched. These young ones are out of their cozy nest, and into the unpredictability of the open sky for the first time.

Krishna Parunthu

KRISHNA PARUNTHU, White-headed KITE, has bright rusty red colour top and wings; and white head, neck and front. They are bright and magnificent securing a religious name and stature -Brahminy kites. In India, as in many other countries, these birds have cultural and religious associations. May God spare and neutralise our birds and animals from hunters and religions.

Large Billed Crow

CROWS, often denounced as annoyance by city-dwellers, and as invaders and thieves by farmers, in fact are interesting birds. Fables associated with crows announce their intelligence. The fact that we can spot crows almost everywhere on this planet speaks of their adaptability. Crows eat anything; they live anywhere; back their folks for good and for bad. Yes. Crows are toughies; and they are survivors. They are here to stay.

House Crow

Crow is black. It was information to me that all crows are not black, at least partially. The house crows are not fully black, much of its body is grey and other shades. Only its partial head and wings are black. They look less threatening. 

Oriental Magpie Robin

These birds with its tails held upright comes to the garden to quench their thirst and take a bath if possible. They don't usually run away, but wait till they feel safe, then come on ground to help themselves to water.   

Pale-billed Flowerpecker

This bird comes around berry bearing plants and trees. They are so unassuming and hard to see, but their continuous chirp makes one look out for it.

 

Purple Rumped Sunbird Male

Purple-rumped SUNBIRD is common resident of South India. Males are brightly coloured. Going around in the garden, one can’t miss the sunbirds. They make their presence known with their chirpy calls. Their brisk movements make photographing them a challenge. 

Purple Rumped Sunbird Female

Female of the Purple-rumped sunbird looks less colourful. In most cases male sunbirds look different form the female sunbird. In this case females are olive above and yellow buff below. 

Red Vented Bulbul

White-eared BULBUL is introverted and less robust in contrast to the red-whiskered bulbul.I did not even realise these existed among the constantly spotted red-whiskered bulbul. In my routine bird-watching, as my long lens went up-close I recognised that these bulbuls are different. My camera went on an active mode.

Red Whiskered Bulbul

Red whiskered BULBUL, with its upright feather-horn and red whiskers looks like an exotic bird, but fortunately we can often spot it in our city’s green patches. We have a pair, which has its nest in a bush in the garden. Though looking aggressive, with their rhino like feather-horns, they are game for peaceful co-living.

Rock Pigeon

These easily join the domesticated pigeons while feeding and fly around with them. These can also be domesticated. They walk around the garden picking grains.

Rose Ringed Parakeet

Indian Rose Ringed Parakeet tempt any camera. Keeping a close watch at these growing chicks and their parents on a large tree taught me patience; and gave me a neck pain. Once the chicks began to fly the parakeets did not stay on the same tree. Perhaps they join with a larger flock.

Shikra

It is the villain of the garden with so many smaller birds laying eggs and breeding. Its visit to the garden turns costly for the smaller birds. It comes quietly and sits watchfully on a tall tree. If its eyes fall on eggs or the young ones, its only matter of time it becomes its prey. And it flies away unapologetically. 

Spotted Dove

This is the gentlest one of our garden. They softly walk about on the paths picking grains. A pair frequented the garden, and soon enough we noticed them building a nest on a very small tree. Nothing is a big secret; they courted, mated and now are hatching. They have got used to our harmless ways.

Tailorbird

The common TAILORBIRD is popular for its nest made of leaves sewn together. They are distinctive in having a long upright tail, greenish upper body plumage and rust coloured forehead and crown.

Wagtail

It gets its name from its tail pumping behaviour. It comes around the water body, mostly when no one is  around. I spot it occasionally.

White Throated Kingfisher

Kingfisher, noted for its spectacular dives into water, is a spectacle to watch even when they are not diving. It rarely appears on this campus, But comes occasionally, because there is pond with some fish.

I have captured over 30 birds from our campus. I have spotted and captured many more birds from elsewhere, but when I see them right in our campus it brings so much of joy and excitement. Looking ahead to capture more of them.

We love a bird for its colourful feathers. In the words of Marjorie Allen Seiffert, “A bird is three things: feathers, flight and song; and feathers are the least of these."