Backyard Birds

The Oriental Magpie-Robin (female)

Spotted Dove

Although there are plenty of birds in our area, these were the most active last week. The pair of doves abandoned their nest on our balcony after a chick fell out of the nest and died. If I had seen it earlier, maybe it'd have been saved. But they left and now are looking for another nesting site. It's such a wonderful feeling to wake up to the cooing of the doves...I hope they are happy with their new nesting place in the vicinity of our house. Meanwhile it's been a joy to photograph them on our berry tree.

To see more posts about what's happening in the world of nature, head over to Michelle's Rambling Woods.

Nature Notes/More From Deepor Beel

The Golden Birdwing

I was back in the vicinity of Deepor Beel on Saturday. The sight of all the fabulous winged creatures that I had seen and photographed on my last visit kept haunting me so I had to go back again!!

The swallowtails were there again but this time their wings never stopped moving!! But I caught the patterns on the lower portion of this Golden Birdwing butterfly.

A dragonfly rests on a large dried leaf

And the carpenter bees are fond of the Rattlepod blooms/Crotalaria retusa. My reference book Common Book Of Indian Wild Flowers by Isaac Kehimkar says that gregarious patches of this shrub are common along river banks and fields. Bruised and dried plants are attractive to milkweed butterflies like Tigers and Crows, as a source of an alkoloid essential for their reproduction. The flowering period is from September to April.

A Common Sailer butterfly on a lantana bush and the wings of this dragonfly shimmers in the afternoon sun.

Two red-vented bulbuls on a bare tree. This tree also seems to be the favourite perch of bee-eaters.

A pleasant surprise to see when the picture loaded that it had the Golden Birdwing butterfly as well as the Common Picture wing dragonfly in one shot.
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Around our house.

Shrike

Spotted Dove nesting on one of the lamps in our balcony

Now that our cooler season will be here, I noticed this Shrike yesterday on the wires next to our house. They are said to move to warmer climes during the winter. Looks like I'll be seeing them around for a longer period of time since it's only September now.

And I was pleasantly surprised to see this Spotted Dove nesting on one of our lamps. This is on a balcony upstairs outside a guest room that isn't used often. I hope I'll be able to take some good shots of the young later.

There's more in store on Nature Notes at Michelle's Rambling Woods.

The Spotted Dove for WBW

High up on the tallest of trees, on the electrical wires or on the ground, the Spotted Dove makes its presence known by its gentle and soothing calls. Last year a pair built a nest on our mango tree but the crows did let them have a moment's peace. The pleasure of having doves nesting on one the few trees in our compound seems to be dim. But not the sight of these pretty birds. These photos were taken in the last couple of days. I found one preening on a cloudy day, one perched on a tree and the last one was foraging on the ground.

To see the most amazing birds head over to World Bird Wednesday.