Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Finally Spotted Some Birds in Mumbai

By "birds" I do not mean to say there aren't any pigeons (rock pigeons, to be precise), crows (the house crow and common raven) or sparrows (which includes the house and tree sparrows) in the city.
I attended an induction program today — held by the company I joined recently. While eating lunch on the open air terrace, I found myself peering into a pipal tree...which is when I noticed some movement. After focusing a little more I realized it wasn't a leaf! It was a Coppersmith! A former colleague had told me about them, I had read about the bird and even looked at a few pictures but never have I ever spotted one!

Pretty soon, I was able to spot two more coppersmiths (adult barbets) swaying on the branches of the tree. I was so excited! As usual I did not have my camera with me. I kept looking at him, consciously trying to etch his image into my mind...suddenly I noticed someone else on a lower branch. It was a bulbul! A red-vented bulbul, I am sure! He had his wings spread out, quivering them...as if to attract a mate's attention. I noticed another little chap nearby. This was a lucky sighting for me! Add to that the fact that I was able to even name them!
I wish I had my camera...instead I have to rely on somebody else's photographs...but thanks to these websites we can learn about these beautiful winged creatures.

4 comments:

Deepa Nagaraj said...

happy to find something on coppersmith birds here & bulbul....u lucky to have spotted those..... I'd love to do bird watching for endless hours....but living in cities, chances r less....

Aristarkhos said...

I need to visit my own blog more often! Thanks for dropping in.
Yes, i agree with you. I have been grumbling about it myself. In cities it is just not possible... unless you are in a green area.

So what i do is while walking alone, i look into trees, overhead sky, etc. all while trying not to get run over, bump into someone or trip over a loose paving block :P

pratz said...

amazing find ! this info is quite helpful fr making a wildlife documenatary in mumbai !

Aristarkhos said...

Thanks for dropping by, Pratz. Docu in Mumbai... you really think so? That's heartening :) Well, it better be done fast. Going by the way green areas are 'fading', bird populations are steadily thinning.

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