When Cuckoos Conqured Siloso - Singapore

End of December - 2017 

The week following the Christmas day, an interesting sighting occurred in Sentos,Singapore.

The Asian Emerald Cuckoo which is a rarity in Singapore was sighted perched in the open on a tree, the following week was a huge plus for the Birding Community of Singapore. Almost everyone's visit to the spot ended with a happy sighting of this rare cuckoo.

Asian Emerald Cuckoo,Sentosa - Dec 2017

The interesting part was not just this Cuckoo but over the days people observed nearly 6 species of Cuckoo., namely:

1. Asian Emerald Cuckoo

2. Large Hawk Cuckoo

3. Indian Cuckoo

4. Chestnut Winged Cuckoo

5. Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo

6. Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo

The day I had visited, I was given the grace just two of the 6 species but was more than happy with sighting Emerald Cuckoo and wrapping up the year.

Indian Cuckoo, Sentosa - Dec 2017

Now the question what made all these cuckoos visit the same sight?

The cuckoo was mostly found perched on a Sea Fig (Ficus superba) tree that recently shed its leaves. Now when the new leaves and shoots were emerging, a family of Moths - Tussock Moths saw the abundance of food and hence laid down so much eggs that soon the Tussock Moth caterpillars were literally crawling everywhere from the tree to the ground below and the surrounding area, this in-turn tempted the cuckoos several off them in their migratory journey to stop and snack and regain themselves to continue their journey.

Emerald Cukcoo, Sentosa - Dec 2017

Glad to have witnessed in first person this interesting Natural History episode.

Thanks to Alan Owyong and Singapore Bird Group's - arctile on this.

https://singaporebirdgroup.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/invasion-of-cuckoos-at-sentosa/

Flamingos of Lake Pulicat

It was the summer of 2002, I was on a summer break in Chennai staying at my Maternal Grandparent's home. when my Uncle told me he will show me Flamingos near Chennai. Being a newbie Bird-Watcher, I didn't believe him and argued back that Flamingos are only found in Africa and South America. He said why don't you come with me tomorrow to a place called Tada, an hour or two journey in train from Tiruvottiyur in North Madras.

Thus I came to know the existence of these beautiful pink coloured avian wonders quite nearby to home. :)

So next day was one of the most exciting and memorable birding days of my life.. I was so excited and happy to see these tall and graceful birds with naked eyes..I never felt the harsh summer sun nor the salty humid weather at the backwaters of Pulicat the entire day.This incident had a remarkable effect as it made me realise the need to know more about birds in my Country and prompted me to get my own copy of the bird guide book for the Indian Subcontinent. Looking through the guide I realised I had sighted just one among the two beautiful flamingo species found in our county, i.e the Greater Flamingo.

Flamingos in general are water birds which are called as waders. When they hatch they are greyish is colour and as they grow they acquire the magnificent pink colouration to their feathers due to the bacteria and beta-carotenes they obtain from their food.

They are social birds often found in large colonies consisting of hundreds and thousands of individuals and I was very surprised when in my recent trip I found out a lone individual casually feeding far away from the nearest colony. 

Flamingos are filter feeders, whose primary diet is Shrimps and Algae. Their beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the upper portion of the mouth, and the large rough-surfaced tongue. Here is a picture depicting the typical upside down feeding style of flamingos.

Sadly in my last few visits I have been observing some disturbing trends. Proposals of development projects such as a Harbour and SEZs have led to an increase in the value of land around Pulicat leading to people converting their fertile cultivation lands to real estate plots thus adding worries to already dwindling agriculture practices. With the harbour and several associated industries coming up I wonder till when these beautiful birds and several thousands other resident and migratory birds can call this 2nd largest brackish water lake a safe haven.

Of Biking and Birding - In Search of the European Bee Eaters. Migrant Diaries #1

It all started in mid September this year, with a post from one of my friend's on facebook, stating the arrival of European Bee Eater at the Kanakpura - Galibore - Bheemeshwari area. That was more than enough to plan a trip in Search of these passing by migrants who had opted Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary as a pitfall in between their long migratory route. High with enthusiasm plans were made but unfortunately they were never executed! :(

First Record Shot

Last Saturday when I and Yogesh were briding with some fellow birder from Bangalore, they mentioned sighting these guests the day before on their visit! And thus the idea hatched in the next 10 min... Myself very much eager for a long drive on my new bike and more eagerness to sight and watch these beauties.. I and yogesh decided to head out to the 100kms ( Approx) away Sangama area in Kanakpura and try our best to catch of glimpse of these birds in route.

A Common Crow

Starting early morning on Sunday- 13th of Oct, we headed out to Kanakpura, pleasant morning with a mild chill and the Sun slowly climbing the horizon, I enjoyed riding my bike all the way from Bangalore to Kanakpura... Truly Yamaha FZ is one hell of a bike to cruise along the highway and also one hell of a bike that endured my torture of driving in all terrain presented to us that day, Hats of Yamaha for this wonderful motorbike! :)

My beloved FZ

Crossing Kanakpura, one the way to Sangama our birding started with a Zitting Cisticolla, a lifer for me and charming little chap indeed.

Following the Zitting were Small Minivets, White Browed Bulbul, Sun birds, munias etc....

Zitting Cisticola

Small Minivet Taking Off

White Browed Bulbul

And finally having traveled around nearly 75 km, we came across the open cultivation lands, one of the favorite hangouts for our European Visitors and there we sighted our first European Bee Eater. The description given to us was so exactly the match, Larger than the normal Green Bee Eater, more brightly and vibrantly colored... they really standard apart!

Pioneer White or African Caper White laying eggs

Along with these we also sighted some Collared Dove and Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark.

Having clicked some record shot, we continued to head towards Sangama, hoping to see some good Raptors and more closer views of Bee Eaters!

Our luck with the raptors was very bad, a single sighting but that too not a confirmed ID on the species!

We had some good time photographing the butterflies and wagtails!

Blue Tigers

With a dejected heart of not seeing the raptors we started our way back and to your luck we got some decent picture of the Bee Eater on the way back.

Having clocked a 250kms ( approx) on my first long trip and nearly 70% Successful trip of alteast having seen the Bee Eaters, we arrived back in Bangalore after another wonderful birding weekend. :)

The local resident Green Bee Eater

It was a day for the European Bee Eater indeed!.

The European Visitor