Showing posts with label birds-raptors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds-raptors. Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2023

Peregrine hunting along OMR - eBird Trip Report

26th Nov '23

Peregrine hunting along OMR - eBird Trip Report

What an interesting morning with Ramraj, Anitha and Sagarika.  Pictures here.  

Three Peregrines, 
on three towers, 
up high 
in very urban locations.  

We craned our necks,
Peered through our binoculars 
and yes there they were!

Ferrari Falcons
sitting motionless
on nondescript ledges.  Noiseless

Pigeons and parakeets
which one would it be today, 
at the end of that famous dive
would breakfast be green or grey?

*****

An Osprey and a Black Shouldered Kite 
We saw them too.
And those fabulous Blue Tailed Bee Eaters 
Shimmering in the sun.
Green marsh.  Sky so blue.

The waders (Ruffs most likely)  - a large flypast
Probably even more skittery 
because of the soaring Osprey.

*******


27th Oct '23

An odd looking shadow on the Leela Business Towers had me scurrying for the binoculars at MRC Nagar.  
Even through those dimmed, old lenses I could see that it was no crow, no pigeon, but a falcon.

It sat motionless in that pose, from 130 in the afternoon, until 6 in the evening.  I wondered why this peculiar and precarious position at the edge?  She preened, cleaned her talons and feathers, but did not move an inch.
.

Sanjeev hurried down and took this picture - yes Peregrines get that kind of attention.


At 605pm Vismaya (as she has been named) , took off, circled the building and flew off south.

Oct 31st - seen again by Sekar, while I was away at Bangalore.  Same perch, same position.   

And then the rains came and Deepavali came...and we have not seen it on this side of the building since.


The peregrine is a cosmopolitan hunter — even found nesting on skyscraper ledges in New York City and other metropolises, from which vantage point it picks up pigeons. The shaheen has been observed doing the same in Mumbai. Having selected a victim, the peregrine, with its fastback wings gives swift chase, with the pigeon twisting and turning to avoid being caught. If the falcon fails to capture its prey, it will rise to its “pitch” (the highest point) and then fold its wings to its side and whistle down like a missile straight at its victim in a “stoop” or high-speed dive. The fastest stoop has been clocked at 390 kmph, faster than most Formula 1 racing cars, which peak at around 320 kmph. A special membrane protects its eyes from the rush of air, and the bird will often dive beneath its victim and then rise up and grasp it in its talons. Or it simply attacks from behind, the force of the impact often killing the bird mid-air. Watching a peregrine stoop is a never-to-be-forgotten experience. This guided missile of a bird was once in serious trouble in the West when the rampant use of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides caused their numbers to plummet. Thanks to conservation efforts, the birds seem safe for now.

MRC Nagar unknowingly plays host to both - the Shaheen and the Peregrine!
Next goal is to somehow catch it at its hunt

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

eBird India Checklist - 30 Jul 2023 - Shaheen Falcon - Viewing Point [Leela Palace IT Building West Facing] - 10 species

eBird India Checklist - 30 Jul 2023 - Shaheen Falcon - Viewing Point [Leela Palace IT Building West Facing] - 10 species

GK's observations

Quite a productive day to observe every behavior of a Shaheen falcon in detail. 

6:20AM: (ROUSING) When I had reached, the Falcon was perched in the right most edge of the Leela building at the top deck. Falcon was quite relaxed and preening, occasionally looking towards the Jains apartment/Somerset building. It once did a rouse, with raised feathers followed by a quick shake to dust of loose feathers and a poop. Falcon wasn't showing any signs of an hunt this day. 

6:25AM: (SOARING, PURSUIT ATTACK & FLAPPING FLIGHT) Falcon took off from the perch, did a short soar between Leela & Jains apartment. This made the Pigeons perched in the Jains apartment fly west. During the second half circle towards Leela, its flight pattern changed from soaring to active flight, with deep wing beats and flew steadily towards Jains apartment, a pursuit attack for sure. Vanished from the view for 5 seconds and returned through the same path with Pigeon in the talons, must have picked in between Jains & Somerset. Flew straight to the base of its favorite pillar perch. 

6:27AM: (NECK SEVERE) Usually the prey get killed when the Falcon landed on its perch, but today as soon as the Falcon landed all of a sudden the Pigeon started flapping heavily which startled the falcon for a few seconds. It took a well over 5 seconds to gain control of the Pigeon and the falcon hoped twice heavily holding the prey by its neck, followed by severing the neck with its bill. 

6:30AM: (PLUCKING & FEEDING) Falcon started to prepare its meal, defeathering the neck feathers of the pigeon and nibbled small bits of flesh with strong pulls. After 5 mins of feeding, Falcon moved the kill towards the corner closer to the pillar and started defeather again, now bigger chunk of long feathers flying off in the wind clearly indicating those are the flight feathers of the prey. Feeding continued for next 10 mins with 20-30 seconds pause to gaze around its environ. 

6:45AM: (GRIFFON POSE, CACK & WAIL VOCALIZATION) Couple of Black Kites appeared over Leela and one of them sighted the Falcon with its prey. As soon as the Kites started soaring over the side of the Falcon, it turned over to the ridge side and moved to more an horizontal posture, started giving loud "cack" calls. One of the Black Kites, flew quite close to the Falcon's ridge as if it tried to snatch the kill. The Kite then flew right over the Falcon's head, dive bombed in an attempt to make the Falcon fly with the kill or abandon the kill. Now the Falcon transformed into "Griffon" posture, with its back feathers roused + half open wings in mantling posture + well spread tail + open bill and started giving loud "agonistic wail" calls. Its call reverberated the entire open area below the Leela building. After a couple of attempts, the Black Kite moved SW towards the estuary. Feeding resumed only 5 minutes after the Kites had vanished. 

6:55AM: (TOMIAL TOOTH) 3 more Black Kites appeared over Leela, 2 flew south and one happened to see the Falcon. This time few "cack" calls from the Falcon were enough to deter the kite away and the feeding continued. Now the Falcon had moved closer to the edge of the pillar facing West which gave good views of the feeding. The pigeon now was held to lie on its back and the Falcon fed from the flanks as the feet of the pigeon was clearly visible. The Falcon nibbled the flesh at first, then held a good chunk with its bill followed by a tilting of its head on both the sides to rip of flesh from the bones. The tomial tooth must be of great help here to tear small pieces of flesh from the pigeon.

7:10AM: (GUT ELIMINATION) Feeding continued with big chucks of flesh been gulped by the Falcon. The intestines/gut are pulled out carefully and been set aside, not eaten. One of the Pigeon's feet along with the tibia portion been detached and swallowed whole after about 1 minute of struggle to push the entire piece in. Few small pieces of flesh & feathers struck to the Falcon's head & bill were carefully removed by a head-rub over its shoulder feathers. 

7:20AM: (CACHING, SCRATCHING & FEET NIBBLE) Feeding came to a pause now. Falcon picked the remaining (around 30%) kill in its beak, carried it closer to the wall of the pillar and dropped it there, cached it for later. Did a short hop to come back to the edge of the pillar base now. Feet nibbling continued for about 2-3 mins accompanied with some scratching of the bill with its front facing talons. Then and there the Falcon will look at its feet, gaze around the habitat for a few seconds and once again relook at its feet. This behavior continued for quite some time until it walked along the ridge of the pillar for a few feet and settled facing the wall. 

7:30AM: (RESTING) Falcon moved to the left side of the Pillar base, started resting and gazed around looking at the flying Crows and Pigeons. Couple of Rose-ringed Parakeets ignored the presence of the Falcon and landed few metres below the pillar investigating the crack in the wall. 

7:35AM: (AGONISTIC CALLING & TERRITORIALITY) Two Black Kites flew in to the Leela building's terrace where the House Crows interrupted them and started mobbing them at all sides. Falcon now turned away from the wall, started giving the "cack" calls looking up. When one of the Kites came closer to the pillar Falcon took off, made a quick climb and started mobbing the Kite. As the Falcon started to circle around the open ground next to Leela, "cack" calls continued with the Falcon trying to soar over the Black Kite. When the second Black Kite too moved towards the Leela west side, Falcon moved towards NW and didn't return. 5 mins post the Falcon had vanished, House Crows appeared next to the pillar base and took possession of the remains of the Pigeon cache.


******

My learnings

Tomial tooth?:  A protrusion that is quite sharp on the upper mandible outer edge - used to kill their prey and I guess also eat.


Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Raptor rumbles in the marshes

 24th October - Deepavali special - courtesy Umesh

Here is the story in his own words - 

"Did some quick site-hopping birding today with Abhishek, Vijay & Shobha, touching Kelambakkam/Muthukadu/Perumbakkam/Karapakkam. 


Kelambakkam - Peregrine seen first on its usual pylon...

... and in flight.

The GSE (Greater Spotted Eagle) minding its own business and seated on the pillar.

The GSE was perched on the pillar, and we watched and photographed it for sometime.   

And the Osprey sat, quite far away, on another pylon.

And then, we also witnessed some real drama:  Suddenly the Osprey took off and headed straight for the GSE,  seemingly for no reason!  


The osprey decided to knock the GSE off its perch and chase it around a bit. It initially seemed like they were both going for some common prey, but then it turned out that the GSE also did not actually have any catch. So not sure why the Osprey charged the GSE. But it was fabulous to watch!





After the "encounter", the Osprey landed on this perch.


Afterwards, the GSE went and sat down on the ground, and this Osprey went and once again roused it from there also!  See the video below.


Highlights of the morning: 1 Peregrine, 1 Osprey, 2 GSEs (or maybe it was the same one bird seen twice, at Perumbakkam and Karapakkam)


Oh yes, and we also saw one Grey-headed lapwing."

Umesh, so glad you saw all this and managed those dramatic photos, so you could share it with us!

Monday, August 24, 2020

Assam Day 5 - Seeking the dolphins, encountering the Osprey - the gigantic Brahmaputra

 Continued from here.

15th Jan 2020

On to Kaziranga, from Mangaldoi, today.  But first, we were to stop at the Brahmaputra and take in a river cruise as we searched for the Gangetic dolphins.

We were headed west, staying north of the Bramhaputra, a 3 hour journey.

We stayed on NH15 for the most part, the highway was in good shape.  As we reached Tezpur, there was more military presence and large, walled military compounds.  I learnt that Tezpur is one of the old cities of Assam, and there is a lot to see here, but we were not stopping.  The British made it into an army Headquarters for the region.  

Aparna wrote this in our trip report:

The place Tezpur was named for the rivulets of blood that flowed there. Legend has it that this was the place where the war between Banasura, who was King of the area, and Krishna took place. Banasura’s daughter, Usha, dreamt of Anirudh, the grandson of Krishna. Her friend Chitralekha drew his portrait and through her magical powers brought him to Usha. Banasura refused to give his consent for the marriage. That is when Krishna went to war. The war was actually fought between Shiva and Krishna as Banasura was a devotee of Shiva. And much blood was shed.  It is said that Brahma had to intervene to stop the fight. However Shiva gave in to the reason of Krishna and relented.  

We drove on to the river bank, close to the Kalia Bhamora bridge that spans the river over here.  

We walked across the fine river sand to the boats with colourful canopies.  It was close to 11am and the sun was blazing through, but the river was a vast expanse of a still dull, muddy colour.  To me, at that moment it felt like this large, silent, somewhat sullen, sleeping beast.  The currents were strong but one wouldn't guess it, due to the vastness of the river.

As we chose our boats, there was a sudden commotion, with everyone telling Shuba not to move.  She was startled but complied to the urgent orders.  On her ghamsa-covered head was what looked like a little colourful brooch! 

The butterfly brooch - Delias descombesi, the redspot Jezebel

Chinese fishing nets.  I read somewhere that the river supports some 222 species of fish! Tezpur is one of the important fishing centres on the river.  But the fish population is greatly depleted, due to human activity (of course, what else).

I think Pranjal mentioned Grey throated Sand Martins flitting along the river banks - but I did not see them (as usual).  

On returning, I did some reading on the sedimentation and turbidity of the river.  A 2017 NDTV article mentioned that the turbidity measure at Tezpur was 195 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit), as against a permissive level of NTU5!  Aparna, who collects river waters, dipped a bottle in, and I was quite surprised - the water was clear, not turgid as I expected. The heavy sedimentation adversely affects fish life as also the Gangetic Dolphin, that we were out looking for.

That's us - adding colour to the river.  Picture by R Shantharam

The Brahmaputra river system is one of those huge carriers of sediment, and this sediment forms sand banks and islands - chapori - which can support a lot of bird life.  


You could also get small grassy islands in the middle - so vast is the river.

The Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

Several of our group had already gone on this boat ride on their last trip to Arunachal and they asked us to keep our eyes peeled.  We were warned that it would not be like some NatGeo movie where it would gently, gracefully and in slow motion arc out of the water and show itself to you. It will be in and out in the blink of an eye. A grey shadow in the water. And that's exactly what it was. 

We had a lot of these fleeting 'darshans' of the greyish brown snouts of these endemic, poor eyesight river Dolphins, which are highly ecologically stressed. They are on the IUCN red list

We were in two boats with a canopy that shaded us from the sun.  The boat engines created a hell of a racket, and he would cut the engines every now and then, and we would drift. Those were the best moments. The river was a dull grey brown and placid.  The whole scene was tinged in grey and brown.

They spend an average 107.3 seconds under water and 1.26 seconds above water. Once, the most commonly sighted aquatic mega-fauna in the Brahmaputra river system, it now faces extirpation from most of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra and restricted to a few pockets in the mainstream.

Unregulated rise in human activities is causing serious degradation in dolphin habitats in the Brahmaputra. Acoustic vision being the primary mode of perceiving the environment for these animals, increasing noise levels and industrial activities cause major disruption in their perception of biologically critical sounds.

Scientists find conservation efforts of river dolphins in the Brahmaputra have largely ignored the aspect of Acoustic Habitat Degradation.

I didnt realise - dams on the river have isolated dolphin populations.  There are supposedly more than 50(!!) dams of different sizes on the Brahmaputra, fragmenting these populations, making them in-breed, disturbing the availability of their food.  So, not only on land are forests being isolated, but even in the water.  

The Osprey encounter


What I managed to photograph...

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) - have seen them before, but this was a thrilling experience to see this one so close, and then take off and glide lazily through the sky.  Pranjal had said that we would most probably see one of these fish eating raptors over the waters, and yes his prediction was right.  
.

Photo by Elumalai - as it sat, an emperor of all it surveyed, or a masked bandit?  The Osprey is supposed to be the only raptor with all toes being equal in size.  interesting, did not know this.  Does that make a difference in how it perches?

Photo by Elumalai - All set to take off, possibly disturbed by our outboard motor.  Rounded talons and a reversible outer toe means that it can catch those slippery fish with two toes in front and two behind.  

Photo by Venkatesh, as it took to the air, showing us the "fingers" on its wing feathers, and its spread out short tail.

Photo by Venkatesh - the white breast and the golden brown upper wings - what a magnificent sight it was!
Photo by Venkatesh - we gawked at the wingspan - a good 4-5 feet, as it flapped them in slow succession  and moved away from us.



This photo by Suresh - of the brown upper parts and those four long finger-like feathers, with the fifth being a bit shorter.  The drooping hands are a characteristic flight posture of this piscetarean.


We chugged along back now under the bridge and what seems like the new Brahmaputra bridge coming up alongside.

Mountains of concrete, as Man looks to overcome natural "obstacles"?
Add caption

Do we need another?

Off the boat, and we found little "loo huts".  

A group picture and some tea and potato biscuits, before we set off for lunch and then Kaziranga.

Very tasty!  A new discovery.  Potato "biscuits".  They were so yummy, I brought a couple of packets back home.
Tree sparrows
A reminder of what was going on in the country.

We were coming across to the southern bank of the mighty river, and turning east, to Kaziranga. 


Saturday, November 2, 2019

The Perumbakkam lake - A Nature Walk and a Spotted Eagle

The Perumbakkam lake, part of the Pallikaranai marsh ecosystem, is a regular part of our NIFT Nature Walks programme.

We show the students the idiocy of developing a municipal garbage dump on a wetland, and we also show them all the bird life hidden in plain sight.

Water birds are a great way to start birding isn't it, with nice big interesting birds that are easy to spot and are generally seen.

While last term we were treated with flamingoes and ducks, this time it was pelicans and ibis.  The Pied Kingfishers put on a great show for us, and there was much oohing and aahing, as it hovered and then did a direct dive bomb, coming up with fish!

At the Pallikaranai end, it seems as if the water levels have fallen with the grasses and reed growing in abundance, and the little waders have moved far away from the road.

And then there were JCB excavators "clearing" the undergrowth from the roadside, under express orders to beautify the road.  Chithra was trying to tell the supervisor that this was protected forest land, and the supervisor was splitting hairs as the road is Highways land.

I only hope that there is no cement and paving to follow.

The icing on the cake was the large raptor we saw.  Sagarika and her camera were on hand to take these record shots, which were identified as a great Spotted Eagle!

The greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga) - profusely spotted upper wings.  This was the shot that helped to establish the identification.  Photo By Sagarika

Imagine that, it is here for the winter.  How do they find their way, locate a water body, amazing!
Photo By Sagarika

On the hunt. Photo By Sagarika
Pictures from our November 2019 visit

Pictures from our February 2019 visit

Pictures from October 2018 visit


Sunday, May 7, 2017

The unusual ecological tale of Sippighat, Andamans

Our wonderful week at the Andaman islands included stopping by at Sippighat.  (The place names on the islands are a delightful mixture, and warrant an independent post - ranging from Junglighat, Dollygunj, Guptapara and Sippighat to Aberdeen and Rifleman Island!)

The newly formed Sippighat "wetlands".  All those black dots are waterbirds - whistling ducks, cotton teals and coots.
The tsunami of Dec 26th of 2004 changed many things all around us, and Andamans was affected in several ways, with an enormous human toll and ecological changes.  Some islands sunk by as much as a metre because of the earthquake, and at Sippighat, which is about 10kms from Port Blair the seawaters rolled in on a 10m high tsunami wave, and the land was inundated, and has remained waterlogged ever since.  The army has built a bridge to get across the newly formed water bodies.

Why could they not use these boats, I wondered.  or did the
tsunami wave wreck them?
We drove by the morning we arrived, on our way to ANET at Wandoor, and we saw the skeletons of drowned boats, submerged homes and abandoned building projects.

As we gawked in astonishment at this, a bunch of whistling teals took off from the water, with their characteristic whistling call, did a sortie and landed back in.  These freshwater ducks had obviously adapted to the now brackish waters of Sippighat, just like the Cotton Teal groups?

White-bellied sea eagle - Photo by Pritam
Up above, a White-bellied sea eagle glided lazily as a common myna flapped its wings busily, trying to keep up with it.  

We clearly saw the characteristic wedge-shaped tail, and raised wings while gliding

The Sea Eagle was a delight - it swooped down into the waters and picked up a fish in its talons, with one expert dive, and the bunch of us "aahed" involuntarily!

The waters were abuzz with bird life - swamp hens, coots and egrets of all sizes.  The swallows swooped around in the air above, but there was no sign of the Andaman Teal which supposedly is found here.  
Cotton Teal  Nettapus coromandelianus - Photo by Sivakumar

Cotton Teals swam by in groups - and in our excitement, the females were first mistaken for Andaman Teals.  A closer look and much discussion ensued, since none of us had seen an Andaman Teal earlier, it was worse than the one-eyed leading the blind!

The Forest Dept board finally did help, as quite clearly, the ducks we were seeing had an eye stripe and not the white ring around the eye.

It was a cloudy morning, and every now and then there would be a welcome thundershower for a few minutes, but yet we sweated inside our raincoats, the showers increasing the already high humidity levels.

The relatively new army bridge across the waters.  The waters have become a means of moving goods across the island.
We watched some feral ducks, kingfishers and a lone Great Knot busy in the mud.  Suddenly there was a commotion among the Cotton Teals, and three males were mobbing one hapless female, who was trying to get away, quite unsuccessfully.  I was sorely tempted to throw a stone at those male ducks and scatter them....should I have?

We were commandeered into the bus by Vijay, as Manish and team waited at ANET, and the cloudy sky looked ominous.

On another evening visit, on the way back from Chidiyatapu, we stopped again and this time Zoya from ANET took us in to another part of Sippighat and there we did see the Andaman teals (Anas albogularis) with their characteristic eye patch.  These are endemic to these islands, and are now considered as a separate species from Sunda Teals.  There are supposedly about a thousand of these teals. and we were privileged to see a large flock of them. 


Andaman teals (Anas albogularis) - Photo by Sivakumar



Once again though, for me, it was the White Bellied Sea Eagle that was most memorable.  We saw a pair of them, roosting in the trees beyond the waters, and what appeared to be a nest was spotted through our binoculars.

They took turns gliding over the waters, before perching majestically on the tree, settling down for the evening.



White Bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) -
Photo by Sivakumar



Thursday, April 27, 2017

Andaman endemics

Andaman Crested Serpent Eagle - pic courtesy Pritam Kukilaya

Andaman Woodpecker - pic courtesy Pritam Kukilaya

Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Changeable Hawk Eagle at Mamandur

14th August 

820 am

On the forest roads of the Sri Venkateswara National Park, amidst the Red Sanders and Aapta (Bauhinia racemosa) trees, the drongos and bulbuls, we had this amazing sighting.


The Changeable Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus)  fixed us with an unwavering stare

slowly moving its gaze away, proudly displaying its crest and the characteristic streaked chest

readying its talons for take off

before swooping off over us, its yellow eyes glinting menacingly.
At that moment, I was glad I was not a rodent or jungle fowl. Imagine that four-foot wingspan coming down on you from the sky.

Found in south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, its been a while since I saw this bird of prey.

Day 3 Andaman - The road to Rangat

 Feb 12th 2024 Continued from here. A strange day it was, with so many new experiences, some amazing, some frustrating, some bewildering and...