Nature watch: 2011-04-23 Karnala

Birding in Karnala has always been interesting.

This is the best time to see the resident birds as it is the breeding time they are the most active.

The road leading to the guest house was usual the most rewarding.
It started with a pair of Pompodour Green pigeons.
A golden oriole was calling from the background.
The cicadas were making noise at their peak.
Some interesting fact about the noise made by cicada.
These are not created due to rubbing as in case of insects like grasshopers, crickets, locusts etc.
Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "tymbals" on the sides of the abdominal base.
Its a membrane and the vibration of this membrane causes the sound. It is amplified by the hollow abdomen which serves as a resonance chamber.

Cicada


Cicada

A little ahead an Kaushi tree (Scarlet Sterculia) was in full flowering.
This tree hosted a lot of birds and we got good views of
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Gold fronted leafbird
Crimson Sunbird
Small Sunbird
Pygmy woodpecker
Chestnut Shouldered petronia

Chestnul Shouldered Petronia

Gold Fronted Leafbird

Gold Fronted Leafbird on flowering Kaushi tree

Gold Fronted Leafbird in flight

Crimson Sunbird

Eurasian Golder Oriole

A moved ahead towards the guest house and from got the bronzed drongo and Black hooded oriole.
A purple sunbird gave us some wonderful views as we moved down the MorTaka trail.

Just a try to capture Spider Web

Forest Calotes

The common woodshrike was calling out.

Just before getting out in the open at the end of the Hariyal trail we saw the male and female Shama. The male was also calling out intermittently. I guess just the starting of breeding season.

White Rumped Shama

At the end of the trail near the flycatcher point we saw the plum headed parakeets male and female.
The spotted doves were very active and exhibiting fantastic breeding plumage.

Chestnut Shouldered Petronia

An emerald dove also gave a brief but good view.

In the trees in the valley just besides the flycatcher point a large cuckoo shrike was circling around us.
Either establishing territory or just moving around.

Large CuckooShrike

Moving towards the machan point we could hear and see the crested serpent eagles high up in the sky.

After crossing the bridge a little ahead is another flycatcher point which is a huge tree with a constructed base.
Here we saw first the common iora, small sunbirds, some warblers and brown cheeked fulvettas.
Then came another woodpecker beauty the heart spotted woodpecker. It was feeding around for sometime. In fact there was a pair.