This is a weblog, at the courtesy of blogspot(R), dedicated for my birding anecdotes.

Feathered Bipeds & Me.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Get back to the field, you ******!!!!!

Finally got myself to write down something...

Now only did i realize that its been over a year
since I last blogged!

Got married in May 2006. That & my apartment work
kept me busy.

Finally I have completed all the chores, except for
some monetary commitments left pending(read as
credit card bills!) to be addressed.

Now I am building a bird hide for myself.

Spent 230 Rupees on some PVC tubing, with which
I have created a frame with four legs tht should
be stuck into the ground... Would give me enough
space to kneel inside with my tripod & camera.

Now I need to get some greenish cloth which I can
drape over it, & sew in some loops to fasten the
cloth to the 4 corner pipes.

Havent yet thought of the opening for the lens.
I may just use a sleeve-like extension with an
embedded rubber band to grip the lens hood.

Hope everything goes well during the rest of
the construction.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Unidentified Aquila Eagle @ Hoskote

The new year started on a good note, with pretty awesome sightings of pelican flocks at YMC lake(on old madras road), and a sighting of a medium-sized aquila eagle at the fringes of hoskote lake, 23 kms north-east of Bangalore. This was on 1st Jan, 2006, a sunday.

The following exchange of thoughts & expressions by various people is not just about an identification of the Aquila eagle sighted, but it is also a perfect example of the difficulty that certain plumages of large raptors can pose in identification despite having procured good photographs.


Notes by Observers:Praveen.J, Job.K.Joseph & Prakash Poduval

Species in contention :-
Lesser Spotted Eagle: A. pomarina
Indian Spotted Eagle: A. hastata
Greater Spotted Eagle: A. clanga
Tawny Eagle: A. rapax
Steppe Eagle: A. nipalensis

As A.hastata is not described in any of the field books, descriptions of A.pomarina is taken as a bench mark for this species - though there will be slight plumage differences between these species, general characteristics might still be common.

From the Field
A moderate (not huge) raptor (A. hastata or A.rapax more than A.nipalensis) flew down over the Hoskote lake and landed on the grassy meadow (slushy?) next to the water line. Despite the size, our first implusive response was a Steppe Eagle because of the warm brown upper parts after ruling out Greater Spotted Eagle which has a comparatively shorter tail. Later when it took off, the distinct brown barring on the underwing and paler under parts suggested Tawny Eagle but once again the size and warm brown coloration in the upper wing took us towards Indian Spotted Eagle. In flight, the splayed fingers were kept higher than the wings. The tarsi appeared to be very lightly feathered, like an Indian Spotted Eagle.

Finer Analysis on the Images (The whole set of images are available in my yahoo album. The path is:-
http://photos.yahoo.com/jobkjoseph. The album is named "Indian Birds-Digital")

Facial Features:


Not a huge beak (A. hastata or A.rapax) but with a prominent gape extending well behind the eye (as in A.nipalensis). Nostrils appear oval (A.rapax or A.nipalensis), Iris appear dark (unlike A.rapax which is supposed to have yellow/light iris), throat appear greyish (A.nipalensis) but breast is dark and belly light-buff (as in A.rapax & quite unlike A.nipalensis). Head in general darker than belly.

Underside: All tail feathers finely barred from the half length of the tail to the tail-tip (seen when spread). 7 primaries, 7th primary very short & stunted (as in A. hastata) less than half (almost one third) of the length of 6th primary. 5th, 6th & 7th primary distinctly barred (much unlike A.hastata - more like A.rapax & A.nipalensis), 3rd & 4th indistinctly barred. Secondaries pale-cream with fine dark brown bars - dark bars thinner than the pale bands (unlike A. hastata). Base of the outer primaries unbarred pale-cream. Greater, Median and lesser coverts warm-brown - no distinct carpal crescents(unlike A.hastata). No dark trailing edge (unlike A.nipalensis). Tail length is almost as wide as the hand at the base of the wing & 3/4th the width of the wing at the carpal joint (rules out A.clanga). Hand long - wings angled at carpals. Legs appear to reach 3/4th the length of tail in flight - yellow legs.

Upperside: Nape - lighter than the head (A.nipalensis), secondaries dark with a fine white trailing edge. Greater coverts and primary covert dark - a thin white line separate the secondaries from greater coverts. Lesser and Median coverts warm brown, same as the back. A white wing panel seen in the primary coverts. White also in upper tail coverts but not in lower-back (unlike A.rapax). White blotches appear from above at the base of the wings. Tail from above all dark - same colour with secondaries.In short, the Aquila seems to be either A.rapax or A.nipalensis. Shape of the soft parts indicate A.nipalensis while the overall plumage and size indicate A.rapax.

REACTIONS(personal comments)

I would go for Tawny
Clement(Clement Francis)

(bngbirds)The photographs are wonderful.

I'd say it is Aquila nipalensis based on the long gapeline extending beyond the eye.
Regards,
Prashanth, Mysore

(Bird Forum)I think you are right with Steppe Eagle - maybe a 3rd/4th-year bird?

-Adam

(Bird Forum)I'm not sure this is a Steppe!...I reckon it's a Tawny Eagle.

The fine barring on the flight feathers, the lack of a dark trailing edge, and the pale window on the inner of the wing all point to it being a Tawny. A Steppe at this age would show a dark trailing edge to the wing and broader barring, plus it is very pale on the upperparts.
What do others think.
John. (John Barklay)

(Bird Forum)Actually, younger subadult Steppes don't show a dark trailing edge to the wings. In any event, the trailing edges on this bird appear quite worn.The upperwing flashes are very distinct on this individual. Are they so prominent on a Tawny?There are also the white patches on the back to consider, as well as the dark rump that contrasts greatly with the white uppertail-coverts.

-Adam

(India-nature-Pixs)Agreed that all plumage features point towards Steppe but for thesize and beak right? Have we totally eliminated the possibility of anhastata?I had made some notes from differrent sources ( I don't recollect itnow) on some positive ID features based on which hastata wasconclusively ID'ed in the past.

1. Head flatter than other aquilas.
2. Thick lips and large gape much like the steppe.
3. Stark contrast between the coverts and flight feathers on uppersideand underside.
4. Dark brown flight feathers and upper tail.
5. Moreover, as you note the size was much lesser than the steppe andit lacked baggy trousers as in the steppe.
6. The beak also looks very small for a steppe.

I also do not know whether how much we can rely on the carpalcrescents for IDing in differrent plumages.I am not suggesting this to be a hastata, but I think we better waitfor raptor experts to conclusively nail down the ID.
Regards,Chaitra

(bngbirds)Sorry for a delayed reply. Please look into A-R Handbook. The "old" A.rapax has a slit like nostril which is aligned perpendicular to the axis of the gape. The shape and orientation of the nostril is consistent character even used in the Keys to the Aquila eagles. Luckily you have one picture which clearly shows the bill and the nostril. Please confirm for yourself that it is not Aquila rapax.

In good faith,Krishna Mb.


At this point, it was realized that the observers made a mistake in comparing the eagle with A.pomarina. A.pomarina differs markedly from A.hastata.

1. Large gape extending well behind the eye
2. 5th, 6th & 7th primary distinctly barred
3. Dark bars thinner than the pale bands

These three features which were clearly seen in the photo are field ids for A.hastata


(pers comm)Its a Steppe Eagle.Rishad (Rishad Naoroji)

(pers comm)Certainly neither Steppe or Tawny. Round nostril means Greater or Indian Spotted.I would say latter on larger gape and plumage.
Bill Bill Harvey

(pers comm)We think it is an Indian Spotted Eagle in juvenile plumage because juvenile Steppe Eagles
- almost always show more white on the under greater coverts (although not always a continous white bar)
-also show a broad white trailing edge
- show under wing coverts which do not look darker than the remiges
- show broader dark bars on the secondaries and inner primaries
- usually show a unformly brown belly
- show a larger bill
- show broader pale tips to the greater coverts
- show a larger aquila patch
Antero & Annika (Antero Lindholm & Annika Forsten)

(OB)Great pictures!
I believe, that the eagle is Aquila hastata. I don't know much aboutrapax, but the bird is similar to the hastatas I've seen in Goa. Thevery pale inner primaries and the fine barring on the fligthfeathers fit hastata well (would be coarser in nipalensis and rapaxif I'm not mistaken). Hastata is actually (at least juveniles are)quite different than pomarina.The bird is in juvenile plumage. The plumage is uniform and there isa uniform pale trailing edge to the wings.A nipalensis of this age would have a broad whitish wing band on thegreater underwing coverts.

An example picture showing this feature:http://www.tarsiger.com/index.php?pic_id=JukkaJ1136621586&lang=eng
Examples of young hastatas, which show a similar upperwing: http://www.elisanet.fi/antero.lindholm/public_html/pedot/aquhas.htm

Those photos complement an article on Aquila hastata in the finnishbirding magazine Alula 2/2004. Yours:
Timo JanhonenHelsinki, Finland

(pers comm)I think that the pics are those of a sub-adult Steppe Eagle. The id is supported by the following points:

1. The extensive yellow gape flanges which reach the rear edge of the eye. The iris looks dark (black/brown); Tawny Eagle has yellow iris from sub-adult atage.
2. The distinct barrings on the tail and flight feathers
3. The upperwing pattern- white primary patches, white rump, thin white bar formed by the narrow white tips of the greater coverts, white patch on the lower back- is typical of the sub-adult Steppe Eagle.
4. Dark carpal area and pale wedge on the dark underwing formed by the pale inner primaries. But, the underwing pattern is a little confusing as it shows a sharp contrast between the dark underwing coverts and the pale flight feathers; probably, this effect could be formed by strong sunlight from above.

There is no dark trailing edge of wings; could be due to the worn plumage. Pale nape is not seen in any of the photographs. All the pics are of the same individual, I hope.I haven’t yet looked at the other picture. RegardsSashikumar (C. Sashikumar)

(pers comm)The photos are of a very pale juvenile Steppe Eagle. It is unusual as the wide white line on the underwing is not noticeable.Thanks for asking me.Do you know what camera equipment was used to take these photos?

Cheers, Bill Clark

So it's looking more like Indian Spotted? At least I thought it was the same species as Bill Clark!
-Adam

This Is definately NOT a Steppe Eagle! It seems to me that this is in fact an Indian Spotted Eagle, which is
not really commom. These are some of the better shots I've seen of this species.
SeK

Looks confusingly like it has Steppe and Indian Spotted features first impression was Steppe on
plumage but appears too lightly built for Steppe, esp bill etc? not familliar enough with ISE though... I knew we should have run that id piece on them in OBC Bulletin...
-Tim Allwood

I'm far from an expert on these birds, having never even been to India. Still, I think I have a relevant comment. Looking in some of my raptor books and the Ripley Guide to the Birds of South Asia, I noticed that there is a field mark that no one seems to have considered. It is the streaking of the underparts (or absence, thereof). Forgive me if someone made reference to this character, but I didn't notice it mentioned by anyone.

When dealing with raptors, I'm inclined to give more weight to structural features rather than minor variations in color. Color is simply too variable in these birds. So, based on gape length, I'm thinking it's either a juvenile hastata, or nipalensis. Gape length (among other things) causes me to rule out clanga, and rapax. Once narrowed to hastata or nipalensis, I am leaning strongly towards hastata due to the streaked underparts of the breast and belly. This particular color issue is not a matter of subtle degree. If my references are correct, nipalensis is never streaked below, in any plumage, but juvenile hastata always are. That is my understanding. The photos clearly show streaking below. Therefore, the bird would seem to be hastata.
--Kristin Williams

(In Litt.)When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth
Sherlock Holmes


Moral of the story: With many observations ruling out tawny, steppe, & the greater spotted, the only other possibility to the ID is a sub-adult/immature indian spotted eagle.



Monday, September 05, 2005

Nandi hills & Rampura lake, 04/Sept/2005

What a way to get back into the field after a lazy summer!

Nick was on business in India yet again, though earlier this
year, and I chose to play guide on a birding trip to Nandi
Hills & then Rampura lake.

We left Anil Kumble circle at 8am on Sunday.(Nick reached
India the previous midnight & grabbed only a few hours
of sleep, not to mention jet lag). Such passion for birding
is rare & a pleasure to be part of.

The traffic was slightly more that normal thanks to the
travelling sunday public.

We parked the car at the parking lot & set off on foot.
We started off near the tank, where we could see 10+
grey wagtails frolicking on the steps of the tank, and
could hear the greenish warblers up in the foliage.

Phishing was having awesome results. Among the first
to respond were tawny bellied babblers & purple rumped
sunbirds.

We birded along the steps right till the Ultramarine
flycatcher spot, where we saw a tickell's blue flycatcher.
Some whitish on the wing actually made me think it
was a UMFC, until I actually saw it perched.

Then we climbed onto the road just past the big tower,
walked till Tipu's drop, where we watched the Alpine
swifts. We were unfortunate to see zero raptors.

Then we walked back to the tank via the other side,
and then took the other pathway from the tank,
which gave us 4 white-throated groundthrushes,
& a couple of blackbirds.

We walked down the road & the driver picked us
up half an hour later.

Overall, it was a great trip.

As we reached bangalore, we headed straight
for Rampura lake, where we got to see few ibises,
a nesting streaked weaver & 2 cute little coot
families. I managed to digiscope the weaver.

By 3:30pm, clouds set in & we called it
a day.

Next in line is a ramanagaram trip on Wednesday,
the 7th. Best of luck to me for Longbilled Vultures
& Shaheen Falcons!

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Small Pratincoles at TG Halli (17/April/05)

Imagine you sweat it out chasing some birds, which are not
at all confiding, and then give up, only to be gifted later with
the best ever photo-op session by a few inquisitive ones,
who come towards you instead of you having to stalk them
for snaps!

Well, that is exactly what happened last sunday (17th April
2005) at TG Halli, my first birdwatching outing in the last 2
months (work had been keeping me busy).

While Praveen was observing call/flight behavior of the syke's
larks, I was busy trying to get snaps of small pratincoles. The
first few shots were more-or-less record shots, with the birds
just a wee bit bigger than the focus rectangles in the view finder.

The summer heat got the better of me & i decided to sit down
and have some rest. Within minutes i could see a couple of small
pratincoles catch something from the water, the slowly fly
towards me, and sit on the ground behind me, with the sun
behind them.Not a good photo angle, but what-the-heck...i took
a few snaps at pretty better proximity.

Soon they were lenient enough to come sit in front of me, in full
sunlight, and walk even closer. Watching them so close thru the
view finder was so captivating. Their cuteness was multiplied
manifold. More than half a roll of full-frame shots was more
than i would have wished for!

Once i finished one roll on these birds, i thought i have had enough
dose of small pratincoles & i decided to check on other species.

I got a gut feeling that the pratincoles are all set to start nesting
at TG Halli, since i could see one of them consistently sit in a small
depression on the banks of the reservoir. As i walked back, i looked
at the depression, through my binocs, and found nothing there. Just
an empty depression in the ground,

With a couple of shots of a yellow-wattled lapwing which was
foraging near a herd of grazing cattle, i called it a day.

Monday, January 31, 2005

01/30/2005 : TG Halli & Montagu's harriers

TG halli was the choice. By 5:40am, i was ready to leave home. I reached Vijay's house at 6am sharp. Shortly Yathin, Praveen, & his two friends Sujith & Sreeprakash joined us. We set off to TG Halli.

The 30-odd km drive was over in no time, inspite of bad roads & errant bus drivers enroute. We parked the cars somewhere along the pukka road & walked to the lake bed. As usual i went ahead of the group.

I got splendid views of a sirkeer malkoha perched on an open branch, with its tail half-fanned, showing the white terminal feather-tips. A boy & his goatherd, which happened to walk by, (unfortunate for me), scared it off before i could manage a shot.

As i passed the small garbage dumps which had been burnt, i came across a small flock of white-browed bulbuls, a single hoopoe & a couple of bush chats. A pair of rollers were seen flying overhead.

As i reached the reservoir bed, i was shocked!

Illegal sandminers had started mining here as well. Earlier we had seen them mine at another spot on the banks. but not easily spottable from the area frequented by birdwatchers like us. This grassy patch on the left as one enters the lakebed was earlier a haven for syke's larks. Now there were not a single one here. But luckily as i went along the banks, i found them, flocking together & giving a weak musical note when flushed. I had not seen this flocking habit during earlier visits. In fact, i believe that most larks are solitary.

There were atleast 100+ barheaded geese near the banks, but very wary fellows! Near the far banks, a 5000+ flock of ducks were seen..mostly shovellers & pintails.

My target of the day was to see small pratincoles with a much better view than what i got at bheemeshwari. There were abt 10-15 of them, sitting on an island in the reservoir. With the spotting scope, we could get decent views. Oh man!, "camouflage tho ho aisa". Until they twitched, they were invisible among the rocks.

As usual the pair of montagu's harriers, which we had seen while birding with Nick Lethaby, were also seen, and i had a tough time trying to photograph them. In spite of them being the slowest flyers among raptors, i found it hard to focus & shoot!

But i aint giving up like that. I will keep trying....

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

01/08/2005 : Lesser fish eagle @ Bheemeshwari

Waking up at 4:45am is a tough task, but the mission of the day, ie to go to bheemeshwari in search of the lesser fish eagle, was incentive enough to put sleep behind. Black-bellied tern & Small Pratincole were on my wish-list, though.

As planned, Praveen & Jemson arrived at 5:45am at BTM layout, and we set off on the 100km drive to bheemeshwari. In the 2nd week of december, our friends Nick Lethaby & Vijay Ramachandran , during their stay at the Jungle Lodges resort at bheemeshwari, had seen the eagle. Based upon directions from them, we chose the spots at bheemeshwari, to search for the bird.

After a few brief halts enroute, we reached our first eagle spot at 8:45 am. No sight of any eagles. We spent some time shooting wagtails & bee-eaters.

The next stop was some 4-5 kms beyong the fishing camp, opposite a wayside temple. Abt an hour there also resulted in no eagles, but we were gifted by the sighting of small pratincoles & black-bellied terns.

Then we headed back to the fishing camp, hoping to get the help of the CFC guide Pushparaju in finding the eagles. A road alongside the perimeter of the resort led towards the river. As per my suggestion, we headed that way, and spent another 2-3 hrs there.

Mistaking an eagle sitting far away, on a small tree in the middle of the lake, myself & praveen worked our way through the forest on the banks, getting closer, only to find that it was an osprey. I took a record shot. Returning to the bank near the camp, we resumed our sky-watch, for the eagle. Though having had to wait pretty long, finally we were able to see the eagle, high up in the air, soaring. The white belly was easily discernible. The secondaries seemed a bit paler through the binocs, inspite of the bright sky above. The upperwing coverts showed a palishness also, as it banked. Praveen managed to take some videos of it soaring. I had to be content with binoc views :-)

So, with all three specialty species having been seen, we decided to call it a day, and headed back for bangalore.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

12/12/2004: Nandi Hills Birding

On Saturday evening, while I checked my mails, I saw a mail from Suresh V, with a stunning pic of an ultramarine flycatcher, shot at Nandi hills. Soon, Praveen called me. (He must have also been checking his mails at that time) He mentioned the importance of this record for Karnataka, and persuaded me to go to Nandi hills and spot it again. I called up Suresh & convinced him to make a 2nd trip the next day itself.

We left Cox town by 6:15am, and reached nandi hills at 8:15am, thanks to the “nice” road. We had a couple of brief stops for Suresh to do some road-side shooting. Taking tickets, we left straight for the “ultramarine-spot”, and setup our tripods and sat in wait. In between I got restless seeing a red-throated flycatcher stay close, but beyond shooting distance and tried to go behind it & get a shot, but couldn’t. I returned to the waiting spot. Probably after 1-1.5 hrs of waiting, the ultramarine flycatcher showed up. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. It was stunning, like a pretty jewel glistening in the sunlight. I shot 10+ frames. Hope at least one comes out well. After some 10-15 minutes, it flew away. Suresh then started “chasing” a paradise flycatcher male, while I again tried in vain for the other flycatcher.

Our next aim was to walk along the edge of the hill, to spot raptors. Near the dormitories a flock of rufous-bellied babblers gave me a shot or two, and got to see a blue-capped rock thrush & and another male paradise flycatcher in the undergrowth. Right near the cliff, a common buzzard soared away from me, but got enough time to see the carpal patch and ID it. On the way to the temple, we also saw a white-phase booted-eagle, with its black trailing edges and black-tipped tail. Just past the temple, we waited at the rocks for the vultures. Soon, a pair of adult Egyptian vultures came in, probably a nesting pair. A huge swift flew by, with darkish wings & pale underbody. Alpine swift, I guessed. Before we walked back, we saw an UID aquila being chased by a black kite.

Near the guest house, a blue rock thrush was seen catching insects from the grass. Suresh managed a shot or two. I had packed up my stuff, and it was too far a shot, anyway. As we drove back, I held Suresh’s camera, ready for any surpise sightings. A buteo was seen perching on a tree near one of the bends, giving a good eye-level view. Without bothering to remove the helmet, I took a few shots of it using Suresh’s camera. I got down, bowed below the wall and started setting up my camera, but I was too late, it got wary & had flown away.

After a brief walk along the pathway near the coconut-vendor, and a couple of naariyal-ka-paani drinks, we headed back for Bangalore.

12/11/2004: TG Halli Birding

Nick Lethaby, who was on his usual year-end business trip to India, Praveen & self planned a half-day birding trip to the southern banks of the TGHalli (short for Thippegondanahalli) reservoir, known to be a haven for wintering harriers.

As planned, we met up at Koshy’s on ST Mark’s road at 6:45am, and set off to TG Halli. After reaching there, we got off the car just off the main road & walked towards the reservoir. The first sighting of the day was a lark sitting up in a tall shrub. After scoping it, we found it was a jerdon’s bushlark. When we reached the reservoir, the sight that we saw was both good & bad news. Good news first. There was lot of water. Ok, here is the bad news. More water means less ducks. As usual, I walked ahead of Nick & Praveen, and while walking back after an unsuccessful attempt at shooting a weird-looking paddyfield pipit, I had a small fall, falling on my bum, my shoe having slipped on the wet grassy slope. Luckily nothing happened. I gathered myself up & scrambled to join Praveen & Nick, who had by now walked more north-westward, along the length of the reservoir. Soon we could spot a small flock of ~20 bar-headed geese. Seeing us, they took off. Not far from the bank, on a tree that overlooked the reservoir, a female kestrel sat, facing away. I slowly crept up to attempt a snap, but my stealth was useless against its keen senses.

Soon again I found myself walking ahead. I spotted a “pied” harrier flying about ahead of me. I shouted “pied harrier”, only to be corrected by Nick later, who pointed out the black wing bar, distinctive of the male montagu’s harrier. All I could manage of this one was a single speck-in-the-frame shot. Walking a bit ahead I got pretty close to a couple of Little Ringed Plovers but the shots I could obtain were disappointing. Returning to a point good for getting the harriers fly in close, I sat on the ground, hoping to hide my figure among the low shrubs. The montagu’s harrier female did come in, but couldn’t get a shot. The female & the male were flying together. Were they a pair?

Later we went towards the other end of the long reservoir. There we saw a small group of rufous-tailed larks, which was another “tick” for Nick. We saw some suspicious sandmining, which I documented on film. While walking back to the car, a tawny eagle came and landed on the old nest-site. Soon it took to the air and soared for a few minutes right above us, giving us ample time to view the features.

The last sighting of the day was a white-phase booted eagle we saw while driving back. By 12:15pm, we were back at MG Road.