Crested Serpent Eagle Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela

8 January 2019

Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela

Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela

Crested Serpent Eagle - Spilornis cheela

The Silent Patient Solitary raptor, The Crested Serpent Eagle,

Hunts in the morn, on snakes and reptiles rodents or frogs,

His crest is well hidden, and only seen when the bird goes beans,

Rarely seen at its hunting haunts, but what a spectacle he makes when soaring above.

Crested Serpent Eagle is a resident of Mount Abu.

The Crested Serpent Eagle, as its English name suggests, is a reptile eater which hunts over forests, often close to wet grassland, for snakes and lizards. More...

Crested Serpent Eagle over the years

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Ashy prinia Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

7 January 2019

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

The ashy headed Prinia, fluttering from bush to bush,

Swaggering its tail with no care in this world,

Once in a way crackling its unseen whip,

Much to the observer's curiosity trying to figure out its source.

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

Ashy Prinia - Prinia socialis

Ashy Prinia is mainly resident in Mount Abu. Migration being limited to local cold weather movements. Non-breeding birds may form small flocks.

Prinias have short wings but long tapering tails. They are fairly drab birds, brown or grey above (sometimes with dark streaks) and whitish, below. 

Some species have different breeding and non-breeding plumage. The bill is a typical insectivore's, thin and slightly curved.

Common Teal Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Common Teal - Anas crecca

5 January 2019

Common Teal - Anas crecca - Male

Common Teal - Anas crecca - Female

The buff spotted chest of the small dabbling duck,

 used to be the hunters' prized pot on a winter's frost,

The chestnut brown head with its green ear patch, 

was shot at with delight like the clay pigeon on site.

Today this beauty is captured by birders put on websites 

To the delight of nature lovers who take pride to be photographers and not shooters.

The common teal every year comes to Mount Abu for its winter vacation. This year on my bird count I counted 16 birds, there could be some more.

Common Teal over the years

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Shikra Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019

Shikra Accipiter badius

4 January 2019

Shikra Accipiter badius   - Juvenile

Shikra Accipiter badius   -Female

Shikra Accipiter badius   -Female

Shikra the swiftest of the small predators,

With claws drawn, strikes like lightning,

Whizzing through bushes snaring his prey,

Most feared amongst small birds all the way.

As youngsters, we called the Shikra the sparrow hawk. In Rajasthan, the bird is considered a shikari (hunter) for its small size the Shikra is considered a ferocious raptor. It can take on birds twice its size. Most birds skedaddle when the hunter is around. The ever-alert bulbul and the long-tailed shrike, act like sentinels warning the other feathered bird of an impending attack by the Shikra. The only species is the fierce jungle babbler that gangs up to literally chase the shikra from an area where they are flocked together.  The Shikra is a residential bird of Mount Abu.

Shikra over the years

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Ashy Drongo Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Ashy Drongo -  Dicrurus leucophaeus

3 January 2019.

Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus

Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus

Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus

Ashy Drongo with its forked tail shining. 

Sallying through Abu's winter sky,

Master manoeuvre catching prey on the wing,

A fierce protector of its kith and kin.

Ashy Drongo is a winter and passage migrant. It's not a commonly seen species here in Abu. One may encounter a single bird or sometimes a small flock of them. They seem to get on well with our native white-bellied Drongo. Their diet is mostly insects. They feed like flycatchers, taking large insects they love bees. Like all Drongoes, these are aggressive and fearless in nature and will attack any other predator that poses a threat to their nest or fledglings.

Ashy Drongo over the years.

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Black Redstart Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros

2 January 2019.

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - Female

She comes dances, frits and flies away, Much to the amusement of the birder who clicks away, capturing her beauty in his soul. 

 photographing her antics for the world to scroll.

 

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - Female

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - Female

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros - Female

 Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros -Male

Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros -Male

The Black Redstart our winter visitor, makes it up the hill during September. This year I photographed the female and male in the first week of October 2018. This species stays right up to March. These birds always appear to be on the move, eye-catching and can inspire the person watching them.

Did you know? 

We know the Black Redstart as the Indra Ghandi Bird in India. It inspired her to write poetry and praise for its petite behaviour. 

Common Buzzard Birds of Mount Abu JANUARY 2019 mountabubirds.blogspot.com

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 

1 January 2019

Mount Abu in January

ITS JANUARY 2019 And ABU Winter Visitors are Here.

Abuites I do not know how many of you have been following my blog Mount Abu Birds. I have been birding and promoting the younger folks of our town to Observe, participate and take an active role in documenting the birds they see around Abu. Be it on a casual walk, a short jungle walk, or a long trek or even on a picnic. With smartphones at your disposal, one can easily photograph the birds they see and observe and forward them to birding databases around the world where they are compiling data of birds from all parts of the world. To promote our avian friend I will strongly recommend that you download the App for mobile

From the play store: The app is called eBird.Join the world’s largest birding community, contribute your observations to them to build and record our bird species that live and visit this unique hill station in the Aravalis.

Creating an eBird Account go to .http://www.ebird.org/.

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 

The Common Buzzard in Mount Abu is Considered a Vagrant and passage migrant; I Have been recording this species from 2009. All my photographs of this species have been taken in the Winter months over the years. I always felt that the Buzzard was a winter visitor.I'm posting some latest photographs and slide show of this raptor taken over the years.

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo Over the Years Mount Abu 

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