Cuckoo - Male & Female koyel at breakfast hour

Everyday when rice is kept for crows, other birds and animals do visit to take their share viz., squirrels, pigeons, cuckoos, sparrows and parrots. During morning hours for few days I visited the place everyday to make them tolerate my presence. Then finally one day I sat patiently with my camera and with minimal movement able to capture these photos. Because of still posture for long time, my hands and legs pained but all is for a worthy shot though my humble camera could give only this much zoom.

Cuckoos are shy birds. Male cuckoos are black in colour and they are the ones who make long sweet calls. They are jet black in colour and have red eyes. Cuckoo and crow pheasant fall in same family.

 Female cuckoos have spots and brown in colour and gives out short and rapid calls. They don't build nest but lays eggs in a crow's nest. The male cuckoo divert the crows by making them come behind it while the female lays the eggs.

This female cuckoo is bolder than its counterparts and came boldly to have its share of rice.

Other winged friends..... couldn't share the picture of parrot as it got erased by mistake :-(

Crow Pheasant / chembothu

Crow pheasant, though has the name 'crow' as part of its name, actually belongs to cuckoo family.  Like the male cuckoo this bird also has red eyes and makes a quick calling sound like the cuckoo but the voice of this bird is deep.

 It makes a deep resonant call. My recordings don't have its call hence I googled to share the same with you. Just click the link and clik the play audio.

http://www.junglewalk.com/popuptop.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=10966

In the busy traffic at our place, recording a clear voice is not possible as the horn sound of vehicles will make the voice of the bird fade. But I am longing to make one to put it in my collection.
 
I first heard it at my aunt's place which was then a villlage. But could not catch a glimpse of it in the thick tall trees.

Recently I started hearing the familiar call in our place but could spot it only few times. Once I saw it crossing the road (like a road runner). Many a times it comes out during the peak morning hours. But when the rains started I could see it quite often.

Captured few shots of the 'crow pheasant' (Chembothu / कौवा तीतर) when it came in the open. A crow had built its nest in a tree and this crow pheasant visited the tree like usual and the crows started chasing it. Then it took refuge in a nearby tree where I could get a good glimpse of it.

I tried to capture the picture to my level best quickly with my humble camera.

 

What a beautiful coat of colours it has! I admire God's creation each and every time I peek into my surroundings. Thanking God for bring these feast to eyes to my window.

squirrel

In the growing up concrete jungle squirrels have become rare to see. I have already mentioned that there is a small oasis amidst the concrete jungle in our place which houses variety of birds, insects, etc

Early bird gets the worm... yeah it is true. On a sunday morning finished my chores early and with my camcorder, I set off to the garden with my mother and nephew.  We packed our picnic breakfast & seated in a spot covered by plants. From there sitting still  I could take few videos and photos of the winged friends as well as squirrel which I will be sharing one by one with you in the subsequent posts.

Sparrows - tiny beings going unnoticed

With the sparrow population decreasing I am happy to see them atleast alive in our place.

There are lot many short trees that are planted on the roadside which house them from dusk to dawn.

During the day, they happily fly, hop, chirp on the terrance, on the window, sitting on the rope kept for drying clothes.....

I have captured photos but never attemtped a video. Finally a regular visitor who got used to my presence & tolerated me was kind enough to pose for a short video......

Bird lovers like me try to feed them grains. But the major share is taken away by the pigeons who are the dadas of this area ha.ha.ha.a.............

Sparrows survive on small thick bushes and short trees. Their homes are destroyed by the fast spreading concrete jungle. There are plant lovers who are kind enough to make landscapes amidst the concrete setups & bring greenery into the environment with lots of bushes, plating trees like how our builder does. 

During an evening walk one can notice the chorus of their chirps and the bunch of leaves moving here & there restlessly till it becomes dark.

The roads are well laid and the short trees are planted near the roads hence we hope this will provide some kind of shelter in encouraging their populatoin.

There are some cats which are on prowl and it will not be difficult for them to climb those short trees. Now i can fully understand why they chirp so happily on seeing the slightest tinge of twilight touching the skyline every dawn which shows how relieved for having passed the night successfully & survived to see another day!!

Parakeet - another winged visitor

Parrots visit our area everyday. During the dusk and the dawn they fill our place with their variety of tones... squeak, screech..... etc

I was trying to capture them in my camera for two years and finally succeeded taking a shot last week.

They normally sit on top of the trees or on cables running between tall towers. But this time a couple visited the cable hanging near our building finally I succeeded! ...... hurray!! here it is for your views

Lovely wild parrots isn't it?

Here is a video shot. Hear them squeaking happily :-).......

 

Similarly there is a song bird which is extremely shy to human presence. I can only hear them every morning and in the evening and sometimes during the afternoon if the climate is pleasant. Till now not succeeded to click a photo . Wish me goodluck pals :-)

Residents of Vandalur Zoo

Welcome you to Arignar Anna Zoological Park, (அறிஞர் அண்ணா உயிரியல் பூங்கா) Vandalur, Chennai. This is also known as 'Vandalur Zoo' which is spread on aprrox. 600 hectares of land in the sub-urbs of chennai. As no vehicles are alllowed inside the park, you can either walk it up or hire the bicycles to meet the residents who are staying far away from each other wiith their privacy. There is a battery operated vehicle available which will take you tour around the park. Also Lion Safari (whcih was available when we visited) is available but there is a long wait to get the queue to see the asiatic lions. Everywhere in the park you can see the flora and fauna giving greenery to the park.

It houses various species of animals, birds & insects (nocturnal too) in separate enclosures. the wonderful sight you will have is at the Tiger's place. You can pack your lunch and cooly sit in the shade of the big tree near its enclosure and eagerly wait to watch the big beast to come out of its camouflage. Its a pity scene to see some stupid people trying to throw stones into the enclosure and hit the poor majestic beast and provoking it. It is separated by a big moat from the neighbouring enclosure of spotted dears - the prey of tigers roaming happily without any fear in front of the predator's eyes.

Let me introduce to some of them whom i have captured in my camera.

the black long tailed monkeys welcome you when you enter the park.

the Gaur or the Indian Bison is a very powerful animal which even a tiger will opt for a prey only when it is left with no other option for food. Only an experienced tiger can kill a bison. See the muscles it has developed without the help of a gym.

Indian Bison / Gaur

A small adolescent peacock trying to dance with its 'forming' tail spread.

Are you able to spot two tigers in this photo? two male tigers in separate encloures in open. It was a wonderful sight to see it.

Black Jaguar

dearies, sorry i have lost some of the photos :-(  hence could upload only a few here right now. Let me check whether i could retrieve the others.

Residents of Singapore Zoo