Monsoon Nesting

Who hasn't seen the house sparrows building their nests in the ledges and the cups of ceiling fans. It is fascinating to watch them build their homes from scratch! From selecting a site to collecting the nesting material to making a cozy nest- the birds do it so amazingly. Yes, house sparrows may not be seen in concrete jungles. But in Ghumakkad's neighbourhood, sparrows still thrive! More on the sparrows later.

Come monsoon and the magic unfolds year after year. Loud chirping of birds, plenty of short flights across trees and frenetic activity to build nests can't be missed. This year a pair of Ashy Prinias have made a nest in our front yard using three leaves of Gudmar plant.

Ashy Prinia is a tiny bird with an upright tail. It is a resident of Indian subcontinent and neighbouring region upto Myanmar. It can be found in urban and home gardens like our front yard in Secunderabad. It is insectivorous. It's song is a repetitive tchup, tchup, tchup or zeet-zeet-zeet. Another call is a nasal tee-tee-tee. It's call gives away its presence! 

The way they stitched the leaves together to create a cozy interior, is seen to be believed. Ashy Prinias build their next close to the ground. We bring you a picture and video each to appreciate this tiny bird's talent.

After another day's waiting, Neeta could capture the bird in its nest in our yard. View the pictures in full screen.

Another bird nesting in our neighbourhood in the cable junction box is Brahminy Starling or Brahminy Mynah. The pair have selected an abandoned junction box of cable TV wires. It is mounted at a height on an electric pole. Therefore, safe from predators like stray cats. Brahminy Starlings are generally seen in pairs. See the pictures below:

Here is a two-minute video showing the Brahminy Starlings approaching the nest in a cable junction box. In case the YouTube link does not open, click here.

Earlier, we had shared the nesting pictures of other birds in the following stories (Just click the link):

Wooly-necked Storks - Nesting in colonies on road side trees in Assam - how many nests do you see in the picture below. Answer in the link above.

House Sparrow - Nesting in our house in Secunderabad. See the picture and video below.

A short 40-seconds video shows the dominance of the sparrows for a bird house! Real estate in demand! In case the YouTube video below doesn't play, click here to view the video.

Sparrows in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

Spot-billed Pelicans - Nesting in man-made baskets in Kolleru Lake in AP

Eurasian Spoon Bill - Nesting on trees along Cauvery river, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka

Birds and bats nest together on the same tree. No conflict. See the picture below:

As Aasheesh Pittie, a noted ornithologist and author tells the urban citizens who ask- 'Where should we go to watch birds?' - to not go anywhere. You can watch the birds in the city and its surroundings itself. But he questions them, 'But do we have the time to stand and stare?' Our above story took weeks of observation and patience. A point which Aasheesh makes in his recent book 'The Living Air'.

Special thanks to Yella Prakash Rao for sharing the portraits of Ashy Prinia and Brahminy Starling.

Thanks for browsing.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 13th July 2023

Postscript:

14th July: Another reader Brig Rajeev Singh sent a picture of the Prinia's nest in a potted plant in his house in Secunderabad. Whereas in our yard, the Prinia had made the nest in a free standing plant in a flower bed.

Postscript 22nd July 

Our fears came true! Sadly. As pointed out by many readers, the nest was in grave danger of stray cats. And this morning, we found the nest missing. The supporting thread was still hanging. See the picture.

The birds and the nest was nowhere to be seen. Closer scrutiny of the ground beneath revealed the remains of the nest. The chicks were all gone. So sad! See the picture below.

We felt so sorry for the Prinias. After a while, Neeta sighted both the birds near the nest. One of them had a worm in its beak to feed the chicks. Poor thing. The other bird then found the nest on the ground. Kind of circled it. Waited and then flew away!

Nature's food chain I guess!

#birds #nesting #monsoon #brahminystarling #ashyprinia #EurasianSpoonbill #woolyneckedstork #housesparrow #spotbilledpelican #homegardens #secunderabad #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Kolleru The Pelican Paradise

Kolleru Lake Wildlife Sanctuary- The Pelican Paradise

Winter months herald the arrival of migrant birds like Pelicans, Ducks, Cranes etc from far away places like Siberia. Indian peninsula sees plenty of activity by these winged visitors. Large lakes and sanctuaries become their nesting sites. One such place in Andhra Pradesh is called Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS). 

Neeta and I drove 350 kms from Hyderabad to Eluru in our Tata Zest. (see the map below)

One has to cross the lake (or the remains of the lake!) and drive to Kaikulur. Enroute comes a display hut with a view tower maintained by the Forest Department.  A ceiling high signage proclaims Kolleru WLS to be India's 'Largest Fresh Water Wet Land'. See the picture below.

The view from the Viewing Tower enroute Kaikaluru.


Kolleru lake is nature's reservoir to balance the floods between Krishna and Godavari river basins. Average depth is 4 feet. The lake which was once close to 900 sq kms has shrunk to less than half its size-- thanks to encroachments by the fish tanks. Fish tanks are all over! See the two maps-- 30 years apart-- courtesy LakeKolleru.com. The before and after views depict human greed and disrespect for Nature!

After negotiating through the village bye lanes, we reached the 'Pelican Paradise'. It truly is a paradise for bird watchers and Nature lovers. It was a cloudy day with haze-- not a perfect day for photography. But that is not in our control.


The Kaikaluru lake has facilities for hiring  4 or 8-seater boats with life vests during 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. A 20 minute boat ride costs Rs 200 + 100 bucks for the camera. It has a boarding point which can be slippery and dangerous during rains. The boats are powered by an OBM, which does make some noise. But the birds seem to have got accustomed to it! You can get quite close to the birds. The boatman however, has instructions not to cut the engine!
While we were there, we saw a group of young doctors from Ashram Medical College Eluru. See the pictures below. 

The lake has numerous small islands with 'Keekar' trees which are ideal nesting sites for Pelicans and Painted Storks. This spot-billed pelican posed for us.

Why this name 'spot billed'? Because this species of Pelican has spots on upper mandible of their beaks. See the picture below.

As we mentioned, the lake has been badly encroached upon with loss of nesting sites. Therefore man made nesting sites have been created. Basically these are iron stands erected on small bunds in the lake. See the pictures below.

The pelicans have accepted these nesting 'grounds'. See a pelican family perched atop this iron nest!

In contrast, here is a pelican in its natural nest with grass!

Chicks like human babies, are always hungry. You can see a pelican landing on the nest and the beaks of pelican chicks are wide open asking for fish or whatever catch the 'mother' has brought!

Another picture where you can see the spots on this 'Spot-billed Pelican' also called the 'Grey pelican'.

Like all feathered friends, pelicans preen themselves. 

And this pelican flew past showing its majestic wings-- like the fly past during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi.

Here is Neeta in action taking a video shot  with the iron stands for nesting in the background.

For previous pictures of the pelicans and other birds taken at Ranganathittu Karnataka, please click here.

After the Pelicans, it was the turn of Painted Storks. These tall birds with long beaks nest along with the pelicans.

Painted Storks nest in colonies as in the pictures below.

It is feeding time!

An eye level shot of a painted stork taken from our moving boat.

A stork in flight with a village in the background on lake shore.

Yes, a mud road connects a village in middle of the lake. The path is wide enough for cattle, school children, cyclists and auto rickshaws to ply. See the collage below.

We only hope the lake retains its natural habitat and the pristine beauty for our grand children to enjoy.

Neeta turned around to say good bye to Kolleru Lake .

Hope you enjoyed Kolleru Lake and its surroundings.
Do share your experiences/observations.

Bye till then,
     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 17th Dec 2014