2014 | 166 | 15Jun14 | Shivanahalli

BNG BIRDS - 3rd Sunday Trail @ Shivanahalli

Special thanks to Ms.Geethanjali and BNG birds for arranging such a wonderful birding trail. Adding to it when professionals like Mr.Seshadiri, Mr.Deepak joins, the whole team gets enlightened with tons of information, for me personally I felt amazed to hear about gear systems in carpenter bees, habits of procession ants, evolution of terminalia trees, specialty of sandal woods roots and so on. For a while I though I should have choose botany or Zoology as my major. : ). At the same time, need to thank Ashram and their team for allowing us inside. Thank you again for all your support.

Arun

:: Birds ::

01. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) - Female -  14 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Male from Blue-throated by orange throat. Female has blue-grey cast to upperparts (especially rump and tail), orange breast, and white belly and flanks.

02. Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) - Adult - 13 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Has long (slightly down curved) pale bill, rufous forehead and forecrown, greenish upperparts, and dull whitish or buffish underparts. Breeding male has elongated central tail feathers. Juvenile lacks rufous on forecrown. Subspecies in Sri Lanka (e.g. 0. s. sutorius) have darker and greener upperparts and lack supercilium. 

03.  Orange-headed Thrush (Zoothera citrina) - Adult Male - 21 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Adult has orange head and underparts; male with blue-grey mantle, female with olive brown wash to mantle. Juvenile has buffish-orange streaking on upperparts and mottled breast. Shows white banding on underwing in flight. Z. c. cyanotus (peninsula) has vertical black stripes across white ear-coverts, and white throat.

04.  Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) - Female - 12.5-13 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Male is entirely black except for white rump and patch on wing; duller due to rufous fringes to body in non-breeding and First-winter plumages. Female has dark brown upperparts and rufous-brown underparts, with rufous-orange rump. Females in peninsula and Sri Lanka are darker and more prominently streaked than in North.

05.  Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Juvenile - 16-18 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Small with elongated central tail feathers, blue or green throat with black gorget, variable golden-brown to rufous crown and nape, and green tail. Juvenile has square-ended tail; crown and mantle are green, lacks black gorget, and throat is pale yellowish- or bluish-green. 

:: Insects and other Invertebrates ::

01.  Millipedes (Myriapodous arthropods) - Feeding on fruit - 0.2-35 cm
ID by  Wikipedia: Millipedes have as few as eleven to over one hundred segments. They are generally black or brown in colour, although there are a few brightly coloured species. The millipede's most obvious feature is its large number of legs. Having many short legs makes millipedes rather slow, but the many legs pushing in unison provides powerful strength for burrowing.

02. Chiasmia sp

03. Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) - Matting
Thanks to Mr.Vimal who spotted and showed this lovely couples.