2014 | 131 | 11May14 | Mysore Lingabhudhi Lake

01. Common Hoopoe (Upupa Epops) - 31 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Mainly rufous-orange to orange-buff, with striking black-and-white wings and tail, blacktipped fan-like crest which is usually held flat, and downcurved bill. Broad, rounded wings and like giant butterfly in flight.

02. Common lora (Aegithina tiphia) - ♂ Breeding Multicolor - 14 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : From Marshall's lora in all plumages by uniform black tail (male) or green tail (female). Very variable. Crown and mantle of breeding males vary from uniformly black (multicolor of S India and Sri Lanka), to black mixed with much yellow on mantle (e.g. humei of central peninsula), to mainly yellowish-green (e.g. tiphia of Himalayas and northeast). Females very similar to non-breeding males although tail is green.

03. Blue-faced Malkoha (Rhopodytes Viridirostris) - 39 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : From the larger Green-billed Malkoha (which it replaces in S India and Sri Lanka) in having blue rather than redeye-patch, darker green coloration to head and nape (lacking pale-streaked supercilium), darker grey throat and breast with buffish streaking, distinctly buffish lower belly and vent, and broader white tips to tail feathers (especially apparent from below)

04. Yellow-billed Babbler (Turdoides Affinis) - 23 cm♂
ID by  Richard Grimmett : From Jungle in having creamy-white lores, forehead and crown, dark mottling on throat and breast (diffusely streaked on most similar Jungle races), pale grey panel on wings, and also (in some birds) pale bluish-white iris. In flight pale buff rump and base to tail contrasts with darker rest of tail. Paleness of head and extent of mottling on throat and breast varies. Juvenile has darker brownish-buff crown and nape, lacks prominent buff streaking on mantle and back, and lacks darker mottling; best told from Jungle by combination of paler crown and nape showing slight contrast with mantle, buff wing panel, and paler rump and base to tail which contrast with rest of tail. T. a. taprobanus (Sri Lanka) has more uniform greybrown upperparts and underparts, lacking whitish crown and nape and dark mottling on throat and breast. Extremely similar to Jungle (which does not occur in Sri Lanka); main difference is more striking greyish-white panel on wing.

05. Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros Birostris) - Adult - 50 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Has broad greyish-white supercilium with dark grey ear-coverts, white tips to primaries and secondaries, and white-tipped tail. Has prominent blackish casque, and more extensive black at base of bill compared with Malabar. Further, lacks pale streaking on head, neck and breast, has paler sandy brownish-grey coloration to upperparts, and white trailing edge to secondaries. Tail is also longer than on Malabar Grey, and paler brown with dark grey subterminal band and elongated central feathers. Female is similar to male, but has smaller casque with less pronounced tip. Immature has bill as female's, but smaller and with smaller casque; lacks white wing-tips.

06. Dragonfly in Flight