Its a new passion. Bird spotting.

As the photographs of various birds around Calcutta are placed in this blog, there is a short film that I created of all the bird videos I could record on my camera. Thanks for watching and do share if you like it. :) 

This bird with an abstruse name is no misnomer. To find about it was equally difficult. The bird looks very similar to the red bellied woodpecker which is a native bird of North America. So the first time I saw this bird, it got me thinking how could a native north american bird reach India? Later I found that this bird has a slight variation- a red vent and a pattern on the breast, and that counted for a different species altogether!

I always wondered, Is this bird a duck? No its skinnier. So it's a heron! Nopes, herons look different. A lapwing then?  I confounded this bird with a lapwing for a long time. Finally a bird website helped me. And they told me which bird it was. Eureka! A Waterhen!

Solitary and reclusive, the Papiya didn't like it so much to be clicked. It watched me for a while, then flew and perched upon a branch hidden behind leaves. Surely it needed some alone time and I was intruding!

Rudyard Kipling's Jungle book happened in my garden. A tailorbird flew over a bonsai cherry tree and sat upon one of its branches. It's distinctive upright tail and small body reminded me of Darzee. This passerine bird has white underparts, an olive green body and an rufous or reddish brown head. Known for its unique way of constructing nests, the bird sews leaves with plant fibre or spider silk, just like a tailor, and builds a cradle shaped nest.

This is perhaps the most rare shot I've taken till now. The male Koel (bluish black with crimson eyes) and the female Koel (dark brown with white spots and heavily striped tail) were perched on a tree. The female was chatty while the male was mostly defensive and looked around as if a human couple.