A collection from our garden!

I usually take a long walk on Sunday early morning in our garden. Today, it was cloudy and dark with the sky down cast. I knew that the photography would be difficult. 

First was the reciprocal bird chatter between two Golden-fronted leafbirds at height about 100 feet. I could not get a better exposure to get details of the body of this pair of birds. 

The next sight was a familiar White-throated kingfisher, in its usual place on a cable overlooking the stream. In its flight today it skipped two other stations that it visits in the morning. 

The next was a Square tailed drongo on a cable, while its family of the three others were moving between trees. Their bird calls become louder during flight that it creates a cacophony in the garden. 

The next  I spotted was a Red-wattled lapwing in the field below our garden. I looked for its pair as it was hovering around an earthy area with gaping surface, which is where thy normally lay eggs. Their bird calls are loud and long, which was absent today. It is its bird call, which announces its presence. 

The next two birds, White-cheeked Barbet and Rufous tree pie are resident birds in our garden. Each of them has a family and they are birds that we can hope to see each day. As both of these families are fond of fruits we can watch them take turns to feed on the Papaya fruit in the garden. 

The next five photos are of a Cattle egret. The way it managed to fly to the coconut Palm and stayed there grooming its body, although it has only one leg caught my attention. It did all the grooming with its beaks and the other leg by resting the body on the palm leaves. It did loose its balance a few times, but steadied itself well. I spotted once a Red-wattled lapwing with one leg. This is the second time of spotting another bird with only one leg. It was a delight to watch the way it did its body care with ease. The egret was at this station for a while, which helped to get a good collection of photos. 

The pink Orchid near the well and the Golden cascade flowers at the entrance to our cottage were the last sites of this morning walk. 

It did drizzle in between. I had protection ready for the camera. 

A bird watcher of considerable experience and with a rich collection of bird photographs told me a few years back, that some birds are comfortable to be noticed and some are not. Some are photogenic and some are photophobic. 

I noticed that Bulbul,  Magpie robin, Myna, Wood pecker, Kingfisher and Parakeets are easy to photograph. Most of the other birds are whimsical. Sometimes they stay at one station for a while and some other times they have a fleeting halt. 

In understanding the behaviour of birds, I noticed that we can adapt and make birds more comfortable to accept our presence around them. 

It is all about adapting to them to make them feel that we are friendly and welcoming. 

The Bulbuls and Magpie robins who come to our backyard, when we leave fruits for them, give us a message that they seek out for contacts with humans. 

Birds are feathered friends and flowers are self giving by habit!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)