The urban kingfisher

Kingfishers are not uncommon where I live. These days they even come and perch on cable and electricity wires high up in the sky and from there make their shrill calls.

Often I have seen a fisher meditating on a low branch next to a pond take a sudden swoop into the water. It emerges in a jiffy with a flash of turquoise, triumphant, a fish in its beak. Today was more interesting. This particular specimen was perched on a cable wire near a tarred road. Suddenly it swooped down low on to the road surface, picked up something in its beak and went back to its original wiry perch. Just another example of how birds adapt to the urban environment.

(Photo clicked elsewhere by me)

Oddly behaving Oriental Magpie Robins

There is this OMR pair that lives near my home. Throughout the day one sees them flitting here and there, chasing each other, trying to find food or simply trilling for the heck of it. The pair also nests every monsoon and while the nest itself is not in a visible place the sounds emerging from it are quite audible. 

But to get back to this evening: The robins were awake for more than an hour after darkness had fallen and all other birds had vanished for the night. There is a street light that comes on around sunset. These two robins kept hanging around close to this lamp, swooping and diving to catch the insects and flies fluttering around the light. This went on for quite a while. In between all this hunting the pair would call to each other in a very low pitched bass call that sounded like ‘streak’ or ‘chreek’; very different from the louder ‘chuk chirrup’ they use during the day, or the melodious song of the male heard from treetops during the breeding season.
 
This is the first time (or maybe second) I’ve seen these birds make use of night/artificial light so effectively, delaying their sleep time considerably in the process. Of course I'm not at my observation post every evening so cannot be sure how frequently this happens. 


Would be interested in any observations and explanations from birders.

 

The Bulbul and the mirror

Every year around April-May the red whiskered Bulbuls arrive. From their overall behavior it appears to be their breeding season. There is an old unoccupied house, which one particular pair seems to like. The balcony has a mirror. One Bulbul in particular seems to like watching itself in the mirror. It also flies up and down a few times and stares at the reflection. Then it flies away. It does this at least few times everyday. I have been observing this for the last 2 years. 

Photos are not great in terms of clarity due to the distance and an ordinary camera. Taken for record. What is of interest here is the behavior of this bird.