Nesting Colony @ Keoladeo NP, October 2014

Bharatpur is famous for its heronries where painted storks, Eurasian spoonbills, black-headed ibises, Asian Openbills, darters, Indian cormorants etc nest together. It is quite a spectacle. When we went there on 2nd October, 2014 although not a single migratory duck was visible (they were yet to arrive), we could see these bustling heronries. These are on clump of small land masses that looked like tiny islands in the middle of water bodies. The trees on those islands are taken over by these birds and together they make quite a noise. It is like music to me. As one of my friends put it, "untamed symphony".

Laughing Dove At Keoladeo National Park, October 2014

The laughing dove is plentiful in Rajasthan. Wherever you go you see them. They look very pretty. They are not quiet at all and it is very easy to record their vocalisation. I recorded this particular bird in the morning of October 2, 2014 at Keoladeo National Park with my Marantz PMD 661 Mk II and Sennheiser K6/ME66. There was some wind and the noise is audible as I was using only the foam cover as windscreen.

The accompanying image of the bird was shot during our previous Rajasthan trip in 2011.

Sarus Cranes @ Keoladeo National Park

In September-October of 2014 I had gone to North India and among other places visited Keoladeo National Park. Here I got lucky with the mating calls of a pair of Sarus Cranes - the star attraction of the park. The first time when I heard this call I got a start, because I couldn't see the birds and was certainly not prepared for the sound. After that I took out my recorder and waited ready for it. After about six minutes they suddenly called out. It was really worth the wait. The time shown in Xeno-Canto is wrong. It was recorded in the late afternoon at around 4.30 pm on 2nd October, 2014.

The recording turned out to  be very clean, clear and crisp. I didn't do any editing whatsoever. Not even volume push up. This is the first time I used the new Marantz PMD 661 Mk II with the Sennheiser K6/ME66. It's a fantastic combination. 

Black-hooded Oriole

I love the Bengali name of the black-hooded oriole. Bene Bou. It means the goldsmith's wife. Traditionally they wear a lot of gold ornaments. With its golden colour the bird is quite aptly named. These birds have a wide repertoire of calls. Here are three of them from my collection. 

I recorded the first one at Shyamkhola on a quiet morning. One of those rare occasions when there was no loudspeaker playing in the distance blaring some religious song. 

This is another type of vocalisation recorded at Dhakuria Lake And this is yet another different vocalisation.  CKBS.

Oriental Pratincole

As we were coming back from Kharibari (31st March, 2013) through Rajarhat we decided to check out if the Oriental Pratincoles could be seen. Construction activity in Rajarhat has increased considerably and we weren't too hopeful. Suddenly one of our friends spotted a flock of them swoop down on an open grassland. We immediately got out from our car for a good sighting. With the recorder on I was lucky to get the vocalisation of a lone bird that was encircling a small area overhead. Later, while uploading on Xeno-Canto I was surprised to find that this is the first recording of the species from India !!!
Incidentally this photograph was taken in Manglajodi in January 2012.
To listen to the recording click here

Wood Sandpiper

Went to Kharibari on Sunday, 31st March and made a number of recordings. This species offered both - an opportunity for a good photograph and a decent sound recording that I uploaded today (the pic and the vocalisation is not of the same individual) on Xeno-Canto. I must confess that when I saw and heard the bird in flight I couldn't identify it but knew it was some sandpiper - from the shape of its body. Later, while matching the calls I realised I had recorded a Wood Sandpiper :) That's the beauty of internet and modern technology. 

To listen to the recording click here or the embedded file below

Flame-throated Bulbul

My first bird in Goa's Backwoods Camp on 8th March 2013 was this bird. Light condition being very poor I couldn't get a decent image of the bird. After that it remained elusive for the rest of my stay there only to reappear on the last morning when a pair sat on a branch right outside the main building of the resort and happily sang for a long time.

This bird was earlier considered a sub-species (Gularis) of Black-headed Bulbul. Now it has been split.