The Other One: Stars, Storks and the Scaly Breasted Munia

Look up at the sky as you drive in or out of Bangalore these days and chances are you will see silhouettes such as the one above- a long thin central line abutted by two wide wings. These are the painted storks and they are heading towards lakes during the monsoon season. Where do they come from and where do they go? From accounts online, they are found in large lakes such as the one in Lalbagh (my blog from many years ago), Kaikondrahalli, Hebbal etc in Bangalore, and in many places along the Bangalore-Mysore line (Kokrebellur, Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary etc).

On our mid week trip to Chikkaballapur this week, we see many painted storks in flight, busily heading to God knows where. Painted storks are not known to migrate, so perhaps they are only flying to their favorite fishing or nesting haunts.

They are elegant flyers and fish-catchers: observe a flock of them fishing and you will see them mince their way carefully through the water, once in a while extending their wings in an attempt to reduce the glare of light on water, both for better visibility and for partially blinding the fish to the strong, sharp beak that is coming down inexorably to capture them. This is called canopy feeding. Check out some pics of other birds that use this trick to catch themselves some food!

(from https://www.audubon.org/news/watch-black-heron-fool-fish-turning-umbrella)

(from https://ianbcross.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/yellow-billed-stork/)

One of my most favorite parts of our camping trip this week were the stars. In Bangalore, you can see the most prominent stars and planets (a dim Orion's belt, Sirius, Venus or Mars sometimes). On the farm, the light pollution is practically non-existent. A cloudy evening somehow resolves into a thinly clouded twilight and early night and the stars we can see are astounding in their numbers and closeness. For a city dweller not accustomed to seeing more than a handful of stars, this sudden plenitude can be disorienting. Having to pick up the Big Dipper from a sea of stars can cause one to second- and third-guess themselves.

I lay down on a granite picnic bench and stared up at the sky. Clouds were racing across; the moon was clear and sharp one minute, pink and hazy as the clouds veiled it the next minute; the stars were bright dust and pinpricks of light. The night air was brisk, birds and monkeys for the most part silent, but the night was loud with the croaking of frogs, crickets and unknown insects with powerful mechanisms of stridulation. I realized that while in the city, I can pretend that I know a good amount of astronomy, in a place where one can actually see the stars, I know very little. I guess it's a bit like that frog and the pond story: when the pond is small, you know a lot. Then you see for yourself that the small pond is actually gargantuan and limitless and suddenly you realize you know nothing. To begin my studies in astronomy, I have purchased an excellent guide from the Smithsonian "Star Finder! A Step by Step Guide to the Night Sky" Now I need to apply the theoretical knowledge gleaned from this book next time we go to the farm (tomorrow!)

We saw many of the birds described in the earlier blog posts- it's kind of nice to see them again and again, like old roadside acquaintances that you don't talk to much but will notice if they are not around.

- Jacobin's cuckoo: check (seen flying across one of the fields to what I think is it's favorite perch on a eucalyptus)

- Brainfever bird: check (heard as usual at the crack of dawn... *sigh*)

- Peacocks and peahens: check and check (multiple families, all screeching away to glory)

- Owlets that live on the tamarind tree up on the hill with the sand football field: As of now, my only sight of them is the one where they fly away from me every time I draw near. When will you become my friends, owlets? When will you let me ogle you up with my binos?! 😫

- Bee-eaters: not only do I know them, I know where they live! Now that's true friendship

- Hoopoe (a new one)

- Bushlarks

- Indian Robins (or are they??)

New bird for this trip is the scaly breasted munia.... the first two words are a bit disconcerting, aren't they? Scaly-breasted probably rank right on top there with snake-headed. I'm actually surprised the Greeks didn't create a monster with scaly breasts right alongside Medusa.

The scaly breasted munia is small, reddish and we saw it on the red soil as well as on wires (just like the pic above). They are social- love to gather in small flocks and chirp a lot. There are many different types of munias around this place, actually but they are hard to spot (for me atleast) because they keep moving about so much

Another bird that I KNOW I have seen in the farm but hear much more often than I see is the cool looking Oriental white eye: