The day we spot the Jacobin's cuckoo

Trip #2

On Saturday night, we are better prepared for the camping trip: we have a stove and fuel for it. Hot parathas and tea even in heavy rains bolsters spirits.  The kids' tent is snug and comfortable. The adults' tent is another story: water leakage through the open window makes it yet another wet and uncomfortable night. Maybe we ought to be throwing the tarp on top of the tent instead of keeping it under the tent. The peacocks and the brainfever bird scream all night long. What's up with these crazy birds? 

Sunday morning dawns with a brilliant orange sun peeking through thin purple clouds. I am moved to perform Surya Namaskar for the first time in decades. We each set off in different directions for walks. 

We spotted a Jacobin's cuckoo. It's easy to spot because of the bright white bands on its wings in flight. 

                                                                

We also spotted Malkohas: 

<-- This is Sirkeer Malkoha. A very very shy bird.

 

This is the green billed Malkoha  

 

(from https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/tag/green-billed-malkoha/)                                      

Did you know that Malkohas are also part of the cuckoo family? So, just in 2 days, we have seen:

- The regular koel cuckoo

- The Jacobin's cuckoo

- Brainfever bird

- The two Malkoha species

Perhaps it's because of the rainy weather (the Jacobin's cuckoo is supposed to be a harbinger of the monsoon)

The red wattled lapwings are back to their screechy "did he do it" calls... many juveniles, so I guess the adults get nervous. "Chillax lapwings, we aren't interested in killing you or your kids" is something I wish I could tell these birds. 

Other birds we keep seeing:
White browed bulbul                                                        Gold fronted leafbird

                        

Bonelli's eagle                                                                    Honey Buzzard 

                                                                                        

Raptors are notoriously difficult to distinguish. I am certainly useless at it. Ram, despite his vast experience in bird watching, also finds it challenging. In fact, there's a whole article on the difficulties faced by most people in distinguishing raptors. The first sentence of this article is "Diurnal raptors are notoriously difficult to identify in flight: raptors in India are even more so than in most other areas because of the greater number of species (68) and the lack of definitive information in bird field guides" (Clark and Schmitt, 1992 Journal of Bombay Natural History Society)

Peacock footprints in the farm

    

                                                 

 A nearby dam attracts egrets                                                                   

                                                

Durga and Ram saw nightjars  

It camouflages itself really well. And it comes out only at night and it's extremely shy. 

But sometimes one gets lucky and can spot one or two by the side of a grassy mud path during twilight or early night. Apparently there are many species of night jars (Skyes, Indian, grey, long tailed, great-eared, jungle etc)

No idea which one we spotted....probably the common Indian nightjar

Ani and RK play cricket and monkeys come to watch

                       

Durga loves climbing trees and watching the world go by

                        

Worm found... mistakenly first declared as caterpillar, then centipede and now we realize that it's a

  millepede! What's the difference, you ask? Check out the link! 

 Not just that... it has blue legs!

A quick search on Google Lens does not give me any results on millipedes with blue legs (although the results all agree on its millipede-ness.  Durga thinks we might be the discoverers of a new species (Millipedus prasadfamilitus)                             

Other creatures on the farm seen:

Hares and baby hares

Bees

Monitor lizard (possibly)?

Bonnet macaques

This was a lovely bee hive and the bees were so friendly. But sadly, someone came the next day and removed the hive. Glad I got a taste of the honey and a pic of the hive before it disappeared

All pictures from Wiki Commons, or taken by us, unless otherwise referenced