32. . Birds and Bugs of Almora and Kausani

When we were in Almora, a whole lot of beetles descended on our daisy patch. I had a field day taking pictures. The butterflies are, of course everywhere and chasing them for a picture is such fun. Here are some of them. I may name them at a later date. Naming the birds has sapped all my energy, its easier taking their pictures.

Hummingbird hawk-moth

This amazing little creature looks and moves like a hummingbird and that helped me search for it on the net. Spent hours seeing it hover like a hummingbird and keep poking its proboscis into a flower and roll it like a elephant's trunk. We never saw it sit anywhere.

See the birds here.

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31. Birds and Bugs of Kausani and Almora

This May I took a trip to Kausani and Almora essentially to mountain-gaze and bird-watch. Most delightful activities if you have such a proclivity, ofcourse. The essential tool of the trade being a decent camera, because even if you have a 6 by 6 vision you still need to see the tiny birds through a lens to truly appreciate the amazing variety, colour and intricacy of patterns that nature has created.

These are the more uncommon birds which I managed to capture on my camera. 

1.                                                                                                   RUFOUS BELLIED NILTAVA

niltava sundara 18 cm

1.                                                                                                          VERDITER FLYCATCHER

eumyias thalassina 16 cm

ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVES

streptopelia orientalis 33 cm

GREEN BACKED TIT

Parus monticolus 12.5 cm

                                                 

              GREY-HEADED CANARY FLYCATCHER                 

                         culicicapa ceylonensis 13 cm                                  

 

 ABERRANT BUSH WARBLER

cettia flavolivacea 12 cm

BAR-TAILED TREECREEPER

certhia himalayana 12 cm

GREY BUSH CHAT

saxicola ferrea 15 cm

WHITE GORGETED FLYCATCHER (FEMALE)

ficedula monileger 13 cm

 JUNGLE PRINIA

prinia sylvatica 13 cm

RUSSET SPARROW 

passer rutilans 14.5 cm

  ULTRAMARINE FLYCATCHER

ficedula superciliaris 12 cm

ULTRAMARINE FLYCATCHER (female)

 FULVOUS BREASTED WOODPECKER

dendrocopus macei 18-19 cm

GREY HEADED WOODPECKER (FEMALE)

picus canus 32 cm

HIMALAYAN BULBUL

pycnonotus leucotis 20 cm

BLUE WHISTLING THRUSH

myophonus caeruleus 33 cm

 GREY WINGED BLACKBIRD

turdus boulboul 28 cm

COMMON HOOPOE

 upupa epops 31 cm

 SHIKRA

accipiter badius 30-36 cm

BLACK THROATED TIT 

Aegithalos concinnus 10.5 cm

RED BILLED BLUE MAGPIE

urocissa erythrorhyncha 65-68 cm

                                                                      

GREAT BARBET

Megalaima virens 33 cms

We found this great big bird with its loud, monotonous call, present wherever we went, all over the hills. It gives the appearance of a dowdy, ungainly bird but once I saw it in my camera frame, we were chasing it with a vengeance. Unbelievable colours! Definitely the high point of our trip was seeing this bird up close.

Still trying to correctly ID this Babbler

House Martins

House Martin chicks nesting in Tara's shop

A new nest at our Kausani Hotel

Please see the interesting bugs and butterflies here.

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