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Yet another birding trip to Hoskote

The farm area of Hoskote lake host a wide variety of birds. After the enjoyable visit a week back, wife and me decided to raid the farm at Hoskote again today morning for birding and fresh veggies. Here's what we saw...


Spot-billed pelican, Painted stork and a gray heron were busy fishing in the lake...


Ashy prinia...


Cottony fluff was all over everything. The Bulrush reed disperse seeds by releasing minute seeds attached to fine hairs which fly around and stick to everything around...



A female Baya weaver was seen  sitting on the sausage-shaped spike of the Bulrush reed. It was transporting the cottony fluff probably for nest building...








A pair of Red Avadavats were covered with fluff...


It couldn't be photographed properly due to the fluff...


An Ashy prinia looked as exasperated as me...


Jerdon's Bushlark...






Bachelor's button...





 Great Cormorant was diving in search of food...


It didn't have to search for long...


Indian Pond heron...

Exploring fresh veggies from the farm...



Can there be anything fresher than mint?


Mint done and she explores for more...


A Black-winged Kite was watching us from its high perch...



Red-whiskered bulbul...



Spinach...


Spinach made her eye pop...


Popeye's favourite...






Jumbo sized bunch of spinach was uprooted...


 Meanwhile, a Paddyfield pipit got its food in the form of a caterpillar...







Pied Bushchat...

A beautiful caterpillar of Plain tiger butterfly...








It was feeding on Calotropis Gigantea or Milkweed. Calotropis is a poisonous plant. The caterpillar consumes the plant and builds up alkaloids in its body. Alkaloids will later be used by the plain tiger butterfly for defense from predator birds. The birds will vomit if they peck the butterfly...



Here's the plain tiger butterfly I saw in my last visit...


She completed her food collection with some Ivy gourd. The beta-Carotene in ivy gourd aids our defense mechanism...



A Little Cormorant was acquiring its nutrition quite skillfully as we called it a day...



I hope you liked the post. Do let me know your feedback in the comments section below...




35 comments:

  1. So beautiful post. Awesome pics.

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  2. Lovely set of photos. Have a good week, Diane

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  3. Oh I love the caterpillar shots, how delightful they all are!! #Lifethisweek

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  4. Beautiful photography. Thank you for sharing!

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  5. Such amazing diversity you share with us each week. That cotton fluff everywhere is interesting to see, but I bet it can be annoying sometimes as well.
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2019/07/color-guard.html

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  6. Nice that you can get your vegetables straight from the farm! And your dear wife posing to make the scene look life like:)
    You are a whiz at getting to your bird's (facial) expression. Intriguing to me is the kite - it has the inspiring quality for a book like How to Kill a Mockingbird. Am glad I saw it was a black cormorant in the bigger image because it looked somewhat of a whale eating a little fish in your smaller image:) Many thanks for leaving your perma link for All Seasons - on Monday morning, the Linky List was restored - what a relief. Have a great rest of the week:)

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  7. Awesome images...Love the caterpillar such detail although they are all very good #senisal

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  8. Gorgeous photos! Visiting from Esme Salon.

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  9. beautiful shots. have a nice week.


    much love...

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  10. Wow! Your photos are just awesome to see! I love all the details in them and the diversity of subjects. I do like me some spinach and that bunch makes me want to cook some!

    My Corner of the World

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    1. Thanks for making 'My Corner of the World' a success this week!
      My Corner of the World

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  11. These shots are just so clear and beautiful.

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  12. The close ups are amazing. Love your photography and making memories with your wife in the story too.

    Thanks for sharing for Life This Week. Next week's optional prompt is Self Care Stories. Hope to see you there linking up. Denyse.

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  13. Awesome photos. You have a good eye for what to capture. They're all so good that I can't pick a favorite, but I do like the Heron with his catch in the mouth. Thanks for visiting and sharing with Pictorial Tuesday.

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  14. Cottony fluff were really everywhere :O. Never seen them where I live, but we also have some fluffy things from a tree... in the spring. Don't lie it at all :))).
    The birds and flowers are so cute..
    I also looove fresh and healthy food! :)
    Happy WW!! :D

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  15. You are lucky to have so many different birds in one location. Those are great shots of all of them.

    Cindy

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  16. Amazing and striking photos you have shared! I really find the bulrush reed very interesting, it's like dandelion but a tree version of it :)

    Stevenson

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  17. What a talented photographer you are. Thanks for sharing.

    Worth a Thousand Words

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  18. Your wife is lovely and she found some nice spinach. Looks like a great place to find food and some great shots. Thanks for linking up and have a great weekend.

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  19. The nature over there is so abundant with birds & wonderful plant varieties - great shots as always. Wishing you and your family a relaxed weekend.

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  20. An amazing variety of water birds. Interesting information about the colourful caterpillar of the plain tiger butterfly. It's also a beautiful butterfly. Great shots!

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  21. Beautiful photos of some beautiful birds. I like the tie in to birds feeding and also humans with the spinach, mint and ivy gourds. We all need to eat!

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  22. Great photos of the birds. The tree with the flu is amazing. Nothing like fresh vegetables :)

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  23. Hello, wonderful photos from the farm. The birds are gorgeous. The spinach is one of my favorites, yum! Beautiful butterfly and caterpillar. Lovely photos of your wife and the flowers are beautiful too. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend! PS, thanks so much for leaving me a comment.

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  24. You always have the best bird pics! But I sure love that caterpillar!!!!

    Happy Pink Saturday!
    Cottage Blessings,
    Rebecca

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  25. As always, I say thanks for linking in with us at IRBB!

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  26. want a salad now gand photos

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  27. Beautiful pictures! There is such a wide variety of wildlife! Thanks for sharing with us at The Blogger's Pit Stop!

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  28. This blog post will explore the most essential items to make your road trip journey memorable.

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