Birding hiatus due to corona

I am on a birding hiatus due to the Corona virus threat. This series is from my trip to Hoskote lake two weeks back....

Due to the COVID-19 scare nobody was birding. Even my car sat alone...

A White-browed Wagtail welcomed me with its wheezy "wheech" calls...

A Common Sandpiper made me note its presence...

I liked the reflections of this sandpiper...

An aeroplane was crossing the moon...

Greater Coucal...

Intermediate Egret...

I saw this bird almost completely hidden by the nesting materials it was carrying. The arrowhead-like spots pointing upwards on the breast revealed its identity as Jerdon's Bushlark...

I waited for it to return for the next load...

An Ashy prinia flitted around...

Here's a closeup...

Freshly tilled farm land was attracting a lot of birds who were scampering to collect the leftover grains and exposed insects...

A Jerdon's Bushlark was one among the opportunists...

A cute squirrel held my attention for a while...

It was lovely to see the Barn Swallows...

An Ashy prinia unfurled its tail to match the tassel of the corn plant...

Then I sighted one Indian Silverbill...

A smart looking Western Yellow Wagtail...

 A Black-winged Stilt with a falling droplet...

 And another Black-winged Stilt with its drunk shadow...

  An Indian Pond heron caught a tiny Water strider...

 As I was walking back to my car, I saw this gentleman in black & white called Jacobin Cuckoo...

That's the end of the trip. I hope the world will be free from COVID-19 pandemic soon. I'm wishing everybody the best and we're going to get through this!

Flamingos visit Hoskote

It is not a common occurrence to see Greater Flamingos in Bangalore. 

Hoskote lake is my regular Sunday birding spot and today morning I was surprised to see four Greater Flamingos here.

 I was so happy to see these beautiful visitors that I completely ignored the numerous other birds that were active. So, this post is dedicated to the extremely rare visitor...

The four of them were seen at the far end of the water...

As the sun came out, bird activities increased...

I watched its awesome "coat hanger" neck...

This pair made a perfect symmetry but for the one going poo...

The Asian Openbill stork would steal my attention any day, but today was the flamingos' day...

And the birds kept on entertaining me with their beautiful formations...

And the final showstopper moment of the day...

 Hope you liked the post. Please do share your thoughts in the comments section below...