Young birds of Saul Kere

Here are some pics from my recent visit to Saul Kere lake...

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Every time I visit Saul kere, I worry whether the construction activities that happen so close to the lake would pose a threat to the feathered critters...

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Despite being hedged in by buildings, the lake remains largely unspoiled and has a good spread of trees and aquatic vegetation that support resident and migrant birds...

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The lake is a favorite place for the birds to breed and raise their young ones. I saw an immature White-breasted Waterhen. He stayed there confused and didn't vanish quickly like the adults... 

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A Little Grebe invited my attention...

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A Eurasian Coot looked less concerned as her adolescent chick is now independent and confident...

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Juvenile Eurasian Coot...

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An Indian Spot-billed Duck looked elegant as always...

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I followed a Scaly-breasted Munia from ground, to wire, to a branch...

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The youngsters have acquired the skills to hunt for their food. Here's a young Red-whiskered Bulbul (without the red whisker) biting his Praying mantis catch...

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A Bronze-winged Jacana was trying to keep her babies in check...

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But the babies are in a mood to explore...

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And one was busy sampling different foods...

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A Spotted Dove was seen in a courtship appearance with tail spread out...

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A White-cheeked Barbet...

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And the noisy Ashy Prinia...

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A few female Purple-rumped Sunbirds were active...

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Then the male Purple-rumped Sunbird caught my attention...

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Overall it was a good outing. Hope you liked the post. I am eagerly awaiting your comments...

Fascinating bird behaviors

Birds exhibit a wide array of behaviors. On my weekend trip to Hoskote, I could witness some fascinating bird behaviors. Here are the pics...

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A White-throated Kingfisher sat on a branch and scanned the water with his sharp eyes...

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The eyes are so sharp, he could target a really small fish from few meters away...

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The frothy spittle mass, produced by a Spittlebug feeding on a Milkweed plant...

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A male Baya Weaver was frantically searching for food...

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I found a Baya Weaver colony nearby. The nests seemed to contain nestlings...

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The female Baya Weavers were also searching for food for the nestlings...

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The male Baya Weaver seemed to have better insect catching skills...

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He flew in with an insect every five minutes...

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He passes through the entrance tunnel...

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After 5 minutes, he's back with another insect...

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He's also seen keeping a vigil, mending the nest and bringing more food...

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Then my attention was drawn towards a tiny Indian White-eye...

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I was curious, what attracted the White-eye to the Baya weaver colony...

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The White-eye seemed interested in the nest strands of an abandoned Baya weaver nest. Securing nesting material for itself…

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It was trying hard to pull out the strips and strands...

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It could not extract the entire strand. The weaver's knots are perfect...

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It gives up after a while and moves to another nest...

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It is joined by another white-eye to attempt a daring heist...

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The nest is woven with long strips of paddy leaves. It is not easy to extract a strand…

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The White-eye is further frustrated. A male Baya weaver drives it away... 

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It thinks of fighting back...

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But the Baya Weaver's aggression makes it fly away...

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The colors from the bamboo clump looked good...

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I saw another Baya weaver colony nearby...

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Here, the males were trying to display the partially built nests to passing females for acceptance...

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They try to woo the females by flapping their wings and calling while hanging from their nests...

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The display looked interesting to me , but was not enticing any females...

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My attention was drawn towards this guy, who is still at the helmet stage of the nest, but was most actively trying to impress the female...

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It is likely, there will be no takers for this nest. Nest location is more important than nest structure for the female when she selects the nest and mate. And this one is located in a vulnerable area...

That's it for today. Hope you liked the post. Please post your thoughts in the comments section below...