Cranium Bolts

Saturday, October 06, 2018

Splash of colors from Hoskote

Back-to-back visits to Hoskote lake were prompted by the Red Avadavat a.k.a. Strawberry finch who still remains extremely hard to observe. I got some luck in capturing its captivating beauty and also found many other lovely creatures. Here's a photo tour of the colorful trek...

The rainbow sighting, first thing in the morning was an apt prelude to a day that was awash with beautiful colors...

At 7 am, I reached the reed area and was scanning for tiny red dots that get spooked so easily...

Grass covered by rain drops...

The tiny red dot was finally seen. A lone male Red Avadavat...

I quickly zoomed in to capture the bird before it vanishes...

Red Avadavat breeds in the Indian Subcontinent in the monsoon season...

The species name of amandava and the common name of avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, from where these birds were exported into the pet trade in former times...

It has been estimated that the red munia diverged from the green munia about 9 million years ago...

The bird flew away after some 10 seconds and was not to be seen the rest of the day...

I moved on to explore more...

Soon I met a White-throated Kingfisher...

A grey heron has the ability to stand absolutely still for extended periods waiting for prey...

Long-tailed Shrike...

Long-tailed Shrikes are capable of vocal mimicry and include the calls of many species including lapwings, cuckoos, puppies and squirrels in their song. This singing ability makes it a popular pet in parts of southeast Asia...