Young Birdwatcher's Club

Months of February and March, travelling through the country side in the Indian Subcontinent, you see a spectacular change in the skyline.  Suddenly, you see forest is on fire, and then, you realize that Palash is in full bloom. Butea Monosperma, known as Palash, Kesudo and sacred tree are very significant to Indian Mythology but also has a lot of value in Ayurveda.  In our Mythology, Lord Krishna plays Holi with the Palash flowers.  During Saraswati Puja on Vasant Panchami flowers of Palash are must.  The indigenous knowledge derived through generations pins the remedial properties of Palash flowers to control various skin problems due to extreme heat in the Summers.  Leaves of a Palash tree are traditionally associated with making of biodegradable cutlery known as "patrala".  Roots of the tree has medicinal properties while the trunk of the tree is used as fire wood.  Although, bright orange is the colour that is associated with Palash, you can find ...

Red-wattled Lapwing is a bird commonly seen and found in Indian Sub-continent. Very agile, vocal and graceful bird who always protects her nest on the ground by trying to misguide intruders, which is known as the broken wing pattern. It has a significance in Indian Mythology. The story goes that during the Mahabharata War in Kurukshetra, once a Lapwing approached Lord Krishna and asked about the safety and security of her nest on the ground, owing to the large scale destruction everywhere.  Lord Krishna, helps the little bird by putting a wheel over the nest to protect it. This is a ground bird, it builds its nest on the ground and is astoundingly camouflaged near a water body.  It constantly guards over her nest and gives out an alarm call every now and then because of the movements of the animals and humans. In a agrarian society it also has status of farmer's friend. Call of a Lapwing during summer and monsoon helps farmers in predicting rains. 

Shikra - An Avid Hunter Shikra, a small bird of prey are also known as Banded Goshawk and are found in entire Indian Sub-continent. Though its small in size, its a excellent hunter of smaller birds and even small mammals like squirrels, lizards and chameleons. In the mornings and evenings, you can hear sharp two note call of Shikra and flipping sound. Resident to India and Africa, this small but powerful birds, could be found even in vicinity of cities and town, especially in parks and places where there is green cover. Males have grey upper body with yellowish-white underbelly while females have brownish appearance with banded design. A curved beak, sharp eyesight, deadly talons combined with speed, they instill fear in smaller birds on arrival. A pair of Shikra is permanent resident of our society and few days back we were lucky to have a male bird visiting out garden with its prey - chick of Common Mynah. The photographs presented here are Shikra perched on our Kadamba tree with its...

A tiny little bird, which hardly is visible due to it's small size, it's ability to camouflage itself and it's constant flying around the place.   Greyish and yellowish coloured bird with a prominent white circle around the eye distinguishes itself from other smaller birds.  Because of the white ring around it's eye it is called Shwetakshi.  It prefers dense bushes and smaller tree.s for nesting. They feed on small insects and nectar.   It was after an effort of almost four months that we bring to you the photographs of the Oriental White Eye in our own garden. By the time you get ready with the camera the bird gets completely out of sight. And again you have to look for it pin point it as it never sits still at a place.

Kanchanar Trees are laden with beautiful flowers during onset of winter, it blooms to the fullest.  The beautiful flower are found in threes shades of purple, pink and white.  It is spread across the Asian Continent.   It is known as bauhinia and other common names includes Mountain Ebony and Kanchanar in the Indian Subcontinent. It attracts a lot of bees, insects and honey suckling birds and monkeys during the flowering season. We are sharing with you photographs of one such tree fully laden with Kanchanar flowers in Ahmedabad.

Wagging a tail is normally synonymous to dogs but today we are presenting a bird, which is known as Fantail because of its habit of wagging its tail continuously. White Wagtail is a bird of medium size with black upper feathers and white belly. Mainly surviving on insects, these birds are found in open spaces and grasslands with water bodies.  The Fantails have been found in many continents and are a common sight near habitats.  It also features on postal stamps of many countries. The video and photographs of this wagtail is taken in Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar.

Stocky birds of the size of a hen and are commonly found in the Indian Subcontinent.  Their stone grey upper part and white breast and belly could be identified from a distance.  As the name suggests these birds are mainly found near the water bodies and sometimes also in open drains in urban areas.  During the mating season you can hear a loud and repetitive croaking sounds near a water body.  They mainly survive on small fish, insects, seeds and plants growing in and around water.  We were lucky to sight this bird at Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar during our visit.