Towheeblog

My eldest son, Dylan, and his wife, birded Hampi, India. Above Dylan and guide watching Rose-ringed Parakeets on an ancient temple ruin.
Dylan’s description: Apparently this little area has over 300 species of bird. There are also sloth bears and leopards in the wild. No elephants. Apparently the leopards are often seen by people and known for taking out street dogs. And otters in the river (we didn’t see any). We’re hoping to see sloth bears later at another reserve. Fingers crossed.

Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. And once had a population of 500k.  Sacked, raided for the gold, jewels etc, then burned in 1565 and left to the jungle until the 1880s. So much insane stone architecture. Persians, Chinese, and even the Portuguese came to trade here before it fell. So much history we are never taught in the western world, unless you specialise … The landscape is very beautiful. The river is big and, as its drains a monsoon area, the flows vary massively. Local farms are mostly rice, sugar cane, coconut and banana. [Dylamn is a long-time London resident so you notice some English spelling, not American.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampi

Birds

22-May-2024: 6am-9am. Sunny, 26-30C humid, no wind.
Hampi – along the river in the main monuments area. Nearly 40 species.

Brahminy Kite – seen catching a fish!

Black Kite

Skrika (little banded goshawk) – very very cool bird!

Yellow-throated bulbul (a highlight as its rare and found only in small pockets of India)

Indian Peafowl (in its native habitat)

Purple swamphen

Red-wattled Lapwing

Laughing dove

Rock pigeon (same as feral pigeons we all see) – native habitat, very different behaviour

Rose-ringed parakeet

Asian Koel

Blue-faced Malkoha

Grey-bellied Cuckoo

Greater Coucal

Palm and “little” swifts

Barn swallows

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Little Green Bee-eater

White-cheeked Barbet

Common Myna

Brahminy Starling

House Crow

Jungle Crow

Common Iora (similar to an oriole)

Red-vented Bulbul

White-browed Bulbul

Flycatcher sp? [not related to New World tyrant flycatchers]

Oriental Magpie-robin

Indian Robin

White-browed wagtail

Thick-billed Flowerpecker

Purple Sunbird

Chestnut-shouldered Petronia (type of large sparrow)

Great Cormorant

Grey Heron [close cousin of our Great Blue]

Purple Heron

Cattle Egret [same species that has successfully spread to North America]

Wild Mammals:

Mongoose

Indian palm squirrel

Hanuman Langurs

Bonnet Macaques

And many types of lizards…

Never turn your back on the local monkeys 🙂

SOUTHERN OREGON, NOR CAL BIRDING
Neil Burmester was on our Napa-Solano Audubon trip to Ashland, then he and associates slowly made their way home, birding when it was unavoidable (birds tend to make you pay attention, I feel). His report:
I’ll add my thanks to Mark and Harry for leading us on a wonderful
trip.  And special thanks to Wendy reaching out to Mary at the last
minute; we are so very glad you did.  Hi to everyone, you all are a
comfortable group to travel with.

We spent Monday night in McCloud, South of Mt Shasta, traveling slowly
down old Hwy 99.  Many warblers, vireos and grosbeaks heard, some
seen.  We saw the Lewis’s Woodpecker at Colliers [Rest Area in CA] on the opposite bank
of the river.  We toured Burney Falls State Park for much of Tuesday.  Some
Black Swifts high above but none down at the falls.  Grosbeaks singing
almost everywhere.  A Western Wood-pewee perched on the top of a bare
pine, but fortunately the tree was a lot shorter and closer than the one
Sunday.  Observed some baby Black-necked Stilts during a brief stop at
Sacramento WIldlife Refuge before heading home.

Looking forward to another adventure with NSAS in the future!

I gathered some photos into a google album and another one on Flickr
here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/JRabYeUpPPmJ5Mda6   and
https://www.flickr.com/gp/141288237@N03/48007q0930

And a couple of Neil’s shots to whet you eye-appetite, or eyepetite:

Fish famine leading to starved and injured Brown Pelicans due to high-risk fishing–California. Click here for summary.

Peregrine nestcam at San Jose, CA, City Hall. Click here. They will have an endless menu of pigeon, collared-dove and starling. Maybe an occasional crow or wintering duck.