But we woke up again at 5 am to go to Okhla Bird Park, with the Delhi Birders to check on the birds.
I also wanted to see the kind of destruction some politicians had done to the neighbouring areas in making all kind of statues of themselves, it all looked so weird like some Hooded Entities. It did look gross & sick.
Initially it was all Pied Bush Chats & a Coucal up close.............
then Green Bee eaters busy as ever !!
Then a stunner !!
It was the Pied Cuckoo !!
Here are some details about this very beautiful bird ..........
The advent of the monsoon has for generations been associated with the appearance of the Pied Cuckoo in many parts of India (Ali & Ripley 1987). The strong association between the Pied Cuckoo and rain is part of Indian folklore, in which this species is described as a harbinger of the monsoon. Ancient Hindu poetry refers to Pied Cuckoos as 'chatak', who live on drops of rain.
This one migrates to large areas across northern India around the Monsoon and has often been called the "rain visitor". It is one of the few migratory birds that come to the Indian subcontinent from Africa to breed. They move across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to reach India in May or June; records from Oman, Saudi Arabia and the Seychelles have been reported during the migratory season. Some believe that the bird uses monsoon winds to assist its flight during this migration. It breeds during June-August and leaves the subcontinent in September/October.
More details of migratory patterns can be found at Migrant watch
There were many Ashy Prinias........
A few Spot Billed Ducks !! What are they doing here in summer ????.......... well; may have missed the flight !!
Black Ibis, Black Winged Stilts, Black Bitterns etc were flying by.......... a lone Darter, a hungry King fisher & i did see a fleeting glance of a Golden Oriole.
It was a pretty short birding trip................ hope to go there again in a months time !!
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