Birdwatching

 Bismillah,

I haven't blogged for days yeah!

So because I was a bit bored I thought visiting my blog again will do!

I'm trying a new thing these days called birdwatching, and that's the topic today's blog's about.

Birdwatching is a type of hobby in which you do what the name itself suggests, watch birds! You have to sit outside (balcony, garden, terrace park or somewhere like that) and look around for birds.

Birdwatching is very fun once you get a hang of it. how do you do it? you just need eyes and ears and curiosity and a place to sit outside. 

if you say I really don't have 'that much nature' at my place well that's not a really that much of a problem because you must have a sky, and probably some trees around, a handful will do too. And as birds are very adaptable beings they live everywhere!

The benefits of birdwatching is that once you start liking it and make it a hobby, you never get bored! because whenever you are bored just go outside and look.

have you ever observed an eagle when it soars above you? I have, and its majestic. the neatly layered wings outstretched against the grand sky, the tail tilting like a tiller on a boat to balance the body of the bird. Eagles look perfect when they are soaring. I was standing below a soaring eagle a while ago and its head looked straight ahead while I admired the magnificent bird in awe. The eagle removed its gaze from the horizon only to rest at me, for a moment some sort of connection lingered between us. its flaring eyes seemed to soften, head tilted, and then it looked again in the horizon and soared away.

I was once in the park when I saw a female purple sunbird singing on a low branch above me, pressing my hand to the trunk I observed the tiny bird and listened to the tunes. The little bird hopped to a smaller tree very near to me. Then two male purple sunbirds came, chasing each other. It was really very very amazing. The two birds were kind of circling me while the female sunbird was singing her heart out. One male sunbird actually came flying towards me and then darted to the side, I think he didn't notice me. Then the show ended! it was really gorgeous!

Just yesterday, I saw an Asian koel, yes! it was spectacular. I was sitting in the balcony and something seemed to be troubling the bird. it came onto the canopy and into the view! the voice of the bird is just amazing, if you ever listen to the notes just close your eyes and sit peacefully, you will feel the song speaking directly to you.

There are lots of oriental magpie-robins here, Males are very beautiful and common, black and white. I have only seen the female one time and the bird's brown and white.

  

                                                                         male

                                                                          female

there's a bird called jungle babblers that I thought were sparrows! but soon I got to know that they are not.

Jungle blabbers, as their name suggests are almost always babbling. Their warning call: ke ke ke ke  means a cat or something is nearby. They are always in a group and like to hop in leaves. its very fascinating to watch them hop.

I really like Maynas, they are so cute and are always singing.

I have observed birds and I would like to share my observations:

Red vented bulbuls really like to eat roti; I leave some in the park for them! I think they are friends with babblers because they're usually together

purple sunbirds use paper and feathers for their nests

Rufous treepies fly like this: a few wingbeats then the wings are closed making the bird go down a little, so it again opens it wings and beats them and the process goes over again! (to note: tail stays high all the while)

Jungle babblers really like the pile of dried leaves, they hop and hop and the leaves make a rustling sound, some other birds are attracted too like mayna and the red vented bulbul, then they hop togather! (no actually Maynas and bulbuls don't hop, they just kind of walk?)  

I would like to add a pragraph from my blog about birds i wrote once:

How to take care of birds: 

1. Don't throw leftover rice or bread or roti. Keep it on your terrace or a park or garden. 

2. Provide water (keep it on your terrace please)

3. You can plant more trees. 

These are the easy ones, you should try these, and birds will constantly come. If possible,  you can make some sort of shelter for them. 

https://explolersidra.blogspot.com/2023/09/bird62-birds.html

I think that's enough bird for today, I will tell you more about my experiences with birds later on, in sha allah.

there's a website about birds you SHOULD  check if you're interested in birdwatching, its called: Cornell lab of ornithology.

if you have any questions, any feedbacks or any tips for me, I will really appreciate that so feel free to share your thoughts and experiences!

to note: none of the photos are taken by me, all are from google

SALAM,

Sidra Khan