A splashing time

 I guess that's where the saying 'can't make head nor tail of it' could have come from, too!

And yes, it's the Oriental Magpie Robin that never fails to enjoy a splashing in one of the natural 'pools' created by a downpour.

Loving it again.

As I was passing by

 A Striated Heron fled to unfamiliar ground at the approach of a leaf blower, and walking cautiously back to the pond.

A young malkoha

In all the year sof birding in TRK, this was my first encounter with a sub-adult Green-billed Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus tristis).  The taman missed hosting a pair of breeding adults a couple of years back simply because the pair was trying to nest in a low shrub by the walkway, which was sure proof of failure.

Scuttling up when first spotted.

This young one that's less than the approximate 60cm that an adult malkoha will grow into also has a less reddish skin around the eye.  

Of the cuckoo family, this malkoha is the largest of the malkohas, an adult distinctive by its long tail which is more than its body length.

Its bill has also not fully developed into pale greenish yet.

Shrikes of the season

I've always thought that there was only one Brown Shrike in the taman even though I do come across it (or them?) at different parts of the taman in the same morning, after all, birds move about, nothing unusual.

Until I came across this one which I have seen normally by the river and now realised that it's a different one, it's moulting whilst the one that loafs in the inner sanctuary of the taman did not in the least suggest any tendency to moult, probably a first winter visitor that will soon leave for home bearing the present plumage.

Stretch, nightjar, stretch

 Halt, the Large-tailed Nightjar stirs!

We spy ... but no qualms ...

Last night's downpour did me in ... need my fluff and puff before I settle in ....

Yes, I'm still watching  ... stay tuned, it's a long haul ....

Something to emulate ... don't forget the facial muscles, and neck too....

Still here, still watching .... carry on, don't mind me ....

Yup, still here .... feeling as relaxed as you are now ....

Done? ...  a good afternoon snooze to you ....

Songbird of the taman

 One of the most under-rated birds must be the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), omnipresent, vocal, songbird of any garden or park.  It's also a favourite of poachers.  Fortunately these birds still scoot at any approach. 

And I have been able to witness their familial bond too, how the adults will call ceaselessly until the young appears, and how they tend to stay close together too, I guess until the young ones truly matured and leave home.

This family of four of the taman is one example, having been seen to stay together for weeks now, foraging alone but always within sight of one another.

Mama

Papa

Sub-adult

junior

A cuckoo performs

 When I saw this one sitting pretty, probably the last of the cuckoos still here for this season, I counted myself lucky for it allowed me to circle it for its back and frontal shots.  Perhaps it's true that when a migrant is preparing to leave it's less mindful of human proximity.

And when the display came, I scrambled for the best settings against the blazing sun, but nevertheless was still ever grateful for the show - an angel in black!