Chakki Mod - a kaleidoscope of birding colour

 

A pair of Himalayan Bulbuls greet the sun

The more often we see things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us.  That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds.  Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.

White-crested Laughingthrush

Chakki Mod is an branch off the main Chandigarh-Shimla road and my school friend (I nearly said 'old', was it really 52 years ago?) took me there in a friend's, Bonnie's, new car.  We went there at the crack of dawn, suitably clad against the severe winter cold, or so we thought as the chill wind got in from the slightest opening. 

Plumbeous Water Redstart looking up at the bridge we were on

Initially the road goes sharply down, into a ravine where we saw our first birds, the Plumbeous Water Redstart and White-capped Redstart. The sun's rays were brushing the tops of trees where birds sat to warm up for the days foray. 

A Pond Heron examines us sagely 

Far from water we were quite surprised by this Pond Heron sitting in a tree, unruffled by our presence, it allowed us close to see and photograph it. 

Rufous Sibia wondering at who we were

A tree stump attracted many birds, Rufous Sibia, Cinereous Tit, Grey Treepie and Russet Sparrows; they would flit in and out rapidly. It was somewhere here that Bonnie took out the tasty breakfast he had brought, we happily munched the sandwiches; but the hot coffee was truly welcome. 

Cinereous Tit

One of the birds that came to the log, as the sun came up, the light got better, and so did the pictures.  But the contrast between light and dark areas was considerable, way beyond the dynamic range of my camera. 

A Striated Prinia poses for a photo

As it got warmer, the birds got more active, sometimes too flighty to take pictures of. In fact towards the middle of the morn the the light was so vertical that the shadows cast made us 

only photograph birds in the shade. 

A female Fire-breasted Flowerpecker seeks the shade

By noon the sun was very sharp and it had become hot so we had to shed our warm clothing.  The birds too were seeking the shade where they could. We saw these and many more birds, a veritable kaliedoscope of colour.

After a lovely morning's birding, we landed up at the Hops n Grains Microbrewery to slake the thirst we had by now built up, - CHEERS

 

Butterflies - Bits of Sunshine

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
the Master calls the butterfly
-Richard Bach 

 A Blue Tiger sips at a Siam Weed
Wandering along a side trail in the Nagla Block, a part of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, I came across a small stream where I saw some butterflies puddling.  I thought to myself, how wonderful it would have been to see many of these.... 

...and I came to this patch of Siam weed which had a cloud of butterflies sipping away at the flowers. Like this Striped Tiger.  Little bits of sunshine, flitting about without a care, flower to flower.

...there were Tailed Jays, hyperactive, wouldn't sit still or pose for a photograph....

... and Dark Blue Tigers, sitting placidly with their buddies, a rainbow of butterflies.

This Handmaiden Moth, a rainbow on wings, hovered around, oblivious to the camera.  Of the species I saw, this was the only moth and the single insect of its type.  

This apparently was the only patch in this forest where all conditions came together, the food, sunlight, water and this rainbow of butterflies.

This Pioneer Butterfly calmly sits on a Siam weed flower, goes about its business... and has its picture taken...

The Tailed Jays were very flighty and quick, I got in a picture in the fleeting moment they seemingly touched a flower.

The whole patch was alive with butterflies, flitting to and fro, a kaleidoscope of colour, ever changing, never still.

“A fallen blossom
returning to the bough, I thought --
But no, a butterfly.” 
― Arakida Moritake, Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology