Indian Treepie - I

Indian Treepie or Asian Treepie or Indian Magpie ('Hanri chacha' in Bengali). You can find them almost always on trees looking for fruits or seeds. They are also known take flesh from freshly killed rats or animals. These birds make nest over the trees. They make variety of loud calls.


More on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufous_Treepie

Photo: Shankar Sinha, Panskura
Location: Panskura, West Bengal, India.

Red Crab

The beautiful Red beach crab at Sunderban mangrove forest reserve. 'Suderban' is the world's largest mangrove forest over the Bay of Bengal at the south end of West Bengal and Bangladesh.  Most common wildlife in this area consists of the famous Royal Bengal Tiger, Spotted Deer and this Red Beach Crab.
Look at the interesting thing, the eyes of the crab are fixed over the two 'antenna' sticking out. So the eyes can move in many directions freely! 


More on Sunderban:
http://www.sunderbansnationalpark.com/
http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/portal/page?_pageid=127,723778&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&linkId=1214


Photo: Shankar Sinha, Panskura, WB, India

The crow, the eggs and hatching...

Who owns the Eggs? The Crow or the cuckoo?
(As we know the cuckoos lay eggs in the crows' nest.)









Doesn't matter. It's time for hatching! 
The crow is sitting on the eggs on a tree top nest in the hot sun.




Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta, Kolkata
Location: Panskura, East Midnapore, WB, India.

Jungle Babbler

The Jungle Babbler -  we call this 'Chhatre pakhi'  in Bengali. These noisy birds usually live in flocks of seven or ten or more. They are seen to continuously chatter, squeak or chirp wherever they are. These birds are very common in India, particularly in Northern India and often found in cities and towns. 
Now it is hot summer! This bird is probably looking for water. 


Wikipedia Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Babbler


Photo:  Abhijit Kar Gupta, Kolkata
Location: Panskura, East Midnapore, West Bengal, India.

White Throated Kingfisher -I

This pic. of white throated kingfisher (also known as white breasted kingfisher) is sent by our friend. This brilliant blue coloured bird with a chocolate brown head,  white breast and the long heavy bill is common in this part of India. 
They eat fish, tadpoles, lizards, grasshoppers insects etc.

Wikipedia entry:
This kingfisher is a resident over much of its range, although some populations may make short distance movements. It can often be found well away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small rodents and even birds. During the breeding season they call loudly in the mornings from prominent perches including the tops of buildings in urban areas or on wires.


Photo:  Shankar Sinha, Panskura
Camera: Canon Power Shot S10 IS
Location: Panskura, West Bengal, India

Kite ('Sankhachil')

It is perhaps very difficult to take a photo of a Kite or an Eagle because they usually sit high up and fly high! 
This beautiful Brahminy Kite (Haliastur Indus) was spotted by our friend in a rural area in West Bengal. We learned that this is called 'Sankhachil' (a very celebrated name immortalized in poetry and novels in Bengali literature). 
The other common Kite in India is the Black Kite and this one is around the same size of that.
We hardly notice this Brahminy kite in the city areas nowadays.

From Wikipedia:

It is mainly a scavenger, feeding mainly on dead fish and crabs, especially in wetlands and marshlands but occasionally hunts live prey such as hares and bats.

Brahminy Kite is the official mascot of Jakarta. In India it is considered as the contemporary representation of Shree Garuda, the carrier of the Supreme God Krishna.


(More useful information is welcome.) 


Photo: Shankar Sinha, Panskura, West Bengal, India.

Oriental Garden Lizard

The Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes Versicolor). We call this 'Girgiti' in Bengali. I found this resting for a while over a small plant out there in the hot sun. Can it change color? Perhaps yes but not like Iguanas! 

For more info:
http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/changeable_lizard.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_garden_lizard

Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta, Kolkata.

Pond Heron

Indian Pond Heron is a common bird, found near water bodies. They are most of the times seen alone. They eat fishes, insects in water, leeches, tadpoles etc. 
This one is captured by Doro's friend over the lake  at Salt Lake area in Kolkata.

Wikipedia Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Pond_Heron

Photo: Subhomon Supantha, Kolkata

Little Egret

This little Egret was found on a river side in Sundarban (The largest Mangrove forest located on Bay of Bengal on the southern part of West Bengal and Bangaldesh.).  Our friend captured this from a boat while in a recent trip there. 
There are so many different kinds of egrets that we learn now. Earlier we put up here a Cattle egret. Of course most of the time we find cattle egrets are pure white like this little egret.  It is difficult to differentiate from far.
Doro pointed out that a little egret has a black bill (and that is quite pointed) where a cattle egret has a yellow bill (a shorter one). Also a little Egret has black legs with bright yellow feet while the Cattle egret has dark legs and dark feet or possible yellow legs and yellow feet in adult  but possibly never the two contrasting? 


Photo: Arunangshu Sinha, Kolkata

Cattle Egret

WOW! Looking for fish?
This Pink colored Cattle Egret is captured by our friend at the central park at Salt Lake area in Kolkata.
Cattle Egret is a white heron with a stout yellow bill. In the breeding season they are seen with buff yellow-orange plumes on head, neck and back.
These birds are common in the rural areas near a shallow water body or paddy fields and around the lakes and ponds in the cities. These egrets are large birds. They love to eat fishes, frogs, small mammals and insects living in water.


Photo: Arunabha Adhikari and Subhomon Supantha, Kolkata.

Animal Quiz by DORO (Answers)

Answers:

1.      Leopard has spots like circles and cheetah has single spots and two lines beside its nose.

2.      Bald Eagle

3.      Golden eagle

4.      Because in ancient English bald meant white.

5.      African Elephants have larger ears.

6.      Blue Whale

7.      Snail

8.      Brachiosaurus

9.      Great black backed gull

10.  Whale shark

Animal Quiz

Animal Quiz/ 

Compiled by DORO (Anuran Kar Gupta).

1.      What are the 2 differences between leopard and cheetah?

2.      Which is the national bird of the United States?

3.      Which is the national bird of Canada?

4.      Why is bald eagle called by this name?

5.      How do you know which one is African Elephant and which one is Asian Elephant?

6.      Which animal lives in the ocean and weighs 30 elephants put together?

7.      Which is the slowest creature in the world?

8.      Which was the biggest dinosaur?

9.      Which is the biggest sea gull?

10.  Which is the biggest fish in the world?

Answer will be given in the next entry.

Stork billed Kingfisher (close up)

Here we present the beautiful Stork billed Kingfisher once again. This comes to our backyard quite often. There is a pond behind our apartment. This kingfisher (and also others) loves to visit this place for catching fishes and all.

Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta, Kolkata