Birds Around Me

After almost 2 years of staying at or around the home in the U.K., we finally traveled to India in April this year. It was scorching hot and COVID was still a bit nuisance, but the motivation to go back home, to meet parents, to meet family and friends couldn't hold us back. Apart from meeting family and friends, there are always 2 things on my itinerary - visiting Khajrana Ganesh Temple in Indore and birding around the lake - Shahi Talab in front of my home in Jabalpur. Both of these give me an immense boost and spur actual feelings of joy.  The trip this year was special, went for a few pilgrimages that we couldn't do for last almost 15 years, and celebrated my dad's 75th birthday and their anniversary. Also, took kids around Jabalpur, to places where I grew up, and showed them my school and places we used to go around as children. Went on birdwatching with my kids, just around the Shahi Taal, and spotted more than 40 different birds in 3 hours over 3 days.  The two bes...

Female Indian Robin (कलचुरी) / Copsychus fulicatus Taken on June 26, 2018 Location: Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India (Latitude: 23.172826, Longitude: 79.881881)    Male Indian Robin (कलचुरी) - Copsychus fulicatus  Indian Robin (कलचुरी) is a sparrow-sized bird with a long tail, which is usually held up. The chestnut or rusty under-tail coverts and dark bodies of males make them easily distinguishable. The females are ashy brown with paler chestnut under. Distribution is throughout the Indian Subcontinent and is famous for its song with rhythm maintained by twitching tail. They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards especially when feeding young at the nest. Indian Robin (कलचुरी) - Copsychus fulicatus Jabalpur, December 2025 You can spot it switching its cocked tail up and down expressively as it turns facing one way or other around the countryside, thatch roofs, roadside hedges or stones, sand mounds, and rocks.  The male has a fairly elaborate...