i am very happy to once again join this fine feathered friends contest 19 with the theme "bird and fence". now we don't have a wooden or wire fence in india. originally we had a simple horizontal wire fence but a local woman used to spread the wires and usher her herd of goats into our garden when we weren't there. it is hard enough growing things in sand full of termites but the few plants we did manage successfully disappeared quickly when the hungry goats roamed free. so we constructed a stone and cement compound (that is indian english for border wall) around the entire property. though the goats weren't too pleased with this type of fencing, the monkeys are most grateful for their new road and make frequent use of it. squirrels, various lizards and even mongeese can occasionally be seen strolling along the flat topped sections of the compound.
but here i will present two species of birds. first up is a
female blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius). gracing our northern compound.
as far as i know the blue rock thrush only appears in our coastal area during the winter. some years a solitary female settles locally for the season and can often be spotted not far from our house. but we have never seen a male on our property.
other years we don't see any at all. that makes it all the more noteworthy and delightful when she does appear
and here we have a male oriental magpie robin (Copsychus saularis)adorning our southern compound. daily we can see these common birds hopping around the garden with their typical upright tail pose
we are very happy to have these fine feathered friends nearby. during breeding season march-may the males have a wonderful variety of songs. the continually changing repertoire of songs often include imitations of other birds, so it is most delightful to listen carefully and try to decipher who he is imitating at any given moment.
but notice that when he is singing he lowers his tail. don't you just love
behavioral idiosyncrasies like that, i sure do.
one more reason we are so appreciative of oriental magpie robins is their voracious appetite for mosquitoes- a very favorable trait indeed!