hi guys ...ive been known for my loooong posts and too much
writing under pics /comments in it sorry but cant resist as not everyone admire
Birders and here i find refuge ;)
ok so...here is a pepal tree outside my window and ive named
it as The Golden Tree'' ..and is quite lucky for me to spot more than 30
species of birds in the heart of ever busy Bombay ..almost every season with different varients
[male/female/juvenile] on and around it... watching/observing their many behaviours at eye level with a cup
of tea is a daily pass time of mine..and i guess now they have also accepted me
as i respect them ethically ..!!
Checklist of birds on The Golden Tree :
1. Rose ringed
parakeet
2. Alexandrine
Parakeet.
3. Asian koel
4. Red vented
bulbul.
5. Red
whiskered bulbul
6. Coppersmith
barbet.
7. Crow
pheasant
8. Purple
rumped Sunbird
9. Euroasian
Golden Oriole.
10. Black Drongo.
11. Common Myna.
12. Mapie Robin
13. Asian pied
Starling........rarely
14. White throted
Kingfisher.
15. Rosy
Starling..........winters from November end to march flocks of 150+
16. Shikra
17. Black kite
18. Jungle crow .
19. White
breasted water hen [regularly seen in rainy season spotted once with chicks in the nearby bushes and swamps
around the tree the calls are a treat to listen to ]
20. Crested Night
heron...
21. Pond heron.
22. Cattle
egrets.
23. little
cormorant.....
24. Ashy
prinia..............heard frequently seen rarely
25. Scaly
breasted Munia.......occasionally with nesting material in beak...and hides in
a TAD tree 7 stories high ...strange]
26. Common Swift
or Craig martins not confirm ID........resident in the same Tadd tree.
27. Tailor bird.
28. House sparrow
29. Rock Pegion.
30. Plain prinia
...heard frequently seen rarely
31. Barn
Owl..............
32. Chestnut
tailed starling.......winter visitor
33. White browed
fantail fly catcher..............
34. Blyth 's reed warbler......spotted this December for the
first time on the tree.
35. Brahminy kite
......rainy
The water birds are found roosting and nesting nearby at
times and hence can be seen also fruit bats [flying foxes (mammal) ] 3ft
wingspan and some small Bats aswell [cudnt identify though].....have seen
,bulbul's nests with successful outcomes were found on my terrace on over grown
mogra,crows nest is also visible as he tends to have breakfast and things along
with my niece ;) many other birds just in flight just for once a sandpiper
captured yesterday…..spotted owlets calls after dark have been heard. The
barbets can be seen too close with naked eyes giving calls and the sunbirds
enjoying the water left over the leaves ..and for the first time yesterday i
witnessed a Bird of prey shattering the flock of Rosy starlings unfortunately
cudnt capture it for record...a shikra has been spotted frequently but just
thought for a sec that cud have been a be a Pegerine Falcon as it was against
light .God knows ill be confirming in sometime that. Life here is simple and I
feel blessed to have grown with this tree from last 12 years …yes it was there
before we came to live in kandivli ….there were many situations when the people
wanted to cut it off as its too close from the window and various insects not
to forget a centipede was found in my house once
,,,,the TAD tree guys I tell u ive saved it more than 5 times …these people keep an eye on me as I go out of town they start all the planning to remove the tree just to park more cars,and state that the fruit of the TAD tree is very risky as it falls from a great height with force ,I know it is dangerous after 5 years of protest I gave them permission to do wat they like …they called some locals but I still stood again yes not for the Bats,martins and kites that nest there but for the humans the tad tree was 7 stories high and these drunk ppl were cutting it from the bottom god knows what wud have happnd if it wud have fell in the hazardous way….i asked them to take an official permission from the municipality ….they tried to arrange but even the BMC guys asked for 10000 rs and the local were just for 500 …the tree still stands tall with dropping heavy fruits in the rainy season but still something can be done .
,,,,the TAD tree guys I tell u ive saved it more than 5 times …these people keep an eye on me as I go out of town they start all the planning to remove the tree just to park more cars,and state that the fruit of the TAD tree is very risky as it falls from a great height with force ,I know it is dangerous after 5 years of protest I gave them permission to do wat they like …they called some locals but I still stood again yes not for the Bats,martins and kites that nest there but for the humans the tad tree was 7 stories high and these drunk ppl were cutting it from the bottom god knows what wud have happnd if it wud have fell in the hazardous way….i asked them to take an official permission from the municipality ….they tried to arrange but even the BMC guys asked for 10000 rs and the local were just for 500 …the tree still stands tall with dropping heavy fruits in the rainy season but still something can be done .
There are other trees surrounded at distance like
Kadam/Mango,a Banyan tree,Gulmohur,Imly[white fruit not the tamarind like but
sweet,some Bushes and waste water Drain far away…. More than 10 butterflies and
5 snakes sp ,soft shell turtle in rains ,toads, crabs,moths etc also have been noted and rescued when needed
with help of professionals.
This Tree inspired my life and I had also started an
innovative campaign in 2010 which was successful for the first year called Tree
for Free'' was also published in Asian age Mumbai/hyedrabad/delhi/banglore.Got
many calls from people ,college students and friends for advice and help also
from Green peace guy
and then faded the second year due to some unavoidable issues
like threats for planting and allowing to cut the trees just because i don’t
belong to a particular area to protest for :| over 6 yrs of my conservation this year ive
got threatening calls just because i asked some ppl to not cut a tree without
reason and stop bursting crackers worth lakhs,save energy and all the things
every sensible person wud taught to kids. after this my activism confidence has
faded i just do it for my self and dont tell others whats wright and what to be
done ..i am my own ngo and have gave up campaigning cuz in the end no1 supports
u every1 maintains their EGOs and we have to compromise living life in
sleepless nights, more enemies and frowning people . m out of this and normal
now concentrating more on birding ,biodiversity and photographing the same .i
Love my life .
peace .
There is much more to talk over this but before u get bored
ill stop right here. ;)
Coordinates for the place where i live :
19°12'28"N 72°50'33"E
Album link in my Profile https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.373523731999.165807.635236999&type=3
Campaign page :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tree-for-Free/156354941058927?sk=wall&filter=2
Just love this best friend of mine and its fruits ;)
Please correct/spare me wherever I am wrong for my Report/writing
ect.
Peace ,
Bhavik Pankaj Thaker.
