Every morning when I go out I hear the songs of at least half a dozen different birds. I've mentioned before the Whistling Thrush, whose song helps greet the rising sun.
I have been trying hard as an adult to identify birds. I have no excuse in not knowing the common birds of this part of the Himalayas, as in high school we were taught biology (including sections on local fauna and flora) by Robert Fleming, Jr., one of the world's experts on Himalayan birds. As a 10th grader, I think my mind was too much on boys, and not so much on these tiny little dots of color way high up in a tree.
At Cambridge Book Depot I found Birding in the Doon Valley by Suniti Bhushan Datta and Nikhil Devasar (Winterline Publishing, 2012). It is a lovely book with descriptions of the various nature preservers and good birding areas in the Doon Valley, Siwaliks, and lower Himalayas. There are good pictures of the common birds of the area, along with a full checklist for serious birders.
However, no bird I've seen ever looks quite like the picture in a book, so I make guesses. I know we saw a Scarlet Tanager when we were here in 2012. Last fall there were masses of little yellow birds (Yellow-breasted Greenfinch? Gray-hooded Warbler?). Last year we also saw a Himalayan Bulbul. This year there are a number of tiny birds around - Russet Sparrow?, Black-Throated Tit? Dark-sided flycatcher? Rufous sibia? I am useless in this endeavor!
As children when we lived up here I know we saw Himalayan Griffon, Lammergeier, Black Kite, various owls, a cuckoo, woodpeckers, as well as several dozens of colors and species of what I call 'small brown birds' (which in this area tend to be about 10-15 cm in size, much smaller than the small brown birds in my backyard in Ohio).
I have been trying hard as an adult to identify birds. I have no excuse in not knowing the common birds of this part of the Himalayas, as in high school we were taught biology (including sections on local fauna and flora) by Robert Fleming, Jr., one of the world's experts on Himalayan birds. As a 10th grader, I think my mind was too much on boys, and not so much on these tiny little dots of color way high up in a tree.
At Cambridge Book Depot I found Birding in the Doon Valley by Suniti Bhushan Datta and Nikhil Devasar (Winterline Publishing, 2012). It is a lovely book with descriptions of the various nature preservers and good birding areas in the Doon Valley, Siwaliks, and lower Himalayas. There are good pictures of the common birds of the area, along with a full checklist for serious birders.
However, no bird I've seen ever looks quite like the picture in a book, so I make guesses. I know we saw a Scarlet Tanager when we were here in 2012. Last fall there were masses of little yellow birds (Yellow-breasted Greenfinch? Gray-hooded Warbler?). Last year we also saw a Himalayan Bulbul. This year there are a number of tiny birds around - Russet Sparrow?, Black-Throated Tit? Dark-sided flycatcher? Rufous sibia? I am useless in this endeavor!
As children when we lived up here I know we saw Himalayan Griffon, Lammergeier, Black Kite, various owls, a cuckoo, woodpeckers, as well as several dozens of colors and species of what I call 'small brown birds' (which in this area tend to be about 10-15 cm in size, much smaller than the small brown birds in my backyard in Ohio).
