the white-breasted waterhen is a slender member of the rail & crake family that is distributed throughout southeastern asia. the sexes are similar, with slate-gray upper bodies and white bellies, but females are slightly smaller. their elongated toes are used to balance on delicate water vegetation and to forage in the shallows. this bird feeds on insects, small fish, and invertebrates. they live solely in marshy habitats, and spend most of their time in or near the water.
googling "which bird is common in bali" bc i wanted to know what it was called (it's a white breasted waterhen) but i swear one of the first articles i stumbled into said the jalak bali is common. as in the bird that has been endangered for as long as i can remember. chat gpt ass
Sunday Feb 18, 2024 from 7:38 am to 6 pm, traveling 13.87 km for 626 minutes.
Places birdwatched at: Lokhandwala lake > Lokhandwala nalla > Malad InOrbit Creek Road > IIT Powai lake & campus.
Morning was cool and then very hot. We retired home for lunch and then resumed again. Lunch break was from 12 o'clock noon to 3:30 pm.
Number of bird species seen/ heard: 56.
25 Lesser Whistling-Duck
1 Gadwall
50 Indian Spot-billed Duck
2 Green-winged Teal
10 Greater Flamingo
5 Lesser Flamingo
1 Little Grebe
1 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
2 Greater Coucal
2 Asian Palm Swift
5 Eurasian Moorhen
5 Eurasian Coot
9 Gray-headed Swamphen
2 White-breasted Waterhen -- Seen
3 Black-winged Stilt
1 Red-wattled Lapwing
3 Bronze-winged Jacana
1 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Common Sandpiper
4 Wood Sandpiper
1 Common Redshank
1 Black-headed Gull
1 Brown-headed Gull
1 Common Tern
1 Little Cormorant
1 Little Egret
1 Indian Pond-Heron
1 Great Egret
1 Medium Egret
1 Purple Heron
1 Glossy Ibis
1 Black-headed Ibis
1 Western Marsh Harrier
5 Black Kite
1 White-throated Kingfisher
5 Asian Green Bee-eater
1 Coppersmith Barbet -- Heard
2 Brown-headed Barbet
2 Rose-ringed Parakeet
1 Spot-breasted Fantail
1 Black Drongo
1 Ashy Drongo
1 Long-tailed Shrike
100 House Crow
2 Large-billed Crow
1 Common Tailorbird -- Heard
2 Ashy Prinia
1 Booted Warbler -- Heard
1 Blyth's Reed Warbler
2 Red-vented Bulbul
2 Jungle Babbler
5 Rosy Starling
5 Common Myna
1 Oriental Magpie-Robin
1 Purple-rumped Sunbird
25 House Sparrow
Sunrise.
Lokhandwala lake
IIT Powai Campus
Here are few photos from the bird race clicked by my good friend, JN.
How did I capture a TIME LAPSE of the Sunset at Powai Lake?
There was a small mound of mud over which a branch of tree had fallen. I balanced my mobile properly for the entire duration of the setting sequence. My friend's son, SSN and other people walking in front of the mobile were politely asked to walk carefully from behind the mobile and over the branch. They complied and even thanked me for offering them the unnecessary hand over the small branch, on which I had balanced my mobile really well.
All went well and then when I went to show my group, the result of my endevour, I realised I had not pressed the start button to click the mobile camera.
Our hosts, the organizers of the India Bird Races, Mr. Ravi & Mr. Sunjoy as usual were gracious and kind and conducted bird quizzes with panache, that kept everyone on the edge to win prizes and gain knowledge.
You can check the earlier editions of the India Bird Races below:
2023 Mumbai Bird Race - 53 species seen.
2022 Mumbai Bird Race - 50 species seen.
2019 Mumbai Bird Race - 63 species seen.
2015 Mumbai Bird Race - 90 species seen.
The pan flavoured chocolate in this gift box was something new.
I look forward to many more bird races and abundance of birds in and around Mumbai.
woah...my last post was more than a year ago, and also on a tuesday! i'm back with a bunch of amazing sightings, fresh from a visit to bishan-amk park this morning :)
without a doubt, this landscape wouldn't be so full of life if not for the restoration of the kallang river that runs through it. this is but a slim swathe of river, one that flows so gently it is almost silent -- but it is a breathtaking force of nature.
that something so raw and wild can exist at the centre of our concrete jungle is almost unbelievable :')
here are some of the other wonderful things i saw:
a grey heron (Ardea cinerea)! grateful that it tolerated our proximity & lingered long enough for photos. i've never seen an Ardea heron so close-up before.
the river is teeming with fish (and some turtles.) unfortunately, most of these species are invasive.
a purple-leaved button weed (Spermacoce ocymoides) growing amongst the bioswale on the riverbank. striking symmetry & colour contrast between the white flowers and dark leaves make this little weed exceptionally beautiful :)
[ my favourite wildflower ID resource ]
a red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea) busy with the flower of a broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria lancifolia), a plant that thrives in waterlogged soils.
this is, unfortunately, not one of the wonderful things i saw >:( invasive golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata) and their notorious pink eggs have thoroughly infiltrated our freshwater ecosystems. their speedy growth, high fecundity & ferocious appetite threaten native populations of apple snails. P. canaliculata originates from the americas, and the aquarium trade is believed to have introduced it to singapore. (ref)
spotted quite a few of these purple herons (Ardea purpurea), likely because a breeding colony lives in the area ^^ i find it endlessly fascinating that these huge waterbirds with their ungainly long necks roost high up in trees...
in the lotus pond, white-breasted waterhens (Amaurornis phoenicurus) walk on water by treading on lotus leaves.
the beautiful Nelumbo nucifera c:
to round it all out, here's a look down the river from the eastern end of the park. it exists as both versions — pre- & post-restoration — of itself at once. at the centre of this picture, a malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator) makes its way along the canalised section, advancing slowly towards the verdant wetlands beyond.
Haemosporidian Parasites of White-Breasted Waterhens (Amaurornis phoenicurus), with a Report and Molecular Characterization of Haemoproteus gallinulae in Thailand
if u see a bird in my banner it's a white-breasted waterhen, i'd use it to represent jules :) they're funky guys, i usually see them foraging in drain grass!