birds in my parents' house in Khardah

This winter so far, I have recorded about 30species of birds in my parents house. The whole area was once wooded ( even 15 years ago), surrounded by water bodies, a canal that is 300 years old, brick field, bamboo groves and agriculture fields in the middle of industrial belt of Kolkata. My parents bought this piece of agriculture field with a pond in 1971. The built a hut with a outhouse initially. Since 1976 they started building a concrete house which finally took the current shape in 1992 just when we got married! We grew up hearing the jackals calling every now and then at night. palm civets coming in the house, mongooses coming and killing our ducks from the house at night. We had goats and cows as well until late 1980s. In late 1990s when the bamboo groves were still around we used to hear jackals regularly. The last jackal that I saw in the house was in 2006. The last bit of the bamboo and semi forest land is gone now which was part of the irrigation department's land and I have now clue how that parcel of land got sold!!!! Some crooks somewhere in the irrigation department and the local municipalities made a ton of money in the recent past by selling water bodies and irrigation department's land! Some of the trees that I miss seeing this year are a silk cotton tree, A huge polyalthia longifolia tree and a large neem tree. The canal which once connected Ganga and Ichhamati (a river that goes through border of two Bengals) was main route for business by water between many districts of undivided Bengal and partly dug by local Zaminder Ramhari Biswas about 300 years ago. Ramhari Biswas's house was on the bank of Ganga. In 1999 when there were more canopy around I had recorded around 40 species this time of the year. Some of the species that I did not see this year were common kingfisher, greenish leaf warbler, Indian cuckoo, Brahmany kite, coppersmith, lineated barbet, Brown fish owl, blue tailed beeeater, bank myna etc. List so far this year 2010-2011

White throated Kingfisher
Stork billed Kingfisher
Little Cormorant
White breasted waterhen
little egret
pond heron
house crow
common myna
house sparrow
magpie robin
black headed oriole
Blue throated barbet
Tailor bird
white wagtail
Asian brown flycatcher
Blyth's reed warbler
green bee eater
greater coucal
Asian Koel
Rose ringed parakeet
Asian paradise flycather
Redvented bulbul
Black kite
Scopes owl
Jungle babler
Flameback woodpecker
Eurasian collared dove
Rufous treepie

Posted via email from Kaberi's stream of (un)consciousness

Birds in my parents' house

This winter so far, I have recorded about 30species of birds in my parents house. The whole area was once wooded ( even 15 years ago), surrounded by water bodies, a canal that is 300 years old, brick field, bamboo groves and agriculture fields in the middle of industrial belt of Kolkata. My parents bought this piece of agriculture field with a pond in 1971. The built a hut with a outhouse initially. Since 1976 they started building a concrete house which finally took the current shape in 1992 just when we got married! We grew up hearing the jackals calling every now and then at night. palm civets coming in the house, mongooses coming and killing our ducks from the house at night. We had goats and cows as well until late 1980s. In late 1990s when the bamboo groves were still around we used to hear jackals regularly. The last jackal that I saw in the house was in 2006. The last bit of the bamboo and semi forest land is gone now which was part of the irrigation department's land and I have now clue how that parcel of land got sold!!!! Some crooks somewhere in the irrigation department and the local municipalities made a ton of money in the recent past by selling water bodies and irrigation department's land! Some of the trees that I miss seeing this year are a silk cotton tree, A huge polyalthia longifolia tree and a large neem tree. The canal which once connected Ganga and Ichhamati (a river that goes through border of two Bengals) was main route for business by water between many districts of undivided Bengal and partly dug by local Zaminder Ramhari Biswas about 300 years ago. Ramhari Biswas's house was on the bank of Ganga. In 1999 when there were more canopy around I had recorded around 40 species this time of the year. Some of the species that I did not see this year were common kingfisher, greenish leaf warbler, Indian cuckoo, Brahmany kite, coppersmith, lineated barbet, Brown fish owl, blue tailed beeeater etc. List so far this year 2010-2011

White throated Kingfisher
Stork billed Kingfisher
Little Cormorant
White breasted waterhen
little egret

pond heron
house crow
common myna
house sparrow
magpie robin
black headed oriole
Blue throated barbet
Tailor bird
white wagtail
Asian brown flycatcher
Blyth's reed warbler
green bee eater
greater coucal
Asian Koel
Rose ringed parakeet
Asian paradise flycather
Redvented bulbul
Black kite
Scopes owl
Jungle babler
Flameback woodpecker
Eurasian collared dove
Rufous treepie

Posted via email from Kaberi's stream of (un)consciousness