Yellow-wattled Lapwing

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

The Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus malabaricus photographed on the farm near Thirupporur. It is a medium-sized bird belonging to the family Charadriidae. These birds are medium-sized pale brown waders with a black crown which is separated from the brown on the neck by a narrow white band and large yellow facial wattles. This species is common in much of India, being seen in a variety of open lowland habitats. This species is seen in drier habitats than the closely related Red-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus indicus. Like other lapwings and plovers, these lapwings are ground birds and their nest is just a collection of tiny pebbles within which their well-camouflaged eggs with irregular dark brown splotches are laid.

Long back, as a youngster in Delhi, I was lucky to have observed the nidifugous chicks of the Red-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus indicus. The term nidifugous signifies that the chicks leave the nest shortly after hatching and follow their parents to actively forage for food. The chicks are beautifully camouflaged and look as if they are wearing brown and white double-knit woollen sweaters. The parent birds’ loud and frantic ‘did-he-do-it’ calls make the chicks instantly freeze and virtually impossible to spot. Despite diligent searching I have not seen chicks of either species in Thirupporur.

The food of the Yellow-wattled Lapwing consists of beetles, termites and other invertebrates, which are picked up from the ground.

Sausage Tree

Flowers and fruits of a common avenue tree, the Sausage Tree or Kigelia pinnata photographed in Besant Nagar. This tree belongs to the Bignoniaceae family and is native to Africa. Its English name refers to the long, pendulous, sausage-like fruits. The tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in tropical regions.The tree grows up to a height of 20 metres. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, 30 to 50 cm long, pinnate, with six to ten oval leaflets up to 20 cm long and 6 cm broad; the terminal leaflet may or may not be present.

Sausage Tree Flowers

The flowers and later the fruits hang down from branches on long flexible stems which may be as long as 6 metres. The 10 cm wide, bell-shaped flowers are produced in panicles. The flowers are reddish-orange or purplish green. The scent of the flowers is strongest at night as these flowers are pollinated by bats, which visit them for pollen and nectar.

The fruit is a woody berry from 30 to 100 cm long and up to 18 cm broad and it weighs between 5 to 10 kg. The fibrous fruit pulp contains numerous seeds.

Fruits of the Sausage Tree

The Baya Weaver Bird

The Baya Weaver Bird, Ploceus philippinus

The Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus photographed in the Reserved Forest adjoining our farm near Thirupporur. There were just 4 or 5 nests, mostly incomplete, hanging from a thorny Acacia leucophloea tree. This species is found across South and Southeast Asia. Flocks of these birds are found in grasslands, cultivated areas and scrublands. Baya Weaver birds are sparrow-sized (about 15 cm) and in their non-breeding plumage, both males and females resemble female house sparrows. They have a stout conical bill and a short square tail. Breeding males have a bright yellow crown, dark brown mask and a blackish brown bill.

These birds are gregarious and forage in flocks for grass seeds. They are also known to glean paddy and other grain from harvested fields. On our farm they are quite common as we mostly grow paddy. Their calls are a continuous ‘chit-chit-chit …‘ sometimes ending in a wheezy ‘cheee-eee-ee‘ that is produced by males in a chorus.

Baya Weavers are justly famous for the elaborately woven nests constructed by the male birds. These hanging nests have a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to a side entrance to the main chamber. The nests are woven with long strips of paddy leaves, rough grasses and long strips torn from palm fronds. Both males and females are polygamous. Males build many partial nests and begin courting females. The male finishes the nest only after finding a mate. The female lays about 2 to 4 white eggs. Eggs hatch after about 14 to 17 days of incubation. Males may sometimes assist in feeding the chicks. The fledglings leave the nest after about 17 days. After mating with a female, the male typically courts other females at other partially constructed nests. These birds are called Thukkanan-kuruvi in Tamil.

Danaid Eggfly

Male Danaid Eggfly, Hypolimnas misippus

The Danaid Eggfly, Hypolimnas misippus photographed in a farm near Thurinjikuppam. This is a widely distributed butterfly belonging to the Nymphalidae family. This particular species is found across Africa, Asia, and Australia. The species is well known for polymorphism and Batesian mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in iridescent blue. Females are in multiple forms (polymorphism) that include male-like forms while others appear like the toxic Danaus chrysippus and Danaus plexippus butterfles (Batesian mimicry).

Larval host plants include species of Portulaca and Asystasia. The butterfly larva is black with a brick-red head furnished with two long black thick branched spines; the rest of the segments except the anal segment are provided with ten branched spines. The pupa is short and thick; light brown, variegated and streaked with dark brown, particularly towards the head and tail.

Crown-of-Thorns

Crown-of-thorns, Euphorbia milii

Photographed this Crown-of-thorns plant, Euphorbia milii in Besant Nagar. This plant is familiar to me from my childhood days in Delhi. We had several plants growing in a corner of our home garden. I remember these hardy plants always having a few flowers open throughout the year. It is a woody, succulent species of belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Madagascar. The species name commemorates Baron Milius who introduced the species to France in 1821.

It is a succulent climbing shrub growing up to 2 metres tall, with densely spiny stems, the straight, slender spines up to 3 cm long. The spiny stems help it scramble over other plants. The leaves are found mainly on new growth, and are obovate, up to 3.5 cm long and 1.5 cm broad. The flowers are small, subtended by a pair of conspicuous petal-like bracts, coloured red, pink or white, up to 12 mm broad. The milky sap is moderately poisonous. Many cultivars are now available with much larger leaves and bracts.

Little Cormorant

Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger

I photographed this Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger specimen in the Adyar Poonga. The Little Cormorant breeds in tropical south Asia from southern Pakistan through India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. It is a resident bird but undertakes limited seasonal movements.

This is a small cormorant about 55 cm in length. It can be distinguished from the slightly larger Indian Cormorant by its rectangular head profile and shorter bill. The bird is mainly glossy black in the breeding season, with white head plumes and a whitish throat. The wing feathers are silvery, and it has a longish tail.

The sexes are similar, but non-breeding adults and juveniles are browner in colour and lack the head plumes. It breeds in freshwater wetlands and on coasts. 3 to 5 eggs are laid in a nest in a tree or long grass.

The Little Cormorant can dive to considerable depths, but usually feeds in shallow water. It frequently brings prey to the surface. A wide variety of fish are taken. The bird was originally described by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817.

The Fragrant Manjack Tree

Flowers of the Fragrant Manjack, Cordia dichotoma

I recently photographed the pretty flowers of the Fragrant Manjack, Cordia dichotoma in the Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. The Fragrant Manjack belonging to the Boraginaceae family is a small to moderate-sized deciduous tree with a short bole and spreading crown. The stem bark is greyish brown, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled. Flowers are short-stalked, bisexual and white or cream in colour. The fruit is yellow or pinkish-yellow and turns black on ripening. In the ripe fruit, the pulp gets viscid.

Fruits of the Fragrant Manjack, Cordia dichotoma

The sticky fruits of the Fragrant Manjack has given rise to many common names including snotty gobbles, glue berry and bird lime tree. In Tamil, children are very fond of referring to it as mookkuchali pazham. In Taiwan and Thailand, the immature fruits are pickled and eaten. The leaves are also edible.

Spotted Dove

Spotted Dove, Streptopelia chinensis roosting on an Acacia leucophloea branch

Photographed this pretty specimen of the Spotted Dove, Streptopelia chinensis (Spilopelia chinensis is a synonym) in the Reserved Forest area adjoining our farm near Thirupporur. S. chinensis is a member of the Columbidae family which includes pigeons and doves.

The Spotted Dove is a long-tailed, slim pigeon, ranging in length from 28 to 32 centimetres. Its back, wings and tail are pale brown, heavily spotted with buff. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults often lacking the patchy neckband when very immature. The head and underparts are pinkish, shading to pale grey on the face and lower belly. There is a black neck patch finely spotted with white.

The call is a low and gentle coo-coo-croo, with the emphasis on the last note. These birds are quite vocal and therefore easy to spot. They are, however, difficult to photograph as the birds in the Reserved Forest area, unlike the ones in the Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens, are very shy and invariably took off as soon as they spotted me. Spotted Doves eat grass, seeds, grains, other vegetation and small insects. The birds build a rather untidy twig nest in a tree. Two white eggs, as for all pigeons and doves, are laid in this nest.

Common Gull Butterfly

Common Gull Butterfly, Cepora nerissa

Another common butterfly, the Common Gull, Cepora nerissa photographed in the Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. This is a small to medium-sized butterfly, native to India which belongs to the Pieridae family (Yellows and Whites).

The Common Gull is white on the upperside with black wing margins and yellow with black markings on the underside. The colours are bright in the wet season form and dull in the dry season form. Please check out Dr. K. Saji’s remarkable series of photographs showing this butterfly’s life cycle.

The Firecracker or Coral Plant

Flowers of the Firecracker or Coral Plant, Russelia equisetiformis

Another common garden plant, the Firecracker or Coral Plant, Russelia equisetiformis photographed in Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. The common name alludes to the scarlet, long, tubular flowers which resemble red-coloured firecrackers. The name Coral plant again refers to the abundant red flowers borne by the plant. These red flowers are very attractive to butterflies and sunbirds.

This is a multi-branched weeping shrub with slender, rushlike stems that are angled with ridges and much-reduced scaly leaves. The specific name equisetiformis refers to the resemblance of the plant to the Horsetail plant, belonging to the Equisetum genus. The wiry branches start out erect and then fall over in cascade down in lengths as long as 1 to 1.5 metres.