Mobbing calls of several birds filled the air while I was working in my office on 7 Oct., 2007. I went out to see that their wrath was directed towards a pair of Brown Hawk Owls, which had come to occupy a roost atop a mango tree in my yard. One of the owls was showing up well, while other was hidden in the vegetation.
It's been a while since I saw this owl roosting in my garden. The intensity of mobbing behaviour shown by the mobsters consisting of White-bellied Drongo, Common Tailorbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, and Yellow-billed Babbler had its clear ups and downs. The owls, however, did not give in and they stood their ground. The commotion gradually died down. And the mobsters went silent and left the owls at peace.
They remained at the roost site for the rest of day.
I attempted a few digiscoping shots, but they didn’t turn out well due to angle of light. The photo above is from a previous encounter in my garden, following a similar mobbing episode. Click here to read an article that I did on my garden’s Brown Hawk Owls in Siyoth the journal of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL).
Wildbird on the Fly
The above was my contribution to I and The Bird #65 hosted by
10 comments:
Wow, that's beautiful.
I've seen some owls in my garden when I was living in SL, looks a bit like the one in your pic, but I'm not sure if it's the exact same because I always saw them in the darkening hours. Small owl with a brown and white spotted chest. Sweet!
Thanks!
Sounds like it is the other commoner Owl - Indian Scops Owl (aka Collard Scops Owl). I have them too in my garden and have blogged about them.
OwlPages.com is the coolest site if you want to know more good things about Owls. It is run by an Aussie lady. What Aussie birds (feathered)do you get in your garden ?
I'm from Kegalle and the Kurulu Kele Reserve. We often get to see and watch Brown wood owls on the roof tops at dusk and well into the night.
Well, not much birds around here because we live in a subruban area with a lot of buildings and apartments and not many trees. But I always encounter a bird very similar to the Sri Lankan 'Alu kobeyya'(pardon me for my lack of specialised knowledge in this area)
and I do see Lorikeets in and around parks.
RabbitHole: Sounds great! I will come over there to see it. Could you e-mail me on gallicissa@gmail.com and give your address and directions to the spot. Thanks in advance! I am passing that way with 6 Singaporean birders soon and it will be great if we could bag this one!
Sasini,
I am no good at Aussie birds. So far all my Aussie biridng has been over TV while watching cricket when the camera focuses on the feathered birds around! My Australian list consists of Magpie Lark, Silver Gull & those Bill's Pigeons!! However, Alu Kobeyya or the Spotted Dove; the same species as found here is found over there, so you must be seeing the same one!
Isn't that nice ?
Suggest you invest on 'The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia by Graham Pizzey & Frank Kinight' which would help to put a name to the birds you see!
Oh! by the way, I got this totally wrong in my earlier post; Owlpages is run by a gentleman not a Lady!! I had the name confused as feminine despite corresponding with this person for long! My apologies for him!
Sasani,I am sorry I called you Sasini -typing error!
Love the photos. Would like to go on one of these trips you mention. Where do I find out what it entails and how much it would cost a local, please?
Cheers, Renuka.
Hi Renuka,
Thank you for your compliments and request. Please send me an e-mail to gallicissa@gamil.com and I will reply with some of my popular tours including all relavent details. Note: I am off on a tour from 20-24 Jan and I shall reply upon nmy return!
Email should be gallicissa@gmail.com
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