Dear Birders,
I have tried several times to post this brief report and so I will try again.
If any of you have seen it, I apologize for the repeat but it has not come
back to me so I am trying one more time.
I have just returned from a wonderful Mission trip to India. I did not
go on any birding safaris but there were plenty of birds to both see and hear,
all around the villages and cities. Thelma Dalmas lent me her Field Guide of
Indian birds , which helped me immensely. The birds were spectacular. This
is the first time I have ever seen any Asian birds. I did bird in Israel in
1997 however.The most vocal bird in India is the Hill Myna. He is black with
orange feet and beek and yellow on his head and around his eye. The other birds
that I was able to spot from windows in hotels, taxis, cars and the tops of
rooves were as follows: Common doves, Brahminy Kite (just outside of hotel
window) ,White-breasted Kingfisher (from same hotel window), long, long beek,
beautiful bird, House Crow(everywhere), Red-Whiskered Bulbul, Alexandrine
Parakeet,
Greylag Goose, Darter , Large Cormorant, Black Drongo, Greater Racket-Tailed
Drongo, (in flight) , Crow-Pheasant-Coucal and Indian Myna ( almost as
numerous as the house crow). Unfortunat3ely, I could not ID the calls and
songs, of
which there were many. It was so exciting to watch and view as many as I could
during travel. The folks traveling with me also joined in and caught the
enthusiasm.
It was a wonderful experience all around. Thank you , Thelma, for
lending me the guide. I will return it to you next week at our meeting of the
Bird
Club.
Happy Birding to you all and don't forget the Thanksgiving window watch
for 2004 in November.
Susan Wingfield, Lynchburg, Va.
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