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February 2000

       There was a metallic green winged pigeon in the garden.  It was the emerald or bronze-winged dove.   The colours are quite incredible.  It lives somewhere in the forest and I have not seen it since.  We saw a large rat snake in the garden.  This month a pond heron adopted us.  The lapwing used to fly off early morning, and the pond heron used to arrive.  I had seen this bird earlier in November too.  Now it just walked around the garden the whole day and every once in a while it stood in the spray of the lawn sprinkler.  It is a solitary kind of bird.  One day it took off and we didn’t see it again.  The white-breasted kingfisher looks very kindly out to sea.  He sits at the edge of the swing bar, and no one occupies his place.  I look forward to seeing him first thing in the morning.

    The koels have begun calling and they are very noisy.   The tree-pies are rude too, and make a din in the Alphonso mango tree.  The female koels are very visible and quite aggressive.  The male koels tend to stay out of view.

February 2001

            The evenings are longer now and the shikra can be seen regularly during my walk. I think there is also a honey buzzard, but I have to identify it definitely.  The garden has lots of babblers, a pair of coucals, the kingfisher (who is upset by the babbler invasion), the pond heron, a few magpie robins, orioles, tree pies, purple sunbirds and flowerpeckers.  In the early morning, the koels have begun their soft morning call.

            The sea has the �sand dune� look.  There is no movement at all and certainly no waves.  This month, the rolling mist appeared!  It fascinates me. I see the sea misting up and the fishing boats disappear.  Then the mist climbs up the hillside and rolls into the lawn.  It moves right into the verandah and the red table is covered with droplets of water.  Then it clears and one can see the boats once more.  This happens several times in a morning.  The sky is a boring hazy grey-blue.  I can�t see the south Goa  shoreline.

            Mid-February � the koels are very loud now and the females are visible.  This year I notice crows in the garden.  They come in only for a short while in the morning and look for nesting places.  I think they have found place on the gulmohar tree in front, the trees at the side, and somewhere on the roof.  I guess that is where the koels will lay their eggs!

            The other birds are beginning to court.  The orioles are doing swoops in the garden, and the tree-pies are chasing each other.  The sunbirds are plentiful now.  Other than that, Feb seems a dull month.  End � Feb � the kingfisher has left his perch and off and on I see him sitting on a low branch along the road � I presume it is the same one.  I miss seeing him first thing in the morning.

There were streams with a lot of stilts in the water.

            February  2002

            This has been a better month for birds.  They are beginning to mate and so they are looking for nesting places.  I have found the nest of a Brahminy kite and watched the pair roosting in it.

            Heard the first koel on the 5^th of February on the way to the guest house.  No sound of the koel on our side.  On the 15^th, two female koels appeared in the garden and sat for a while on the tree in front.

            The bulbul pairs are back and so are the orioles.  Many sunbirds too.  The black-headed munias can be seen on the road and so can two kinds of bee-eaters.  The solitary ndian roller sits in the same  place by the water tank every day.  The sparrow hawk is still around and he has long call sessions with his mate.  The pond heron comes in in the morning and so does the grey-headed wagtail, who is back to walking along the garden hose.

            14^th night � the lapwing made his territorial entry after a long time.  While on a walk with Sheelatai, we spotted 5 large peacocks and also the civet cat!  What a treat.  The tree-pies are back too.

                February 2003

The male koel is sitting out in the sun, but the cries haven�t begun � that makes it late this year.  However, the other birds have begun flying in.  Dileep saw 20 peacocks in the forested area in front � relief that they have not been killed by predatory dogs.  The plain flowerpeckers, ioras, yellow-cheeked tits, sunbirds, chloropsis and bulbuls are around.  Barely saw a crow pheasant.  My sparrow hawk was missing this morning � the 11^th.  I have spotted a bird that maybe the Isabelline chat. 

The erythrinia is in flower and the drongos like it.  The glyricidea too.  This is the 12^th, and the koel has made its first sound of 7 note cadence � but not the cooing one.  The barbets can be heard all over.  The pond heron has returned to the lawn today as well � that�s after a long break.

The koels finally started calling � at least I heard them � on the 26^th .  They don�t call loudly in my garden because this year the sparrow hawk is still around.  It is the end of the month and the birds are now beginning to trickle in in pairs � I guess nesting season is about to begin.