Female Asian Koel...

My gypsy garden looks like a blessed place. So many different birds keep visiting this place and fill my life with excitement . So many small birds keep chirping all day , Oriental white eyes , Tailor birds and Sun birds make such sweet calls that not a single moment is a silent moment . The frequent calls by these different birds make the flute notes of the symphony nature plays in my gypsy garden .

Sometimes i really think if this garden was a perfectly laid out , geometrically sectioned beds of flowers and green grass looking at each other with admiration .... may be these little birds would have felt alienated here and would never have felt so at home . I feel so good at the thought of of creating this little rock garden for them , it was a lazy day last year when i thought of using all the stones lying around in a way to make them look good . Almost like rearranging the scattered pebbles of my own being. This rock garden was adorned with some cute ceramic pots of cacti , but soon i realized that the lemon tree above this miniature rock garden did not allow enough sunlight for the cacti and i planted some shade loving evergreens there. A couple of bird baths attract a good number of visitors everyday during summers.

I keep watching and clicking all sorts of smaller birds and squirrels in this place but these large birds made me really curious . It was a really huge female Asian Koel.

This bird makes shrill harsh calls just outside my bedroom window, perched on the grapefruit tree.

And then hops on to the lemon tree...you can see a few lemons in this picture..

 This couple of Koels comes to my garden and loves sitting in the lower branches of the lemon tree and the grapefruit tree , the shrubby kind of foliage that they like for themselves during the hottest time of the day.

In the evening they are seen on the Jamun tree in my backyard.

 And to my surprise and great pleasure they spend a good amount of time resting here . Probably they find the watering hole more enticing. And may be it is the shade is what they need.

 I am hopeful about their nesting around this place. See how she keeps her beak open almost all the time and the shrilly call she makes for the partner is so nice to hear .

 They always tell about their arrival in the garden.

First they always get perched on the lemon branches , then inquire around the place , look towards the bird bath a few times and then descend down and sit over the peak of the triangular rock....see how this one is keeping his head in shade....

Looks around and sits on the bird bath to have his fill . The lonely Foot ball lily (Haemanthus Multiflorus) gets it's fifteen minutes of fame through this lovely Female Koel.

I got only one bloom this year , this one was planted in this spot years ago and this time it decided to bloom .
The potted ones remained silent this time.

Koels are known to be cunning and manipulative in Avian sociology. They like drinking water from the bird bath many times during the day and do not let other smaller birds come near them while they are having their fill.

But they do not seem to be disturbed by my presence . They allow me to come quite close to them .

How beautiful is the plumage . I like the red eyes and the brownish glint on the scalp and around the eye...

Here comes the other one ( the second picture from the top is also of this individual ) who looks smaller and a bit darker . Plumage and beak both are darker than the first one from top...

All birds of the same species must be having their own beauty spots :-)

The size is smaller too . I still do not know if the smaller one is still a baby.... .

I would be glad if someone tells me more about them.

These two pictures are shot in different lights but the difference in the birds is clear enough ...see the next one who looks bigger and has a lighter colored plumage. The pattern of white specks on the plumage is a little different too.

 

See how this one is drinking water while few of the droplets are suspended into the air , glistening in light....a moment caught by chance ...but so beautiful...

 A few ripples in the bird bath , and the bird looking contented . As I type this i heard them tweeting again in the garden , went down to watch and click a few more pictures . They look so comfortable in my presence i feel glad .

The theme for Thursday challenge this week is  "WET" (Rain, Puddles, Water,...) ..
I saw a post by Swaram right now and decided to link this one to the challenge as i have been missing the pleasure for many weeks now...The bird bath and this Female Asian Koel drinking water make a nice picture for the theme this week ...off this goes to Thursday Challenge...