Barn Owl

It was a Sunday and the commotion in the playground was noticeable.  Since I was at home, my son came up to tell me that the boys had found a rare “white owl”.

It was a Barn Owl, sitting motionless with its eyes closed, in the midst of fallen leaves and dried branches.

Why is it not flying? the boys asked. 
During the day, it prefers to rest due to its poor vision. It must have been chased by the noisy crows and is just resting for a moment.

Is it a rare white owl? 
No, it is a Barn Owl or Screech Owl, and is very common near human habitations. It may be observed singly or in pairs.

How can you be sure it is a barn owl? 
That's because Barn owls have a distinct heart-shaped face, resembling the looks of a monkey. In size, they are as big as jungle crows. They possess golden-buff and grey feathers and wings, the chest and belly parts are off-white, with large off-white legs. The entire body is covered with black and white speckles.

If it is so common, how come we don't see it often? 
Owls are nocturnal birds and venture out into the open only at night when their excellent night-vision helps them hunt down their prey. During the day, they rest in some dark corner of buildings or shady recesses of large trees. Hence, you can hear them more often than you see them.

Is it a male or female?
Since they are alike, it is difficult to differentiate between a male or female owl.

What do they eat?
Barn owls feed mainly on rats and mice. In a single night, a barn owl can feed on 4-6 of these pests and therefore they can be considered nature’s best pest controllers.

Will this owl fly away?
Yes, it will.

In a short while, the owl took off, escaping from the large flock of crows.

Ashy Prinia

Ashy Prinia has a dark ash black head and crown with brown upper body, wings and tail. It has white throat and tawny-white underparts. 

As it moves through the undergrowth in search of small insects, it constantly flicks its tail into upright position.

 A sub-species, the Plain Prinia, is also commonly spotted in this region.

 
 Photograph location: Thane creek (East).

Name	Ashy Prinia
Alternate names	Ashy Wren Warbler
Size	Smaller than house sparrow
Occurrence	Present in undergrowth and shrubbery near streams or marshes.
Status	Fairly common
Distinct features	Dark-ash black head with brown upper body, wings and tail. It has a long beak and tail
Male/female	Alike

The Mangroves of Bhandup

After an exhausting week at work, the thought of a relaxed weekend was very comforting. Rather than relaxing at home, we planned a visit to the Bhandup mangroves. Last time I had visited the mangroves was immediately after the monsoon. 

Then, the entire area was completely overgrown with tall reeds and grasses. The undergrowth was wet and it was difficult to move about. This time around, we found that there was less vegetation. The path leading towards the lake in the midst of the mangroves was cleared out by setting the dry grass on fire. Large tract of the grassy land surrounding the lake was burnt and the ground was exposed and dry. We also ran into an early morning family crowd on a bird watching trip. This could perhaps explain the fewer number of birds we sighted initially. 

Later, as the area grew quieter, we were able to spot several birds, such as rosy and pied starlings, swallows, weaver birds, parakeets, bulbuls, shrikes, doves, large flocks of lapwings and gulls, ducks, pond herons, sand pipers, cormorants, white-breasted kingfishers. The light was excellent for taking pictures.

We were also fortunate that we could spot a pair of jackals.

At the place where treated waters of the ETP (effluent treatment plant) flow into the creek, there is a large open space, surrounded on all four sides with thick growth of mangroves. At first, we sighted the female coming out into the open, warm itself in the sunlight and move out of sight. 

 It was almost after 30 minutes that the pair emerged and came into the clearing to drink.

 

Even though the mangroves are now protected forests, the diverse animal life will have better protection if the proposed Bhandup Bio-diversity Center is set up without any further delays.

Giant Malabar Squirrel

The Giant Malabar Squirrel is a magnificent animal found in thickly wooded evergreen and deciduous forests, mainly in the Western ghats. Spotting the squirrel is quite difficult and I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this rare and beautiful mammal in the well maintained SIMS Park in Coonoor. 

It is hunted for its pelt and meat and is now found only in small regions of the forest, living in upper canopy of the trees.

 It has conspicuous rust-brown and beige colors, is large in size, with head and body about 40cm long, and a bushy tail almost 60cm long.

Extinction

It is greed which causes us to hunt animals for their pelts and meat, threatening their survival and ultimately leading to extinction. The Indian cheetah is an instance of extinction, caused due to excessive hunting over 60 years ago.  On the other hand, extinctions due to natural causes are a fact of life. In the course of Earth’s history, there have been several instances of large scale species extinctions. As one species becomes extinct, another takes its place due to the continuous evolutionary process. Some of the species may have altered forms to survive drastic climatic changes in environment and it is quite possible that the species that we see today are descendents of those assumed to be extinct.

For the past thousand years or so, Earth’s climate has been relatively stable, with no catastrophic natural events leading to mass extinctions. This was also an ideal period for large numbers of diverse species to thrive and grow in numbers. It was only with the advent of humans into the New World that several plants, birds and animals were threatened and became extinct. The human population explosion in the last few decades, especially in India and China, has caused widespread damage to the environment. According to some experts, if we continue to grow at this pace and destroy the forests, species extinction rate could be in thousands every year.

In India, the situation is worse due to lack of awareness and government controls; animals are being constantly confined into smaller and smaller pockets of wilderness in the midst of human habitats, their movements getting severely restricted. As forests, wetlands and wildlife habitats are destroyed, one can only hope that future generations are lucky enough to sight wild animals in their natural habitats, before they are wiped out from the planet.

Birds and animals definitely do deserve an opportunity to live along side humans.