Thursday, December 4, 2008

Woody Woodpecker !!


Sitting on the terrace and enjoying the warm rays of the morning sun , almost dozing off , I was brought into action by loud thumping sounds coming from somewhere near me.I went closer to the source and after a bit of keen watching , I noticed a medium sized bird with bright plumage that surely attracted me.It was yellowish green with crimson forehead and nape and a prominent golden nuchal crest which added to its overall beauty.

Referring to the field guide , i found out that it was called "Lesser Yellow-naped Woodpecker" or "Picus Chlorophus Vieillot".And not to forget the fact that it has been 6-7 years since i have been observing birds in and around my neighbourhood and this was the first time that i was seeing one ! It was perched just in front of my eyes , probably at a distance of around 3-4 feet from me , on the "Himalayan pear tree" or "Pyrus Pashia" and was constantly digging the fairly thin but robust branch.An important point here is that the branches of this tree are very hard and thats why the sound that was originating was quite loud.As soon as the beautiful woodpecker saw me , it was perturbed and traumatized and immediately made a rushing flight towards the decidious trees on the other side of the road.

It was a pleasing sight for me , in the midst of the cool breeze and the warm soothing rays of the sun , for you do not get to witness a woodpecker pecking at a branch right in front of your eyes everyday !...Hope you enjoyed it.I will be regularly updating the content of the blog as i continue to roll on with my adventures and hope to witness much more amazing things !

4 comments:

  1. I've never seen a woodpecker, but hope to be able to do so pretty soon!

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  2. Hi Harshit, I'd bookmarked your blog weeks ago and am now glad to see you reviving it. Woodpeckers are my absolute favourite. I live in Gurgaon and have only seen Flameback and Yellow-crowned at the Sultanpur sanctuary. Look forward to more of your birding experiences.

    I've included some birdwatching experiences on my blog at http://jdesignlab.com and recently my son did a post on birds of Bharatpur on http://kbhargava.com !

    cheers, jyoti

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  3. Such exotic locales! You are very diligent and fortunate to see these sights.


    *I Donated To Cornell Ornithology!*
    http://www.opticsplanet.net/cornell-lab-of-ornithology.html

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  4. Wonderful blog.
    Cheers.
    Just a small comment:
    The Generic name starts with a capital letter and the species and form name starts with a small letter.
    Like:
    Picus Chlorophus is:
    Picus chlorophus
    and Pyrus Pashia is
    Pyrus pashia.
    Hope it helps.
    All the best wishes.
    .
    Dr P S Sangwan
    Uklana Mandi -Haryana.

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