A quick trip to get some long overdue work done at our cottage in Simla. The view of the Himalayan Range from the air [Dhaka to Delhi] was spectacular, though I could not capture the «spactularness» due to the dirty aircraft windows ...

Little time to photograph the surrounds and birds. That meant I had to be up and out of the house by 7 AM to get an hour before breakfast to get some photographs. The birds in the shrubbery and trees behind my parents home in «Chotta» Simla [Shimla] would wake me and there was no need to set an alarm!  Here are some of the early morning visitors -

   
  

  

Verditer Flycatcher -  Eumyias thalassina;  Himalayan Bulbul - Pycnonotus leucogenys; Streaked Laughingthrush -  Garrulax jerdoni; Bar-Tailed Treecreeper - Certhia himalayana; Green-Backed TIT - Parus monticolus; Lesser Whitethroat - Sylvia curruca;  Great Barbet - Megalaima virens; Oriental White-eye - Zosterops palpebrosus;  Himalayan Bulbul.
See GlobalBirdTrekkers for more.

  

While waiting for the birds, I also took a few photos of the Indian Institute Of Advanced Study [used to be the ViceRegal Lodge], Gorton Castle [which now houses the Accountants General offices] and the Shimla Railway Station from the pathway above the house.

A couple of quick photos of the cottage at Sidhora in Mashobra -
 

Photographs are from September/30/08 to October/04/08.

This particular branch on the Mango tree outside my study window gets the most birds... wonder why? I've photographed many birds on this branch now and they keep coming back, twittering and tweeting at me from there. This Sparrow stayed on this branch for over 10 minutes. He was curious, and kept moving his head to follow every little move I made. But he just stayed, while I took maybe 40 photos. The sound of the shutter did not bother him too much either.

Now, as I am writing this post - he is back and twittering again!

A chance meeting when this Flameback revisited after a long time.... there are a bunch of them who were regular visitors but I've not spotted them in a while though I hear them sometimes. Today while waiting for «my» Sunbird to come for his daily portrait session, I heard this Flameback tapping the wood of the tree behind the other window. I was able to get a few nice frames and then it looked at me straight and went on digging for worms in the bark. Meanwhile, the Sunbird was back so I had to leave the Flameback to go get a few pics of buddy...which I will add here later once I've downloaded them from the camera. Pic of the Sunbird uploaded.

Black-rumped Flameback [Dinopium benghalense]