Backyard Nature Hotspot

My backyard

Welcome to my backyard!

It consists of a tiny little garden and a few trees. A mini forest, birding heaven, insect paradise, you can call it anyone of these. Everyday when I step out into my backyard, I am greeted by the creatures that make it their home.This is the place where I forget all the stress of the day and get lost in this 'urban' natural beauty.
To a person who isn't much interested in nature, my backyard would seem to be a quiet location, almost cut off from the fray of vehicle honks, a tranquil location. A nature lover will view it from a different perspective. To a nature lover, my backyard would look like a place full of insects, birds and mammals all doing their daily activities. Even with so many different types of creatures around, I find the insects and the birds most fascinating.

My backyard consists of a tiny garden and a few large trees. The garden is dominated mostly by insects while the trees house an array of birds. Some birds are either present all the time in the trees or visit the trees only at a particular period of the day. Early in the mornings, when the sun is just rising, the Red-whiskered bulbuls whistle while they forage among the tree branches. They are very active and stay together as a couple. They calls are sometimes so shrill, that you could compare the calls with the crowing of a rooster!
Then come the Small green barbets, as they hop from one branch to the other, they look like little fluffs of green-coloured cotton. They are always after the tender jack fruits and the tamarinds, which hang as if ready to be picked by them. When all is silent, their calls can be heard from quite a long distance. The Ashy drongo, my favourite bird, can be seen sitting on the outermost branches of high trees, during dusk and dawn. It is a visitor from the Himalayas and I have found that four such birds share the area of my backyard and the areas surrounding it. It constantly swivels it's head, trying to aim at flying insects. Suddenly, it dives into the air, disappearing behind the tree branches and after sometime , from nowhere it returns to it's former position with it's prize, probably a bee, which it carefully rubs onto the branches before consumption.

As the day progresses, the tailor birds enter the scene. Constantly calling out to one another, the couple search low branches and thick bushes for grubs. Birds such as Great tits, Purple rumped sunbirds, Rose-ringed parakeets, spotted doves and the rock pigeon visit my backyard. Occasionally I get to see the shikra, flying at low altitudes, just above the tree tops. It gives out it's bone-chilling call, sending all the Three-striped palm squirrels into panic . My backyard was also a temporary home to some fantastic birds, which you don't get to see in the midst of the city. Some of these birds are, Indian pitta, Blue-capped rock thrush, Asian paradise flycatcher(male and female) and Red-throated flycatcher. All these birds have stayed for about 2-7 days. Red Pierrot

At night, the Barn owl prowls the skies, pulling it's dark shadow-like figure along with it. This bird is magnificent. It is fairly large with brown markings on it's wings and has a beautiful white body. The trees at my place also used to be a home to some spotted owlets. Unfortunately, they now don't
live here anymore. Ground Skimmer (female)

As for the insects, they prefer to stick to the bushes and shrubs in the garden. Their activity on an average is maximum during early noon. One can see different types of wasps, flies, bees, butterflies and many other insects. Rice Swift

Two of my favourite insects are the Green long-legged fly and the Leaf cutter bee. The green long-legged fly has a flashy, metallic green-coloured body. It waits on large green leaves for small
soft-body flies to fly by.

Brahma Kamal flower


The leaf-cutter bee, a small solitary bee, looks around for tender but stiff leaves. It then neatly cuts a portion of a leaf in the shape of an oval and carries it away to build it's nest. It's a beautiful sight to see it cutting leaves. The bee, I have noticed prefers rose plant leaves.
Leaf-cutter bee

All these creatures make my backyard a wonderful place for me to be in. The is as close to nature I can get from my home. The photographs might give you the idea.