Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Spotted Owlets

Theosophical society campus in Adyar, Chennai is one of the best homes for birds. I guess it remains pure and uncorrupted as it is fully restricted - only 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evenings are designated as visiting hours for public - that too only for visiting the famous big Banyan Tree. Apart from this, special permissions for walking/photography/birding etc are granted only after much deliberation! In that sense, it has not become a tourist spot or a bird sanctuary.

Regular visitors will fondly narrate sightings of the very own spotted owlets of TS. A family of Spotted owlets had made their home in a hole in a dead tree trunk, at least a decade or two back, I've been told. And, their further generations continue to stay there. If you are lucky, you can spot them early in the mornings sitting in front of their home.

Or, if they are reluctant to get out from there, you can probably see them peeping from the hole like this ;) I was waiting for it to get out, but it took more than fifteen minutes for it to feel that it's safe and I wont harm them. Then, one owl flew out, followed by the next one.

Though it's easiest to spot them near their home, I've managed to spot them in the scrub forests inside the campus several times! Pretty hard to notice though, unless they move. The movement is what gives away the position ;)
I thought they were very shy and could see them only near their home or in the thick forest. But, once I managed to spot it right where all public visitors come to - the big banyan tree. There it was sitting calmly, right in front of the banyan. So, next time you go to visit the big banyan, keep a look out for birds there. Apart from this, I've seen other birds like woodpeckers, sunbirds at the big banyan.

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