Pigeon set free

We have hundreds of pigeons roosting all over in our building. With innumerable pipe ducts and vents, they have many spaces where they can live quite comfortably. This despite the netting that was installed many years ago, to keep them away.

While well-installed netting effectively keeps the birds out, netting that has lifted or given way allows them to enter, and sometimes they can’t find their way out. As bad as getting inadvertently caged, is a bird getting entangled in the net and not being able to free itself.

This is exactly what happened this morning. While his friends were moving in and out of the duct, this poor fellow drew our attention as he was flapping vigorously to release himself. Little did he realise that the more he flapped, the more trapped he became. It was nice to see the empathy of the other birds who, it seemed, were looking for ways to get him free.

Entangled in the netting

Birds seen in Europe (Part 5)

Where there is the sea, there will be gulls. After all, the sea is what a gull calls home. Looking back, we did spend much of our vacation close to water, so it was natural to have spotted gulls in almost every city that we visited.

Common Gull

Unlike what the name suggests, the Common Gull was not really everywhere. Characterised by a red eye-ring, we first spotted it at Roskilde, Denmark, atop one of the houses. While on the boat from Flam to Gudvangen on Naeroyfjord (one of Norway’s scenic fjords) however, there were many of them following us, looking out for scraps of food.

Birds spotted in Europe (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here.

The King’s Garden is the oldest park in Copenhagen, established in the 17th century, abutting the Rosenborg Castle of King Christian IV. On our first morning in Copenhagen, we spent some time walking through this 12-hectare park, taking in the sights and smells of the Danish spring.

King’s Garden, Copenhagen

Hooded Crow

Here and there, strutting around on the green grass of the King’s Garden with authority were these birds that behaved like our Indian House Crows, but they looked different – dominant light grey plumage with glossy black restricted to head, throat, wings and tail. They were bigger but with the same boldness, not hesitating to walk close to humans. We didn’t see many crows during the rest of our trip.

Birds in Dubai

With the vast expanse of sand and sparse greenery one would think that there wouldn’t be much for birds in Dubai. However, Ber trees, Yellow trumpet bushes and Bougainvillea seem to be adequate to attract several species of birds, many of which are uncommon in our city homes.

Red-vented Bulbul (Location: Mirdif)

White-eared Bulbul (Location: Mirdif)

House Sparrow, female (Location: Mirdif)

House Sparrow, male (Location: Mirdif)

Common Myna (Location: Mirdif)

Eurasian Collared Dove (Location: Mirdif)

Laughing Dove (Location: Dubai Marina)

Blue Rock Pigeon (Location: Mirdif)

White-throated Munia (Location: Dubai Marina)

Purple Sunbird, female (Location: Mirdif)

Purple Sunbird, male (Location: Mirdif)

Pictures taken in Dubai, October 2014