Visitors and Residents of Hill Ridge Springs Pond Pradeep Kumar 2014

Visitors and Residents of Hill Ridge Springs Pond Photostory developed exclusively for Hill Ridge Residents © 2014 Pradeep Kumar

The abandoned construction site, all of eight acres, has slowly been accumulating rain water over the past five years There is enough water this summer to support an ecosystem that includes resident birds like ducks and visiting predatory kites Interesting residents include Little Grebe, Moorhen and Spot-billed ducks While the Grebes started family, others may follow The ecosystem also supports several small sun-birds and the like Come, let’s see…

King fisher Little Grebe Moorhen Spot-billed duck Pond heron Rock pigeon Little egret LapwingCootCormorant Black kite Shikra Indian peafowl

White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis

It is one of the larger kingfishers

You can see two kingfishers living here; both male and female look the same

Notice the blue wings when kingfisher flies

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

The Little Grebe, also known as Dabchick, is a small water bird with a pointed bill

An expert swimmer, but as its legs are drawn way back, so it’s not an elegant walker

Little Grebe and its chick in the pond

Close-up of the chick

Mother grebe dives into the water … the chick feels lost

When mama surfaces again with food…

The grebes don’t have it easy: they have to put up with predatory birds like Shikra.

Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

The Moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage, white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield.

Its feet are not webbed

A pair has made it their home

They are yet to start a family

The nest would be a basket built on the ground or upon a bed of weeds in dense vegetation. About 6-8 eggs are usually laid. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young.

Spot-billed Ducks Anas poecilorhyncha

They live in freshwater lakes and marshes in fairly open country and feed by dabbling for plant food mainly in the evening or at night.

There’s one pair living in the pond; yet to start a family

They nest on the ground in vegetation near water; female lays 8-14 eggs.

Pond Heron Ardeola grayii

They can be easily missed when they stalk prey at the edge of small water-bodies.

They are however distinctive when they take off with bright white wings flashing

Little Egret Rock Pigeon Pond Heron

Little Egret Long neck, white plumage, slim black bill, long black legs, yellow feet. Breeding adult has two long nape plumes Egretta garzetta

Red Wattled Lapwing

Vanellus indicus

It has characteristic loud alarm calls which are variously rendered as did-he-do-it, or pity-to-do-it

Lapwing in flight

Coot Fulica atra

They have distinctive frontal featherless shield – giving rise to the phrase ‘as bald as a coot’

Solitary coot, sighted only once in our pond

Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger

It belongs to the family of sea birds. Its beak is short, slender and hooked, tail is short and stiff.

Usually seen sitting on a rock drying its wings

Black Kite Milvus migrans

It is a medium-sized bird of prey, with black bill and dark-brown eyes.

Shikra Accipiter badius

It is a smaller sized bird of prey

An aggressive hunter, the Shikra mainly hunts from a perch, making a short dash through the branches to snatch prey from tree trunks, foliage or the ground

Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus Three juvenile peafowl watching over the pond

1.White throated Kingfisher 2.Little Grebe 3.Moorhen 4.Spot-billed duck 5.Pond heron 6.Rock pigeon 7.Little egret 8.Red-wattled lapwing 9.Coot 10.Little cormorant 11.Black kite 12.Shikra 13.Indian peafowl We have sighted thirteen species

Please stop by the pond and help conserve its ecosystem

How the pond was in Jan 2011 Google Earth view of Hill Ridge Springs and Pond

Feb 2013

Apr 2014 Locations where the birds were sighted How many birds can you name correctly now?