Ashy Prinia

I seem to be getting friendly with this Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis). The Scientific name is also socialis . Anyway this Bird was posing for my Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM with 24mm Kenko extension tube. Bird was hardly 2 meters from me.

Ashy Prinia Closeup

Here is another closeup of the same bird

Ashy Prinia

The Ashy Prinia or Ashy Wren-Warbler (Prinia socialis), is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, western Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is a familiar bird of urban gardens and farmland in many parts of India and its small size, distinctive colours and upright tail make it easy to identify.

White-rumped Munia

The White-rumped Munia or White-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura striata). These are close relatives of the true finches (Fringillidae) and true sparrows (Passeridae).

The White-rumped Munia is approximately 10 to 11 cm in length, with a stubby grey bill and a long black pointed tail. The adults are brown above and on the breast, and lighter below; the rump is white. This is theLonchura striata striata (Linnaeus, 1766) subspecies – Southwestern White-rumped Munia found in Southern Indian mainland. It has Dark chocolate-brown above, white below.

The White-rumped Munia is a common resident breeder ranging from South Asia to southern China east to Taiwan, and through Southeast Asia south to Sumatra; it frequents open woodland, grassland and scrub, and is well able to adapt to agricultural land use. It is a gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds, moving through the undergrowth in groups and sometimes accompanying other birds such as Puff-throated Babblers (Pellorneum ruficeps). The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree, bush or grass into which 3-8 white eggs are laid.

It is a common and widespread bird across its large range, and is thus not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. In fact, it may locally become a nuisance pest of millets and similar grains. Even the Nicobar Islands subspecies with its limited range seems to be able to cope well with human settlement. As it is a drab-colored and rather reclusive bird inhabiting dense undergrowth, the White-rumped Munia is not necessarily conspicuous even where it occurs in considerable numbers.

Small bee teasing the Big Carpenter bee

That evening I was trying to take photos of birds collecting building material for their nest from this Crown Flower (Calotropis gigantea) silk. I noticed this Blue Carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) hovering around the flowers. Sun was Harsh and I didn’t have any macro lens around. So I fixed 36 mm Kenko extension tube to my Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM on Canon EOS 5D mark II and tried to shoot closeup shots of this Carpenter bee.

More disturbance by the small bee

Then suddenly I saw a small black bee came and annoyed the carpenter bee so much that it just scooted away.

Carpenter bee accepts defeats and abandons

This reminded me the story of David & Goliath.

Scaly-breasted Munia

The Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) also known as Nutmeg Mannikin or Spice Finch is a small passerine bird.

The Scaly-breasted Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents open woodland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or under the eaves of a house into which 4–10 white eggs are laid.

The Scaly-breasted Munia is 11–12cm in length. The adult has a stubby dark bill, brown upperparts and darker brown head. The underparts are white with black scale markings. The sexes are similar, but immature birds have pale brown upperparts, lack the darker head and have uniform buff underparts.