Field Log

010 sightings · Tamil Nadu & Kerala + Gulf coast

No. 001

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Picus xanthopygaeus

Working the edge of a bare stump, pausing every few taps to look up.
Forest Edge
No. 002

Yellow-browed Bulbul

Acritillas indica

Sidelit in the understorey — gone again before the shutter reset.
Understorey
No. 003

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher

Cyornis pallipes

Western Ghats endemic. Feathers still damp from the morning's first shower.
Ghats Endemic
No. 004

Eagle-Owl

Bubo sp.

Dusk flight line, glass towers standing in for a cliff face.
Urban Sky
No. 005

Yellow-browed Bulbul

Acritillas indica

A quieter moment — same bird, different light, no hurry this time.
Understorey
No. 006

Greater Flameback

Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus

Crest up mid-call, lichen trunk giving it away at thirty metres.
Garden Edge
No. 007

Blue-capped Rock Thrush

Monticola cinclorhyncha

Full breeding colour, calling from the highest boulder around.
Scrub & Rock
No. 008

Oriental White-eye

Zosterops palpebrosus

Working the poinsettia for insects, rain still beaded on every leaf.
Garden
No. 009

Red-throated Flycatcher

Ficedula albicilla

A winter visitor, mid-meal, tail already flicked for the next sally.
Winter Migrant
No. 010

Crimson-backed Sunbird

Leptocoma minima

Western Ghats endemic. Every angle of movement changed the colour.
Ghats Endemic

Field notes

Most of this list is patience rather than gear — sitting still near a known perch until a species stops noticing you. The Western Ghats sightings tend to come from quiet forest edges in Tamil Nadu and Kerala; the odd outlier, like the eagle-owl over the skyline, is a reminder that good light and a willing bird matter more than a predictable habitat.