yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Read an interesting piece on Conservation India  recently Also was party to interesting discussions on the species recently. G. Asked whether we would lose Amur falcons the Passenger Pigeon  way? – In that, given the big numbers, we would fail to realize the catastrophic decline till we are sadly left with too few. H. is studying the presence of infectious disease and avian influenza ( mutated H5N1 ) in migrant birds sold in the markets  ( of Nagaland ) and also the possibility of Amur falcons  being the reservoir of the avian influenza in Northeastern India. His take, which I agree with, was that the number of birds killed in Nagaland was around 2,500 per day during the days that they stay put in Nagaland. I. Hails from Nagaland and gave an interesting perspective. According to him the Doyang Reservoir brought in something that did not occur before the project and this helped people from areas around hunt these birds in crazy numbers – fishing n...

Had some lovely Amur falcon sightings during the recent trip to Nagaland . After the trip during 2011 when I saw them being sold at the market was keen to know more of the bird. Observations: During one of the sightings we initially saw them in two’s and three’s - moving in one direction. A light drizzle as if suddenly altered the scenario. Drizzle could possibly have brought out termites or other insects and the Amur falcons altered their movement patterns to move in a circle. This circle kept on getting bigger as more of their brethren joined in. This went one for about fifteen minutes before they resumed their earlier movement pattern.  During this while the drizzling too came to a halt. I suspect I also spotted a few  Lesser kestrel in the midst of large number of  Amur falcons. During the entire week we never spotted Amur falcons before noon (12.00 pm). Their movement during the early noon appeared more playful and leisurely while the evening si...