EDITOR'S NOTE
“The World Has Come Down To Its Feet And Is Upside Down. All Nations Big And Small Are Enduring One Of The Heaviest Blows In The History Due To COVID-19. Salem Ornithological Foundation Advises Everyone To Follow The Guidelines And Regulations Issued By Their Respective Governments. As Is The Case In Every Sector, The Activities By SOF Was Also Reduced But We Are Trying Engage People Virtually In Various Ways. One Of The Good Things Which Happened During The Lockdown Is That Significant Number Of People Have Started To Look At Birds And Nature! It Is Indeed A Positive Sign. However, We Wish The Crisis To End Sooner But Not The Interest Germinating Within People. Sightings And Records Which Are Entered In EBird Are Only Taken Into Account Towards The Writing Of This E-Magazine.” —Ganeshwar SV.
LOCKDOWN NATURE WRITING CHALLENGE
During the lockdown period, for people and nature enthusiasts to spend time in a safe and meaningful way, Salem Ornithological Foundation introduced Lockdown Nature Writing Challenges. This is not only to encourage the habit of nature writing but also to keep boredom and stress at bay. Some of the articles received during the lockdown period were as follows:
- Beyond Watching Birds: From the Eastern Himalayas to the Cities by Ankita Ranjan
- A Nest of Hope by Dr Neethu Asokan
- The Whistling Schoolboy & his friends from Yercaud by Dr C Sreekumar
- Discovering my inner peace with this post retirement hobby by BE Rajendran
- சேவலும் பெட்டையும் (Cock and Hen) by V Kalaiselvan
6th eNDEMIC BIRD DAY
With the lockdown restrictions in place, Salem birders did birding from in and around their homes to participate in the 6th Endemic Bird Day on May 9, 2020. The day which also coincides with the Global Big Day saw an impressive contribution by the birders in the district, through which Salem was ranked as the No.1 district in India in terms of total checklists submitted (359). To see the complete list of species recorded during the day, please click here. We thank Kaalai Kathir and Dinakaran, two leading Tamil news dailies for publishing the news to spread the awareness about birds.
EARLY BIRD LOCKDOWN TALK SERIES
Early Bird, a non-profit initiative which introduces birds and nature to children began conducting series of webinars about birds, their behaviors, nature games, etc. in different languages. Salem Ornithological Foundation joined with Early Bird in conducting the talks in Tamil which were presented by Ganeshwar SV. The links to the talks are as follows:
- Introduction to Birding (Tamil) on May 16, 2020.
- Learning through Games (Tamil) on May 22, 2020.
- Part I: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 7, 2020.
- Part II: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 13, 2020.
You can explore further about other talks in English, Kannada, Hindi and Telugu in Early Bird’s YouTube channel.
WOMEN IN BIRDING
On June 2, 2020, Angeline Mano was invited to give a lecture on her experience in birding and talk about the participation of women in birding. It was conducted by Iragugal Raveendran’s Owl Classroom. 
NOTABLE OBSERVATION
On June 3, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Elavarasan M, Govindarajan, Kalaiselvan V, Rajangam P and Venkatesh S visited the Puzhuthikuttai Dam or Anaimaduvu Reservoir and observed a pair of GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO Dicrurus paradiseus feeding their two fledglings. It was noted that in a span of 1 hour and 50 minutes, the fledglings were fed 11 times by the parents with different types of insects, grasshoppers and a skink. During the time period, the adults made mimicry calls like Shikra, a domestic cat, Crested Serpent Eagle and a call which sounded like “tri-you… tri-you… tri-you…”
DAZZLING DANISHPET LAKE
On June 9, 2020, Angeline Mano, Venkatesh S visited the Danishpet Lake in Kadayampatti taluk of Salem district. They were also able to photograph 43/63 recorded during the session. To see the complete illustrated checklist, please click here.
EXPLORING THE LESSER KNOWN
On June 17, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Periyanayagam, Rajangam P, Venkatesh S and Vijayasarathy C explore one of the least explore locations, the Sanyasi Varadar Temple Area near Thalavaipatty of Pethanaickenpalayam taluk. They recorded 58 species in two sessions including one of the rare birds, the WHITE-TAILED IORA (MARSHALL’S IORA) Aegithina nigrolutea.
Salem Ornithological Foundation once again emphasizes to follow the official guidelines and regulations issued by the respective Governments. Please keep your travel to the bare minimum, only to procure the essential supplies. Stay home. Stay safe. Let us stay positive and keep our faith for things to change better and hopefully sooner. May we all overcome this crisis together. You can contact our team at anytime by just sending a mail to [email protected] OR call us at +91-7598123614.
EARLY BIRD LOCKDOWN TALK SERIES
Early Bird, a non-profit initiative which introduces birds and nature to children began conducting series of webinars about birds, their behaviors, nature games, etc. in different languages. Salem Ornithological Foundation joined with Early Bird in conducting the talks in Tamil which were presented by Ganeshwar SV. The links to the talks are as follows:
- Introduction to Birding (Tamil) on May 16, 2020.
- Learning through Games (Tamil) on May 22, 2020.
- Part I: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 7, 2020.
- Part II: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 13, 2020.
You can explore further about other talks in English, Kannada, Hindi and Telugu in Early Bird’s YouTube channel.
WOMEN IN BIRDING
On June 2, 2020, Angeline Mano was invited to give a lecture on her experience in birding and talk about the participation of women in birding. It was conducted by Iragugal Raveendran’s Owl Classroom.
NOTABLE OBSERVATION
On June 3, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Elavarasan M, Govindarajan, Kalaiselvan V, Rajangam P and Venkatesh S visited the Puzhuthikuttai Dam or Anaimaduvu Reservoir and observed a pair of GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO Dicrurus paradiseus feeding their two fledglings. It was noted that in a span of 1 hour and 50 minutes, the fledglings were fed 11 times by the parents with different types of insects, grasshoppers and a skink. During the time period, the adults made mimicry calls like Shikra, a domestic cat, Crested Serpent Eagle and a call which sounded like “tri-you… tri-you… tri-you…”
DAZZLING DANISHPET LAKE
On June 9, 2020, Angeline Mano, Venkatesh S visited the Danishpet Lake in Kadayampatti taluk of Salem district. They were also able to photograph 43/63 recorded during the session. To see the complete illustrated checklist, please click here.
EXPLORING THE LESSER KNOWN
On June 17, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Periyanayagam, Rajangam P, Venkatesh S and Vijayasarathy C explore one of the least explore locations, the Sanyasi Varadar Temple Area near Thalavaipatty of Pethanaickenpalayam taluk. They recorded 58 species in two sessions including one of the rare birds, the WHITE-TAILED IORA (MARSHALL’S IORA) Aegithina nigrolutea.
Salem Ornithological Foundation once again emphasizes to follow the official guidelines and regulations issued by the respective Governments. Please keep your travel to the bare minimum, only to procure the essential supplies. Stay home. Stay safe. Let us stay positive and keep our faith for things to change better and hopefully sooner. May we all overcome this crisis together. You can contact our team at anytime by just sending a mail to [email protected] OR call us at +91-7598123614.
EARLY BIRD LOCKDOWN TALK SERIES
Early Bird, a non-profit initiative which introduces birds and nature to children began conducting series of webinars about birds, their behaviors, nature games, etc. in different languages. Salem Ornithological Foundation joined with Early Bird in conducting the talks in Tamil which were presented by Ganeshwar SV. The links to the talks are as follows:
- Introduction to Birding (Tamil) on May 16, 2020.
- Learning through Games (Tamil) on May 22, 2020.
- Part I: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 7, 2020.
- Part II: Ecology & Behavior of Birds (Tamil) on June 13, 2020.
You can explore further about other talks in English, Kannada, Hindi and Telugu in Early Bird’s YouTube channel.
WOMEN IN BIRDING
On June 2, 2020, Angeline Mano was invited to give a lecture on her experience in birding and talk about the participation of women in birding. It was conducted by Iragugal Raveendran’s Owl Classroom.
NOTABLE OBSERVATION
On June 3, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Elavarasan M, Govindarajan, Kalaiselvan V, Rajangam P and Venkatesh S visited the Puzhuthikuttai Dam or Anaimaduvu Reservoir and observed a pair of GREATER RACKET-TAILED DRONGO Dicrurus paradiseus feeding their two fledglings. It was noted that in a span of 1 hour and 50 minutes, the fledglings were fed 11 times by the parents with different types of insects, grasshoppers and a skink. During the time period, the adults made mimicry calls like Shikra, a domestic cat, Crested Serpent Eagle and a call which sounded like “tri-you… tri-you… tri-you…”
DAZZLING DANISHPET LAKE
On June 9, 2020, Angeline Mano, Venkatesh S visited the Danishpet Lake in Kadayampatti taluk of Salem district. They were also able to photograph 43/63 recorded during the session. To see the complete illustrated checklist, please click here.
EXPLORING THE LESSER KNOWN
On June 17, 2020, the team of Angeline Mano, Periyanayagam, Rajangam P, Venkatesh S and Vijayasarathy C explore one of the least explore locations, the Sanyasi Varadar Temple Area near Thalavaipatty of Pethanaickenpalayam taluk. They recorded 58 species in two sessions including one of the rare birds, the WHITE-TAILED IORA (MARSHALL’S IORA) Aegithina nigrolutea.
Salem Ornithological Foundation once again emphasizes to follow the official guidelines and regulations issued by the respective Governments. Please keep your travel to the bare minimum, only to procure the essential supplies. Stay home. Stay safe. Let us stay positive and keep our faith for things to change better and hopefully sooner. May we all overcome this crisis together. You can contact our team at anytime by just sending a mail to [email protected] OR call us at +91-7598123614.
Good to know the Salem Ornithological foundation and its members are active.
It is an invigorating inspiration for me under strict lockdown in Chennai.
There was an effort by the SOF regarding changing of common names referring to caste/ communities among birds. Was there any further development on this effort ? Eager to know.
I Wish the Best to SOF and its Members.