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…

1. Visitors and Residents of
Hill Ridge Springs Pond
Pradeep Kumar
2014

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

3. • 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
Co m e , le t’s se e …

4. King fisherKing fisher
Little GrebeLittle Grebe
MoorhenMoorhen
Spot-billed duckSpot-billed duck
Pond heronPond heron
RockpigeonRockpigeon
Little egretLittle egret
LapwingLapwing
CootCoot
CormorantCormorant
BlackkiteBlackkite
ShikraShikra
Indian peafowlIndian peafowl

5. White-throated Kingfisher
Halcyon smyrnensis

6. It is one of the larger kingfishers

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

8. Notice the blue wings when kingfisher

9. Little Grebe
Tachybaptus ruficollis

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

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

13. Little Grebe and its chick in the
pond

15. Close-up of the chick

16. Mother grebe dives into the water
… the chick feels lost

18. When mama surfaces again with

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

20. Moorhen
Gallinula chloropus

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

24. Its feet are not webbed

25. A pair has made it their home

26. They are yet to start a family

27. 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.

28. Spot-billed Ducks
Anas poecilorhyncha

30. 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.

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

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

37. Pond Heron
Ardeola grayii

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

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

40. Little
Egret
Rock Pigeon
Pond Heron

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

42. Red
Wattled
Lapwing

43. Red Wattled Lapwing
Vanellus indicus

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

45. Lapwing in flight

46. Coot
Fulica atra

47. They have distinctive frontal featherless
shield – giving rise to the phrase ‘as bald

48. Solitary coot, sighted only once in our
pond

49. Little Cormorant
Microcarbo niger

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

51. Usually seen sitting on a rock drying its
wings

52. Black Kite
Milvus migrans

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

54. Shikra
Accipiter badius

55. It is a smaller sized bird of prey

56. 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

57. Indian Peafowl
Pavo cristatus
Three juvenile peafowl watching over the pond

59. 1.1. White throated KingfisherWhite throated Kingfisher
2.2. Little GrebeLittle Grebe
3.3. MoorhenMoorhen
4.4. Spot-billed duckSpot-billed duck
5.5. Pond heronPond heron
6.6. RockpigeonRockpigeon
7.7. Little egretLittle egret
8.8. Red-wattled lapwingRed-wattled lapwing
9.9. CootCoot
10.10.Little cormorantLittle cormorant
11.11.BlackkiteBlackkite
12.12.ShikraShikra
13.13.Indian peafowlIndian peafowl
We have sighted thirteen
species

60. Please stop by the pond
and help conserve its
ecosystem

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

62. Feb 2013

63. Apr 2014
Locations where the birds were
sighted
How many birds can you name correctly