Black Capped Kingfisher.	Black Stork-Underwing.	Chinese Pond Heron.

The return migration season always springs a lot of surprises every season. Following the Black Storck (Ciconia nigra) is another species which sulks around mangroves and scrubs close to the backwaters hunting crab/fish/frog/insects. It is less often seen and seldom photographed. We sighted a Black Capped Kingfisher (Halcyon pileata) in the scrub near Kelambakkam backwaters. As it belongs to the Tree Kingfisher species, we spotted it perching on trees and avoiding man-made structures. The 'Bird with a Black Cap' surprised us with its colours.

We also spotted in March a lone Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) soaring above a dry lakebed close to Kancheepuram. It could have possibly been migrating, as we saw it moving from south-to-north direction. It looked more a sub-adult/immature, based on the bill colour and the overall plumage.

According to the published records for Tamil Nadu, there is only one record of a sighting near Madras – a juvenile was spotted in Pondicherry. And that was in January 1988.

Gnanaskandan K

Another very rarely seen and photographed bird was the Chinese Pond Heron in its breeding plumage at Kelambakkam lake. I saw only one of this species there. I suspect there were more but not in breeding plumage. The species is almost similar to the Indian Pond Heron and difficult to identify in non-breeding plumage.

There are no prior records in Chennai of such a sighting. (Courtesy: Madras Naturalists' Society Bulletin).

Samyak Kaninde