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I first saw this bird during the strict lockdown period, on a late afternoon, while strolling on my rooftop. A sudden glimpse of a flying deep blue something raised a hope in me that I’m definitely going to see something new! Looking carefully into the nearby mango tree I could see a long beak peeping through the side of an adjacent coconut tree. With a faster heartbeat while I was trying slowly to shift myself to a better viewing position, again I saw that stretch of flying blue. This time not a glimpse, but full view which moved away further to a Bael tree!

In the course of next few weeks I spotted the kingfisher on top of several cell phone towers, on the parapet of distant houses or within the thick cover of jackfruit tree leaves. I could locate it by its strong khya-khya-khya-khya call, although it has other tone-variations too. This is the first time I’ve been able to frame it so clearly. That also happened due to my new-grown habit of being watchful while passing by any tree or garden area. As a result, while passing by a nearby garden on my way to a shop I just noticed the kingfisher flew from the ground with a catch in its beak to sit on a low branch of an Arjun (Terminalia arjuna) tree. Due to their dietary habits, I could understand it will be there for a while and will look for another catch. I immediately ran back to home which was only couple of minutes walking distance away, to bring my camera. But by the time I came back to the spot, it was gone! Highly disappointed, while trying to catch my breath, I could spot it in a further tree with its back towards me. I took advantage of the high wall of that garden to avoid my detection and crawled to reach as close as I could to get a frontal view, fixed my camera settings, stood up and pressed the shutter. Even with continuous shooting mode, I could manage to get only this shot right, others were blurry as it flew away within couple of seconds!

সাদাগলা মাছরাঙা

Both are alike, there is almost no way to distinguish between a male and a female!

Resident of the state and they are the official State-bird of West Bengal.

• They love to sit on high-branches or high structures (poles, mobile towers etc.)
• Besides fish, they are also found in garden area to catch lizards etc.

This bird is quite common and I’ve found them in almost all birding places that I’ve visited till now. You can find the details of all birding hotspots that I have visited, here .

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