Even the commonest birds can fascinate the interested observer. Bird watching, and photographing, is a fulfilling hobby that can take the form of serious expeditions to remote places in search of rare species or a nice, relaxed time with the common denizens in the garden or neighbourhood park. This picture is from a place near the outskirts of Bangalore, where I had gone for a few hours with my son Aurko last X’Mas Day. I will now quote verbatim what 8-year old Aurko had written about this picture: “I sat in the hide, watching the birds flitting around. In a while, a red vented bulbul flew over with its joyous ‘tri tria’ sound. It is a common bird that I can also see from the balcony of our apartment in Jakkur. It looks a lot like the red whiskered bulbul, but has a shorter crest and does not have any red marks on its cheek or the white belly.”