What can be more pleasant for a birder than seeing an unexpected avian visitor? Well, have them visit you at home! And that is what happened with me; winter migrants literally came knocking on a window at my home 😀 .

It was an afternoon in mid Nov of 2022 that my daughter came up to me and said, “Daddy, I have been meaning to tell that there is a bird that’s been coming to my bedroom window every few minutes for the last couple of days. Don’t know what it is. Probably a sparrow or something.”. The last time that she had told me something like years ago on a walk atop a hill, I got my first sighting of the Indian Scimitar Babbler 🙂 . I was excited. Even sighting a Common Sparrow around my house would be interesting. So I decided to investigate.

Once in her room, she went and sat on her bed. And lo and behold, a few minutes later, a small bird flew in and perched on the window grill. It just took me a few seconds to realise what it was; a Flycatcher! I have had a, Asian Brown Flycatcher visit a tree in our garden in 2019.

But this one was different. The first thoughts were that it was either a Tiaga Flycatcher (Red-throated Flycatcher) or a Red-breasted Flycatcher. After observing the bird behaviour and going through some photos that I took, I concluded that it was a Tiaga Flycatcher. Here are a couple of photos that I took as it kept coming to the window:

Here is an image I took just outside her window.

As I sat on her bed trying to looking for the Tiaga Flycatcher, I noticed another bird actively going around. My first impression was that it was the usual Green Warbler that I had been seeing and hearing for many days. But this one was more striking. Peering through my binoculars, I was totally taken aback with what I saw; it was a Western Crowned Warbler. Yes this was the period went it would be passing through as it headed to the Western Ghats of South India. But never in my dreams did I think I would see one behind my house. Here are some pictures that I managed to take as it went around actively catching insects:

Next day morning I tried to see if the Western Crowned Warbler was still around. But it was not to be seen or heard. So I guessed that it had moved on. But the Tiaga Flycatcher was still around. In fact it stayed around the patch for next several months. The last I saw it was on 17th Mar 2023. I think that it decided to head to its breeding grounds by then. Here are some other pictures that I managed to take of it:

I wonder what else would be in store for me around the patch 🙂 .

Video

Here is a short video that I made of the Tiaga Flycatcher when it kept coming to the window.