India, March 8 -- The sunflower irises of a brown hawk owl or brown boobook are a dead giveaway in a shady bamboo clump. They literally pop out when it dawns upon the owl that its cryptic perch stands exposed to humans.

A pair was detected on Thursday morning at the Dr PN Mehra Botanical Gardens of Panjab University, Chandigarh, by Prof Gurpartap Singh and myself. We were looking for birds and contributing as citizen scientists to the Department of Zoology's research project - Monitoring Avian Species of PU, Chandigarh. As many as 108 avian species have been recorded over time at the campus and formalised in a checklist by the department last month. Doubtless, more species will be added in future years sustained efforts by the department...