Delhi, with its graceful old gardens and sprawling parks, unexpected patches of scrub forest and elegant avenues of old trees, has an amazing range of bird habitats … All you have to do is find a good spot with flowering shrubs or old trees and then sit down to be entertained. The birds will come to you one by one and they do not care if you greet them or not…

In a lifetime spent exploring the gardens, monuments, parks and forest areas in and around Delhi, Bulbul Sharma has observed and written about numerous bird, animal and plant species. From the Grey Hornbills and Rose-ringed parakeets at Lodi Garden to the handsome resident Indian Eagle-owl at Tughlakabad Fort, she observes and records all manner of bird and animal behaviour through the changing seasons of the city in this delightful book.

She describes how the different seasons bring about changes to Delhi’s flora and fauna. During fog -shrouded winter days she makes her way to Sultanpur Lake to watch the migratory birds, sometimes dragging reluctant family members along—groggy and demanding tea and samosas. During the brief Delhi spring the flowers at every roundabout and every garden burst into life and colour while the birds busily start building nests. In the cruel summer months, when the calls of the Coppersmith and the Green Barbet resound from every leafy tree, everyone flees indoors to escape the heat of the sun. And then the monsoon arrives, heralded by the Pied-crested Cuckoo, which has never failed in its prediction of the rains. Stray cats and howling jackals, startled nilgais and crafty koels inhabit the pages of this book as the author takes us on an unforgettable nature ramble around Delhi.

This book is out of print and will no longer be available in Aleph editions.