MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BIRDS

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

09/X/2024

We had gone out for a couple of days on short trip recently. Thereafter, there have been some changes in the routine of birds visiting our garden. Why have they started eluding our place has been intriguing me?

Another thing one noticed was that there were some occasional visitors who now started frequenting our place. Are these two related was also working on my mind?

Before leaving, we ensured that there was extra Roti and extra grain in their feeding bowl. An additional water container was also catered for, just in case water ran out.

It is at dawn; the birds greet me as I move out of the house. They wait for me to refill and even ask for it. Though, there are leftovers from the previous day, they still want fresh stuff.

During our absence, it must have been the ‘Mano-Billi’ (cat) who would have scared them away. The feeding bowl being easily accessible from many angles for ‘shikar’ must have frightened the birds. On our return the feline activity was not there at all.

Bulbuls, which generally feed on Roti or insects in the garden too, had gone missing. Could they be hiding, or could they have moved on to another home where human activity could be seen? They were around, but not interested in our wares. Once in a while they did swoop down to pick up morsels, but as we were keeping roti daily, it had started accumulating giving an indication of their ‘infrequent’ visits.

Could there be a predator lurking around?

Sparrows which came in dozens too were missing. They would fight to get into the bowl. At times five to six of them would be in it, feeding at one time. Grains were lying untouched. Another regular visitor, the doves had also curtailed their visits. Something was not right, said my gut feeling.

Was it the quality of grains? No, as we always picked up Bajri fit for human consumption from a supermarket. The Roti was always fresh as well. Water was changed every day and the bowl kept spic and span. Still, the activity of birds had considerably reduced. I had no answers for it.

As we stood in the garden with our cup of tea in the morning, my wife too mentioned their subtle absence which reiterated my point. She brought out that Bajri is now ripe and is being reaped in the fields around. The grain eating birds must all have temporarily moved there to pick up the choicest of grains and why not. This answered a part of my query.

Yesterday, I heard a strange call of a bird on a tree very near our house. From where I generally water the pots, it was not visible. If I wait to complete the watering, it may not stay that long. I let it be and finished what I was doing. Suddenly, that call came again. I rushed inside to pick up my camera to solve that mystery.

It was our old friend the ‘Shikra’ which is a Shikari of sorts. Insects, birds, eggs etc are its favourite diet. Though birds are not nesting at this time but this guy was on the prowl. The bald moringa tree had grown thick foliage after the rainy season and is a perch for many bulbuls, sunbirds, doves, pigeons, and tailor birds. His regular visits had made them change their usual ‘roosting’ place. Another mystery solved.

In the evening, I witnessed a very strange event. Generally, I see herons flying west overhead. Today, it was a black Drongo closely chasing a huge Kite which looked like a C130 refuelling a Raffael. The Kite kept altering its course, trying to dodge the Drongo by changing direction and elevation in quick succession. But that bird would not get off the kite’s tail.

The kite went and perched in a tree. Within a snap of a finger, many other birds congregated to charge at this kite. The kite finally gave up and scooted away to sit on an electric pylon quite far from our home. The small birds would have surely breathed a sigh of relief and returned home.

The seven sisters then started making a ruckus on the Moringa tree. Probably, it was the evening chorus they were singing before going to bed. From the roof, I observed that they dived to the roti point and ate to their tummy’s fill as fast as they could. Bulbuls appeared from nowhere and shooed them away. Mystery of the missing rotis also got solved.

Once the harvest is over, these birds would definitely return to the Ellis’ Garden. When would that be? I wonder!!!!!!