LT COL NOEL ELLIS
23/III/2025
There could be no better ‘Dil
Khush’ moment when flowers bloom in the garden. Your hard work comes to bear
fruit and gives much satisfaction to see the results. One can only thank them
for the beauty they bestow and the pleasure they bring, uplifting the mood. All
other thoughts just vanish in thin air.
This time, it was the evening
visit to Ellis' Garden. The sun had about an hour plus to set but was well
behind our building. The diffused and scattered light gave the flowers a
different shade and texture. They called for a photo.
Sometimes when you go out to take
a picture of something, you land up photographing many other things instead.
Now that we all have digital storage as memory cards, which have a capacity to
shoot about a thousand plus photos without bothering to change the card, it
becomes difficult to control the ‘trigger finger’.
Just as I was about finished with
the flowers, there was frantic activity on a tree across the road. The canopy was
still lit with the light crimson glaze of the sun, giving the birds which were
roosting a different glisten to their feathers. It was time to shift subjects.
A thought just passed my mind
that it was the “International Day of the Sparrow” today. Though there wasn’t
much activity on our bird feeder, I happened to catch one male sparrow going
all guns and enjoying the feast of grains laid out. The other sparrows were
shy, but I could hear them chirp very loudly in the close vicinity.
That is when I realised the cause
of that hectic activity and the sparrows a little farther. A Drongo, whom I met
yesterday, had occupied a high seat on the drumstick tree. All the birds in the
locale got concerned and wanted to shoo this black beauty away.
To my surprise, I even found a
pair of ‘wire tailed swallows’ who joined the ‘Charge of the Bird Brigade’.
They dived and attacked but it could not upstick the Drongo from its perch. It
deflected their swoops and hung on to a branch tightly, till things settled on
their own.
Just then I noticed that
alongside the Drongo a pair of doves joined it. They seemed to be at peace and
in no mood to fight. I decided to move to the roof to take a closer look. When
I peered through my lens, they weren’t doves but a pair of ‘Yellow Footed Green
Pigeons’. They sat dipping their tails as if trying to balance themselves in
the blowing wind.
Bulbuls joined them on that
branch and ‘all was quiet on the drumstick front’. Green pigeons were there for
their last snack of the day. They picked up Drumstick flowers and must have
enjoyed the sour taste. It is now that we humans are getting into this
‘moringa’ business and finding out how good it is for health. These birds
already knew it since ages.
A pair of doves were waiting for
me to vacate the roof and sip water before they went to roost for the night. I
hid myself inside the door and waited for them to descend for a drink. They
didn’t, instead Ms Bulbul came. She announced her arrival, without being scared
of me, took three gulps in quick succession and scooted.
Down came one dove, looked around
and dipped her head in one of the water bowls. She took a very long swig, just
one swig which had quenched her thirst. Another peep on both sides and she was
off too. Her partner did not descend or must not be wanting to drink. Both flew
into the now setting sun.
It was time to feed the fish in
the tubs and move down to pen my thoughts, lest I forget that one and a half
hours just zipped by without me realising it. 200 photos had been captured and
needed sorting out to free memory space for the next shoot. Camera too needed
to be charged as the ‘last parade’ for that equipment for the day.
What do you call such chance
encounters? I wonder!!!!!!!!
Link to the video on chance encounter-
https://ellisnoel.blogspot.com/2025/03/chance-encounters.html
JAI HIND
©® NOEL ELLIS
JAI HIND
©® NOEL ELLIS
lovely brother
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