A DAY OF BANGS

 

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

13/VII/2025

 

It is Sunday the 13^th and not Friday the 13^th. The day started with a ‘bang’. Clouds were showing their presence but were scattered all over in flimsy clumps. The Sun was trying to bulldoze its way, but failed. After the rains, the whole place is lush green, clean and looks freshly painted in nature's colours.

 

The first bang was the Rain Lilies. Five new colour buds were showing. They were segregated and showcased. In another day or two they should be in bloom. A couple of them looked new. Let’s see.

 

Our freshly arrived Caladium plants were planted last evening. It was time to soak them again in water to get out of travel fatigue and settle in their new pots. They look happy, though tired. Two days and we should see them standing on their own after being hydrated and fed well. They are darlings.

 

Close by is our Hummingbird vine. This sweet heart flowered yesterday and I missed it. Today, one could see multiple buds ready to bloom. It has been three months since we sowed the seeds. Now they have climbed up the supports we had given it. It is their turn to give back, which they definitely will. The wait is finally over. This was the fourth bang of the 13^th.

 

Just then my wife called out to me to see something in the neighbours green shade. It was Brownie the lady Hummingbird. From the corner where the shade was tied, there were ‘flaky threads’ hanging. She was busy collecting them. She must be nesting again. Where and how soon would that be revealed. She kept pulling on it, string by string and carried some with her.

 

Just then, Mr Hummingbird came to inspect the scene. Having done his check, he too tried to pick out a few silky strings but then left them as it is. He hopped around and then went to where his lady was building the nest. It disappeared in the maze of trees.

 

After a long gap one spotted the Tailor Bird. She is a pure ‘insectarian’. She hops around plants and pots to disturb them. Once insects blow their cover, they are snacks.

 

Once you are up and about in the morning, a walk becomes compulsory. I thought about going and checking the Robins and their nest. Then something in my heart said, I should not disturb them. When I reached that area, I could not spot them. When I zoomed in from a distance with my camera, the nest was empty. Those little chicks which we met the other day had flown. Again, that song, Fly Robin fly, up-up in the sky came to my mind. I wish them luck.

 

I strolled to the other corner of the broken wall area. I could hear the Koels and the Peafowl calling loud and clear. But there was an eerie silence in the heap of destroyed kikar & bougainvillaea shrubs which had been removed from hugging the wall. The cluster was huge and now quite dried up.

 

Just then I saw a bird which has been my favourite since my Army days. Those days we used to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But now, they are framed through my camera lens. The excitement remains the same. To see them up close, not even ten meters away has its own exhilaration.

 

One lady Partridge or the Francolin, sat amidst the clump. She was cool and composed with no fear of anything at all. Our gaze met, but did not panic or move away. She just stood there posing for me.

 

Just then I noticed she had company. Two small chicks were sitting close to her, still half asleep as if telling mom, why did she wake them up so early on a Sunday morning. Mom, out of love, nudged the chicks, groomed them, and told them it was time to go looking for breakfast.

 

The chicks were in no mood to move at all. They sat there winking at their mom. She too seemed to go with the flow. Sparrows and Bulbuls kept that family company, plus they needed an additional look out. It is the same clump from which I had seen a mongoose emerge. He could be lurking around somewhere. The partridge family and the mongoose family could be friends. Just a passing thought.

 

When the chicks did not budge and acted that they were still asleep, mama partridge decided to make the first move. She walked deep into the clump of dried branches. It gave me the impression of how Gaza looks today after the bombing.

 

It used to be green and flourishing, but today it is just rubble. Families still stay in what was their home once and so does this family of partridges, returning every evening to their destroyed home. Must be a terrible feeling.

 

The lady ‘clucked’ and told them that she was leaving without them if they didn’t get up. Kids also know till when mom shall tolerate their nonsense. Realising, they would be left behind, they followed mama in her heels. They too had to learn foraging, the lesson for the day.

 

It was time for me to wind up and get home. Had my stomach not grumbled, I could have stayed on watching my ‘old flames’ forever.

 

How many bangs did you guys count? I wonder!!!!!!!

 

https://youtu.be/Z1Q4-0dt85c

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS