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ANOTHER SURPRISE


 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

05/VII/2025

 

The overcast continues with rain threatening to fall at any moment. However, in the desert it is normal to have a cloudy sky for days on end but not a drop of water. Sometimes it so happens, just one cloud ‘sweats’ while the others watch it from the sides. Your home is dry but the main road about a hundred meters away is receiving rains.

 

Before, that cloud came into action, it was time to feed the birds. They all rushed to feed, including my new friend the Robin. She was not interested in grains, but is hooked on to Roti. Having exchanged hellos, she went around on her daily chores.

 

Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, I decided to take a round of my colony on my Bullet. A slow and steady ride, with eyes scanning the trees and the surroundings to spot things usual and the unusual.

 

One has to visit the favourite spots, rather spots where no one peeps into. The broken wall area is special, though the wall has been constructed but one can still gawp into the neighbouring fields unhindered. Chances of spotting a bird or a mammal are much more.

 

I found Ms Robin there too. She was definitely from the same family as the one which greets me at home. She was a ‘wild one’ and still had no qualms in posing for me. A dry branch of a thorny Kikkar tree was her perch. She sat there for a very short while, just enough to give time for a click.

 

Sometimes one is so lucky that words cannot explain. From where I was standing, it appeared she had a small greenish branch in her mouth. I thought to myself that she is a pure non-vegetarian then why should she pick up fresh sprigs. Roti must be for a change of taste. Something was not right.

 

Our meeting was short but eventful. My luck helped me to focus properly. I thanked her as she moved on.

 

When I downloaded the photo, it was a revelation for me. She had a caterpillar, a few red ants, and a few other insects which she would have hunted from the surroundings and halted for a short while before proceeding to feed her chicks. There must be more than one.

 

Where her nest was? I couldn’t exactly make out. But the direction she flew in, gave me a general idea where it could be. Visiting that area meant trespassing which I was surely not going to do. But the shot through the lens was so amazing. It is the summary of the whole story.

 

The Robin at home has a choice either to feed herself and her chicks on insects, or pick up pieces of roti to fill their and her tummy. It is easy pickings. But this one in the wild has to really put in so much hard work the whole day picking each insect and then carrying it home for not one but many mouths to feed. Nature is also generous and provides them abundantly, until man destroys its habitat.

 

Thank you, Robin, for such a fantastic pose and details you gave me to ponder on. Should I ask her to show me her nest? I wonder!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS





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