LT COL NOEL ELLIS
23/VIII/2025
Some days are lucky and some are the luckiest. With a chance encounter with Baya the weaver bird, it was time for another encounter and nothing could be more amazing than this. Here goes the story.
Our maid was busy mopping the floor and went out to change the water from the tap outdoors and left the door open. She is a quiet person and keeps a ‘ghoonghat’ when I am around. I was sitting on the sofa and catching up with social media on my mobile when excitedly she started shouting Uncle ji, dekho….
She couldn’t have called me, I thought but then in an enthusiastic tone I heard “chiri maye ne aa gayi sa”, (a bird has entered the house). That was what she meant. I looked around and saw nothing. The first thing that struck me was to check the fans. Luckily, they hadn’t been switched on by the maid or else before she starts wet mopping, summer, winter, autumn, and spring, she has to first switch the fan on.
She stood in a corner and pointed towards the drawing room window. It was a bird alright. Which species it belonged to, was the question? It was a very familiar bird called the Budgerigar. We have seen them with many bird lovers. These small little parrots come in a variety of colours. This one was white and sky blue. This beautiful bird made my day.
The maid was still excited and told my wife that there is a big stray cat sitting in the veranda. The cat had almost caught this small little fellow. It escaped at the right moment and flew towards me as I opened the main door and it entered inside. Thank God we said or else it would have been lunch for that cat.
The bird looked weak and tired. Maybe this cat had been chasing it for quite a distance. Our bird must have escaped her cage and attracted the cat’s attention who almost got it in its jaws. At least this bird was in safe hands. The cat left after a while.
My wife christened her Mithee. It sat on the security grill and started looking outside. The surroundings must have looked familiar. It couldn’t have been a wild one for sure. Did it escape or was it left intentionally was another question in my mind?
I was a little apprehensive to handle it as sometimes they bite. Their sharp beaks can leave a wound. But it was worth a try. I petted it on its head and it did not react. It just moved sideways.
I knew she would be thirsty like hell after her duel and long flight. She probably being a caged bird would have flown the longest and the fastest using all her muscle and wing power to have reached our place of all the places.
I picked up my camera to take a photo to put it on the lost and found section of our colony. Lo and behold, Mithee decided to perch on my camera itself. She pecked on it, walked on it, flapped on it, groomed herself on it as if she was at home.
It was an amazing feeling when she considered us friends. I picked her up and put her on the security bar to take a rest. In the meantime, due to our previous knowledge, we knew she may be very hungry. We had enough Bajra grains spread in the bird feeder. My wife got a saucer with a small piece of banana and also fetched some grain for Mithee to eat.
My-my did she enjoy the meal. Immediately, she took to chomping the grains and tweeted as if to say thank you. While I was busy watching the bird, my wife brought a bowl of water for her. She must be dying of thirst in the heat after her flight.
Leaving the grains, she dipped her beak into the water. Took a few sips, ruffled her feathers, scratched her ears and hind side with her claws and beak and dived into the grain again. It was so satisfying to see her now comfortable with us. At least we would not be lacking in looking after our new guest.
I put a photo of her in the colony group, but till now we have seen no takers. Maybe the owners have not seen the post till now.
I hope people have not mistaken it as I keep posting about birds in the group sometimes that it is a new photo. There have been thumbs up and hearts floating but no claimants for this beautiful bird.
What should we do with it? I wonder!!!!!!!
Comments
Post a Comment