What a morning it was! As I stepped out to pick up the newspaper, every plant and tree looked so fresh, glazed and bright. Reason was a heavy shower the previous night. All the dust which had been washed away. Even the road looked well ‘moisturized’ with ‘petrichor cream’.
The birds were there waiting for me. I won’t say desperately but expectantly. Just to get into a conversation, I asked them what happened? As if you don’t know, they said in a chorus. I chuckled and threw a handful of Bajra grains towards them. They didn’t scoot but waited for the grains to spread on the road. Then they forgot about me and got onto the business of picking grains. One of them flew past me saying ‘tweet-tweet’. I knew, she said thank you.
With the overnight rain, the grains in their feeder had soaked and swelled up. The roti too was wet and soggy, which they do not like to touch. Grains on the road were picked up by the flowing rain water and literally sent down the drain.
It was time to refill all their feeders. With a tummy full and grains in their gullet, they could go and feed their little ones who do not even have feathers to show.
The Bulbuls hung around too. What’s the matter I asked? Didn’t you find any moths today? One of the red bottomed ones replied, yesterday’s rain has sent them into deep hiding. They will emerge only when you disturb them. I apologetically told them that the pots won’t be watered today, you guys better go on some treasure hunt.
The yellow bottom ones came and sat on a branch near me and complained. Where are the cockroaches? Oh my! Let me go back and check, if there are any, I shall get them for you in a moment. She chirped and flew to the roti feeder which I had just refilled.
The sunbirds and tailor birds came dancing and tweeting. The remnant raindrops of last night’s shower hidden on the leaf surface was enough for them to take a cool bath. A ruffle of their feathers indicated that there were not enough droplets to take a thorough rinse. I had to extend my apologies to them too. Had it not rained yesterday, I would have surely sprinkled water for you. Never mind they said in their sweet voice and hopped around the pots finding a meal.
Crows are generally not seen in our colony. They are there where people dump garbage and they get enough to eat. Today, they were congregating on rooftops and trees around the common garden.
It was time to investigate. Probably, some bird or small animal had died and they were there to scavenge the remains. Kids leave eatables in the garden which could be another reason. Crows love ‘Kurkure’. Sometimes, their chick leaves the nest and falls on the floor, which is also the reason when they bunch up. It is scary, if a crow attacks you. They dive and pick up a clump of hair off your head which is quite painful. My investigation led nowhere so I moved on.
What surprised me was that the crows were seen hanging around with other birds. They eat chicks of doves and green pigeons. Today, they were sitting with them. The other birds looked scared but did not know as to why these crows were invading their space.
By the way, this is also the time for the cuckoos or the koel’s to make their kill. The crows would have made their nests by now and laid their eggs as other birds have also done it. Koel’s wait for the crows to leave their nests and quickly lay their eggs in a crow’s nest and leave it to them to hatch them.
Smart is the word. No running around collecting twigs. Koels use a surrogate mother to hatch their chicks. No ‘jhanjhat’ of tactically siting their nests. No foraging for food. The safety and security of the nest is the crow’s responsibility. Once the young one’s start to fly, the chicks join the parents. Then they become part of the cuckoo family.
It was time to get my breakfast too. Before I moved in, a few beautiful flowers caught my attention. One was ‘mimosa pudica’ or touch me not, guava and falsa. There were other flowers too, but these ones are unique. It is thanks to our ‘pollinators’ that we shall see them fruiting too.
I left the birds to enjoy their breakfast and the crows to themselves. The weather was just too good, so I wasted no time to key in my thoughts.
How long would such a weather last in the Sun City? I wonder!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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