Every day, when I walk up the stairs
to the rooftop, my mind keeps churning with thoughts of what am I going to find
new in the garden there. Would it be a new colour of Waterlily or Adenium?
Would it be some new insect, reptile or bird? Would the setting sun give me
some new angle or the clouds making new formations? Sometimes, it is a new set
of birds flying in formation.
The probabilities are too many.
Rest assured, if the camera is in my hand, something or the other is there to
delight you and bring a broad smile on your face.
As time has gone by, now you
know each tub and pot like the back of your hand. The leaves which float and
plants now communicate with you of their needs. Insects and reptiles hang
around as they find that place suitable. Even bees and wasps pose for you.
Their hover, buzz or the method of taking nectar/water can add to your
learning. Not a day goes without an event.
“New” is what I look for. The
old cannot be forgotten and are not. Even if they have to be clicked again.
They should not get annoyed, is what tinkers my mind.
This evening as I finished the
gardening chores, it was time for me to sit on the railing and take a bird’s
eye view of the pots and tubs. From there, I can also see the lightning
conductor, which is the centre of attraction of so many birds like bulbuls,
mynahs, kingfishers, sparrows, hummingbirds, koels, drongos, babblers, doves,
robins, pigeons, crows, coucals, bee eaters, yellow footed green pigeons etc to
name a few.
Luckily, I was wearing my
spectacles, when a bird quite similar to a sparrow in colour but akin to a
robin in stature came and sat on the spike. I would have brushed it off, had I
now peered through the lens and zoomed onto her. She was different. I had spotted
this specie for the first time. We were blessed as it chose our home to perch.
It might have revealed itself on
the ground many times but unless you can identify birds and know the
difference, especially the small birds, it must have been missed out. So began
my quest to find out more about it.
Sparrows I am quite familiar
with. Their beaks are short and quite blunt as compared to this bird. That is
what got my camera in action. She sat like a professional model and posed.
This is what the google lens had
to say about this beauty.
It is a Brown Rock Chat (Oenanthe
fusca), also known as the Indian chat.
- Appearance: It is uniformly ‘rufous
brown’, larger than the female Indian Robin, which it somewhat
resembles. The wings and tail are a slightly darker shade, with the
tail being blackish.
- Habitat: This species is
predominantly found in northern and central India, often inhabiting rocky
areas and old buildings.
- Behaviour: It primarily feeds on
insects, which it captures mainly on the ground. When feeding, it
sometimes flicks open its wings and tail and has a habit of slowly raising
its tail and bobbing its head.
I knew exactly why it was there.
Insects were the attraction. The grasshoppers and crickets are rarities but it
is the bees and wasps which it had come hunting for. The issue I realised a
little late as I was absorbing her figure in my mind and camera. I was sitting
close to the pot which hosts bees. Poor girl must have chirped to me to move
away, which I did not understand in my exuberance.
I exited, the moment I
understood what she was looking for. I am not sure if she came down to pick
them up but she definitely gave me a topic to research and share with my
friends.
Could you identify the bird in
the first look? I wonder!!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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