Having got
out from the afternoon siesta, my wife and I walked into the drawing room. It
was time to enjoy a hot cup of tea in this torrid heat. Actually, I overslept
after eating a heavy lunch of Pindi Chikkar-Chole and Ajwain wali Puri
accompanied by a big bowl of curd, sprinkled with kacchi kairi-pudinay ki
chutney and kuttra hua pyaz. Yum! Isn’t it?
As my wife
walked in with chai and biscuits. Something caught her attention which she
brought to my notice. An unusual activity was happening at our bird grain
feeder. There was this unmistakable bird, size of a dove sitting on the
feeder’s ledge.
It was none
other than Mr Malya the Kingfisher. This naughty boy is very fond of my girls
swimming in the water. He has been fishing them away. Instead of getting them
to model, he has been eating them sitting on the tree in our front yard. Yes,
my beauties are my guppies and mollies. He dives, splashes the water, picks
them up and devours them.
We have
been a little watchful lately. Though the fish cost a fortune, we let him have
his pick. Poor guy needs to feed too. We consider it our privilege that this
beautiful white throated kingfisher makes a personal visit often to our home
where he gets a variety of snacks to feed on.
Fish is
one, but what I observed today is that he was after Mr TikTok the Chameleon. Mr
Malya loves variety in his diet. He eats frogs, mice, lizards, dragonflies,
beetles, crickets, snails, grasshoppers especially locusts etc. With the
riverfront close by, I am sure he would be finding many other things to eat.
The arrival
of Mr Malya cannot go undetected. Firstly, his bright colours are a dead
giveaway. His long beak and shiny coat stand out straight away. Then, he has a
habit of crooning. His rattle is distinct and extremely shrill and can be heard
from quite a distance. Moment, he sits on a perch, he announces his arrival as
if the King of Jojri River has arrived.
That is
when all the other birds come into action. Initially, there is silence. All the
birds go quiet. But then they are not comfortable with his presence. They all
start to chirp collectively. There is a sense of fear, chaos, irritation,
anxiety, distress, confusion, annoyance, frustration, unease, nervousness,
concern, worry, restlessness, disquiet, distress, discomfort and even death,
all combined.
Their
distinct chatter, tweets and calls can tell you what kind of predator or
intruder is there. The cat is called out differently and Mr Malaya was called
out in a very different manner.
They hopped
around, dashed from branch to branch alerting every bird. There is TomCat, who
sits under my Bike. It was resting under it, possibly with its stomach full or
else, this was a great opportunity for it to try its luck on the birds which
were nervous and focused on a different shikari.
I picked up
my camera and clicked Mr Malaya from our drawing room window. I opened the main
door to get a better view as the windows are covered with a black film. But Mr
Malaya got alerted with the click of the door handle. Moment he saw me, Mr
Kingfisher took to the air and coasted to the nearest tree, still keeping a
close watch on his area of operation.
As usual he
called, “catch me if you can” and I caught him in my camera. The light was not
as bright to take a good photo but still, the moment could not be missed. As he
sang the Kingfisher song, I captured all of it with my lens.
He looked
at me, probably annoyed as I disrupted his shikar. But I am damn sure that he
had alternate plans like Mr Malaya flew to London, he took flight across the
boundary wall, screeching at top of his voice.
It was time
to move in and pen my thoughts which were fresh. Let me assure Mr Malaya that
he was welcome, but the price he has to pay is to let me capture the real
Kingfisher in my Kingfisher calendar. Will he oblige? I wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL
ELLIS
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