NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

ELLIS' GARDEN 11 AUGUST 25 🧡 DIL KHUSH 💙 https://youtube.com/shorts/g6x-6fEWq2I?feature=share

  A new Adenium colour joins the Ellis' Garden 💙 Dil Khush ❤

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   07/VIII/2025   These days I love to watch the ‘water birds’ going home to roost in the evening. They fly at a leisurely pace, flapping their wings just at the right speed to conserve energy for the night. They stop flapping their wings in intervals when they just hold their extended wings and glide.   The flocks are small and most of them fly solo. It is only the ‘Demoiselles cranes’ which fly in huge groups. One has counted 102 of them flying in formation. Their arrival time is fast approaching. We shall look forward to catching them in the camera as when they approach their traditional feeding grounds.   Smaller birds come in massive numbers. Sometimes your camera cannot frame them in one go. They are fast, fleety, constantly changing directions & making waves. Those ‘black clouds’ circle around for a very short duration and disappear before you realise their presence. One has to be lucky to catch them.   ...

 

💖 DIL KHUSH 💖

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   05/VIII/2025   It was a fantastic morning as the skies were absolutely clear. The sun changed its colours from crimson to pale yellow to near white. Chores in the garden and my cup of tea were about to finish. It was going to be a hot and humid day. That didn’t deter me from checking on my birdie and reptilian friends.   Before I could serve Roti, I saw a hazy outline of a bird hiding in the Bamboo clump. It was my little friend who had come calling again. “Hi, Ms Robin! I am so thrilled to see you back”, I quipped. She just bobbed her tail and flew to the fence where I could see her clearly. I thanked her for returning.   I had a volley of questions for her. Where is your family, husband in particular? The males are dark and blackish and the ladies have dark brown hues. I seemed to have touched her “dukhti rag” (pained nerve). She sat “tight beaked” without a chirp. I left it at that.   Her best friend and husband fell prey to ...

  A day in Ellis' Garden https://youtu.be/dcAOketSllM

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   31/VII/2025   I have been fascinated by this bird called the ‘Wire Tailed Swallow’ since I first saw them about two years ago. They are small, a little bigger than a Bulbul but have a fine blend of colours. The chest is white, the wings from shades ranging from navy blue to black and the head in dark brown.   The unique part is the two wire like projections which protrude out from the side of their body going way beyond the tail to a little more than their own body length. Some have them straight and some have them curled. What are the wires used for, used to intrigue me?   Was it just a growth or an appendage? Was it to be used to hold something? How do they use and control it? Such questions kept churning in my mind.   It required a little study and this is what I found out. These filamentous wires which jut out from their rear are ‘tail streamers’ which are very prominent in males. To spot a male becom...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/VII/2025   I was reminded of the old story of two cats fighting over a slice of bread and a monkey whom they requested to mediate over the dispute. I won’t reiterate that story. However, today I witnessed two situations exactly like that.   Little girls were playing “Ghar-Ghar” in the front lawn. Arrangements for a birthday party were in full swing. They were busy selecting dresses, arranging the venue, sorting out their guest list, finalising the menu, writing invitation cards etc. However, there was a dispute on the timing of the party.   Just then three boys, two of them on their bicycles and one without, wanted to join the girls in the party. The girls refused to allow them in. The eldest one with a cycle was the classmate of one of the girls and tried to persuade her on the ‘classmate net’. The girls didn’t budge.   All their conversations and discussions could be heard loud and clear. I was witnessing all this from my rooftop,...

 BLACKIE AND BROWNIE  CAME FOR A DRINK

  IMPROMPTU SITUATIONS   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   27/VII/2025   These days I am trying my hands to capture birds in flight. Somehow, the best photographs one has clicked are pure flukes. The camera takes on most of the responsibilities of adjusting everything under the earth from light, to aperture, to shutter speed and what have you. The cameraman’s skills do matter.   In the evening when the birds fly home, is the best time to click them. The setting sun plays a very important role. Like our children who do not want to come home even when it is sufficiently dark, the birds which fly low and close are the ones which come in late.   I have spent many evenings trying to understand their behaviour and flying pattern. Their direction of flight in relation to the sun matters a lot. My own position on the roof is a big consideration as many times a portion of the roof comes in between the bird and the camera.   Point and shoot cameras in the days of yore were go...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   26/VII/2025   It has been a week plus and it has been cloudy, just cloudy. Where have the clouds hidden the rain within them is a mystery? Every morning, like the sun they come and dance, grow dense and thin, move in huge chunks, and then separate for the sun to mark its presence. The water they are supposed to shed is being withheld for the time being.   With low light but the mood bright, it was time to venture out and click some photos of the surroundings. The birds were at their best, singing, tweeting, chirping the best songs they could sing for all of us since dawn. Some of course make a ruckus too.   The recent unusual evening activity of the ‘Wire Tailed Swallows’ had to be investigated. They were seen very regularly on our neighbours roof and its thereabouts. Nesting was one reason for them to stick to one place. In between they do fly to our house to say hello, but return as quickly as they came, catchin...