Life At Mitthi

 કૂંજમાં કોયલ બોલતી    કૂંજમાં કોયલ બોલતી, એનો શેરીએ આવે સાદ!  અરે હાલને આંબાવાડિયે, હજી પો’રની તાજી યાદ!  પાંદડું યે નહિ પેખીયે, એવો ઝૂલતો એનો મો’ર,  કોઈને મોટા મરવા, અને કોઈને છે અંકોર;  ડોલતી ડાળે બેસીએ આપણ, ગજવી ઘેરો નાદ,  અરે હાલને આંબાવાડિયે, હજી પો’રની તાજી યાદ!  કૂંજમાં કોયલ બોલતી, એનો ...  ઘરનું નાનું આંગણું ગમે, મોકળું મોટું વન,  કોઈનો યે રંજાડ નહિ ને ખેલવા મળે દન;  હાલને ભેરુ, કાયર જે કોઈ હોય તે રહે બાદ,  અરે હાલને આંબાવાડિયે, હજી પો’રની તાજી યાદ!  કૂંજમાં કોયલ બોલતી, એનો શેરીએ આવે સાદ!  હાલને રે ભાઈ હાલને, આવે પો’રની ઘણી યાદ!  કૂંજમાં કોયલ બોલતી, એનો ...   - રાજેન્દ્ર શાહ  

The Bird Sanctuary  Feeding on millet In your quiet garden wakes a magic tumult   Of winged choristers that keep the Festival of Dawn,   Blithely rise the carols in richly cadenced rapture,   From lyric throats of amber, of ebony and fawn. The bulbul and the oriol, the honey-bird and shama Flit among high boughs that drip with nectar and with dew, Upon the grass the wandering gull parades its sea-washed silver, The hoopoe and the kingfisher their bronze and sapphire blue. Wild gray pigeons dreaming of a home amid the tree-tops, Fill their beaks with silken down and slender banyan twigs, But the jade-green gypsy parrots are only gay marauders, And pause upon their sun-ward flight to plunder red ripe figs. In your gracious garden there is joy and fostering freedom, Nesting place and singing space for every feathered thing, O Master of the Birds, grant sanctuary and shelter Also to a homing bird that bears a broken wing.   -Sarojini Naidu   Sarojini Naidu, a f...

  Perched 20 mts away from the pond near our kitchen. How many predatory birds trumpet their presence?  How many of them are brightly colored and not camouflaged in dull brown or grey color?  Not many I know of. That is precisely the reason I think this one is called what it is- KINGFISHER!  Kingfisher equally inquisitive of me taking the picture. Gifted with bright blue wings and back, an ochre body, sharp long orange beak , this medium sized bird   can never go unnoticed in any of its visits to my backyard. For it annunciates its arrival with a loud – Kil…kil…kil..kil. The call is so loud and clear, that it is easy to know which part of the garden it has flown to. No wonder it is called ‘kilkila’ in hindi. An onomatopoeic name. On our mango tree next to the lily pond. Unlike most of the birds, this one is not so shy. Even in presence of humans, they prefer to continue with their business. Hence, I have been fortunate to observ...

Whi..Whi..Whi… Whi, a quick loud whistling sound heard approaching the tree outside the kitchen, near the waterbody. A distinctly different call from the sweet notes of sunbird, oriental magpie, Indian robin or any of the bulbuls. At first, I expected kingfisher or a variety similar to it since our waterbody has plenty of mollies, which attract such birds. By the time I could get a good look at it, it flew away with its catch. I could not get a glimpse of its prey nor its features. Could only gauge its size and color, which is not sufficient information to identify it. Thereafter, whenever I was in the kitchen, I would keep my ears on guard for the whistle. We had good supply of its food so was assured of it. And as expected it did come again. A small bird, dull grayish brown in color, with a dark cheek patch, a pallid white brow patch above the eye, a strong head and a sharp hooked bill. It fed on dragonflies hovering on the water-body. Announcing its arrival with its pec...

Oriental Honey Buzzard Gujarati Name : મધીયો બાજ Hindi Name : Madhuya Ahmedabad gets really hot in summers ( around 45-48 deg Celcius). Even though we stay indoors, it becomes unbearable without air conditioners. Even animals around our house, dogs, cats and birds reduce all their activities post 11 am only to resume at around 4 or 4.30 pm. So, it is unusually quiet in the garden in afternoons in this season. Last week, while busy with my meeting online one evening, sitting near a window, I saw a shadow of a large bird flying by. Suddenly, all the birds dispersed frantically for shelter. It was definitely a predatory bird which had come for surveillance. I wanted to leave the desk and investigate but that would seem so unprofessional. Oriental Honey Buzzard So, once I was disengaged, I leapt for my camera to take a chance and see if the bird was still around. Fortunately, things had not returned to normal out there. Changing into dull earthy colored clot...