Song of the bird-bath

Before I start on my monsoon photos, here's one last look at something that sings of Summer ... my bird-bath. Do you remember the most frequented area in my garden (by the birds, I mean)? It has been seeing feathered traffic like never before all summer long!

 This Red Vented Bulbul had the time of his life puffing out his feathers and splashing so the water could reach and drench each and every part of his body.


This pic was not clicked in my garden but I just couldn't resist adding it. That little patch of water dripping from a tap had put this bulbul in an ecstatic mood and he was singing his heart out. I love these Red Whiskered Bulbuls with their cheerful birdcalls! Have you heard it?

Usually the sparrows and the finches are the last to get a chance to luxuriate in the water. Every time a bigger bird shows up they immediately move out of the way. Especially if it is a crow. I suspect the crows don't have much patience with the little birds.They don't seem to have any love to spare for the bigger birds either. Anytime that the Pariah Kite (Black Kite) turns up for a sip-and-dip, the crows at once gang up to chase the kite away!
The bulbuls on the other hand, are willing to share if the space is big enough.
But the sparrows and finches are happiest when the whole flock joins in. The flock that bathes together, stays together?

A sense of Spring

Breathe in the fragrance of a new season,
drink in the vibrant colours of a new year (you really don't think January marks a new year, do you? ),
gorge on the flavours of the new fruits weighing down the trees,
smile at the crescendo of joyous bird-calls overhead and faraway and round-about  ... Spring is here and makes sure you know it by a mad, merry, exuberant sensory overload!

When else would you find such a serendipitous juxtaposition of a Blue butterfly sunning itself next to a Rosy Periwinkle?

Or gangs of ants quilting a heliconia bloom? Or could they be the heliconia artists, gently nipping a blush into every bloom? 

Nothing gentle about this exuberant bougainvillea screaming its presence! Rambunctious climber, irrepressible bloom-smith, unfussy tenant .. who doesn't appreciate the bountiful blooms of the bougainvillea when sunny, roasting hot days drag by? 

Sprays of Petrea wrap my garden in a soothing cloud of lavenders and purples fading into silvery grey. Twirling ballerinas of the botanical realm, each bloom matures into a role rarely essayed. How many flowers, after all, can spin and dance on the Spring breeze?  

And sometimes the heavens come down to earth! And high-flying Pariah Kites grant their royal stamp of approval to my humble bird-bath. Spring today, Summer tomorrow; a bird's got to sip and dip. In the meantime, they have an awestruck pair of eyes (and camera lens) following their every regal move!   

High up on the denuded teak trees, the very voluble parakeets screech and gossip about every passerby and every new tree in fruit. They love hanging around my garden now. No one will disturb their babies here and there are plenty of tender cashewnuts on the trees to gnaw on.

Tender cashewnuts, did I say? Oh so young to imagine the trial by fire awaiting it, to prove itself and be crowned king of the palate! Hundreds of bunches of these very quirky fruits are growing now, kissed by the Spring sunshine, dreaming of the day when the cashew-apples will be full-grown and all filled out. No celebrations for a Size Zero here!

Until then these Star Gooseberries are rocking the show in my garden. Clusters and clusters of them crowding the trees until the branches bend down, almost begging to be picked. 

The child in me loves the slight sourness in every pop of these. Have you found the child in you drooling over this too? 

Or, over this? The Carambolas are growing too. These star-shaped fruit are such an attractive sight, on the tree or the table. Or on the hawkers' carts. Did they use to sell the Carambola, dipped in salt and red-hot chilli powder, outside your school too? Does your mouth begin to water when you see this photo, as mine is beginning to?

Spring. And the Winter vegetables are still yielding.
Fresh crisp green cabbages growing among a forest of iron-rich red amaranths. Just as colourful as it looks and a hundred times more flavour-packed.
Did you know that ever since I grew the cabbages among the red amaranths, I've had less trouble with the foliage vandals? All the grasshoppers seem to be drawn to the red amaranths, leaving the cabbage alone.

On the roads, the Rain Trees are dotted with flowers. 

In my home, a few brave (and fool-hardy) centipedes try to barge in and are summarily tossed out on their ear!
But I do sneak an admiring glance at those mango-yellow boots. This gal has style!

And why am I repeating a pic of this Blue? Just because. 

Because it's so pretty and has a cute up-turned nose and big, big eyes.

Because it has a model's poise; look at the bend of that knee.

Because it knows where to hang out ... in my garden.

Because I like this photo.

And because it's Spring!

And because Spring means that all kinds of pretty fragrant flowers like this Vallaris are making the air heady with their scent. 

sigh .... did I mention that I absolutely love Spring? 

Rush hour in the garden

October is a busy month in my garden. No, not for me. I just flop around on my verandah or under the cashew trees, moaning about the killing heat in Mumbai. But the little creatures that also call my garden "home" are busier than ever. They are everywhere that I look, doing their own thing and generally making my garden look like it is abuzz with activity. Sooner them than me!

For starters, the dragonflies are all over the place. Zipping and swirling around, sometimes solo but usually in a cloud. I love dragonflies! Seeing them in action makes me an ultra-happy person because they hunt mosquitoes.
Did I mention that all the foliage in my garden seems to attract every single mosquito for miles around?The garden of Eden had a snake to harass the residents, mine has mosquitoes. Which also means that it has some very happy dragonflies.

I love this extremely vibrant Dawn Dropwing dragonfly who put an old orchid bloom spike to good use. He kept perching on it, sticking his bright tail up in the air and fanning his wings open in a display that kept veiling and unveiling his fuchsia-purple body. The poor guy was obelisking to beat the heat!
To read more about this gorgeous dragonfly, check this out.

The damselflies are out too, even in my apartment garden. They're such delicate little wisps that one usually doesn't notice them until they rise up out of some plant that they were perched on. But don't let their size (or lack of it) fool you. They are just as efficient at hunting out mosquitoes, flies and insect pests. I've seen one gobbling up a beetle which looked much too large to fit into the damselfly's tummy!

Then there are the butterflies .... Oh my God! the butterflies! They're everywhere. Flitting, floating, frolicking ... I love this season for the butterflies . My Vinca rosea patch is seeing rush hour throughout the day.
By the way, did you notice the little damselfly watching the Common Wanderer butterfly? That's the same little guy in the second photo. He was almost glued to the spot for hours.

You would think that with a name like Grass Demon this butterfly would be huge and scary. But no, he's really quite small. What really is larger than life is that proboscis of his!

'Huge and scary' should probably go to describe the Giant Redeye butterfly! This butterfly feeding on the Spiderlilies isn't very big, but take a look at its big ruby-red eyes! How beautifully weird is that?

If you're looking for unconventional beauties, here's one for your list. The Buff Striped Keelback is quite a small, thin snake and is absolutely harmless. Every so often I find one zipping across my yard, hoping that no one will notice him. This one was racing across the roasting sunny areas and heading for the cool shade of the heliconias. Hopefully, he was after some garden pests but more probably, he had his eye on the little frogs which like to hang out there too.

He has no idea just how lucky he is to miss being spotted by our resident Pariah Kite!
The Pariah Kites are nesting again on the coconut tree and keep a strict watch on everything that is going on. This one swooped down for a quick sip and dip in the bird-bath. And of course, some crows landed up immediately too. Just to keep an eye on him, you know.

October is also the month when the migratory birds start trooping in. I found this Hoopoe scanning some of the overgrown grass ( a last remnant of the monsoon super-growth). A crow swooped by near him and up went his startled crest. Such fun!
By the way, doesn't he look like the Creator drew some sample scribbles on his back while trying to design the Zebra?

The season is changing. It is still as hot as ever during the day but now there is a cool nip in the air at night and I love the transitions it brings. I love this season for the unusual birds that show up and also for some of the more unusual blooms. Even on the foliage plants, like this Phyllanthus myrtifolius which is widely grown as a hedge or for topiaries. It is not one of my most favourite plants but in October I seriously re-think that opinion. Because that's when it transforms into a blooming beauty!

Summer snapshots : one for the road

Boiling hot summer days mean an enterprising bird must stoke up when he finds the chance.
A small rivulet, formed when 2 hosepipes snapped at their joint, soon became water-on-tap for this lucky crow.
I guess he got even more lucky with complimentary appetizers thrown in. That green seedpod of the Michaelia champaca is so conveniently within beak reach.

A drop for the Sun

Tiny drops of water mighty bath-tubs make!

It's the peak of Summer here in Mumbai and the brain-broiling Sun has been merciless on just about every living creature (not counting the flowering trees , they seem to be loving it!).
I have my natural rock bird-bath filled up as usual and it has been seeing rush hour from sun-up to sunset. All the birds from tiny spice-birds to the Pariah Kites come here for a quick sip-and-dip to cool off.
Then, yesterday I saw the strangest sight.

On hot summer days I make sure that I water the orchids early in the day. I had stopped to hose down a nearby banana plant too and was getting on with my work when a slight movement caught my eye. I turned slowly (I've found out the hard way that quick movements usually result in lost photo-ops) to see that the 'rain' I had created had just turned into someone's water-park ... in the nicest possible way !

There was this tiny little sunbird slipping and sliding, whirring her wings and wiggling her belly among the tiny little drops of water clinging to the banana leaves.

If you've seen water on banana leaves you'll know that it doesn't drain off in a wet patch like it does from other leaves. It clings to it like tiny little silvery drops , defying all laws of gravity. And every once in a while a couple of tiny drops roll together to make a big fat blob.
And the Sunbird (I think it was a Purple Sunbird but it's not easy differentiating the female Sunbirds) had found this readymade waterslide created just for her enjoyment.

You should've seen how much fun she was having! She would slide around, soaking in all the drops of water, and every once in a while she would stop to look around nervously.
I was worried I would frighten her off so I didn't move in too close. Plus, the chain-link fence separating us was a major barrier that didn't make for easy photography. Still, I did manage to click a few snaps and these are the better ones of the lot.

Her splashing about did advertise the presence of cool water to other birds too. A curious Paradise Flycatcher showed up to check out the action but fled when she saw me.

A male Purple Sunbird wandered by too but by the time I had got my camera ready he was already in a neighbouring property and was busy gorging on nectar from an Ixora. (I added this photo to give an idea of how pretty these birds are. You can see just a glimpse of the metallic gleam of his feathers. But do check out more photos here and here. )

The female Sunbird though was still splashing in her bath and I could almost imagine her glee. It was almost as if that water, just a few drops though they might've been, was like a magnet gluing her to that spot until caution prevailed and she flew off refreshed.

Which got me thinking that maybe I should do this more often. Those few drops on a leaf might just make a world of difference to a parched bird in Summer when the temperatures leap fierier than ever. And will, hopefully, make those flying jewels stick around more in my garden.

Maybe you could do the same? It doesn't take much, as Indian Homemaker can tell you ... a shallow bowl of water is perfect for the smaller birds. If you place it among a few shrubs or potted plants, that will make them feel safer and more confident that they can linger. And I'm sure the Sunbirds would love to slip-slide on some wet leaves. Not much to ask for, is it?

Summer snapshots : Twice as nice

The Magpie-robin is one of the most interesting birds in my garden. I wonder whether it is his double-barrelled name that makes him work twice as hard and sing twice as fluidly as any other bird who comes visiting.

I often see him hopping around on my lawn, head perked at an angle, alertly scanning it for bugs. He loves my birdbath and is a frequent visitor, flying in for a quick feather-ruffling dip before flying up onto the cashew branch above it and settling in to treat the whole garden to his latest compositions.

King of the garden

A shrill whistling screeeee! announces the arrival of the King.
Crows bristle, rodents run for cover, and snakes slink away and hide now that someone new has taken over the top spot on the food-chain in my garden.
Behold the Black Kite alias Pariah Kite! Pariah is too ignominous a nickname for the King of my garden but the tag of Black Kite seems to be shared by other birds too so I'll just stick with Pariah Kite.

The Pariah Kite is one of the more commonly seen birds in our city. Seen from far, that is. If you look up at the sky, chances are that you'll see at least a couple of Pariah Kites sailing across Mumbai. Lazy swirls high across the skyscape soon transform into a powerful swoop when they spot something interesting.
They've learnt to adjust to city life and will just as soon scavenge as hunt, I'm told. I find that a bit sad for a bird that is obviously primarily a hunter. But city life can be tough on birds too.

Last year the royal couple looked over my garden and decided it would do to bring up their new heir to the kingdom. They moved into their penthouse suite on top of the tallest coconut tree and set about cleaning up the neighbourhood straight away.

Housekeeping is definitely not their strong point because their nest has to be one of the sloppiest I've ever seen.
But their hunting! I've seen them fly with snakes in their talons and then transfer it to that of their waiting mate. In mid-air!
Of course, the fact that I was standing below them and if they had fumbled in their passing-the-parcel act, a very angry 'parcel' would've landed on me, makes my blood freeze.
But my garden is suddenly more clear of thieving rats and other nasties than it has ever been. For which mercy I would happily crown the Black Kite Emperor of the garden .

Of late, they seem to have become more confident of moving in close even when I am around. Or maybe it's just the irresistible lure of my birdbath. Whatever it may be, it seems like the heavens are a bit closer when they choose to come down to earth.
Doesn't he look majestic? He's got such an imperious look in his eye.
Oh... and I like his trousers too.

A quick scoop of water and it's back to duty. Master of all he surveys and making sure every creature in the vicinity knows it.
Don't miss that wicked beak and huge talons. All the better to rip and rule!

Mumbai's feathered citizens

It all started with a very cheeky thief.
I was standing right next to my Custard Apple tree and admiring the fruit ripening when I saw this green bandit tearing open the sweet fruit and helping himself, as bold as you please!
After I had finished insulting him in every language I knew (and every self-respecting Indian is fluent in at least 3, if not more), I had to admire his sheer gall! I mean, I was right there and he was stealing my fruit away right under my nose. Almost as if he were entitled to it. Or like a true street-smart city guy who saw an opportunity and snatched it.
I swear that it was my sneaking admiration that made me look out for other birds that call Mumbai home.

Where there is one Large Indian Parakeet, or even a Roseringed Parakeet, there is bound to be more. Sure enough, his buddy was sitting high up on the teak tree, tearing the seed pods to pieces.
Teak seeds when there was sweet custard apple at hand? Hmmm ... maybe he was on a high-fibre, sugar-free health trip!

That's not all that'll take their fancy. They're especially fond of tender cashew nuts. When the nuts are still green, the outer shell is still soft enough for their strong, tough beak. They come in huge flocks and descend on my cashew trees, screeching and squabbling amongst themselves. In a few minutes, the ground under the tree is littered with empty nut-shells, greedily torn open for the precious kernel. This doesn't stop their squabbling though because they rise up en masse and descend on the next tree to continue their feasting and gossiping!
Thieves and bandits they may be but they're definitely some of the greatest entertainers in the avian world.

So, who else calls Mumbai their home?
Definitely the common House Crow. As resourceful and shrewd as any person in Mumbai, if not more. He may not win any beauty pageants (totally unlike some stunningly beautiful girls from Mumbai) but what he lacks in looks, he makes up for in the grey cells category. He's omnipresent... look out of any window and you'll find at least 2 or 3 of their tribe on the lookout for a quick meal that they can snatch.

His relative, the Jungle Crow, is a total boor. Bigger, noisier, more aggressive and ill-mannered and not too bothered about who doesn't like him. Every year a flock of Jungle Crows come sweeping into my garden, possibly trying to outrun the cold Himalayan winter chill breezes. They pull out my plants from their pots, snap orchid canes, break off flower-buds and generally make a thorough nuisance of themselves. I'm really glad to see them go. The House Crow looks almost genteel in comparison !

Hidden here in this photo, you'll find one of my favourite birds.
What? You can't see him? Look closer ... there! do you see him perched on those buds near the top of the photo? Maybe it'll help if you'll look for a patch of yellow topped by a metallic gleam of black-green and purple.
Allow me to present one of our tiniest and prettiest birds ... the Purple-rumped Sunbird!

I just love watching their hyperactive lifestyle (sooner them than me!). They flit in and out near the flowering plants, perch daintily on a flower-stalk to sip their fill with their curving beaks and then zip off to the next one. The Thunbergia grandiflora seems to be a favourite with them. So is the Cardinal ipomoea.

I didn't crop this photo so I could give you an idea of just how tiny they are. Did you spot the female Purplerumped Sunbird? There she is, right on top of the Cordia sebestiana (Geiger tree), taking a sip out of the orange flower right on top. Like all the avian females, she's decided the male of the species are nothing to dress up for, and looks rather drab.

Here she is again behind the Geiger flowers! She has just spotted me aiming my camera at her and is immediately alert. Doesn't she look cute, going up on her toes to get a better look?

Here's a closer look at her. This is taken from the window of my apartment on a busy street in Mumbai. Luckily the vertical growth of the city seems to be helping me in watching birds at a closer range than I would otherwise be able to.

And that's a closer look at her boyfriend. Isn't he magnificent!
I wish I had a better photo which would show him in all his metallic gleaming splendour. Since I don't have a good one which I took myself, I'm adding a link to one I found on the Net.

I found this Sunbird nest the other day, Slightly dilapidated but still identifiable with all kinds of fluff and junk incorporated into the making of it. What I find really cute is the little projection above the entrance hole. A little over-hang to keep the rain and sun out while Mrs. Sunbird is busy keeping the eggs warm but still poking her head out for fresh air and just to keep her eye on things!

The Weaver bird's nest seems to follow the same suspended style but is much more elaborate. This is an incomplete one which I found lying on the ground and hung it up hoping to lure more of them into my garden.

I love the cheery yellow on the Weaver bird. He looks like a sparrow who went technicolour!This one was a regular visitor to my garden in summer but I think he was staying in the tadgola (palmyrah) palm trees nearby. I've seen huge colonies of weaver birds there busy making their incredible nests.

Another gorgeous yellow bird is the Golden Oriole which is unfortunately a winter visitor as far as I know. I've never seen them around in the other seasons. I found them incredibly shy and difficult to photograph . All that I usually see of them is a quick flash of gold as they flit between trees.

Another of my favourites is the Paradise Flycatcher. The adult male is spectacular with a gleaming black crest on his head and white body with 2 extra-long tail feathers that flutter and trail behind him like streamers as he flies.

The only problem with him is that he's very shy. The slightest sound or motion and he's off again to another corner.

Another crested favourite is the Redwhiskered Bulbul. I love his birdcall ... its such a liquid sound! He is a very common bird in Indian gardens but a very welcome one, if only for his cheerful call and perky looks.

His cousin, the Redvented Bulbul doesn't look so cute but his birdcall is just as cheery. I see them very often on my Michaellia champaca tree, feeding on the berries. They're apparently just as fond of snacking on termites. Hey, no wonder I like them!

And this is how he got his name ... see that flash of red ?

Maybe this is the cause? I'm not suggesting anything, but I've seen the Bulbuls gorging on these extra-spicy bird's eye chillies as if they were going on a diet the next day!

And of course, how could I forget the pigeons? They're so much a part of the Mumbai city-scape.


While I may grouch at them for messing up my window-sills and stuffing my ac-unit with twigs for nesting, there are many people in Mumbai who enjoy feeding these lucky birds. Kabutarkhaanas all over Mumbai are where they go to throw grain to the pigeons, and far from being bird-brains, the pigeons have quickly learnt where to hang around if they want a free meal.

I would have named these the Pariah Kites seen all over Mumbai. But they seem to lack the forked tail which is so distinctive of the Pariah Kites. So are these Tawny Eagles instead?
A pair of them had nested on a palmyra palm tree near my apartment. I can't say much about their housekeeping skills because their nest seemed to be a jumble of sticks and the dried flowers of the palm . But their parenting skills are fantastic with both parents chipping in to take great care of their heir (or heiress).

The Indian Mynah is one of the most commonly seen birds in the gardens in Mumbai. He's a bossy little guy who struts around making sure all bugs are kept in their place ... in his own tummy! The Mynah is one of the best assets a garden can have.
Both male and female are almost always seen together and seem to be one of those Made for Each Other couples that you always keep hearing about. But what really tickles my funny bone is that very bright mask and boots they seem to be wearing!

The Pied Mynah on the other hand is a seasonal visitor I think. Or is more shy (can such a word be applied to any Mynah?) than his cousin because I've only seen them in summer when they visit my birdbath.

This little guy is another of my best help in the garden. I'm not too sure what he's called but I think he must be an Ashy Wren-Warbler . He's got the same look and the perky tail which he keeps snapping up and down all the time.

Tinier than sparrows, I find them hopping around among the plants looking for bugs. Natural pest control!

There's no mistaking the Tailor Bird though. With his pointy needle-like beak, he's quite a jaunty little character. And yes, he's another very welcome friend in the garden. He'll even hop onto a tree-trunk hunting for his food. Do you see him clinging on to the cashew tree?
And what does he eat? Insects, their eggs and grubs.... need I say more?
Remember Rudyard Kipling's 'Rikki-Tikki Tavi'? Mr. and Mrs. Tailor Bird played quite a big role in that book . And considering that Kipling spent quite a few years living in Mumbai (back when it was still called Bombay) , it isn't surprising that so many of our commonly seen animals and birds show up in his books.

The Coppersmith Barbet is more often heard than seen in Mumbai. His repetitive and resonating tuk-tuk-tuk calls seem to come from every direction at once. When I first saw him (not easy, he's so well-camouflaged in leaf-green feathers. The red cap can give him away, though), I was surprised that such a loud sound was coming from such a small bird.
That's a lot of lung power in such a little guy!

The Cattle Egret is a common sight in marshy areas and the mangroves of Mumbai see a lot of them. They got their name from the fact that they're often seen near grazing cattle, looking out for insects and frogs which show themselves when disturbed by the cattle.
This guy came visiting me one day, tempted by the frogs near my lawn, I think. He wouldn't stay though, and took off as soon as he saw me. I wish he had stayed ... he could've feasted on the grasshoppers too.

Sparrows are common all over the world I think. But the Spice Finch or Nutmeg Mannikin seen here with the sparrow, seems to be on the bird fanciers' list. Lucky for me, they seem to like my garden and don't need to be caged to stay around and be seen.

The Babblers are not the cutest of birds. In fact, they look a little mean and suspicious . Maybe that's why they're always found in a group of their own, foraging through the dry leaves and undergrowth.

The Black Drongo is another of our common birds and also one of our most vigilant. You'll often find them perched on a branch or wire, looking out for insects. I love their quick swooping flights when they find a juicy tempting morsel ... which seems to be very often in my garden.

How did I almost forget the Magpie-Robin? Burdened with a double-barrelled name, he's still one of the cheeriest birds in Mumbai. He looks a bit frowzled here because he's sitting on a bare branch on a windy day.

He's usually very sleek and dapper as you see in this photo. The female is dark gray, not black . I see them hopping around my lawn looking out for insects. Bon Appetit!

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the birds in Mumbai. I've left out too many because I'm running out of space (I am writing a blog, not a book) and also because I don't have their photos.
But I just can't go without showing you one of the most brilliantly coloured birds that visit my garden in Mumbai ... the Whitebreasted Kingfisher.
What is a Kingfisher doing in a garden? This one like most city-dwellers, is not fussy. In fact he's downright adventurous in his food habits. I've seen him hunting butterflies and I even read a post which described him eating baby snakes.
How much more cosmopolitan can you get?


(the quality of some of these photos leaves a lot to be desired ... sorry! Clicking tiny birds which are more than 30 - 40 feet away and more, needs a more powerful camera than my point-and-shoot)