Indian Summer: a bird's-eye view

Hot. Hotter. Summer-est!
It's been a boiling, roasting season in Mumbai, hasn't it? All over India, actually (except those places which got some unseasonal showers  ... so very envious!). Now, can we get express-delivery of the Monsoons, please?
I loved the mangoes and all those other super-delicious summer fruits , both in the garden and in the markets.
And I loved all those streets spilling over with wave upon wave of summer blooms .
And there were the last of the migratory birds.(how I love that Paradise Flycatcher!). But I'm craving some refreshing monsoon rain right now!

Have you seen one of these birds? If you had, believe me, you'd never forget it. The Asian Paradise Flycatcher definitely deserves the second part of his name. Especially the adult males in flight. Sheer poetry!
This one here is a juvenile male, I think. It's hard to tell because they look almost exactly like the adult female untill they transform into their pure white feathered form topped with a crested jet-black head.
 I'm told that it is that blue ring around the eyes that differentiates the juvenile male from the adult female. I don't know if that's true but I'm hoping that this guy is going to come back next season in his white avatar.

The Alexandrine Parakeets have been at their screechiest-best. The cashew-fruits are growing and they've been feasting on the tender nuts. Huge swarms (there's no better word to describe it!) descend on my trees and by the time they move away, the ground is littered with the shells. Frankly, I don't mind. It's worth it to see these gregarious birds up so close. These two were high up on a mahogany tree and very curious why I was focusing on them.

And, my Pariah Kite (Black Kite)! There are more of them nesting on my trees now and I love seeing them fly. Unlike other birds in flight, with them you can almost see those strong wing muscles tautening.
This tall teak tree is one of his favourite perches. I guess it gives him the perfect look-out point.

He has definitely got the snakes on the run, though. This little Buff Striped Keelback was racing to reach the cover of a few scattered dry leaves and cautiously poked his head out to see if everything was safe before quickly slipping back under them when he spotted me with this huge lens aimed directly at him. (I don't blame him... my new 70-300mm lens intimidates even me sometimes!) 

And, I know the Oriental Garden Lizards don't feel any safer. Camouflage will keep you safe only just so much. The razor-sharp eyes of a raptor can probably zero in on him from the top of a tree at the other end of the garden.

The Sparrows love my bird-bath. It's just a natural rock with a hollow on top which is right in the middle of my garden. I keep it topped up with water and in summer it is a bird magnet unlike anything else! Every single bird in the vicinity troops in and waits their turn. Some politely, some not. I guess that 1 minute of splashing in the water is worth the wait for them.
What's the bet that these birds have been waiting for the Monsoon as eagerly (if not, more) as us?

Maybe Summer could slip away incognito and leave this Common Jezebel to represent her. Seriously! Can you think of anything more Summer-y?!

Aliens in my garden!

I had my first nigglings of suspicion when I saw these fiery balls appear out of the blue in my garden. There were just too many strange things happening in my Mumbai garden. And everywhere I looked, I could spot Them .
You know who I mean ... those Beings whom I've noticed out of the corner of my eye. Look too fast and all you'll see is a blur of motion as they slide out of view.
But they're there. I know it.
Trying for all the world to pass themselves off as innocent Earth-landers but we know better, don't we? Their very appearance signals their alien-ness, don't you think?
See! I knew you could spot it too!

This was the first one I noticed. And I felt a frisson of alarm running down my spine.
What! Don't you see?
Obviously it tried to mimic a dragonfly but it went a little off-course. No dragonfly ever had those clubbed antennae.
Could it be a mutant?
Are those another pair of eyes to see behind its head?
Or worse, it could be the creature's communications centre to beam messages to its home planet! "Earth is filled with giant , stupid creatures, ripe for subduing... they never notice anything even if its happening right under their ugly noses!" ... and the like.

And have you ever seen a dragonfly whose wings drooped straight down like this?
No! I tell you this has to be an alien with a disguise it couldn't quite pull off.
Ha! You can't fool me, Mr. Alien. And it's no use claiming you're a harmless little Owlfly!

My suspicions, thus aroused, led me to take another look at the 'star-ship'. Just as I thought! No living creature in sight, except for a tattered Yellow Orange-tip butterfly which had obviously wandered too close to their secret and had paid the price!
The star-ship had been camouflaged to look like a Haemanthus multiflorus (that's Football Lily if you can't pronounce the other longer name) but the lasers bristling in every direction gives the game away, doesn't it?
Football Lily indeed!

Then, it started! Every time I looked around, I would see another one. In wildly impossible shapes and colours.
In forms designed to excite comment if one would only look at them closely.
But do you think anyone does? Except me, of course!

Red does seem to be a favourite colour among them. Maybe it's out of loyalty to their star-ship, or something? Or maybe on their planet, red is what they wear to blend in !
This guy does look dangerous, doesn't he? And pompous! Just look at those heavy-lidded eyes ...

Then he heaved himself up and started to stalk away stiltedly. If I'm not mistaken, this could be another Trojan Horse kind of contraption. This was no smooth, natural walk... it was being done on wires, I'm sure!

This one was a cutie! Did you see the armour and helmet? What you can't see is the brilliant golden sheen on the armour-disc. Tiny little feet peeped out from underneath while it pattered away.
Maybe it was just a baby. but if you've seen any sci-fiction movie worthy of its name, you'd realise that the cuter a creature is, the more deadly it probably is.

You'd think these aliens would have more intelligence than to look like something that's a cross between a tortoise and a beetle!
A Tortoise beetle?
Naaah! Who on earth would believe it?

That's one of the most alien-ish faces I 've ever seen ! And there's way too much intelligence behind those eyes.
Scrutinising, assessing, taking me apart .... hey! would its look-alike be a Praying Mantis?
Noooo! It looks like a Preying Mantis to me.

Uh 0h! It looks like they suspect I know something .

Run!
But where to? They're everywhere !

"Take me to your leader!"

" That would be me ... Eat-all Sabre Fangs. Say your prayers, Lizard Face!"

"Say, Mistress Two-Legs, you got any more snacks for me? That one was barely a toothful ..."
And the day is saved. Earth is ours again.

Meanwhile, back at the star-ship ...
What star-ship? They've stripped it bare. But why? Except for those funny egg-like thingummies. What would those be I wonder and why ....

Help! we've been colonized!


(Thanks for joining me in this exercise in paranoia ;D
What can I say? Such things are bound to happen when the Monsoons which should be here cooling the fevered brain , are off somewhere in parts unknown, playing hide-and-seek instead! )

Help in the garden

One of my favourite pastimes is to lazily sit on my verandah and watch the mynahs busy at what I should be doing .... getting rid of the pests in my garden. And very conscientious they are too. When I wake up early in the morning and come out, they're already at work. Pacing up and down the lawn or any grassy patch, they suddenly cock their head and I know that's the death warrant for one more bug.

Here's one checking over the cricket pitch which went out of control during the monsoon. (Just in case you're wondering, the cricket referred to here is not the insect but the sport which has cult status here in India)

The Common Mynah, also known as Indian Mynah, mates for life and I usually see the happy couple hunting together. Pa takes over one part of the lawn while Ma scrutinises the other, and sometimes the youngsters join in too if they're not partying elsewhere. The family that eats together, stays together?

They seem to enjoy caterpillars and bugs but apparently their favourite food is grasshoppers. Which gave them their name - Acridotheres tristis. Acridotheres meaning "grasshopper hunter", according to Wiki. Now that's more than enough to endear them to me!

The bright yellow skin patch around their eyes always makes me laugh. They look as if their off to a masked ball any minute now and chose that bright colour to make up for their rather drab brown apparel. Oh yes, and they got boots to match too!

My father was once gifted a pet Jungle Mynah and it was one of the best mimics I've ever heard. They're considered one of the best 'talking' birds and they're really amazing! Now these shy black birds are a protected species and so they're not seen much except in the jungles which are their natural habitat. I can just imagine them driving the other birds in the jungle nuts, though :D

One of the advantages of having a garden where the use of chemicals is severely restricted is that Nature takes over. For every pest there are predators around the corner or under the next leaf. This has such a wonderful sense of rightness that I almost don't mind the odd cut petals if it'll attract a Fantail or a Bulbul. Almost.

And, yes, most of them even sing for their supper too. Others, however, will just stare as if considering this strange creature that's got nothing better to do while everyone worth knowing is slogging away, catching their daily bugs .

(The resident Oriental Garden Lizard)

Garden lizards, skinks, mynahs, .... I have so many natural garden assistants that I dont really need any other, do I?

Okay, maybe someone to do the digging would be nice, though.