29 September, 2019

The three Choristers at the Pulpit !


A wood pecker, Magpie Robin and a Barbet were at the dry upper portion of the nutmeg tree, which I refer to as Pulpit (as many birds find this place in the morning hours a good flight station and make their bird calls), engaged in their birdsongs sometimes in tandem and other times alone.

Usually Magpie Robins are not found along with bigger birds. Wood peckers are mostly alone or are in a pair. Barbets stick to its own species during flights. 

The twenty minutes when they were together created not just a cacophony, but some tuneful singing. There was a concordance in the notes when they sang together most of the times. It looked as if they were singing to each other.

Most of my photography is centred around flowers, birds, butterflies, and dragon flies in the recent times. It is the bird call that alerts me about the presence of a bird in the garden. 

While many small birds do not give a chance for a decent photo, as they do not settle down in  a spot for good enough time between their flight stations, the bigger birds are not shutter shy! Some birds, the residents in the garden or regular visitors actually engage and oblige during photography  

I have recently begun to talk to students and children about birds, butterflies and dragonflies  and show them some pictures. In a conversation to a batch of medical students, I found that there were twenty of them who had some interest in them. Although that is a small number, it is a significant number to build on when one wants to form a group of nature friends. 

The bird bath and grain bowl in the garden, which we keep for birds, do not seem to attract except house crows.

It is an effort to let birds free and homely in a garden!

M.CMathew (text an photo)

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