Most mornings in the recent two weeks have been cloudy. This impaired the bird movements in our garden. It is the twilight that gives birds the signal for their flight movements. I felt starved of seeing birds and track their flight movements.
I set out yesterday in the morning, although cloudy, to go to the stream below our garden, to look for bird movements there.
I spotted a Magpie robin, pairs of swallow and Bulbuls resting in the cable.
The Bulbuls and a Magpie Robin stayed together for a while. They are not naturally conditioned to be like this from the behaviour I noticed in our garden.
The summer months are difficult for birds. During this season of summer months, even the resident birds in our garden migrated elsewhere. The morning bird calls of Kingfishers, wood peckers, Bulbuls, Sunbirds, and Leaf birds are missing! That makes us feel strange!
Across the field, high on a tree, I spotted a pair of crows, one of which was in its nest. I wonder whether it was feeding its fledgling!
All these are small events in nature, which reminded me of the way the avian life survives the adverse weather conditions and sustain themselves!
The avians live taking care of themselves. They live fending for themselves day after day.
It is a common sight, in the main street in our village in the morning hours, migrant labourers waiting to be hired to work! I have noticed that only few are hired each day. While talking to one of them, I found out that they find work only twice or thrice a week. They earn less and struggle to save for their families distant places.
The avians have their experiences; the migrant labourers have their share of existential struggles.
I came back after this reflective walk and filled the food bowl and water bath that we have in the garden for the visiting birds. That was the lest that we can do for them.
On the few occasions we hire the migrant workers, we have an opportunity to get to know them and support them!
What is in our domain can be small acts of thoughtfulness; it is when we live mindfully, we grow in our awareness of the needs of others!
What is life, unless it is lived consciously mindful of others!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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