A family of birds !

A grey Tit, Marshall's Iora, and a jungle babbler, the first two in the foliage of the Neem tree and the babbler in the bird bath beneath the tree, was a pleasant sight to watch a few days back in our garden. 

The morning times since the summer has set in, is cloudy, while the birds are in the morning flight between their stations. The bird movements are also less than what it used to be. I do not get to take as much photos as I could take normally.

The sense of consciousness of the family which birds express is what such a gathering of birds reminds me of. 

The sense of togetherness, these birds convey, brings a refreshing experience each morning. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A nesting crow !

This nest was in preparation for about three weeks on top of a nutmeg tree in your garden. 

The first two photographs were taken three weeks ago, when in about three days, the nest appeared. Since I first noticed it, I have looked for any nesting bird. 

It was yesterday I noticed a crow. I noticed an imperial pigeon flying a in and out of the top of the tree for a few days and wondered whether it would make it as its nesting place. 

I watched the crow for about ten minutes in the nest and moving away.

This begins a new phase for any bird.  then the garden has become the home birds. 

It is a complex habit different for different species of birds-courtship and  nesting. 

It is also the time for nesting for other birds. Anna and I feel good when we have birds nesting in our garden. It is then a garden would become the home for birds!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

On a Sunday Morning !

I returned today to look for the sights in the garden after a break of two months. It is the  longest time I was absent from the garden since we began living gin our cottage here. One month because Anna and I were away visiting our family. The other month because of long hours of work!

How refreshing it was to be present among birds, dragonfly, squirrel, flowers and fruits who received me with the warmth that I missed for a while!

So much happen around our cottage each day! The flight movements of birds and the sights of different seasons in the life of the plants and trees make the garden vibrant and refreshing to look at. 

For a month, our garden did not yield enough flowers. Although flowers are less in the summer months, it was sane time there were not flowers for our vase at home. I normally have a vase of flowers from our garden,  at my work place. But I do not find enough for the vases at home! 

But there are enough fruits for us and the birds in the garden, which make this season special. Fruits in Summer!

It gave me another opportunity to think about the giving,  the trees practice. They give shades to the birds during the day and shelter at night. They give fruits in summer inspite of heat, dry soil and high humidity! They thrive in adversity and become fruitful for others. 

That is a theme that I shall dwell on during the week!

As we stay shocked over loss of human lives and  many injured in the train accident in Orissa two days ago, the news is trickling in about the failure of practicing high standards of safety measures on signalling,  track maintenance, integrated electronic measures etc. The attention got distracted towards running some luxury trains! This became a recent priority in the railways. 

When our attention turns away from the wellness of others, we fail to be stewards of those committed to our care. I wish the political leadership in this country would think of the welfare of others, rather than engage in doing things,  which shall bring returns to pursue their political ambitions!

The sights in our garden this morning reminded me of the nature of giving rich in nature: Birds sing for us; flowers give nectar and make garden beautiful, Trees give shade, shelter and fruits! 

Humans are to be neighbours to each other!  

Do I have to strain myself to smile to greet others or is it spontaneous outflow from within! 

That is the test for measuring the 'giving' orientation!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

 

 

The Golden hour photography-morning and evening!

I had a first hand experience today of the difference in the hue of colours when one takes photographs of nature scenes during the twilight period in the morning and evening. 

The softer sunset hue is evident in the second photo. 

M C Mathew (text and photo)

During the Morning Walk

A morning walk in our garden is often rewarding and refreshing!

This morning it was the sight of two recently planted flowering plants blooming, the netted custard apple (cherimoya) fruit ready to be plucked, a nest made of twigs, two Magpie robins hovering over their nest in the trunk of an old coconut tree, the migrating water birds in a flight station, a common dove hidden in the foliage, and a new ant hill around the corner of the steps to the terrace.

I returned from the walk after gathering enough flowers for ther flower-vase in our drawing room. 

All these are sights that one can miss unless one one takes a quiet walk observing and looking expectantly.  

Each of these sights reminded me of different background stories of the past. One that stayed with me was why the rose plants are slow to flower. For some reason only few rose plants, blossom through out the year. It is probably because we do not have the know-how about caring for them in our garden. I took advice from  a few gardeners, but the advice is not yet yielding the benefit. 

Learning to care for plants is a science and an art. One needs time and patience to do this. I have learned from the way Anna looks after the kitchen garden. For good part of the year now, Anna manages to get some vegetables for our use , because she has is learning to plant and tend for them in a scientific way. Now she has ways of making compost from the waste at home.

Some things work and some things do not, which is what I make out from the experience of looking after a property.

The good side of living in a farm is that we live close to nature and can live in tune with the rhythm of seasons and the climate!

At the end of the walk, I felt energised by the sights and scenes that brought cheer and insights into every day life!

Jesus of Nazareth used the sights and scenes around him to speak in parables, with profound meanings - far more than what a talk could offer!

M C Mathew (text and photo).

    

 

A Tailor bird finds its feed!

I have a fascination for this common Tailor bird which is around 13 cm in length, therefore not easy to locate it, except when they move causing flutter of leaves or sing tunefully! Another thing about them is that they are hardly still bodily. They move their body in a jittery and shift positions. For less skilled photographers like me, it is a challenge to get well focussed photos, like what is in this series. 

As I watched this bird move about in our Bell Fruit tree which is just blossoming, I knew that it was searching for the insects in the flowers. Finally what I saw was a grass hopper between its bills. 

I do not think it is easy to track them beyond a few minutes as they would have either flown away or moved in different directions in the branches of the tree hidden in the foliage. 

They have an elegant body and olive green plumage which make them distinct in the small bird species. 

Some small birds distinguish themselves to compensate for their smallness in size. That is why  the phrase, 'small is beautiful' suits them well'.

Since I started bird watching in our garden ten years ago, I realised how birds bring a new outlook to the avian nature and movements. They are often messengers and visitors who bring enrichment to our understanding about the wonder of the world of birds!

Dr Sanjeeth Peter a cardio-thoracic surgeon of considerable repute, who has a passion for bird photography travels to places to to spot and take pictures of rare birds, who are vulnerable for extinction. He sent me the photo of a Nilgiri wood pigeon with an outstanding details of the body through his artistic photography. 

Every time I get a photo of a bird from Sanjeeth, I feel touched for his traction towards birds. His friendship for avians is behind his adventure travels to spot birds in different places in India. 

I owe a lot to him for inspiring me to stay interested in birds!

With Anna composing and publishing the book in June this year, Bird movements, our inner responses, I feel acknowledged for my feeble efforts to be friendly towards birds!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The Caterpillars have their way!

The first photo is the normal look of the hedge plants in our walkway. The second photos is the look of some of the plants now, since the caterpillars have eaten away the leaves.

Some of the caterpillars are now getting into the stage of cocoon as seen in the last photo with the strands around it in the early stage creating a cocoon. 

I have a suspicion most of the hedge plants have to give way to host the caterpillars as this is the breeding season. Soon we will have many more colourful butterflies in our garden!

This is the mystery of loss and gain. 

Most of our losses have a the prospects of leading us to a gainful experience.

A father shared with me yesterday that he received a message to delay to join for a job overseas. He felt disappointed. It was during the COVID season. He realised that his wife's parents and his parents needed support and care as they took a longer time to recover from the complications of the COVID 19 infection. He feels grateful that he was stopped from going overseas at that time. His wife also needed his presence during the birth of their first child. 

Life is a mystery of happenings in which the God of our lives is present in our life to unfold the mystery, which is larger than our plan and choice. 

We may loose the foliage of the hedge plants temporarily till the breeding season is over; but it is for giving life butterflies! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo0

Winter visitor!

 

This small bird, a Common Iora, is  a passerine bird. Anna and I spotted this bird perched in our Bell fruit tree two days ago. This might be the beginning of other new visitors to our garden during this winter months. Although small in size its bird call is loud and distinct. Its plumage of yellow belly and black wings with an exquisite white design on them, stands out. 

This is a song bird from the bird calls we heard that morning. It's loud whistling followed by other tuneful sounds make them different from other common birds.  

We noticed them feeding on ants while on that tree.

A small bird of unusual colour and appearance!

I got to think how such small birds are given more features to distinguish themselves from others. The small birds too have their valuable presence in nature. 

One does not have to be big in size or presence to be of some significance.  Even small beings have a place in the life and story of nature. 

I wish each of us ca be content with who we are and what we are and live celebrantly and gratefully!

Having been involved with children for forty years in my professional journey, I get a feeling of significance of children in our families. Often it is children who make adults more complete, wholesome and hospitable. 

A mother told me that her daughter insists on sending the guest away with a flower from the garden! That gesture of her daughter made her feel that guests can be honoured in ways that can be symbolic to them. Her daughter told her that when they give a flower, they share something more, for them to remember our friendship. 

A small act, but meaningful and endearing!

Each of us can be people with with such an attitude of becoming a gift to others, through our small acts of kindness!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

An orchid needing no attention!

We have this purple coloured Philippine ground Orchid in our garden. They are in bloom during all the seasons. The flowers last for three to four weeks. By the time they fall away, another shoot would come up with the buds to blossom. Anna transplants them periodically and we have them in different spots in the garden where there is bright sunshine. Excepting for transplanting them, the plants do not require much attention. 

They bloom where they are planted. 

That is a message they give us to ponder upon!

Its nature is to bloom!

To grow into a natural orientation to care !

That is what most of us would need ! We can be takers or givers or both! We receive so we give. It is necessary to move into an orientation of giving and not wait to care till we receive!

A neighbour who runs a carrier service to transport construction materials came home yesterday with vegetables from his garden and some cooked food! Anna and I felt surprised at this. His response was, 'we wanted to share what we have'! 

What a spirit of kindness! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)