Between the perch and the Bowl!

There are times when a single Bulbul may arrive at the feeding station, when other birds have left. 

The photos above of one Bulbul preparing to reach the feeding bowl from its perch in the Neem tree, caught my attention for two reasons-the time it took to plan its movement downward and the vigilance it communicated by using its skill of visual scanning. 

Single birds are more vulnerable than when birds are in a pair or in a flock. 

The body postures and alert look seen in the photos above,  convey  that the Bulbul exercised  abundant caution before it moved to t feeding bowl.

The birds use the visual and auditory perception to plan their moves. They are habituated that way. 

It was during a conversation yesterday with two people I got more familiar the way each person processes the information and responds to situation. 

One was a doctor who was reaching out to support a family at a difficult time. This doctor had so much information gathered about the family that  there was a natural clarity about the steps ahead to support the family through that difficult situation. 

The other conversation was bout the options while taking a corrective action.  There was an elaborate enquiry about the act of omission by a staff for which a corrective action was needed.  The overseeing person had gone into the details of how the person would respond to the corrective steps. The concern was to help the person to become more responsible and not just punish the person. 

On both these instances, there was an active process to go beyond the first impression or the subjective feelings. Both involved to offer help had the interests of the other person high in their mind. 

Most of us happen to live, work and engage in stressful situations because others with whom we associate do not indicate their willingness to be thoughtful or considerate while engaging. 

The single Bulbul had to do everything to plan for its movements. 

Don't we come across lonely people who struggle alone!

We create lonely people because we ignore or abandon them to their situation or destiny!

Now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to follow a cease fire action plan,  think of the hundreds who require enabling to get back to a semblance of living normally!

A million people in the Los Angeles region have been asked to vacate their homes due to the raging wild fire, which is likely to escalate due to strong wind. 

All those in stressful situations can feel alone unless there is a proactive environment to care and handhold!

Seeing a single Bulbul go through its chores of preparing to reach the feeding bowl, left with me these thoughts about the travails of lonely people who are left to fend for themselves! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Enough for everyone!

The Mynah birds arrive at the feeding station in our garden almost at day break.

The Bulbuls who come after them wait for their turn, in the twigs of the neem tree.

The following three photos suggest how eagerly and patiently the Bulbuls what for their turn.  

A squirrel got into the feeding bowl, between the short time, when the Mynah birds vacated and the Bulbuls could reach the bowl. 

The last photos is how a squirrel, Bulbuls and Mynah form a community around the feeding bowl. 

How the birds of different species behave soberly and mindfully towards each other, even when they wait for their access to the feeding bowl!

There is another way than competition or inhospitable behaviour, which is what the birds practice each morning. 

The sense of mindfulness towards each other, which these birds demonstrate, is a message that I find refreshing to carry with me each day!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

The Fire in Los Angeles-Jan 2025 !

The media globally highlighted the ravaging effects of the wild fire in LA, California in the United States of America. 

The devastating sights of fire displacing thousands of people from the residential areas and many loosing houses and property, some losing their family members make us feel distressed about the fury of wind and fire. 

It was when I watched the pair of Bulbuls in our garden yesterday, I remembered the loss birds, reptiles and domestic pets suffer during this fire. The loss of vegetation would leave vast stretch of land exposed to wild overgrowth, another trigger of wild fire later. The bird life would have been hit with nests and nestlings consumed by fire.  The loss of fruit bearing trees, kitchen gardens or cultivated land  or livestock would be another sorrowful aspect of this devastation. 

I thought of children who had to move out of their homes, where they had their play room, garden around the house, swimming pool, toys and books and a neighbourhood of friends, parks and school to go to. 

The trauma of loss, affects adults and children alike, although at different levels of perception and awareness. The post-traumatic stress effects are already being observed in families who had to relocate. Another stress and strain of rebuilding the lives would be a grief stricken experience for many. 

Sometimes one feels that the leaders of the world whom we expected to feel with those in distress have remained distant from people in need. I feel suspicious of the president elect of the USA as he gets ready to take charge, about his feeling heart as wealth, visibility and power seem to be the motives in his thinking. 

This reminded me of the loss of environment, wild life, pets, schools, gardens, family members, and homes in places like Ukraine, Ghaza, Lebanon, Iran where violence and fighting continue!

The generation of school going children in these places grow up experiencing the loss and grief war and experiencing violence  in their lives.

A trauma care team is in Wayanad, where hundreds lost their family members, homes and property in a landslide few months ago. A psychologist mentioned how distressed adults and children feel as they experience the harsh realities of recovery, with no house to return to or resources to rebuild their lives!

The loss and grief in any situation of devastation will stay with people for long!

It was even more disturbing to see how laymen and priests in a diocese of the Catholic Church are agitating over rituals and practices which led to police action and arrest of few priests! Does it matter if you pray turning to East or West! The matters of controversy are as trivial as this. 

A world in distress; too many suffer undeservedly; politics of extremism  more common than before ! Where are the 'peace makers' and advocates of the message of Prince of peace, whose birth we remembered at Christmas time. 

The two Bulbuls in our garden represented to me all those who silently suffer and feel alone!

A local church recently celebrated its annual festival. They decided to abandon the annual fire works! What a noble thought! They allocated the money saved to build two houses, who live in adverse situations! 

A bad news remains in the news till the media engages it. There after,  the many who suffer live alone facing the distress! Should it be that way!

We live in a society when the judicial system of one country exonerates a person from an earlier criminal activity,  because he is elected as the president of that country!

The saving grace to heal people and communities are through acts of kindness and deeds of mercy. 

The Christian Medical College celebrate its 125th anniversary this year, when the institution and the diaspora of professionals trained there, would remember its founder Dr Ida Scudder, who brought acts of kindness and deeds of mercy to people of Vellore in 1900. 

"God of our life through all encircling years, 

We trust in Thee.

In all the past, through all our hopes and fears,

Thy hand we see.

With each new day, when morning lifts the veil,

We own Thy mercies, Lord which never fail.

God of our past, our times are in Thy hand;

With us abide.

Lead us by faith to hope's true promised land;

Be Thou our guide.

With Thee to bless, the darkness shines as light,

And faith's frair vision changes into sight.

God of the coming years, through paths unknown,

We follow Thee.

When we are strong, Lord, leave us not alone;

Our refuge be.

Be Thou for us in life our Daily Bread,

Our heart's true home when all our years have sped".

                                                                                                             (Hugh T.Kerr)

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Pausing to rest !

A grater Coucal was perched in the neem tree in our  courtyard, when I walked out into the garden. What followed was something unusual.

The Greater Coucal took a short nap as seen in the following three photos. 

In a short time it was real to fly away! It was a mid morning pause to rest!

I know very little about sleep habits of birds. I have some photos of birds in still posture with eyes closed. I know that some birds do not always close eyes while sleeping. 

One aspect of this sequence of photos is, how a greater coucal was still for a while before closing its eyes. That could have been the normal pause in between the flights. But it became more than that. A bird responded to its body's need of rest.

I realise that this awareness of the state of the body is an important  skill we too can develop. The nearness to the way our body feels is an essential aspect of living with a sense of awareness. 

Our body gives us messages. A headache is a message; a dream is a message; tiredness is a message; not feeling good is a message...!

Our body gives us multiple signals or symptoms to call us to attention to the needs of the body, mind or soul. 

A paracetamol when there is a headache or a cup of coffee when  tired or watching the screen or listening to music when downcast.... they are not the answers, but only ad-hoc measures with transient benefit. 

Pausing to find the triggers and responding to them volitionally and proactively can assist us to become familiar with the purposes of the messages we feel in our body, mind or soul!

I know of a senior person who takes three minutes break about four times during the eight hours of the work he does during the day.  He returns home most days, energised and not tired because he used those three minutes break to nourish himself by 'becoming silently present to his body, mind and soul'!

One unfortunate experience of some, with whom I am in touch with is the state of their fractured sleep night after night. The cicardian rhythm of sleep is an essential Neuro-physiological requirement for metabolic and endocrine functioning. Going to bed late, interruption by dreams, getting up late with a tired feeling, micro sleep during the day and prolonged visual stimulation from the TV or computer late in the evening are some reasons for the fractured sleep. The essentials of sleep hygiene are, regular bed time rituals, fixing a time to go to bed and get up in the morning, good environmental conditions for sound sleep, avoiding stimulants at bed time and practicing a minimum seven hours of sleep with longer sleep during week end to accommodate sleep debt...The disorders of sleep can be treated by personal discipline with the help of a specialist. The snoring which many ignore can become a snare later to alter the quality of sleep. To sleep enough and well with attention to the Rapid Eye Movement sleep and non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep is a personal ritual adults and children need. 

 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

An evening ritual !

 

This pair of Bulbul looked engaged in a ritual that caught my attention. 

They settled on a tall coconut tree looking around and communicating to each other. They received the evening sun to dry themselves before settling in at their night shelter. Their body language was of consultation and communication. 

Just as the sun was setting, they moved into another tall tree to hide themselves in the foliage. I remembered noticing movements in this thick foliage at sunset on earlier occasions with poor visibility. Till dusk today, the Bulbuls were in this location. I presume that they chose that as their shelter for the night. 

There are three thoughts that crossed my mind while watching this Bulbul pair. 

They were communicative.

They were exploring the terrain.

They chose the next move.

The ritual of the evening which this avian family pursued brought home a message about living by volition and choice. 

I listened to our neighbour yesterday about several recent difficulties he faced as a family due to sickness, financial constraints and large debt he still has to pay to the bank. Each day is a burden for them as a family, from what I heard. The stress of having to respond to multiple needs! 

I happened to notice yesterday in the afternoon, that he was watering the plants on the wayside leading our cottage. He happened to notice them withering in the sun, while passing that way to visit someone. Having noticed it, he took time to water it. I accidentally noticed it while I was moving around in the garden looking for bird movements. 

He lived a burdened life. Even then the goodness within him endures. 

The Bulbuls in the photos above have a daily ritual of finding a safe shelter for the night. They begin the next day, wondering where they shall find their bread for the day! This neighbour too lives with an uncertainty about each day, knowing that the bank can give an ultimatum any day to pay back the debt. 

What was common between this avian family and our neighbour's family, is the hope that they convey!

The daily demands and the resilient spirit within!

The sight of the Bulbuls hidden in the foliage brought a comforting message. Night after night they find a shelter! 

We live in a threatened environment. Think of about 16000 families who lost their homes in the wild fire, still raging in the USA. The language of invasion that the president elect of the USA conveys targeting the Greenland and Canada is a frightening message! The geographical stress due to climate change and political ambition to dominate are threat to our wellness. The three most popular social media owners have decided to stop fact checking before anyone uploads information in their browser. Another threat to social integrity and ethics in public life!

Amidst all these, I watched a ritual in this Bulbul family! The language of intimacy in communication and being comfortable in their transient shelter at dusk, communicate a ritual of hope and peace!

The behaviour of Bulbuls is a symbol of hope and peace in a turbulent and aggressive world!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

 

Habit of movements!

A great Tit was moving along the cable in our courtyard at day break today. It walked, hopped and flew short distances during the movement along about twenty meters. The light conditions were not suitable to have better photographs at my current level of skills. 

Its hopping movement was oft repeated. It took a 360 degree view by turning around before it hopped each time. 

I notice this hopping movement in some birds. However inspecting the environment before it did by turning around to look was special to this Tit. 

Is it a habitual and conditioned behaviour! Or is it a developmental transition! The younger birds hop more than the older birds for whom  walking and flying are more natural to them?

The small birds like Tailor birds and Sun birds are swift in the movements. They convey a 'fidgety' state although it is unkind to think of them that way. The small birds have to be swift as the bigger birds can sometimes harass them. 

All of us have natural and acquired behaviours. Our innate or natural behaviour is inherent to our temperament. The acquired behaviours are adaptations to function optimally in different situations. 

One thought that crossed my mind while watching this Great Tit and its movement behaviour was the confidence and precision it exercised. It had a pattern and a direction. 

How a small bird functions admirably to accomplish what it intends to do!

I was left with a message how birds of the air carry a 'bagful of practical wisdom'! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Becoming a Finder !

A bulbul who is fond of ripe black pepper, visited this creeper almost every day in the morning. It is occasional that I get to take photos of its movements in the creeper because of the swiftness with which it moves in the foliage. 

On this occasion when I found it with a ripe pepper between its beaks, I confirmed my suspicion of its fondness for this fruit. 

The pepper having become ripe, had to be plucked for drying which was done a few days ago. The Bulbul still comes to look for its feed. 

This Bulbul made an intense search for any left over pepper in the creeper following the harvesting. 

I wondered if the Bulbul along with missing its feed felt dislocated from its flight station that it was used to! For a bird, changes are difficult to adjust to. 

 

As I waited to watch its new move, I was surprised to notice that it had spotted a ripe papaya fruit which was already partially eaten by other birds. The above three photos of it locating the fruit and feeding on it indicated to me how most birds are finders !

What it means to be a finder !

We are surrounded by opportunities. They remain accessible, although sometimes hidden to us. Sometimes others by virtue of their confidence in us about our abilities would suggest us to respond to them.

A highly qualified consultant in physical medicine and rehabilitation who works in government service was posted to a remote place in a health centre where this consultant had no facilities or opportunities to exercise her skills. At the end of about three months of facing this discouraging situation, this consultant decided to visit the local school to look for opportunity to help children who had different developmental needs.  That led to children coming to her in the health centre seeking her help. In a recent conversation I found out how this consultant turned that health centre to be a facility to support children with Neuro-developmental needs in different ways. 

This consultant became a finder!

A finder is one who is an active searcher to look for an opening to be available and to offer help to make a difference. It brings returns of fulfilment and addresses the needs of people to move on!

The opposite is self resignation or self pity!

The ripe fruit in the papaya tree was hidden from where the Bulbul was perched. But its need made it to be a finder!

This calls for living with a sense of presence by being alert and inquisitive. Often opportunities remain hidden! They are to be discovered imaginatively and creatively. Sometimes we encounter resistance to pursue what appears a calling! The consultant who needed financial resources to create a facility had to use part of the scary initially to create a facility to help children. It was after a few months those around saw the prospects and opportunity to support the initiative. 

All finders are those who feel a calling and set their heart to pursue it!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)