A distressing bird call!

I heard a harsh prolonged and repetitive bird call in our garden on morning last week. When I got out, I noticed a Little egret, most likely an adult, perched on a banana tree. It looked in all directions and continued its harsh bird calls like an alarm, as if it was in distress, for about five minutes it was perched there. 

It was after a long time I noticed a Little egret in our garden. There are other water birds who are now regular visitors in the garden. I notice regular Pond herons, Egrets and Cormorants in our garden. 

For a few days, I noticed a Little egret in our garden at other sites, which made me wonder whether a few of them are around during their migratory journey!

As they have a few preferred flight locations and are often noticed in the morning and evening, it is easier to spot them. 

I have limited skills in understanding the bird habitats and behaviour. One aspect that comes to light as I look out for birds is the regularity of their behaviour. There is a predictability about their  movement patterns.

The above book by a former British High Commissioner who lived in New Delhi from 1957 to 1959, has a rich collection of bird vivid descriptions of habitat and behaviour. Malcom in an impressive  literary style  brought a vivid scenes of the birds in our mind. It was while reading that book, I got an introduction to the ways to observe for bird behaviour. Let me quote what he wrote about Spotted Owlets who were resident his garden after they became familiar to him:

'After the first few weeks of our acquaintance they became used to me, and rarely treated me to the demonstrations of disapproval. Nevertheless whenever, I bobbed my head up and down at them they at once returned the compliment by bobbing theirs up and down at me. But they no longer accompanied this action with vocal protests. The gestures seemed to be just a friendly exchange of diplomatic courtesies' (p10).

There can develop a natural communication between us and our avian visitors. It is one way of offering them hospitality and a non- threatening environment. 

The disturbing thing about photographing birds is when something goes wrong with the camera. The charger of the battery that I use for the camera stopped functioning. It was five years old. When I asked for a replacement from a local dealer he told me that I replace the camera as it was already five years old and spares are unlikely to be easy to find. It took him five days to locate a battery charger. When I went to fetch it, the camera dealer told me that there were two generations of advanced camera since I updated my camera five years ago. I sensed a gentle pressure from him to upgrade mine to reduce the risk of being stranded. His argument was that the normal life of camera for its best performance is five years. The buy back offer gives only about thirty percent of the cost of a new camera. The camera world has shrunk since the mobile phones come with excellent camera lenses. The high end cameras are alone in demand for profession use. 

The bird world is an enthusing experience. It helps me to be drawn by the life the birds live bringing sounds and songs in our garden through the day! They bring comfort and lessen the feeling of  stress we carry with us! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)