Displaced and Disturbed!

The early signs of winter is evident in our garden. The leaves and the lawn are covered with dew in the morning. 

At dawn I watched something unusual in our garden. Two Egrets were on the coconut palm. One of them flew down to be perched in the wood apple tree, then the mango tree and stationed at the wall of the compound. 

Another Egret flew down to locate in the lawn and looked around for food to feed on. It had less inhibition although it looked around in suspicion of the unfamiliar grassland. The Egrets are known to be sensitive to what is around them and show a fretful behaviour.

The Magpie robin normally resident in our garden looked around to see these new feathered visitors. It too looked fretful with its body gestures of discomfort. 

The two Egrets behaved differently. One was cautious and hesitant and stayed restricted.  The other used the occasion to explore and find something to feed on. 

While engaged in watching the bird behaviours of these three birds, I noticed a small butterfly, of Leptosia nina species flying around and settling for a few seconds on a leaf covered by dew. It is a butterfly which flies more than resting on any surface. Even when resting, its wings moved because of which, I could not get a sharp picture. Its wandering nature from one garden to another is what is special to this species. 

I noticed a few Egrets  at different places in our garden during the day. The paddy field below our property are now a rubber tree nursery. The manure and insecticide spray used are offensive to the Egrets. The cattle which used to graze on the grass are no more there. The Egrets who normally hovered around them felt displaced. They are now looking for a hospitable terrain. 

The rubber saplings are for export to Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. 

I sense that there is a down side to development and hurried economic activity even in villages. 

While walking in the evening to the vegetable shop, a farmer in his seventies, who  knew my father, stopped me to have a chat. When I enquired of him about his wellness, he told me that he lost his house when the road was widened and he is yet to get the compensation after two years. He lives with a relative as he did not have other resources to to build his house or a land to build on. 

One might say that such stories are occasional. However, such stressful experiences happen and the current mindset of 'progress at any cost' is not a welcome sign for inclusive development. 

I thought about the displaced Egrets who are looking for new terrain for their livelihood. These waterbirds are forced to move to dry lands. 

Anna and I thought about creating a built in waterbody in our garden, but the gardener who works for us wondered if the water body which is stagnant would be healthy for fish and for other birds! 

I suppose we would have these Egrets visiting our garden frequently!

As I was walking back to our cottage, I noticed a aeroplane in the skyline. The air port is thirty five kilometres away from our village. It is common during the day to spot aircrafts high up in the sky during the day. 

We live in an environment where, life is unfolding to be materially comfortable and successful to many. 

But there are those who get displaced in this culture of compulsive economic development. 

I wonder, whether those who get displaced, humans and avians would find alternative comfort zones to live peaceably and flourishingly!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)