As usual, I was in our garden little before dawn. I noticed movements of birds, and was engrossed by sighting a Parakeet, after a few weeks. The light was not enough to have a long distant picture of the Parakeet. I waited for better light and stayed focussed on its movements.
My attention was disturbed by the sound of splashing of water in our bird bath, which was only a few feet away from me. I noticed a Bulbul, in the water bath, who is a regular bather in the water bath.
Normally, it gets into the water and dips to be covered by water as in the above photo. It has a few dips before flying away to dry itself.
I waited to see this Bulbul immersing in water, but that did not happen this time. Instead, it stayed at the hedge of the bird bath, splashed water with its beaks over the body, and changed direction to splash water on both sides of the body. That was a new discovery for me that birds too have some patters they get used to. Its cerebral cortex is not so developed that it has an anatomical conditioning for dominance of one side over the other.
It was a pleasure to watch how the repetitive splashing of water drenched the feathers from the initial scattered water drops over the wings.
By the time it splashed water with its face and neck and tail, the Bulbul was well drenched. Knowing Bulbuls as birds giving ultra-attention to grooming, I was not surprised by the process of bathing without getting into water.
What followed the first part of the ritual, was drying the feathers in a precise order, first the head, followed by the tail, feathers on the wings and finally the rest of the body. The bird shook the tail on both directions, then in a spreading action of the wings and shook them one by one. Then it moved the whole body in repetitive acts of gentle sustained shaking with outstretched wings. All of this got over in a short period.
The Bulbul was looking alert and ready to fly to its next flight station. It looked around to charter its path. When Daffny barked, who too was watching this ritual quietly, the Bulbul flew away.
What surprised me while watching this bathing ritual was the order and attention with which it proceeded to have its bath and groom the body.
One thing I noticed often with birds is that, they position themselves in sunshine after their bath, to help in drying their body.
During this time of this ritual, I had other birds visiting the adjacent trees. I would have liked to take the photo of a Golden Oriole, who is only an occasional visitor to the garden. I refrained from that instinct as I was keen to follow through the sequence of a bird bath experience of a Bulbul, different from the usual.
One experience arising from this bird bath ritual of a bulbul, is a greater awareness about its routine of readiness process for its long haul of flights during the day following the bath. This avian behaviour of self care and responsibility is a model to consider.
Yesterday, when I decided to walk back from a shop after some purchases, the shop keeper suggested that I hire a vehicle to go home. I found it comfortable to walk back home which was only three fourth of a kilometre. I happened to mention that my desire is to walk three kilometres each day. The shop keeper and his communion who looked overweight said, 'we get into our bike and travel every where. Look at our weight, it is much more than yours'! I found a persona confession of regret in his statement.
Thos in middle age are those for whom this dimension of self care is vital. Following this, while asking back, I saw 12 people, men and women, out of which ten looked obviously overweighing.
The self care ensures wellness and agility!
The birds are an outstanding example of diligence in staying in flight ready by practicing grooming!
Someone recently told me that if there are walking spaces like parks, people gather there to walk, inspired by the example of the regular walkers!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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