15 Birds in the Garden
In the last few days I’m pleased to say that our little community of friends has been enhanced by the arrival of a wood dove. When he first arrived it was difficult to believe in his reality, he looked just like he’d stepped off an engraver’s block, so perfect and precise was he in colour and marking. He’s a very quiet bird, and sticks to the ground while eating, I’ve never even seen him atop the basket where the main food is placed, instead he picks at what has been thrown down by the clumsy babblers – one couldn’t imagine a dove being so scruffy and careless, in fact the way it picks at its food one feels it is quite meticulous in its manners. Each species of bird has a definite character of its own, and getting to know them better is part of the joy of being here.
over the hill
the silvery blue sky
fades into darkness
the coconut trees
in silhouette stand clear
a sliver of moon
follows the sun
and stars once more appear
and as I turn
a silent form glides
from tree to tree
and scampers up
looking nervously around
and from the top
he launches off
crossing air without a sound
over the land
the dark grows dense
embracing all about
boys play no more
it’s time for the bullfrog to sing
I sit and I watch
with thanks in my heart
for the gift of this lovely evening
It’s been a busy time in the air this morning. Later than usual there were bats still flying out from the jak tree; I occasionally see one or two in the morning but today there were a dozen or more, varying from the very small, hard to tell apart from large butterflies, to very big, with a wingspan of 4 ft or more. The first bird to show was a babbler, much earlier than usual, who flew back and forth in solitary fashion before being joined by his fellows.
They then proceeded to do something I’ve never seen them do before – fish for insects in the air; quite remarkable, they were sitting on the crossbeam of my beanpole site and diving up, and obviously coming back with a beakful. They were soon joined by the champion at this sport, the drongo. Then there was a real invasion of about 30 crows, juveniles and adults, chasing through the air, banging into each other and into the trees – one of the crows felled a branch 2 inches thick. They perched on, and clumsily knocked over, the bricks bordering the walking meditation path – it was all very chaotic.
Then the light became clear enough to see what the attraction was, alongside my rock garden is an ant colony, and a migration of flying ants was underway, providing breakfast on the wing. Others who joined in the feast included mynahs, and even coucals who are a heavy bird quite unused to this way of feeding. The garden being turned into an aviary attracted the attention of our local stoat, who proceeded to cause more chaos by chasing the crows. The circus continued and later, even a little egret, the biggest bird in the vicinity in spite of its name, and an Indian pond heron, came to see what all the fuss was about – they usually stay in the paddy fields, and this was the first time I’d seen them in the garden, but by then the ants had either landed and shaken off their wings in a new territory, or had ended up providing the first meal of the day to a variety of delighted birds.
the clouds are heavy and low
the air is clear and fresh
the stars are there to be seen
such a wonder in heaven above
a ray comes out from the sun
lending colour to the sky
mauve, peach, and cream
and morning star twinkles on
butterflies dance all around
out of blue an egret descends
spiralling down to earth
flapping to break the fall
the trees have newness of green
bamboo bends to greet the day
flickering leaves in the dawn
blowing with the breeze