With the urban concrete jungle spreading in all directions, I will not be surprised if we get to see birds only in zoos or in captivity at homes under the disguise of pets. Not only are trees being cut down but waterbodies are also being filled to satisfy the hunger of real estate developers. So our small flying wonders are finding it difficult to survive even in the outskirts of the city leading to their depletion.
After moving into the new flat, my mother started feeling the pinch of space. Her only escape from the cramped apartment was the small hanging balcony adjoining the living space. Our neighbors had their balcony next to ours. We could see small house sparrows and pigeons visiting their balcony every morning to binge on the rotis that the owner of the balcony left during early dawn. My mother too wanted to contribute so she decided to keep a bird bath next to our balcony. To my dismay, I could only find the neighborhood scavengers drinking from the bird bath and also taking a dip at times. The crows kept watch so that no one apart from them could afford the luxury of the bird bath. I prefer to call it a luxury as my other cleaned the bird bath twice a day and also ensured that the water was changed when the temperature soared under the scorching sun.
As it was summer, my disappointment at not finding any of the other flying wonders next to our bird bath did not last long. In our neighborhood, only our society has a bunch of trees, which obviously are the only abodes of all the flying wonders in our area. Some of our neighbors are kind enough to share their lunch and dinner with them. But we should not forget one thing - even our small buddies need to quench their thirst. I can tell you something - that if I were to take a pair of binoculars and spent hours on end searching for waterbodies, I would have definitely found none. So the little birdies had nowhere to go except for my mother's bird bath. Initially, they kept watch from various vantage points about the whereabouts of the crows. Whenever the coast was clear, they would swoop down, take a dip and then fly back to safety. Sometimes they would run out of luck and would be pushed away from the bird bath by the ever vigilant crows guarding the bath. The little birdies were not only wary of the scavengers but also feared the flightless inhabitants of the apartment. But with the rising temperature they decided to take the risk more often. The pigeons were the first to break the ice followed by the house sparrows and a wide variety of other birds.
We ensured that no one would linger on the balcony if there were little wonders waiting around to take a dip. This led to a lot of delightful sights which we could have never dreamed of seeing in a city. The pigeons would soak themselves in the water and then spend sometime basking under the sun while cooling their heels in the bath. The house sparrows would dive into the bath every now and then and come out rejuvenated. Some of them even hung around in our balcony while waiting for their turn at the bath. Before long, we had a group of house sparrows chirping away merrily, an anonymous pigeon doing a catwalk on the balcony railing and crows dipping their morsels into the bird bath before swallowing them.
The bird bath was a small step at welcoming the small flying wonders in our small hanging balcony. Now, one can see both flightless as well as flying wonders lingering about on the our hanging balcony in a typical middle class society.
After moving into the new flat, my mother started feeling the pinch of space. Her only escape from the cramped apartment was the small hanging balcony adjoining the living space. Our neighbors had their balcony next to ours. We could see small house sparrows and pigeons visiting their balcony every morning to binge on the rotis that the owner of the balcony left during early dawn. My mother too wanted to contribute so she decided to keep a bird bath next to our balcony. To my dismay, I could only find the neighborhood scavengers drinking from the bird bath and also taking a dip at times. The crows kept watch so that no one apart from them could afford the luxury of the bird bath. I prefer to call it a luxury as my other cleaned the bird bath twice a day and also ensured that the water was changed when the temperature soared under the scorching sun.
As it was summer, my disappointment at not finding any of the other flying wonders next to our bird bath did not last long. In our neighborhood, only our society has a bunch of trees, which obviously are the only abodes of all the flying wonders in our area. Some of our neighbors are kind enough to share their lunch and dinner with them. But we should not forget one thing - even our small buddies need to quench their thirst. I can tell you something - that if I were to take a pair of binoculars and spent hours on end searching for waterbodies, I would have definitely found none. So the little birdies had nowhere to go except for my mother's bird bath. Initially, they kept watch from various vantage points about the whereabouts of the crows. Whenever the coast was clear, they would swoop down, take a dip and then fly back to safety. Sometimes they would run out of luck and would be pushed away from the bird bath by the ever vigilant crows guarding the bath. The little birdies were not only wary of the scavengers but also feared the flightless inhabitants of the apartment. But with the rising temperature they decided to take the risk more often. The pigeons were the first to break the ice followed by the house sparrows and a wide variety of other birds.
We ensured that no one would linger on the balcony if there were little wonders waiting around to take a dip. This led to a lot of delightful sights which we could have never dreamed of seeing in a city. The pigeons would soak themselves in the water and then spend sometime basking under the sun while cooling their heels in the bath. The house sparrows would dive into the bath every now and then and come out rejuvenated. Some of them even hung around in our balcony while waiting for their turn at the bath. Before long, we had a group of house sparrows chirping away merrily, an anonymous pigeon doing a catwalk on the balcony railing and crows dipping their morsels into the bird bath before swallowing them.
The bird bath was a small step at welcoming the small flying wonders in our small hanging balcony. Now, one can see both flightless as well as flying wonders lingering about on the our hanging balcony in a typical middle class society.
