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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Rains at last.........and the birds are back!!!!

After the heat of the past few months, the rains are a welcome sight indeed......

Over the long summer months, what we missed most were the birds which thronged the trees outside our window... What with the leaves being shed in the extreme heat and the lack of water, the only birds we saw were crows, pigeons and sparrows! The crows finished up all the food and water we placed for the birds, not letting any other bird anywhere near..... The pigeons were the boldest, trying to grab a morsel while the crows were busy elsewhere..... as to the sparrows, they simply had to settle for the leftovers, since they were severely disadvantaged by their size!

When the Indian Laburnum (Amaltas/ Golden Shower) bloomed late in may right outside our window, we  were thrilled, for we imagined that the bright yellow flowers would attract some birds...but alas, the crows played spoil-sport, not allowing any birds anywhere near.... I hung around with my camera, trying to get some interesting photos, but all I could manage were some shots of the flowers and the sparrows......Not one other bird was to be seen!




And then, suddenly, the rains arrived, bringing joy to our hearts. For the very first time, Samhith ran down to make the most of the first showers of rain, thrilled at being allowed to get wet!


And finally, with the very first showers arrived the birds........

The first to be seen was the White breasted Water Hen... a regular monsoon visitor to our colony... He pottered among the puddles of water, giving me some nice chances to take pictures.....






And then came the bulbuls - both, the red vented and red-cheeked ones...... gamboling happily among the laburnum flowers.


The sight of water brought back the kingfishers, a white breasted kingfisher sat on the lamp post right outside, posing for a while.....


Finally came the sunbirds, but they were still wary of the crows and didn't stay for long. But at least they have returned.....



Amongst all these birds, a bee buzzed around, looking for some nectar, and to my surprise, I actually managed to take a snap of the little fellow....


And then, as we left for a class, we noticed a chameleon making the most of the sun peeping through the clouds.....


After the dearth of birds and animals through the summer, this was like a windfall, so many birds in just a day! And now, as Samhith's school starts, and we wait for the bus, the hunt has begun for the snails - our regular monsoon visitors.......

Comments

  1. What a lovely set of birds and insects the rain brought out.

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  2. Thanks! Took me down memory lane!

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  3. :) Was missing my regular bird blog watching :)
    Nice pics :) and it sure must have been a great relief with the rains :)

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  4. Ok. Now I know what they are called!

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  5. A lovely post Anu, thank you.
    Enjoy the rains, and the birds and the bees.:)

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  6. Nice to see the birds next to the house!!

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  7. Lovely shots !!! I am amazed at the depth of your knowledge about the birds! not just from this post, but several others !
    Me, i can never distinguish a myna from anything else !

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  8. @Mridula: oh yes.... the place has come alive, all of a sudden!

    @Usha: how come u havent taken any photos at delhi yet???

    @Joy: absolutely!!!

    @Shilpa: thanks so much! as to the relief... thats yet to come.. the rains are playing peek-a-boo as of now!

    @mumai paused: thanks :)

    @indicaspecies: thanks, celine!

    @Aravind: oh, there are lots of birds where we live, not a common sight in bbay!

    @Lavanya: i didnt know much about birds either... this was an attempt at getting samhith to get interested in something other than TV and violent toys, and now I am the one hooked!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Mridula: oh yes.... the place has come alive, all of a sudden!

    @Usha: how come u havent taken any photos at delhi yet???

    @Joy: absolutely!!!

    @Shilpa: thanks so much! as to the relief... thats yet to come.. the rains are playing peek-a-boo as of now!

    @mumai paused: thanks :)

    @indicaspecies: thanks, celine!

    @Aravind: oh, there are lots of birds where we live, not a common sight in bbay!

    @Lavanya: i didnt know much about birds either... this was an attempt at getting samhith to get interested in something other than TV and violent toys, and now I am the one hooked!

    ReplyDelete

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