Last month, I complained about not being able to see any birds (Where are ye 'all?) except the pigeons in my neighborhood and the weeks after that I’ve been seeing quite an improvement. Parrots! They’re all over the terraces (except mine. That’s still a complaint!).
My neighbor feeds them with rice early morning
and hordes of parrots fly from the west and perch on the terraces and coconut trees.
Realizing this, I started placing heaps of rice in small hills around me terrace too, but they wouldn’t even look at them. I thought I should give them sometime and kept on doing it every other day. Well, most of the times it’s the pesky squirrels who’d empty it all! I sometimes wonder if they have stomachs all over their bodies!
Once or twice a parrot or two would taste the rice a bit and they’re soon scared off by squirrels!
But I am glad that I’m able to see the parrots these days and that too frequently – both in the morning and evening! Now that’s really something.
I also did spot two other birds (or are they the same?) last week – not sure what they’re – Any idea?
Somehow the parrots seem okay with the presence of pigeons and crows (I've seen them chasing the crows sometimes if they sit on the same leaf, but they happily share their food with pigeons!)... 
Today evening, even though I was sneezing constantly, I couldn't resist going to watch the birds. I'm sure many were scared off by my sneezes, but I did capture a parrot doing a little jumpy thing on a coconut tree. It was funny watching it.
One morning last week, I went to the terrace to spray my plants with Neem extract (unfortunately it rained minutes after I came down) and I saw this great scene. The parrot looked as if it was doing Sûrya Namaskara (an exercise with yogic postures and chating that keeps your body healthy and fit) early in the morning.
24 comments:
How awesome to have parrots! Are they always green or do you have different types. ?
I'm amazed by the Parrots in your garden! We don't get such colorful & tropical birds here. :)
You're so lucky to be visited by such beautiful birds! The most colorful birds that visit me are goldfinches and hummingbirds, but I'm really not complaining.
Nice photos. I wonder why the parrots wont eat your rice? Oh well, at least you can enjoy watching them.
Great post, Chandramouli. Looks like the birding world is beginning to favour you. The two birds you wanted to identify are the male (black) and female of the same species, the Koel. They're parasitic ... they lay their eggs in the nests of crows. Its funny watching the normally sharp and intelligent crows dilligently feeding a Koel chick.
If you dont have one, invest in a copy of Salim Ali's "The Book of Indian Birds" . Its really fascinating and helps to identify all the birds you're likely to see.
I have a lot of parrots visiting my garden too but they're drawn by the tender cashewnuts and mango growing there.
gardenerprogress: Welcome to Plantville. It's only green always. I've never seen other kinds, it'd be great to see others though. Anyways I'm planning to get a bird for a pet so there'd be another kind!
perennialgardener: I used to see more parrots when I was young and their 'keeing' sounds used to be such an irritation before, but now their population had dwindled - what with cutting down of trees and stacking of buildings.
Michelle: Hummingbirds and Finches! Wow! I've always wanted to see a hummingbird - never seen one in real! It's great to have parrots, but I still yearn for other species that used to visit us years before - like warblers, mynas, koels, to name a few.
Alan: I'm wondering the same, Alan, but as you said, I'm lucky that I get to see them at least.
Sunita: Oh these are Koels, eh? I've never been good at identifying birds. I couldn't only make out their calls from my childhood. We used to have fun calling to Koels who'd reply back and after sometime if you stop calling, they'd give a shrill continuous call. We used to enjoy it.
Ahh! Tell me about these parrots an mangoes! They used to be pests now, but with very few mango trees now their population has dwindled. Poor ones. Wish I had a land to grow a Mango forest for them! Hmmm... I shoulddefinitely look for the book today or may be tomorrow (wow! it's my weekly off tomorrow! what a timing!)
How awesome to have parrots in your naborhod! WOW!
I realy liked to read your post!
And look at the photos of these exotic parrots!
Linda
Squirrels steal the food meant for birds throughout the world, it seems. I enjoyed your photos of the parrots.
I hope your cold is better soon.
Hi Linda, Thank you so much. Aren't they such darlings?
Marvin: Danged ones they're, though they do look cute sometimes, I can't help cursing them. Thank you :)
Hi Chandramouli, interesting post and I must say you are lucky to have those colourful birds in your garden, I hope they are not too noisy.
Tyra
Chandramouli, here I am making amends, finally visiting you! And enjoying myself immensely. It sounds like you have been suffering from either a bad cold or perhaps a reaction to the mold spores growing on those bulbs? Here in Florida, mold can be a big problem too. Are you familiar with the use of essential oils like clove, lemon, eucalyptus, etc., to destroy spores and alleviate symptoms of exposure to them? I hope you feel better soon. Thanks again for visiting my site.
Tyra: I would love them to be noisy. I used to hate those keeing sounds years before but now they're welcomed greatly! Of course you wouldn't hear them distinctly indoors but only when you go out.
walk2write: Hi, Welcome to Plantville. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the stay. It IS my pleasure to visit your site. All the blogs in my blog list are my fave. I try not to miss any of them.
My cold is not due to the mold. We're pretty immune to them almost always (of course, there're exceptions sometimes), but this is due to the pesticide that they sprayed in our office and the nature didn't help either - it's dewy season here and I caught viral infection. I'm getting better. Am a bit better now, but still I try not to waste the free time when I get sick and keep myself busy.
Thank you so much again :)
It is too cold here for parrots but some released Monk parrots have bred into quite a colony in down town Austin. The city keeps the lights on at a ball field to provide warmth for them in the winter. Every one enjoys seeing parrots. I so wish I had some around my house like you do.
I am so glad that these birds visited you and you could capture them. We have trees around our building and though I hear a lot of cooing and bird calls, seldom get to see any interesting ones.
Thanks for the pictures, and for visiting my blog. :)
Chandramouli, as usual your pics and the commentary are excellent. The thing about pigeons is they are aggressive in chasing out other birds, right there next to crows. I have not seen any sparrows in a long, long while. We get the parrots, warblers, an occasional kingfisher/woodpecker. But no sparrows? Where have all the sparrows gone?
You are lucky to entice the parrots so close to your terrace. Around here we call those cute, little, destructive, piggy, rodents, "chipmunks". Even though they are smaller than grey squirrels or fox squirrels that we have coming to our feeders they can be just as destructive.
Those sunset photos are marvelous.
Bob: Monk Parakeets (Quaker Parrots)? Whoa! They're so talkative and sweet, I hear. I'm in fact considering to buy a bird for pet and I did a lot of research on different species and I reckon these make best buddies, except that they're loud as hell like the Indian Ringnecked Parakeet - the ones that visit my terrace, but both are excellent at mimicking words and if trained, can also respond to words!
Raji: It's great to see you here ma'am. I've become a fan of your blog!
In fact these birds are very shy and fly away even if I am 10 feet away from them. All the photos were captured at 12x zoom. I too hear sparrows chirping - this morning too, but am unable to see where they come from. Isn't it strange that suddenly the birds have gone in hiding in Chennai (for the past almost 10 years)?
Krithika: Warblers? In Chennai? Okay I remember seeing them in outskirts of Chennai but never ever in and around my area. And kingfisher/woodpecker? Now, that's so exciting? BTW, which part of Chennai you in?
BTW, Sparrow population has reduced considerably in the past few years as people started building houses that aren't suitable for their nests and no feed for them! In fact it was Near Threatened Species, but it's population has improved with past two years.
Lisa: LOL! I'm so glad you called those rascals with so many suitable adjectives. Ah! I understand how you feel. They're so pesky, aren't they? But sometimes watching them playing with each other makes you think they're the most sweetest rodents!
Thank you so much :)
How wonderful to see your parrots, Chandramouli! I think I have my blog list fixed so I can see your updates now. I was reading your post above on the Solstice. What do you think about sun gazing and the health benefits from it?--Randy
How do you fix the blog list? Mine sometimes doesn't update properly. Is there some setting that needs tweaking?
Sun gazing is good for health as far as it is during the dawn. In fact our ancestors suggest us to circumambulate (come around the tree in clockwise direction) the tree during the dawn for the benefits of fresh oxygen from the tree and the morning rays of sun. It is known to give Vitamin D which is important for skin and other parts of our body.
In Indian (ancient) medicine practices, I remember showing a baby in the early morning sun for curing some disease - forgive my memory - can't remember what for.
We guys who reach a certain age say around 8 years to 13 years are taught an incantation to worship the sun during the dawn, afternoon, and twilight. Sun has always been an important deity for physical and mental fitness.
Why babies are laid to bask in the balmy sunlight of the morning , I understand, is to treat them for jaundice which many babies are born with - a very mild form, which disappears in a matter of days.
And the other reason you have yourself mentioned - Vitamin D.
Surya namaskaram is also said to promote good health - but you have to do it for yourself, no use asking the family priest to perform it - as some people do - then it benefits only the priest
:))
Chandramouli,
I just deleted the list and started it over again. We'll see how it works.
Ask and you receive. Nature is listening and she delivers. The parrot pics are real nice
Right said Ms Muthukrishnan! One has to learn and do it themselves to reap its benefits, but the sad fact is very few people know to do it along with the right chantings!
nativeplace gardener: So aptly put! Thank you for visiting. Hope I make you come back! :)
Randy: Somehow, it seems to have fixed itself now. Lemme see if it updates properly for few days. If not, I'm gonna have to do the same. Lemme know if it worked. :)
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