1. A young Tabebuia (tree that fills up with pink flowers, much like the Jacaranda) just flexing its floral muscles
2. An yet unidentified tree that grows slim and tall in front of the balcony (maybe seesham)
3. An unidentified berry tree, which the study windows overlook
This AM, sipping tea, I sat at the study window, admiring the Sunday weather. It is my observation that the weather gods are kindest to Bangalore on Sundays. The miasmic air that pervades the city the rest of week is on curfew on Sundays and a bright but benign sunshine sashays forward. This morning was no exception. To quote Bertie misquoting Tennyson:
“In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove.”
A sunny winter Sunday in Bangalore competes well with a Spring morning of London any day. But this morning, some other lines from the same poem seemed to apply as well:
In the Spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin's breast;
In the Spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest;
in the sense that birds were up and about as if they owned the place.
As I sat with the tea, I heard an unfamiliar bird call and looked up from the Hindu. On the berry tree outside, just two arm lengths away, was sitting a Common Iora, worrying at something, as birds do. This was the first time I saw this beaut in the layout, so an unexpected treat.
But this was just the beginning- I realized that the berry tree is a half way place to many a visiting pilot. So from the control tower I watched the following birds busily land, have a quick breakfast of berry & nectar and take off, all in the next 5 minutes:
The berry tree from the window:
A common Iora (all snaps beyond this are from the web):
A Loten's Sun Bird and mate, shining brilliant purple in the sunlight:
A purple-rumped sun bird & mate:
A Great Tit, with its delicate hues:
A lone Golden Oriole:
A Drongo:
And a Green Bee Eater did a fly past:
I also saw an unidentified Babbler (I think), across the road. Add to that list the fact that I saw a Greater Coucal earlier in the morning on the same tree, one realizes quickly how much life a berry tree supports. No wonder our elders revered the Banyan and Raavi (Peepal) trees- if the tree outside the study was a small town airstrip, these giants are like the International airports of the birding world (not to mention mammalian, reptilian and insect life)!
Kudos to the berry tree, and may more of these be planted than cut in Bangalore.
