I was at Delhi yet again and the weather was lovely (many would disagree). It made up for my gloomy feverish self. It had been pouring cats and dogs and the Yamuna was swirling around and threatening to flow over. Between bouts of fever and the almost incessant rains I managed to do some scouting around the campus to get some images of the avian residents.
A surprise was in store, for right outside our home in the car parking i saw Lapwings strutting around in the little puddles. I had heard them calling during the day and had just assumed that they were flying over the campus towards the barrage like the egrets (they never stop by). But the Lapwing couple was in the sparsely populated parking each day and they seemed not to mind much my intrusive gawking.
The Tawny Eagle, or thats what we figured these are, are more numerous than the crows I can safely say. Their eerie calls can be heard through the day and a look skyward (especially close to the laundry would definitely reveal a couple of them. However , this is the only remotely presentable image i have from this visit.
Of all the joys of re-discovering the campus , the one held most precious is the growing familiarity with the whereabouts of some of these birds. The owlets on the laundry clothes lines post 9 at night , the Yellow Footed Green Pigeons in the almost deserted lane beside the herbarium etc. I've learnt that this flameback can usually be spotted between 7-8 in the morning or close to 5 in the evening on this leafless tree each day.
It calls out loud and clear during its perch and just once have I seen it in the company of another of its kind. Frequently it has been a red vented bulbul or laughing dove or collared dove for company. The sight of this Flameback (though now familiar) thrills me , the colours are rich and bright , just the kind of company a hospital campus needs!
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