A birdwatcher's diary

I was at CEC yesterday after a gap of almost a year. I have been doing a lot of catching up recently with people as well as places and the emotional reactions have ranged from nostalgia to complete irritation. It has made me wonder what all this re-connecting really means. Most of the time you're the one more cynical, intolerant or fat than the other person and then it becomes harder to accept the passing of time. Though I do think it's a bit different with places- it's easier to slip into the old ways without being thrown off balance completely.

So the walk through the gate, past the CEC building and the pond was completed with a measure of relief. The only new thing was the rather disturbing presence of House Crows everywhere. They really seem to have increased here in the last 10 years. Not many birds were around in the rain that poured almost continuously. And lots of mosquitoes (the black and white ones that made me nostalgic again). Snails were aplenty on the shrivelled Karvi bushes. Everything was green and muddy broken by the new red foliage of the beheda tree and the gulmohar which was flowering valiantly.


The Karvi also had a number of beetles and flies and an intriguing moth that looks like a bird dropping. No sign or call of the ODK this time although it is expected to nest here. Maybe the crows are responsible. A Shikra, two hornbills, a Black Drongo and Monarch flycatcher were seen along the Pongam valley trail and a Brahminy Kite patrolled overhead. A group of people passed by with sacks- probably collecting the crabs that are found in the rains here.

We reached the 13th culvert and turned back and it started raining heavily. Suddenly we saw a snake, a Bronze backed Tree snake:



It's head is lifted and is looking at the photographer if you look carefully. It was a long snake and after examining us, it shook off some raindrops and went into the undergrowth. A nice walk in the morning which ended with vada-pav near the station !

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At Vengurla Bunder, there were a few people line fishing. I was curious and went closer to find this pretty fish which was about to die and maybe become someone's lunch. I have ambivalent thoughts about eating fish- I love seafood and find it hard to give up. Over the years, I have read much about the terrible impact of overfishing and the fish species which are now under threat- not to mention the birds and other creatures that are affected by large scale fishing. It makes me feel uncomfortable when I eat fish, thinking about whether it would've been caught ethically or not- (please, no vegetarian vs non-vegetarian rants on this post).



These kind of choices are also important when you visit a place as a tourist. How many resources are you going to use up? How much respect do you have for the environment there & how much pressure are you putting on it? At a practical level, one person's choices may become irrelevant, but at an ethical level it does matter to me.

It's been almost 9 years since I visited the Goa- Sindhudurg area. I felt I'd come home, especially when we were in Vengurla, which is in South Maharashtra in the Sindhudurg district. I think I noticed the lush greenery for the first time because I was so used to the dry and stony surroundings in Hyderabad (which have their own appeal). Many old houses were there, built with red laterite bricks and red tiles. Coconut palms, mango trees- magnificently old and dignified were around every corner. Ficus trees too- Banyan and the Gular (Umbar) were plentiful and fruiting. The rains had sent the first Pancratium lilies above the ground and pink sprays of orchids were common on the mango trees. Four (!) Pied Crested Cuckoos on the plateau near Vengurla town were a sure sign of the approaching rain. Drongo Cuckoos and Plaintive Cuckoos kept up their song as well. Orange Headed Ground Thrushes and Puff throated Babblers sang--it felt like I was greeting some old friends.  A beautiful Crimson Sunbird fluttering near the coconut palms was one of the last birds I saw as I left. It wasn't a very long trip, but saw many interesting things.

A tree is a tree is a tree
A scientific name, a category.
Careful as you count the leaves-

Is it a pale or dark green weave?
Softly hairy or sandpapery?
A tree is a tree is a tree.

A boy sits there, can't you see?
Sells coconuts, ignorant of botany
a scientific name, a category.

A squirrel has knitted a drey
in a fork and still you say
A tree is a tree is a tree.

The molecules that make up me
flowers, sap, this mellow breeze
bring us closer than capital C's.

Crowds of personas, so many me-s
Resilient, fierce, benevolent trees
grow inside and around categories.
A tree is me-s she-s he-s and thee-s