The heat and dust of Melghat did knock me off for a day. With a heavy head and a fever I decided to stay up at Chikaldhara one morning, and not take the jungle ride down to Melghat. I did wander through the lanes around and also had the privilege of getting morning tea. (Given the way the MTDC place was organised, it was a real and rare privilege believe me!)
As I sat in the verandah overlooking the valley, a rufous-backed or long-tailed shrike came and sunned itself on the bare tree in front of me. I have not seen this bird before, about a foot long, but immediately recognisable by its profile, and my constant thumbing through bird books. It was quite enjoyable, I must say, drinking hot and sweet chai, sitting in a chair in a verandah overlooking a valley, the cool morning air and the birds come and parade in front of you!
When the group returned I told them about my morning, as they briefed me on their morning walk through the forest, seeing a mamma stork and her 2 juveniles, and coping with an increasingly nervous Deepika!
Shoba then enlightened me about these shrikes - also called butcher birds. They have hooked beaks, and have this rather nasty habit of impaling their prey for future eating. So, tasty worms, bugs, lizards, mice and such like are stuck on to a convenient thorn or barbed wire, and eaten later when they are hungry.
I was quite appalled when she first told me about this habit, but then on reflection I realised its not such a big deal is it? They are just being clever and planning for future needs isnt it? Well we do it all the time in our refrigerators - keeping more food than we need! Okay, its not bugs and lizards, but so what?
And then I saw this video......
No comments:
Post a Comment