The tree was full of these birds and their nests! I've seen empty nests before, close to Pulicat, but this was the first time I saw the birds and the nests in use. We saw a couple of males who have a lovely yellow cap and breast during breeding, but I think this one is a female.
Mr Baya is rather industrious. He weaves this nest from paddy reeds and other grass. He also has a regular harem, with several wives and a separate nest for each one! Now the interesting thing is, he weaves several of these halfway (like the one in the picture) and then has to await approval of the Mrs! A prospective Mrs Baya comes along takes a look inside while the anxious male waits outside. If she approves of his weaving skills, she occupies the nest, completes it, and then lays the eggs inside, taking full responsibility of incubating them! Then, our cheery Mr Baya goes off and looks for more wives with more half-finished nests!!
What interesting lives in my environment, and I didn't know about this until now! The finished nest has a passage that goes upwards into the egg chamber, and its so secure that snakes cannot get at the eggs. Click here for more details on the nest and some great pictures and drawings of completed nests.
The Glossy Ibis was my second new "discovery" at Vedanthangal, actually in the fields surrounding the protected sanctuary. This is the adult in breeding plumage, and the sun caught the colours quite spectacularly.
The Glossy Ibis, if I'm not mistaken, is a winter visitor, and a glamorous one at that. As I watched it, intent on feeding in the fields I had this image of a serious and ponderous gent all dressed up for a music kutcheri but more interested in the newspaper in his lap!
The slow, stalking movements take away from my pre-conceived image of grace! Quite similar to the painted stork, so beautifully captured in this photo taken within the sanctuary. Such lovely colours and such an elegant pose - like a fashion model on the ramp, but then there's an awkwardness to their gait and a certain silliness when they clack their beaks that takes away from the image! Maybe thats why Ranjit Lal christened the Prime Minister in his Crow Chronicles as Pinky Stink Tainted Storkji!
I am reading the book, set in Bharatpur, and the bird personalities are so apt, that I think I'm going to write a couple of posts based on that book!
And late in the evening, I finally saw a Common Hawk Cuckoo, also known as the Brainfever bird! In Kanha, in the summer of 2005, they called out to us, from all over the forest, but maddeningly, I never did get a good sight of them, as they hid in the foliage, or took off just when I sighted them. So, four years later, I look up into the foliage, and I saw a juvenile just sitting there, quietly. No call. I would've missed it entirely if I had not glanced upwards. They call mainly in the summer and are largely silent in the winter.
Sripad's got this great shot as it feeds on its favourite food - hairy caterpillars!
Brain-fever birdFor more of Sripad's bird race pictures click here.
For more of our pictures from Vedanthangal, click here.
Lovely photos and writeup. I remember seeing many weaver bird nests on drives into the countryside outside Madras, but they were always empty. Interesting marital arrangement Mr & Mrs Baya have!!
ReplyDeleteRead crow chronicles quickly!!! it has a character called Ayaram Bayaram who has 100s of wives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I never understood why this mattered until now!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMr and Mrs Baya ...very interesting indeed..
ReplyDelete