who had not birded for a while, alas!
So they decided to change their ways
And take part in the Chennai bird race.
Jacana Junkies, there were four
One slept over
And then were three!
Never mind, we thought, off to GNP!
Bird calls everywhere and we were so excited
I heard the bulbul, but an oriole was sighted!
Parakeets and sunbirds, all so restive
And the butterflies added to make it all so festive.
Oh man, I thought, I am really out of touch
Spotting that calling coucal is proving too much.
The boys from Olcott School
I tell you, were way too cool.
An ashy drongo they showed us
Lurking in the bushes.
On we went to the polo ground
Where blackbuck and chital do abound.
A screeching shikra was identified
And was that a sparrow hawk we spied?
Two jackals with bushy tails, sauntered past
With my camera I should have been more fast.
Baby chitals peered with curiosity
Were we three such an oddity?
An Asian Brown Flycatcher
Had us JJs in a lather
Books were perused and binos viewed
before we deduced
the id of this winter visitor!
Pallikaranai marsh was next on our path
But only after a hearty repast
Pongal, kichdi and dosai with ghee
And good south Indian sweet and strong coffee!
To provide us Pallikaranai never fails
A bountiful supply of feathers and tails!
Jacanas and moorhens,
egrets and herons
Swallows and Swifts
Ducks and Stilts.
But it was the pelicans that were delightful
A couple in the water, unusually busy and cheerful.
Then we looked up in the sky and gasped
Like a busy airport with planes a-circling
Another fifty pelicans lazily gliding
Riding the thermals, waiting and watching.
A Marsh Harrier rounded up our sally
45 was our final tally.
By now, one Junkie was sneezing and snuffling
Another's phone was ringing and calling
Yours truly's car was low on petrol
And so we all headed on home.
I watched Cilic and Wawrinka do battle that night
As they hit the tennis ball with all their might
But guess what I found in the ladies' bathroom
next to the pots and pails and brooms?
A white-browed wagtail,
a fitting end to this Bird Race tale!
******
(The 3rd Chennai Bird Race was organised by the Madras Naturalist Society along with India Bird Races and HSBC on 10th January, 2010. Our team was the Jacana Junkies, after my favourite new bird of 2009, the pheasant-tailed jacana. )
For more sensible accounts of the bird race, read:
Some photo albums as well:
The Milton of Madras speaketh! Very nicely done (and apologies for not responding in verse).
ReplyDeleteNeat.. very well written - sudha..
ReplyDeleteThe Milton of Madras - I like that! Great job, as always, such a fun read. I loved how the end tied together so nicely.
ReplyDeletePoor Milton will be turning in his grave
ReplyDeleteto be compared to this "knave"!
Do check out the photo links I've added
To see birds more varied than we did!
Or, how about the Chaucer of Chennai?!
ReplyDeleteThe links are a great idea.
Wonderfully written! 50 Pelicans lazily gliding? I'd have loved to see that. And the other birds too.
ReplyDeleteYes Capt, it was amazing to see them circling above. hey seemed to have some routine, where they take off from the pylons, circle above and after some time come back and land, so it really reminded me of ain airport and planes taking off and landing!
ReplyDeleteI love the pelican imagery - I have a special place in my heart for those birds!
ReplyDeletewhy no such work from Milton of Madras for the recent Bird Races...?
ReplyDeleteLooks like rhymes have dried up, SG!
DeleteRhymes dont dry, they are on break Milton of Madras..
ReplyDeletegosh I dont remember reading this blog..but there is a comment, not so long back..
Oh golly oh gee, STML not only for me?
ReplyDelete