A depression in the bay
Oh hurray!
Cool winds and cloudy skies
Leaves green and sun goodbye.
The rains, the koel finds his voice
eager to find a mate of choice.
The call, not romantic,
More than a trifle frantic.
A male koel calls. Photo by Mr Ramanan
Up the scale, a crescendo
Ceasing abruptly, uh oh!
All through the day, the call
Sharp, shrill, not a drawl.
Here comes the lady, speckled
Has she been wooed or heckled?
In need of a nest
A crow’s is the best.
Now here’s the ploy
The koel male a decoy.
Eggs laid in crow mama’s brood.
No, crow papa not at all clued.
Brood parasitism unmatched
koel’s cunning plan hatched.
The female koel arrives. Photo by Mr Ramanan
Koel chicks born domineering
Kicking crow eggs, sneering.
But Nature’s playing field levelled
Nine months, the koel bedevilled.
No call, no mate
That is its fate.
Skulking in trees, soundless,
A life quite joyless?
The koel male has blue-green feathers, adding to its basically black plumage. Photo by Mr Ramanan
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Andaman visit 2024 - summary post
Andaman Diary - Day 1 - Cellular Jail views Andaman Diary Day 1 - Burmanallah beach and beyond Andamans Day 2 - Kalatang - birds and butterf...
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A depression in the bay Oh hurray! Cool winds and cloudy skies Leaves green and sun goodbye. The rains, the koel finds his voice eager to fi...
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Nanmangalam reserve forest - the landmark hill within Yesterday, we revisited Nanmangalam, with the same bunch of school kids from last wee...
Fantastic pics.... and nice poem too.....
ReplyDeletereally sweet,this poem and the koel picsturs are great
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anu/Jyotsna. It always amazes me...nature's ways!
ReplyDeleteVery poetic.. beautiful...
ReplyDelete"The call, not romantic,
ReplyDeleteMore than a trifle frantic"
Too bloody right.
Good one, Flowergirl!
YC, extreme stimulation needed for the rhymes to flow, and the koels provided it!
ReplyDeleteAmila, the koels have been getting more and more frantic. My husband (like you and the hornbill) is feeling a mixture of sympathy and amusement for this one particular koel just outside our bedroom window, who decides to start at 5 am!
Are you following the Asia Cup?
Nice poem, Ambika. Don't know how I missed it the first time around.
ReplyDeleteHave you read this? http://seventhchords.blogspot.com/2010/06/two-in-tea-bush.html
Yes Raji...mine is the first comment!
ReplyDelete
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this is so sweet - just like the koel's call
ReplyDelete