Lockdown diaries - Crow Chronicles

19th April 2020

And so the lockdown will continue we are told.  Stay home and stay safe.  It happens to be a Sunday today.  As a wit on WhatsApp observed, why bother with days, its either this day or that day or like every other day!  Sundays are different - I get a fresh crossword to do and see the answer for that annoying one about the Cockney bruiser  from last week.

More morning walks.

Past the crow bath I go.  They all line up, one row at the bath and the next row waiting for their turn.  There's a fizz and cheer in them, as they have a good splash before they fly off to the Tabebuia nearby to dry themselves.  

In good Indian fashion, these crows bathe before breakfast - sustenance provided by a Good Samaritan in the building.  Every morning as I walk round and round, I ponder the question to feed or not to feed.  And arrive at no answer.  I used to be anti-feeding....in the current situation, I don't know anymore.

A crow hops on the path in front of me, reluctant to waste energy in flight until there seems no other go.  Oh these pesky humans!

Anyways now that we pesky humans are all at home, everyone else is out celebrating it seems!

Chennai Skies so blue 

Flamingoes in Mumbai, Starlings murmuring somewhere else, starry nights and even the Pallikaranai marsh is teeming!

Downsizing life

R Bhanumathi, Naturalist

For Bhanumathi, the lockdown has been a chance to think about her lifestyle choices: a reminder to live a sustainable life. “We need to examine how much resources we are using,” she says. Whether it is using ingredients judiciously in the kitchen, buying fewer gadgets and cars, or “on a more personal level, even whether we need to have two or more children. I am glad many are making the conscious decision to adopt instead. Because we have to think about the kind of planet we are leaving for them, 30 years down the line.” 

Given that things are no longer easily available to us at our doorstep, she says this has made her pay attention to the whole process of manufacturing that goes behind a finished product and all the people involved in it. 

The lockdown is a huge shift from her regular life, given she would go on Nature expeditions almost twice every month. “This period has taught me tolerance and patience in thinking before making decisions.” The odd dragonfly still wanders inside her window. “One day, I heard the calls of a spotted owlet at around midnight. I have lived in Chennai since 1982 and that has never happened before.”

OK, Pesky humans, time to change!