Who would imagine a peacock in the neighbourhood?!

 Aug 31st 2021

Walking past our eastern windows, I look out in my usual post-lunch habit of looking at the teak tree in our neighbour's garden, for the Drone on the hunt, or the bulbul calling, when I saw a large something on the wall of the neighbour's terrace.  I look again, and there stood a peacock, surveying the territory!

While I scrambled to get my binoculars and rouse the family to this unusual sight, it stood on the parapet, gazing down at the dog below, and almost seeming to wonder as to what to do.  It was calm and unhurried and strolled up and down the parapet.

Then it hopped down into the terrace and surveyed the ground for fallen neem fruits, which it seemed to eat.  I noticed that his tail feathers had not grown out as yet and also that there was no other peafowl/hens around.

In all our years at Thiruvanmyur (25 plus), this is the first sighting of a wild peafowl in the neighbourhood for me.  My brother had seen a peahen in May at the height of lockdown.  Through the lockdown, peafowl have been sighted in various TN cities, quite regularly. 

On the 27th, NBR neighbour Rags had messaged that he had seen one in the neighbour's garden - just flew in from nowhere!  We continued to see it in and around our building for the next three days, and then it  flew on.

Doing a walk on the parapet

I learnt that males get their feathers after say 3 years, so this was probably below that age.  I was reminded  of another day, in Manas where I had most recently seen the peacock dance for his mate.

Every forest trip in India for me has a peacock memory, and here was this young chap right at my doorstep!