Beauty around me

2011-11-16T23:44:00.001+05:30

It is dusk. As I water the plants, the light fades. I hear the frightened squeak of a squirrel on a nearby tree. I look to see why. It's unusual to hear a squirrel squeak like this at this time of the day. Is it a snake I wonder, or an early owl? The squirrel comes racing down the tree and runs past me. As I watch, I see a head poking down--a weasely sort of head and then an animal comes down the tree, so intent on the chase, it doesn't seem to notice me. I instinctively turn the hose on it, so that the squirrel can escape. The animal is startled and runs away. There is not enough light for me to see any markings clearly. The general shape is between that of a cat and a giant squirrel. It's probably a toddy cat and rare to see at that time in the day, it being very much a nocturnal creature. As usual, no photo!
* After some googling, I think what I saw was an Asian Palm civet.

2011-11-10T21:56:00.001+05:30

I love the moonlight! Tonight is a full moon light and I can't resist the call of the moonlight. I walk outside, with minimal lights on, so as to savour the moonlight fully. It is so bright, I would be able to see a snake move, even without my glasses. There is a faint gauzy mist and oh so pleasantly cool. Dog & I walk for a while. I come back inside reluctantly.

2011-10-15T21:38:00.002+05:30

We had gone to the island of Langkawi, off the coast of Malaysia, for 5 days last week. The place where we stayed, was between cliffs and the beach and the hotel tried to maintain the rainforest as much as possible. We took a guided nature walk through the grounds of the resort and saw a lemur, and a group of dusky leaf langurs near the waters edge. I later spied a monitor lizard, a kind we have here. We heard and saw a pair of hornbills flying by. I spied a pair of them later too.
As my camera is just an ordinary digital one, I couldn't zoom in and get too many shots. Anyway I'll share a few.

A dusky leaf langur can just be spotted

A monitor lizard posing for me on a tree in the sun

Take a look at this link of Langkawi nature, and you can see better photographs of the monkey and one of the lemur and of the birds, some of which we have here in our country, in our state.

2011-10-02T16:06:00.000+05:30

I was outside the house in the morning--around 8 am--when I heard 'Thud, thud thud'. I wondered who was hammering away this early and on a Sunday too. I heard the hammering again and nearer me. I looked up and there was a woodpecker on an old, dead toddy palm tree, knocking away. It reminded me of this song that my mother sang.

2011-09-22T20:56:00.000+05:30

It's been a long, long while since I've been out of blog world. I haven't felt driven to write and share and, most importantly, as far as this blog is concerned, my camera has been out of action.
I have been walking at dusk most days as always and now, that the monsoon has receded, the stars are visible. I have been looking at some constellations that I have not seen properly before. Today, on looking up the night sky for September, I find that one of the constellations is Sagittarius. I feel so excited at being able to see so many constellations that I haven't really been able to see clearly before. Normally, although the rain may have stopped, the sky tends to be quite cloudy. So, it's treat to get to see the stars so well.
My camera should be ok in a couple of days. Then maybe I could upload some pictures.

2011-07-28T21:54:00.001+05:30

Today was one of the 10 fine days there are supposed to be, in the otherwise rainy month of 'Karkidam' (the Malayalam month). It hasn't rained the whole day and all the stars are out. I went for my evening walk and it was such a pleasure to see the stars after quite a gap. As I head out for my walk I see Scorpio, sprawled across the Southern sky. As I walk, the gauzy cloud veil moves aside and the stars get clearer. An occasional firefly adds it brilliance. Alas, now the light pollution is quite high even in our small town. So, I finish my walk, sorry that I couldn't see the myriad stars in the night sky just a bit better.

Law of the wild.

2011-07-09T18:45:00.001+05:30

Today, around noon, hearing a big commotion outside and much screeching from the birds, I went out to see what was the matter. Peering up through the foliage, I saw a pair of frantic racket-tailed drongos, screeching and generally carrying on. I thought they were trying to chase away another pair from invading their space. But instead what did I see, an owl, or maybe a small kite, I couldn't quite tell, taking away one of their babies (or maybe an egg). The pair tried their best to get their offspring back. But I don't think they succeeded. That's the law of the jungle alas!

2011-06-23T21:32:00.000+05:30

I went for my evening walk and there were a great many fireflies around, winking in the leaves on the trees and the bushes. Fireflies are in abundance during the monsoon lulls. Anyway, my lab was around too, following me around leisurely, chasing the occasional frog or lizard. Just towards the end of my walk, when I slowed down and we were in the same place, I saw this firefly hovering around Lab girl's head and then it sat on the top of her head, winking away! It looked so cute and I so wished I had a camera with me. One more of those misses.

Back home

2011-06-05T17:02:00.000+05:30

I'm back at home and we have returned to a monsoon in full swing.During our absence, the jungle has been creeping back and seems barely kept at bay.

With the onset of the monsoon, missing are bird sounds. There is not even the sound of a crow. The birds chirp only if there is a sufficiently long gap between rains. Today, I can hear no bird calls. The only sounds are of the cicada/cricket chorus, rising in rhythmic bursts. As for the nights, they are filled with sounds of competing choirs. Frogs (toads too I'm sure) sing out loud, in various pitches from a full baritone to a high soprano chirp, interspersed with the droning of the cricket. Not silent nights at all! Well, we are half way across the world--longitudinally--and many miles south--latitudinally--from where we were just last week. I am glad to be back home, but there is a feeling of nostalgia for the lovely holiday and the scenery left behind.

Spring is melding into summer

2011-05-28T01:34:00.001+05:30

Our stay here in the US is almost over, our 5 weeks almost up. We leave on Monday 30th, Memorial Day here in the US, which heralds the beginning of summer. It's been wonderful to experience a season I had never experienced before. In the 5 weeks we have been here, I saw the bare, naked, branches, first covered with tiny buds, flowers and then leaves. Now the flowers, on most of the trees around, have gone and they are all dressed in various shades of green. There is even fresh new pale green growth on all the evergreens around. On a clear day, as today is, you look around and the shades of green, with the blue of the clear sky seems iridiscent.
Gone are the daffodils and narcissus and most of the tulips. Now, in the gardens around, I see irises in various shades and colourful flowers on low plants--not too sure what they are. Today I saw flowers on pine trees too (something I have never seen before).
The goslings out on the lake are quite big now and losing their fluffiness. The ducks are around, but there don't seem to be any ducklings. Maybe they're well hidden. There are birds everywhere and on a sunny day, the air is filled with birdsong of such variety. Even on a cold rainy morning, I have heard birds chirping, but it's only when the sun is out that the many voiced chorus can be heard.
I am filled with nostalgia at the thought of leaving. But time moves on and vacations don't last forever.
I hope the next time we visit, we come towards the beginning of fall.

Evening walks in another land

2011-04-29T20:49:00.001+05:30

I'm now in the USA and Spring is everywhere. I have been enjoying my evening walks and even the brisk, cold breeze, coupled quite often with the drip, drip, drip of Spring drizzles, hasn't killed my yearning to be outside when dusk falls :-)
I have been enjoying watching Spring burgeon. This is the very first time that I have the chance to watch this season. I have never been in Northern climes at this time and I am thoroughly enjoying what I see. Outside where my son lives there are wild ducks nesting: Canadian geese nest in the reeds at the nearby lake and fly overhead with their haunting cries. I have seen robins--looking, to me, a lot like our mynahs, but with redbreasts. There are other birds I cannot yet identify. We got to see some wild rabbits and my grandson and I saw a dead skunk.
I love how the trees are budding with new life. There are trees with only flowers on them, bushes with bright yellow leaves, daffodils dancing in the breeze, in two colours. There are pink flowers, which I was told were jonquils, and little blue flowers and, what I presume, are tulips in shades of red. The weeping willows look magnificent to me, swaying elegantly to and fro, dressed in lime green. Everywhere the signs of new life are there. I love it all.

2011-04-04T21:34:00.000+05:30

The mahogany trees are in bloom and the tiny flowers are everywhere, a carpet spread wide. At the slightest touch of a breeze, they fall, sounding like water dripping from the leaves. Their scent is heady and the day and night are filled with the perfume.

Baby time

2011-03-31T21:52:00.000+05:30

It's obviously nesting time. Yesterday, before I left the school I work at, I saw a number of children, with a teacher, taking turns clambering on a stool, to peep into a box around the electricity meter. I asked what was the excitement and I was told that it was the nest of a magpie robin with 3 lil ones in it! So I went to have a look too. I'm glad I did, because neither the young teacher, nor any of the 4th grade children there, knew that one should never touch the babies.
Anyway, while everyone was having a look, the poor parents flew around frantically, making little chirping noises. Then one of the kids noticed that there was feed for the babies in the parents' beak. So we all quickly cleared out from there, to leave them in peace. Completely slipped my mind that I could have taken photographs with my camera!!

Narrow escape

2011-03-22T18:09:00.000+05:30

This morning, Lab and I were out in our front yard. I usually sit out with her while I have coffee. I'd finished my coffee and thought I'd take a walk around her. I saw her suddenly go into 'watch' freeze and then saw her running towards something. Without my glasses I couldn't see what it was. But I ran up to where she was real fast. I was sure it would be a squirrel. But what did I see, but our pal here in the picture, a baby woodpecker who'd obviously landed down there and now couldn't take off! You can see that his eyes are hardly open and his tail is sort of damp!

Luckily our Lab is curious first. So she'd just got round to smelling the little thing when I reached her. I somehow grabbed hold of her collar and had to wrestle with her to get her into the house and away from this little one. After putting her out back with some treats, I ran back with my camera. I was in time to see Mama sitting there too and urging baby to fly--maybe. But the minute I tried to open the window screen to take a picture, Mama flew off. I waited quietly inside to see if Mama would return, but she didn't. So then I went outside. I waited around and then felt I just couldn't leave baby there, because it was only a matter of time before either a stray cat or a mongoose caught hold of it.
I went up to him/her talking all the while. That's when I got to take the picture. After that I thought I'd gently lift him up using a leaf, so that my scent wouldn't be left on him. But he tried to peck me! Finally I got a thin twig, onto which he was able to climb. As I lifted the twig up, thinking I'd place him on the nearest tree, he flew off. He landed further off somewhere, where I'm sure Mama would have come and taken him off.
You should have seen him though crying out for his Mama. He would let out his shrill cry and then look skyward. I sure hope he and Mama are fine.

Growing

2011-03-14T14:43:00.000+05:30

Baby mongoose seems to have grown. I've been hearing mongooses in the undergrowth outside my window. Today I was able to catch mamma & baby--who has become a lanky youngster now. How many different types of cries I heard! At times it seemed like Mama was screaming at her baby, probably for taking risks.! I also watched as she turned around and murmured at baby--who was loitering around behind her. I see all this from my windows. But I have to be very quiet. Any loud sound and they're off.

2011-01-31T13:48:00.000+05:30

Sunday morning I saw a mongoose family--presumably it was a family. There were two adult mongooses and a baby, just about running around. It must have been all of about 10 inches long. They were sunning themselves under the pruned gulmohur tree after which father mongoose moved on in front, baby in the middle and mom bringing up the rear. The baby was just having fun. I saw it dragging itself through the warm earth, then running on ahead a bit, and even jumping over mama. As always, the camera was not anywhere near. I did try to use my phone camera, but couldn't a good shot. Was a lovely show!

Two koels

2011-01-24T22:07:00.000+05:30

I had been meaning to write about the 2 male koels for quite a while, but just didn't get the time!
One evening, I heard this big screaming battle right outside my kitchen window--very loud koel cries. [Koels are our local cuckoos]. I took a look out and I saw these two male koels on the guava tree outside having a face-off. I ran outside with my camera and tried to come up as close to them as possible. The only sign they gave of being aware of my presence was by keeping quiet. But neither was willing to relinquish his place. Here is a shot of them and a movie clip too.

If you click here it gives you the koel's cries--what I was able to get.

2010-12-15T23:18:00.000+05:30

I did so want to see the Geminid showers. But alas, it was too cloudy late at night, and too much light pollution earlier in the evening.

The latest evening walk

2010-12-09T21:57:00.000+05:30

Weather and surroundings as at 6.30 p.m. today 9th Dec
Air soft as silk, temperature oh so pleasant (for Kerala), a crescent moon smiling in the West in a clear sky; feathery clouds edged in pink darkening slowly, scattered around; alas mosquitoes too, permitting no standing still.

2010-12-05T19:36:00.000+05:30

After what seems like an eon, two consecutive days without rain! I went for a quick walk became it became too dark and spotted a flight of birds off to bed and an owl on the lamp post who Dog & I startled.

2010-11-19T14:54:00.000+05:30

A hazy moon through the frangipani tree.

Walk on two evenings

2010-11-11T22:44:00.000+05:30

Yesterday's walk... It is dark. I have to walk with the garden lights on. There is the drip, drip of rain. Doggy friend runs on ahead, thoroughly enjoying the rain. I see a moth fluttering in a white lily. A jagged flash of lightning snaking across the southern sky, makes me think that maybe I should get back inside. The rain increases and I'm driven inside.
This evening, it gets dark as I walk. The rain was over earlier and everything is wet, wet, wet. I go out again later in the evening and I can't believe it, there are stars out, so many and a crescent moon smiling down, with a little cloud ring around it. There is a cool breeze. Beautiful!

2010-10-24T16:49:00.000+05:30

The bright blue one is a regular one around here. This photo was taken just after it died and before it was dragged away by ants. Isn't it a brilliant blue? Apparently they are endangered.

This was taken in Chennai.

From Beauty around me

Some more on my favourite time of day

2010-10-24T00:15:00.001+05:30

Dusk turning to night.

2010-10-16T21:22:00.000+05:30

I go out for a walk. It is dusk, my favourite time of day. There is a half-moon slightly westward and Venus over eastwards. Big puffy clouds, grey with a white head, sail slowly into view. I breathe in the air and just for a minute my skin dissolves and I am one with the air around, the trees, the ground, the sky...........till my doggy friend reminds me that I am me.

2010-10-15T14:32:00.000+05:30

It seems to be new baby time all around. A colleague and I were standing near the door at work (a school surrounded by vegetation of all shapes and sizes) and we saw running across the path,a mongoose. This is a fairly common sight, but what was interesting was that we saw a tiny little one running with mom, just under her belly! Was sorry I didn't have a camera.

My favourite time of the day.

2010-10-11T22:16:00.000+05:30

[Taken with my LG phone]

Misty morning

2010-09-28T15:01:00.001+05:30

Mist at 7 a.m. unusual for this time of the year.

And later in the morning, a mongoose sunning itself. ( Was in the car, so could only get a phonepic)

Beautiful little vignette

2010-09-24T17:22:00.000+05:30

I hear a tiny squeek outside my window. I look out and see a teeny little squirrel run up the coconut tree right outside. He/she is soon met by Mama squirrel who gives it a little kiss and off the two go. :-)

An evening walk

2010-09-22T21:10:00.000+05:30

I walk most evenings with my Lab. But I love it most when I can get to walk just as dusk is falling (if the weather is fine).
Early in the evening, just as the sun is setting, a birds fly to their nests. A few are out trying to catch early evening insects. But as the light slowly fades, the birds disappear and the bats come out. These early evening bats are tiny, with wingspans appearing to be not more than a few inches. With the dusk deepening, come even larger bats, the average size ones. Finally, when all the light has faded out and the sky is darkening, come the huge fruit bats. As I watch them wheeling overhead, they remind me of the Batman silhouette :-) Their appearance heralds the beginning of night. Soon there are occasional owl hoots to be heard and I head back home.

Post monsoon evening

2010-09-01T21:42:00.000+05:30

It' s been a really long time since I have been able to take a walk after dark. I managed this evening and it is was so beautiful outside that it was a balm. There was pleasant breeze rustling the leaves and making my skin feel cool, the stars were out and I saw Scorpio and Sagittarius--in fact the sky was full of stars. There was an occasional fly by of the huge fruit bats and now I can hear a chorus of crickets and frogs.

Monsoon weather

2010-08-16T20:59:00.000+05:30

I was longing to try see the Perseid showers, but, though the sky was fairly clear on the 11th evening, it was cloudy all of 12th and 13th early morning.
Friday(the 13th), on my evening walk with Elsa, the sky was so beautifully clear, pale blue, with a few, high, stripes of cirrus and a sliver of moon and I thought the monsoon is really almost over. 14th evening it rained. !5th morning was a lovely morning--breezy, pleasant and sunny. Went to church and before service was over, it was pouring, said rain not stopping till sometime this afternoon!
The vagaries of end of monsoon weather!

2010-07-25T15:52:00.000+05:30

I love how the birds come out within minutes of a lull in the monsoon rains! It's as though they wait a minute for their feathers to dry just a bit and out they are singing away. And on a rainy day, they seem to go berserk during the short gaps between the rains, more than on a day it's not raining continuously.

A video

2010-07-20T22:21:00.000+05:30

Ok, I managed to convert the bird calls I'd recorded on my phone into mp3 and used Picasa to make a video. The various bird shots are taken either with my small Sony DSC-W110 or my old Motorola phone..

2010-07-11T11:55:00.001+05:30

I have some recordings of evening sounds and bird calls that I would love to share, but don't know how where to upload audio to, so that I could share it with you.

Monsoon skies

2010-07-06T22:58:00.001+05:30

Noon and a lull in the rains. A sky the colour of washed out light blue denim. High up are scattered thin lines of cirrus clouds, like a child's finger paint smudges; below them are big, white, puffy cumulus clouds, racing across, going eastwards driven by grey, billowing cumulo-nimbus, pushing along, gusting, changing shape constantly.
Will it, won't it, will it, won't it, will it won't it rain?

Should I, shouldn't I, should I, shouldn't I take the clothes in?

Last Sunday

2010-07-03T13:52:00.001+05:30

A lazy Sunday afternoon; a lull in the monsoons. I take a walk outside with the Lab girl without her leash, because nobody is out at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon! So she runs through tall grass (part jungle now it's the rainy season) and enjoys herself and I, I enjoy the South-westerly winds and listen and watch the bird life.

There are 2 couples having a heated dispute--a racket-tailed drongo couple and a regular drongo pair. There are a pair of crow pheasants going 'Oop, oop, oop' to each other and when I join in, I can see the initiating pheasant is totally confused and so that shushes me. There are sundry mynahs flying hither and thither. I see a woodpecker flying into a tree high over my head--too high to see the colours clearly. There is a flash of blue when Lab & I move to another area--a kingfisher flying off at the disturbance.

I feel so grateful at being able to enjoy all this.

Random pictures

2010-06-29T14:07:00.000+05:30

Three pictures to be precise :-)

A bowl of bird;s eye chillies, from a plant growing wild among the trees

An orange fungus/fungi growing on a cut mahogany log;

A tug toy I made for my 6 month old pup--of half a coconut shell and coconut fibre rope.

Personal Fitness Trainer!

2010-05-24T13:42:00.002+05:30

I realize have the best personal trainer! If I sit down, even for a minute, there she is at me, shouting at me to get up and be on my feet. If I do sit down, it must be for some serious stuff--no sitting in front of the comp or sitting down with my mobile phone. As long as I'm walking around,or standing, whether inside the house or outside, she lies peacefully in a corner of wherever I am. She's happiest of course, if I'm in the kitchen.
This morning was the funniest. I decided to tidy up a shelf in my wardrobe. I laid the clothes from that shelf on the bed. Then I sat down to fold them into piles. There she was, my personal trainer, barking her head off. When I finally stood up and started folding the clothes standing, she went off to a corner of the bedroom, where the breeze from the overhead fan would be on her and went peacefully to sleep!!!!
So probably in a year or show, I'll be this really fit 60 yr old, almost fit enough to run probably:-)

2010-05-20T14:51:00.002+05:30

Early morning.........
Butterscotch body stretches, liquid eyes smile, furry head plops on my lap;---love.
Pale brown ears flapping, cream tail wagging, puppy legs pumping, grinning mouth full of toy, a furry missile swings past---joy :-)

2010-05-10T20:20:00.003+05:30

I have an old exercycle, which had been consigned to an outside shed. But recently I decided to pull it out, to make way for something else. So it was just placed in the backyard, till I could think of where to put it.

So now, it sits in a corner of my backyard, a corner where I hope to catch a stray breeze. It is now where I now sit on an evening, cycling desultorily, looking at the trees, looking through the leaves for the stars, inhaling whatever the warm night air brings, sometimes good and sometimes not so good, while my pup, happy to have me outside, lies on a cool bed she's made for herself, in the ground near me.

I enjoy my evening peace and feel virtuous in the bargain!

2010-04-29T23:00:00.001+05:30

I exercise outside--late evening, looking up at the stars. I inhale the scent of flowers, over-ripe jackfruit and the fresh scent of a rain washed evening.

2010-04-27T19:59:00.002+05:30

Was walking in the front area of our house in the morning with Elsa our lab. The ground was still damp from yesterday's thunderstorm. I had finally got someone to come and take the cut gulmohar tree, but the debris was everywhere. Elsa was rooting around in the debris at one side. As I looked around I noticed, luckily at the side away from the dog, a mongoose crossing. Suddenly it saw me and stopped and then probably got the scent of the dog too. As I watched, she didn't run away immediately, but slowed and looked behind her. I wondered what she was looking at, when I saw this tiny little mongoose pup coming out of the undergrowth. Only after that, did she go into the base of my palms, with her baby. But a little later, I saw her come out and sit up on her haunches, looking almost like a meerkat, like this picture I've linked to and keeping the position for a bit. I promptly called Elsa away and into the house, to leave her in peace.
This is the first time I have seen a mongoose sit up like that and also not just run away immediately on seeing a human. It was a treat.

2010-04-21T13:36:00.003+05:30

I cut my gulmohar tree because it had gotten old and besides the constant shedding of the tiny leaves got into the roof tiles, collected water and had damaged the roof more than once. It really was too close to the house. I decided I would remove it and plant a divi-divi instead; leave the base--which I love--and put the divi-divi near it. It was an old tall tree and had very few leaves at the moment--just a few peeping out. I couldn't bear to watch while they cut it though and on Sunday--before they cut the last raised branch, I looked at it standing there forlornly, with it's few leaves--and I cried, almost like for a beloved pet!

Bird calls

2010-04-10T00:47:00.002+05:30

Here are two videos. The first one is of the magpie robin's cry alone. I hadn't seen one around for a while. But there he was after the first few summer showers. Wanted to show what the magpie robin's call is, because in the second video, he's having a hard time making himself heard over the racket-tailed drongo's loud and varied warbles.

In the second video, you can also hear the cawing of a crow and unfortunately the sound of a vehicle horn (very common in India alas).

Summer showers

2010-04-08T21:12:00.000+05:30

It was unusually hot in our part of the world through March and exceptionally dry--no rain through Feb & March. The lack of showers and the heat had most of the birds in hiding during a large part of the day and got the many of the creatures desperate for water and some cool shade.
My maid saw a toddy cat moving away from the house at midday, probably because the top of the house--under the roof tiles, where it lives normally--had got too hot. I saw monitor lizards running around madly at noon looking for a bit of cool shade and a small mongoose actually venture into our backyard post our lunch, when everything was quiet, for a drink of water from under the outside water tap, although it could probably scent my Lab pup somewhere in the vicinity. Luckily she was asleep in the shade inside and so the mongoose had it's sip of water in peace. The undergrowth, which is usually green, at least in the shade, throughout the year, was just brown & more brown.So these poor ground creatures were having a hard time.
Then came the welcome rains--evening showers and what a difference! The day after the first shower, I saw a woodpecker and a magpie robin singing away and as my maid says, all the plant world was smiling:-)
Now, after regular thundershowers most afternoons, all the lilies are in bloom and the undergrowth has suddenly turned green. I even saw a kingfisher, sitting high on a tree, enjoying the cool, damp air.
I'll post a video later of a duet between the magpie robin and a racket-tail drongo.

Earth hour

2010-03-28T19:47:00.002+05:30

I was alone at home and so I turned off all the lights and sat outside in the moonlight with my pup, making phone calls on my mobile phone and then playing my guitar. I think pup dear liked the music, cos she just lay behind my stool very quietly and that is unusual for her. But ours was a lone household, cos the flats on the left and right off me all had their lights blazing.
But then just a minute or two after 9.30 there was a power outage and so my Earth hour went on for 90 minutes! The funny thing is that when I turned off lights out of choice, I didn't mind, but having it forced on me was not nice.

A video of new pup

2010-02-05T22:51:00.002+05:30

A video of Elsa, jumping in the leaves, which had been swept down from our roof.

New Lab pup

2010-01-31T22:16:00.002+05:30

I am now again mum to a dog. She is a yellow Lab and is just about 7 weeks old. She's intelligent and seems to be learning fast. She's called Elsa--a name chosen by my grandson after watching 'Born Free' [:-)] and is Elsa the lioness' colour.
Her toys here--coconut husks, which are in plenty; the fruit covering of the mahogany--a really hard woody little sliver, which shows no dent from her teeth; a piece of an old towel; a discarded pressure cooker gasket; a withered branch off of the cinnamon tree and.......a ball! Promise to take some photographs to put up here.

Annular eclipse

2010-01-17T19:19:00.007+05:30

There was an annular solar eclipse on Friday, which I'm sure you have all read about. They say that another such eclipse will only come again a 1000 years from now!. Though cloudy weather had been predicted, the sky was beautifully clear.
I'm sure there are any number of pictures up on the Internet taken at that time. I'm shamelessly adding to that clutter.
The crescent sun cast such beautiful patterns through the leaves..........

From Beauty around me

This last is the new addition to our house--35 days old--lying in the beautiful light patterns!

2010-01-12T17:23:00.003+05:30

I have been trying to get a picture of the common Indian monitor lizard for quite a while. I finally managed to get a snap and a video of it creeping into it's lair.

2009-12-30T23:42:00.002+05:30

It's a full moon night and the air is pleasant. It's a beautiful night after so many muggy days and nights and then two evenings of rain. I sit here at my desk and I can hear rustling in the undergrowth outside the window--stray night creatures doing their night rounds.
Full moon nights always make me long to take a sleeping bag and go lie under the moon. But it isn't safe enough to do that. Too bad.

2009-12-05T19:37:00.002+05:30

I love the morning sunshine in 'winter' when the sun is in the south. There is a softness to the light, the light filtering through the trees at a gentle angle. Our noon day sun is still hot, but watching from a shaded verandah, the light is still beautiful.

2009-11-26T20:14:00.002+05:30

It's been a while since I went for a walk after dark. I was able to make it this evening, as for one, my daughter and her children have gone to her in-laws' place and then--after quite a while--it wasn't raining.
A half moon was visible, bright in the darkening sky. I could hear a rather small frog chorus and a few crickets had started their evening performance, it only just turning dark. Somehow I couldn't get the perfumes of the flowers, except maybe that of the frangipani.
But then, in a trice, just when I thought that the night was so beautifully clear, clouds appeared oh so suddenly, first wispy and then thicker, so that the moon looked like she was shining behind a thin pink curtain. It got warm. Maybe it will rain later tonight.
Now as I sit at my computer, by the window, I can get the scent of flowers, thought I don't know what they are.
A quiet evening.

2009-10-05T14:54:00.002+05:30

I t was a full-moon night last night and I did go for a night walk. The moonlight was beautifully bright. But

1) I did not have my own dog with me (neighbour doggie friend was there though)

2) My heavily pregnant daughter was walking with me

3) It's been raining pretty heavily the last so many days.

all the above made me worry more than usual about possible creepie crawlies and so didn't linger too long outside!

'And the leaves that are green turn to brown'

2009-08-21T08:08:00.003+05:30

Where I am in the US is a suburb of Chicago, with quiet tree-lined streets and 2 small parks, both at a walkable distance. I have enjoyed walking through the streets and in the parks. As it's summer, the houses I pass, as also the parks are full of flowers, laid out so beautifully. I see the local squirrels and like all other Indians are astonished at their size because what we, who live near towns and cities in India, call squirrels are more like chipmunks.
That was written early during my trip here. Now it's time for me to leave--tomorrow. Labor Day is over, the official signalling of the end of summer. The outdoor pool here at the apartment is closed from today (summer's over!). Though Labor Day was warm and bright, Fall is in the air. The trees outside on this street are slowly getting dressed in their fall colours--these are golden. I have already passed a beautifully red tree, somewhere in town and others turn to rust.
Autumn is a time of nostalgia I am told. So it must be fall that fills my heart--at the thought of leaving my new little granddaughter and son and wife, at the thought of the end of my holiday--a complete detach from my everyday life, at the thought too that soon all this greenery and flowers will be gone (an idea so incomprehensible to me, who comes from a sub-equatorial place!).
But then every season has it's beauty and maybe I will get to see the beauty of fall and of winter one day.

Post 2.

2009-07-26T14:02:00.007+05:30

This is one of my tree friends in my front yard, (which was my cathedral this morning).
This morning, on it I saw 3 barbets, a pair of tree pies, a pair of racket-tail drongos

and an energetic woodpecker!

Post 1

2009-07-26T13:19:00.005+05:30

The rains have abated for the last couple of days and the weather is beautiful.
Now, I don't know whether it's because there is no rain or some other reason, but our Asian palm civets seem to be in a fighting mood. So, for the last couple of nights, our evenings have been punctuated by the sounds of creatures [hopefully its just the civets and not supernatural beings :-)] thundering across our ceilings, after which there are the sounds of violent jumps onto nearby trees and the sounds of angry screeching, the sound of which is a cross between a cat fight and a human screech! When I turn on the lights outside, there is dead silence. Wonder whether they are fighting over the fruits of my rambutan tree.

2009-07-20T22:47:00.002+05:30

There's a break in the monsoon although in our Malayalam(Kerala) calendar, this is the month when the monsoon is supposed to be the strongest. The day the month began--17th of July--it poured. So this break was unexpected. So I got to go for a walk.
The evening was warm, as there had been no rain the whole day today. The fireflies were out, especially in the dark of the rubber trees and in the tree over the jasmine creeper. The stars lay hidden behind the clouds. I heard, from a distance, the sound of the Ramayanam being read [this is the month when the Ramayanam is read everyday]. A gentle zephyr played with the leaves way overhead. As always, I love my night walks and the night.
Just now, I sit at my desk and I can hear the hoot of an owl, the crickets chirping and the frog chorus. I feel truly blessed.

First night walk, July

2009-07-11T22:05:00.002+05:30

Today there is a break in the monsoons. It didn't rain the whole day and not now in the night either. So I was able to take the first longish night walk this month.
It was beautiful out. The sky was full of stars. There were only a few scattered clouds. I walked out and saw, high up in the southern sky, the constellation of Scorpio. I wished I knew the names of more constellations. The air was balmy, with a just a light, caressing breeze.
The darkness of the trees were lit up by fireflies. I saw the silhouettes of the large fruit bats flying overhead. The frogs serenaded me. I heard the screeches of the Palm civet. There were the occasional sounds of crickets.
A peaceful night in my green oasis.

My fellow worshippers

2009-06-28T14:59:00.006+05:30

I was at a church service this morning. This church is surrounded by a rubber plantation. The church is not very big, but there is a broad verandah running all around the church, where too people stand during Sunday service. I'm a verandah regular and so I get to be kind of outdoors as much as a part of the service.
This morning there were a large number of disparate voices added to the chants and singing of the congregation. The singing got loudest when the church bells were being rung during the service, till I just had to look out at the trees to note who our fellow worshippers were.

There were a pair of drongos--

one, maybe two, racket-tailed drongos
two brown-headed barbets

a flock of mynahs squabbling among themselves and quarrelling with a squirrel who had the temerity to wander among them--

and a brown turtle-dove like bird which I can't get the image of (since I'm not too sure what it is).
As you can imagine, the music of these feathered worshippers ranged from beautiful (the racket-tails) to harsh (the mynahs). The racket-tails especially sang loud and long every time the bells rang!
During the sermon I sat on the verandah steps and watched the bird chorus.
I promise I heard the sermon--it was about living a simple life :-)

NB All images from Creative Commons on Wikipedia

Crow Pheasant

2009-06-25T19:48:00.000+05:30

This picture is just to give you an idea of the crow pheasant that I caught on video in the dense undergrowth outside my window.(It's the rainy season and jungle has almost reclaimed the land!)

Here's the video

2009-06-11T13:47:00.002+05:30

I love the bucolic scene I pass everyday on my way between schools. There is a wide expanse of no-longer-farmed rice fields full of wild greenery. When I pass that way at around 9 a.m, there are a number of cows out in the fields accompanied by different varieties of birds. Sometimes there are mynahs sitting on their backs, at other times there are drongos and always a small white stork standing around. At that time of the morning, there is usually a kingfisher sitting patiently on a branch over looking the water. I'm always tempted to stay awhile. i have tried many a time to take a photograph, but somehow--maybe the photographer, maybe the camera--I have never been able to get a picture that quite conveys the restfulness of the scene.
What makes the scene even more precious is that I'm sure that the scenery will no longer be there a few years down the line.

2009-06-08T21:41:00.002+05:30

Sunday night--I go outside. Canine neighbour comes to play. There's pale watery moonshine. The frogs and crickets chorus; fireflies make patterns in the foliage. I see white cotton wool clouds sailing swiftly overhead, pushed by dark grey, and soon all that's visible of the moon is a faint glow. The darkness is deep. I know my dog friend is coming only by the white patch on his chest and his four white paws. I think it's prudent to move back inside.

2009-06-06T20:26:00.002+05:30

The monsoons seem to have started in earnest and brought down the temperature quite a few notches. I miss the moonlight, but it's pleasant to sit in my room and be serenaded by a chorus of a wide variety of frog calls and the chirping of crickets. Very relaxing.

2009-06-04T21:12:00.000+05:30

After coming back home, I have been for a couple of night walks, one just now. The moonlight is so bright--although the monsoon is supposed have begun! It was beautiful out, although there was no real breeze, with the fireflies out and the scent of the night flowers wafting around me.
But,.... I so missed my dog. This is the first time in almost 22 years that I don't have a dog.

2009-05-10T20:39:00.002+05:30

This evening I went for one of my walks after dark-- a short leisurely walk-- at the insistence of my Dobe. She kept at me till I laced up my shoes and went outside. It had rained earlier in the day and so the temperature outside was a little more pleasant than inside the house. The moon had not come up yet. A carpet of jasmine flowers lying at the foot of the climbing jasmine over in my brother-in-law's garden gave off a sweet scent. All the plants look so rejuvenated after a shower. Maybe I'll go out again later after the moon has come up.

A cityscape night walk

2009-04-23T22:05:00.002+05:30

I walked around my daughter's apartment complex in South city, in lieu of my regular night walks here at home.
Though warm, there is a strong breeze blowing at different directions of my walk. The warm air is occasionally scented by the white flowers growing in the window boxes of the apartment complex. Unfortunately the breeze carries with it occasional whiffs of the famous Cooum river (not nice at all)! What I see overhead is the heat haze lit up my the city lights, through which I see one star bravely trying to make it's presence felt. I hear the constant drone of planes overhead flying fairly low on their paths to and from the nearby airport and the occasional sound of a commuter train passing on their struts that lie just near the apartment. I see a bird confused by the light, coming in to catch a few insects attracted by the fluroscent lights.
But all the same the breeze blows away the cobwebs of my mind and I go back inside, the lighter for it.

2009-04-15T15:57:00.002+05:30

Last night when I went for my walk, I realised it is warm night air that holds scents. Last night was a relatively clear night and therefor warm and the perfumes of the night flowers were heavy near each tree, seeming to pool on the ground at the foot of the trees, in the flower carpets beneath each tree.
Late last week, when there was a rain shower almost every evening, it was extremely pleasant walking outside, the air light and gentle on my skin, a cool breeze blowing, the sky lit up occasionally by distant lightning. But I missed the scented breezes. It was as though the light air had carried away the scents.
So now it's a toss up between wanting a shower to ease the heat, and wanting a warm night to smell the smells that spice up my walk.

Flower carpet.

2009-04-13T21:53:00.002+05:30

The above shows the carpet of mahogany flowers in my backyard.

Here you can see 3 of the little flowers. I put the safety pin there so one could get an idea of how small the flowers are. But what a scent!

2009-04-08T22:52:00.000+05:30

The mahogany flowers are everywhere in my backyard. They have fallen in their thousands I think. A few days back, in the back yard, was a carpet of the small, pale-green, star-shaped flowers and the scent so overpowering, more so at dusk. Now they have all faded. They blend perfectly into the ground looking almost like very tiny pebbles and they crunch under my foot. A few still drift down. But the scent is gone.
I tried to take a picture of the carpet, but it just didn't turn out, because, unless you knew what my backyard was normally, you wouldn't be able to make out the carpet.

Night walks

2009-04-05T13:06:00.004+05:30

It's warm and oh so humid. Grey and white clouds sail slowly and ponderously over the moon. The air is so heavy, I can almost see it. Even the crickets song lack the usual zing, sounding indolent with the heat. The night is full of varied scents; the scent of the white champak flowers, of the white lilies, the sweet-spicy scent of drying mahogany flowers, mingled with the smell of drying rubber sheets, with the occasional whiff of jasmines. The still air holds each scent lovingly close, so much that I almost wish I could escape this olfactory assault.
There is not one night bird's cry. But a huge fruit bat wings it's way over head. I can just make out the Great Bear constellation through the wispy clouds. Way up above I see the flashing red lights and then hear the drone of a plane. The waning moon is finally free of the cloud blanket and shines down, but today the moonlight only adds to the mugginess.
But my heart is light after my night walk.
Note: The moon is waxing (earlier post too). My mistake.

Late night

2009-04-04T13:14:00.000+05:30

Last night I went to bed after 1 a.m. and so saw a blushing Mr. Moon (he's waning and so just half his size), peeping in at the window. Makes me want to go on an late night/early morning road trip.

Mahogany in bloom.

2009-04-01T21:02:00.000+05:30

It's a hot, muggy April evening. I sit on the verandah waiting for dusk to cool the day. The scent of the mahogany blooms is all around me, enveloping me, overwhelming me with it's headiness.

2009-03-31T00:09:00.000+05:30

I sit on the verandah in the afternoon heat--it's 3 p.m. and I'm sitting in such a way that I catch the westerly breeze.
Afternoon sounds are all around. I nod over my book. I'm tempted to sit in the rocking chair and shut my eyes. But I stay where I am, sitting up groggily now & then. I want to see what bird life I can get to see, if I am quiet. I'm rewarded.

I see a pair of magpie robins and one of them has a quick dip in a puddle left by the previous day's showers. I see a treepie come to drink water.

Then there are the usual raucous crowd of crows to bathe and talk. A small sunbird flits in the divi-divi foliage above my head.

Away from the bird pool I get to see a green barbet, with his brilliant green plumage and I spot the silhouette of a woodpecker.
A lovely lazy, bird-watching afternoon!

Lucky me

2009-03-19T11:10:00.000+05:30

I know I am so lucky to be able to live and work amongst so much greenery and to see the kind of bird life and wildlife that I do see--that too in the middle of a town. I wonder what the world will be like in the time of my grandchildren and whether they will get chances like mine. Maybe this blog will remain in the ether for them to know what it was like!

Two pictures of beauty and interest around me:
These are pigeon orchids on a coconut tree, in my front yard. The original plant was got by my mother-in-law many years back. Later, my youngest brother-in-law and wife came to stay in my parents-in-law's home (by which time they had both passed away) and the orchid plant grew so much, my sister in law was giving away some of it. So now I have them on 2 trees and they have bloomed in profusion this time. They stay only for a day though. They are a lovely reminder of my mother-in-law, who was an avid gardener.

This is the nest of leaf cutter ants. Isn't the nest amazing? Almost like a tepee.

yellow glory

2009-03-15T13:39:00.000+05:30

It's flowering time for one of my favourite trees--the Cassia Fistula. There are trees all over town in full bloom in shades of yellow--one a dark yellow and the other a much paler one.

Here is one of the bright yellow ones taken with my phone.

Moonlight

2009-03-07T00:33:00.000+05:30

Silver
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream. -
Walter de la Mare

Moonlight is like a magnet for me and I love the waxing moon because her light shines in the early part of the night, when I can walk and enjoy her company. She throws lacy shadows as she shines through my divi-divi tree and makes all the white flowers in the garden glisten. Tonight she shone so bright that even the densest shadows seemed light ; so I turned off the electric light so that I could enjoy her light in all it's splendour. A beautiful walk!

2009-02-09T14:32:00.000+05:30

Here's the magpie robin sitting on the champa tree outside of my dining room. If you click here. you'll get to see him having his drink of water and bath, all the time whistling sweetly. I think it's mating time for them. That's when he sings the sweetest song.

"Birds on the tree tops sing their song,
They fill the air with music all day long.
Each flower in the garden sings it too;
So why shouldn't I, why shouldn't you
Praise Him too!"

A hot day!

2009-02-08T21:19:00.000+05:30

It was a pretty hot day a couple of days back. So everyone was at the water hole!

First was a magpie robin--

then a chipmunk

and then, towards dusk, crows discussing the day's happenings at the water hole. Each waited their turn to drink and some had a quick bath too.

I'm sorry the chipmunk isn't too clear. He was way too timid to allow me any nearer

2009-01-15T20:16:00.000+05:30

Afternoon bird song--but recorded with my trusty phone cam!

2007-05-03T12:42:00.000+05:30

There were 3, repeat 3, wood peckers outside my window a little while back. But unfortunately my camera phone wasn't up to capturing a pic because firstly they were not too near, plus it's a cloudy day. So here's a picture from Answers.com. They are beautiful birds, with a loud raucous cry. The 3 of them were battling for space on the same side of an old coconut tree with a chipmunk. I can still hear them outside.

Orchids

2007-03-28T18:56:00.000+05:30

Ok, here are two pictures taken with my phone, both of orchids. One was taken in the afternoon, the other was taken in the evening. The first is of one of my 2 scorpion orchids. I'm trying to show off here, cos otherwise I promise you I am not a fancy gardener. It's trees and easy growing plants for me strictly.
The other picture, though not very clear, is of a bunch of lovely white tiny orchids, called pigeon orchids. They are at the next door house and on a coconut tree. The amazing thing is that darn thing blooms every time there is a function there! So this time was 'cos there was a birthday party there the day before.