Bird watching

We human beings are very observant as infants and as young children, and absorb whatever we see around us.  Those visuals and experiences get imprinted as lifetime  memories. 

As a child majority from the earlier generations (before the millennials) would have witnessed sparrows building nests with the onset of summer and hatchlings flying out before the end of summer and arrival of monsoon. 

The houses back in the 70s had thick walls made of bricks instead of present day thin walls supported by RCC framework. Such homes had ventilation holes at the roof level and a deep cavity existed within such ventilation holes between the external and internal walls. Same provided perfect annual nesting paradise for sparrows and other smaller birds. Growing up observing this annual ritual of our feathered friends used to be a wonderful mix of joy and sorrow. 

Joy was the sight of pair of tiny birds assiduously fetching tiny twigs, dry leaves, silk cotton, etc., building a home for their young ones, taking turns in hatching the eggs and once hatched running errands for gathering nutrition such as small insects, worms, etc. for the tiny ones. Added bonus for an observer would be listening to the muted calls of the hatchlings and finally witnessing their brave attempts in stepping out into the big world outside flapping their yet to be fully developed wings. That marked a happy ending to the story.

 Sad at times when any one of the parent bird got hit by the blades of the ceiling fan running at full speed at the peak of summer. Poor bird would come crashing down on the floor, with a broken wing or at times a broken beak, stunned by the hit and gasping for breath. Vivid are  memories of tending to such grievously wounded sparrows, offering them water in a saucer and hoping against hope that it will miraculously survive and fly back to its young ones who otherwise would end up as orphans starving to death. But in most of the cases the hit was so fatal that the parent bird had to be given a sad burial at some discreet corner in the garden, lest the dead bird ended up as a meal for a cat or a dog. 

With age the child in us outgrows such wonders of nature and focus shifts initially to pursuance  of career and later into bird watching of another type as would happen with any young adult😀. 

Like the sparrows, human life  too gets busy in building a nest for a new found partner and the tiny ones to be, and then life gets so entrenched that we become oblivious of our own surroundings.

Years pass by and when our young ones have flown the nest and when you start seeking your inner self, the focus slowly starts shifting back to the surroundings.

Once again we start observing the change of season, spring giving rise to fresh leaves, flowers and fruits, bees humming around, butterflies hovering over the flowers, and birds chirping away to glory. 

This time around we try to make sense of the nature's cycle and are amazed at the realisation that everything happening around  has a purpose and happens with magical precision. Trees around us have grown new branches and leaves and birds are back to gathering nesting materials, in anticipation of a warm and dry summer that will provide perfect settings for the arrival of their young ones. 

Only difference being the fact that our homes are no more naturally ventilated and sparrows need to search around for a safe haven for ensuring continuity of their race. But the pleasant fact that sparrows are still in existence and they are still gathering nesting material, makes us wonder where are they building their nests and where do they disappear along with your young ones during the rainy season. 

Life is really interesting 😊