The Feast

Rains in Bangalore mean a lot to lots of creatures. Life to some and death to some...... This is the kind of life and death battle that I was privileged to witness this mid week following a heavy overnight rain.

Rains meant that Ant/ Termite queen hatchlings began to come out of their shelter in an attempt to set up new colonies elsewhere.

The first cluster was probably the luckiest. They got out unscathed with no predators nearby to take note. Soon however it was a different story. The Jungle grapevine was in full flow and soon we had tens of mynas, magpie robins, cuckoos, ravens, Shikras, Caloutes, Squirrels, Coucals, all came in within space of minutes and then the feast began.



Soon the birds were dancing and chasing after the flying queens for a dose of high protein. A rare treat for the creatures!!!















The Magpie Robin soon had its beakfull of queens and was dancing away in joy......











Meanwhile it was hard work for the Mynas and Ravens and the Mynas were left in the wake by the resourceful Magpie Robin.











One Myna was particularly disgusted with the success the Robin was having. Neighbors Envy! Owners Pride!!!










Pretty soon the Mynas and the Ravens caught on to the Robins tricks and started to catch the insects much to their joy.














Soon the Squirrels also joined in and made merry!!














While the Shikra lay in wait for the unwary bird or lizard or mammal. She was not so lucky today though with the birds and animals moving all the time in high alert.











The Mynas even tried to steal from the Robin without any success.











The entire episode lasted about an hour by which time most of the visitors had feasted. Then as if someone had turned off a switch, the insects stopped coming out. While it was death for so many insects, their deaths was not in vain as they helped so many other creatures in the food chain alive by providing sustenance. Meanwhile their large numbers ensured that sufficient numbers escaped to form a new colony elsewhere!!

Thanks Mother Nature for providing a No Holds Barred uncensored glimpse of Raw Nature at its best on a beautiful Wednesday morning.

Who needs a Television, when you have live events unfolding outside your door!!

The Danger Humans Do not Face!!

Atleast most humans avoid getting into situations that are life threatening and are able to grow into Adulthood fairly comfortably.

This is not so with Wildlife where the Survival is a daily Challenge!!

Take the case of this baby Squirrel who was born 5 weeks ago in a nest in my house. As long as he was a baby, he stayed in the nest and was safe from the prying eyes of Crows and Mynas who desperately tried to get him.

However once he become a juvenile and began exploring the nearby territory, he became fair game for any predator that happened to be around. Our presence ensured that he was in relative safety, however even we did not bargained for the tragic scene that took place in front of us this weekend.

In the morning, the frisky juvenile possibly exited the nest too fast and fell two stories down on to the concrete floor. He was dazed but seemed fine. After staying put for a few minutes, he scampered away and we heaved a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, we heard the soft thud yet again and looked out to see an action replay of the morning's scene. The juve this time staggered away below our car and immediately we heard his squeak. We ran out to see the neighborhood cat holding the Squirrel in its mouth....and all too soon it was over.

One's death meant an extension of life for another....so is the way of nature!!! Imagine if we humans had to live by the same rules...our population would possibly be a fraction of what it is today and the world would have been a much better place to live in.

Post the Fight...the Reward

My last post was about THE FIGHT!! Two pairs of the Indian Myna going at each other with everything the had!!

 To the Winner go the spoils!!! Obviously right!!

So here you have ......the Winners Celebrating and moving on to the next step....

 I meant courting!!

These two have been at it for a while....now I hope I'll be lucky to catch them in "The Act"...

 If my luck holds, I could also catch them nesting.....

Watch this space for updates!!!

The Fight

It was a rare weekend that I was at home and was chilling out on Sunday watching a movie on TV with family.. Sometime in the mid morning, we were suddenly jolted out of our relaxation by loud and persistent screeches of Mynas.









The first thing that struck my mind was that there was some predator which had attacked and got hold of a myna and the little bird was screaming for its life.
I called out to my wife, meanwhile rushing to get the camera and we both stepped out in anticipation of seeing a hunt in progress.

As soon as we stepped out, we saw two mynas engaged in combat and were just about to turn back when........

We saw another pair similarly engaged. For the average city dweller bird combat may be a rare event, but a double combat is a Show Stopper.

 The anger was palpable and the rage with which the birds went at each other was a sight to see...

 We fully expected to see atleast one bird either get injured or die in the combat considering the viciousness with which they went at each other.






Having never before seen mynas fighting each other so viciously, my wife and I were entranced in this rare behaviour scene being played out that we completely lost track of time or the fact that the sun was beating down on us.
 

Even when they separated and one bird tried to flee, the other bird just chased, caught up with the fleeing bird and the fight continued

After a while I realized that one pair was trying to get to one side while the other was hell bent on preventing them from getting there....

So it was all about territory or nesting sites. Real Estate has prime value even among the avians. So much so that they were even willing to roll into the gutter to fight for what they valued.

Then after close to 7 minutes, one pair decided that they had enough and took to their heels.










The Victorious pair then flew to a perch on a PVC drain pipe and began calling out their Victory song.

What a sight it was....a common everyday bird which is considered to be a pest in many parts of the world the Common Myna or the Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis) is a highly intelligent bird and a major part of the birds' success in any new habitat has been its ability to adapt quickly to its new environment. These guys just about made my day...!!!