The Birds are Beautiful

Times of India, Goa Edition, December 11, 2011

At the beginning of this month, I heard them arrive. At 4pm one evening there was suddenly lots of activity in my backyard. There was lots of twittering and flashes of colors as the winter migratory birds had arrived.

My backyard in Goa is basically a jungle, so we are now honoured each day with spectacular shows courtesy of these beautiful creatures. The Bulbuls are the friendliest, they que up at my birdbath and one by one jump in, wiggle their bottoms, fluff up to twice their size and then fly away.... The bigger birds don't bother with many cute antics, they stay perched regally on some high branch and glide off most gracefully to survey the salt pans and hunt their catch. Then there are the birds that chase the squirrels and the squirrels that chase the birds... It is all very amusing and calming..

Here are some more common birds that I see in my backyard: