Our flock of fowl, hens, guinea fowl, turkey, have been deployed in the watermelon field to
de-worm the place. The huge bonanza is keeping them quiet, which is a big relief as the
guinea fowl need serious counseling on noise pollution. Our mixed breed flock of doves
and pigeons too have eagerly enlisted for this industrious chore.
One of our farm hands had bought us a hen which has feathers that grow the wrong way,
making her look heckled all the time; well she has a brood of five chicks now, of which
three sport their mom’s heckled look and the family has joined this party, mother hen has
seized the opportunity to give her brood lessons in sustenance.
Also, attending the party is our inseparable odd couple - the white duck with the black hen.
The duck was abandoned as an egg by his vain mother who believed that the process of
hatching may ruin her figure, and was thus hatched by a hen. It grew up with the chicks
and did not venture into the pond for some time - when finally he took to the water his
chick siblings almost followed him, thinking that to be the logical next step. Well as time
passed the brood went its own way but the duckling, now a duck, never joined the other
ducks and hung with his sibling, the black hen. They always wander the fields together
and when the duck decides to go for a swim the black hen waits patiently by the edge of
the pond.
Our 4 dogs are fast asleep this morning, having barked themselves silly all night at tribal
folk who for some strange reason fish in the night! Its unlikely that they would have caught
any fish last night as our dogs along with the neighboring orchestras must have frightened
all the fish far out of the river, straight to the sea! Never mind the fact that they did not let
me sleep a wink as I had chosen to perch myself on the machaan (house on stilts) by the
river and was an unwilling spectator to the opera throughout the night. In fact the great
dane Sula is quite a sight - sprawled upside down at the edge of the field like a passed out
drunkard. (I did think the rum was diminishing rather quick last night.)
Their indolence has encouraged hordes of unlisted volunteers to join the de-worming
marathon. Didn't know birds supported watermelons so strongly! With watermelon seeds
beings priced close to precious metals, am hoping and assuming that our farm hands have
somehow trained the birds to to restrict themselves to worms and not pillage the tender
watermelon plants. Among the unlisted workers, a big flock of egrets have abandoned the
river and are ploughing away in the field, one is curiously examining a bush. A cuckoo is
taking a lazy walk, while mynas and bulbuls have abandoned their songs and are furiously
at work.
Not all birds are so passionate about saving watermelons, some have given this breakfast
party a miss, the geese are swimming aimlessly in the pond and the ducks are busy
grooming themselves. A pair of herons are, as always, fiercely guarding opposite ends of
the pond, having demarcated their halves. A pair of lapwings are desperately calling out to
each other as they walk the edge of the pond even though they are separated by a mere 3
feet. Our ambitious adventure project, the zipline across the pond is rarely used by us - the
kingfisher has decided it makes the perfect perch for a dive and we daren’t disturb his lofty
poise. He only shares it with the wagtails.
The cormorants have chosen to stick to the river. One is stoically standing with his
wingspan out, declaring himself king of all he surveys. A stranger sight is a pair of
cormorants flying in tandem, seems like these loners have finally learned the dating game.
The bee eaters are sticking to safe ground, in this case safe water, and casing the river with amazing speed. Back at the watermelon field, a lone crow is perched atop a pole
looking in disdain at these laborers.
A sudden flourish by the horse in the adjoining paddock sends the egrets soaring and
before one can say “billions of blue blistering barnacles” (not that I ever say it) the field is
empty. The doves have soared to the stable roof, the fowl have leaped to the edge of the
field and the guinea fowl have begun their incessant cacophony. The worms breathe a
collective sigh of relief and go back to nibbling the watermelons. None of this has had any
effect on the dogs who continue snoring. And I nursing my rum sodden, sleep deprived
head, drown myself in lemon grass laced tea.
First appeared at http://www.balajifarms.com/article/Good_Morning.pdf
de-worm the place. The huge bonanza is keeping them quiet, which is a big relief as the
guinea fowl need serious counseling on noise pollution. Our mixed breed flock of doves
and pigeons too have eagerly enlisted for this industrious chore.
One of our farm hands had bought us a hen which has feathers that grow the wrong way,
making her look heckled all the time; well she has a brood of five chicks now, of which
three sport their mom’s heckled look and the family has joined this party, mother hen has
seized the opportunity to give her brood lessons in sustenance.
Also, attending the party is our inseparable odd couple - the white duck with the black hen.
The duck was abandoned as an egg by his vain mother who believed that the process of
hatching may ruin her figure, and was thus hatched by a hen. It grew up with the chicks
and did not venture into the pond for some time - when finally he took to the water his
chick siblings almost followed him, thinking that to be the logical next step. Well as time
passed the brood went its own way but the duckling, now a duck, never joined the other
ducks and hung with his sibling, the black hen. They always wander the fields together
and when the duck decides to go for a swim the black hen waits patiently by the edge of
the pond.
Our 4 dogs are fast asleep this morning, having barked themselves silly all night at tribal
folk who for some strange reason fish in the night! Its unlikely that they would have caught
any fish last night as our dogs along with the neighboring orchestras must have frightened
all the fish far out of the river, straight to the sea! Never mind the fact that they did not let
me sleep a wink as I had chosen to perch myself on the machaan (house on stilts) by the
river and was an unwilling spectator to the opera throughout the night. In fact the great
dane Sula is quite a sight - sprawled upside down at the edge of the field like a passed out
drunkard. (I did think the rum was diminishing rather quick last night.)
Their indolence has encouraged hordes of unlisted volunteers to join the de-worming
marathon. Didn't know birds supported watermelons so strongly! With watermelon seeds
beings priced close to precious metals, am hoping and assuming that our farm hands have
somehow trained the birds to to restrict themselves to worms and not pillage the tender
watermelon plants. Among the unlisted workers, a big flock of egrets have abandoned the
river and are ploughing away in the field, one is curiously examining a bush. A cuckoo is
taking a lazy walk, while mynas and bulbuls have abandoned their songs and are furiously
at work.
Not all birds are so passionate about saving watermelons, some have given this breakfast
party a miss, the geese are swimming aimlessly in the pond and the ducks are busy
grooming themselves. A pair of herons are, as always, fiercely guarding opposite ends of
the pond, having demarcated their halves. A pair of lapwings are desperately calling out to
each other as they walk the edge of the pond even though they are separated by a mere 3
feet. Our ambitious adventure project, the zipline across the pond is rarely used by us - the
kingfisher has decided it makes the perfect perch for a dive and we daren’t disturb his lofty
poise. He only shares it with the wagtails.
The cormorants have chosen to stick to the river. One is stoically standing with his
wingspan out, declaring himself king of all he surveys. A stranger sight is a pair of
cormorants flying in tandem, seems like these loners have finally learned the dating game.
The bee eaters are sticking to safe ground, in this case safe water, and casing the river with amazing speed. Back at the watermelon field, a lone crow is perched atop a pole
looking in disdain at these laborers.
A sudden flourish by the horse in the adjoining paddock sends the egrets soaring and
before one can say “billions of blue blistering barnacles” (not that I ever say it) the field is
empty. The doves have soared to the stable roof, the fowl have leaped to the edge of the
field and the guinea fowl have begun their incessant cacophony. The worms breathe a
collective sigh of relief and go back to nibbling the watermelons. None of this has had any
effect on the dogs who continue snoring. And I nursing my rum sodden, sleep deprived
head, drown myself in lemon grass laced tea.
First appeared at http://www.balajifarms.com/article/Good_Morning.pdf
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