Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Baby Birds (Red Vented Bulbuls) Have Flown Away!

Our Baby Bulbuls







Our family feels sort of happiness and emptiness, in our heart, now. The baby Bulbuls have grown and flown away from their nest on Tuesday, the 11th Aug. '09. The above photo was the last one, we had taken on Tuesday late evening. We did not see them, the next morning. We saw only the parent birds for sometime.

This photo was taken on Sunday, two days before they left their nest:





This one was taken on Monday afternoon...the nearly fully grown birds, overflowing their nest!:





Now, comes the photos of the day, they came out of their nest - Tuesday. I was just bending down and opening the lock, in our gate in the morning. Suddenly, I heard some sound and saw the mother bird sitting on the branch of a plant, just near me (I had never seen her so close to me, till then) and chirping - maybe she was telling something. Then I just walked (we had been doing this everyday, as soon as we got up in the morning, since we saw the nest with eggs!) to their nest to peep in. It was empty! Then turned around and told my husband who had just come out, that the birds were not there. Both of us checked the plants and saw one bird, sitting on a branch, on the Rathnagandhi plant on the right side of the gate! The nest is on the left side. Turned around and saw another, sitting on the ground. I nearly stepped on the third one who was sitting on the grass (lawn). We saw the mother bird flying here and there and slowly the babies started shifting their places inside the gate, from one plant to another. It was a beautiful sight. I did minimum cooking because I was standing outside and watching the birds, most of that morning! Now, the photos:











The mother is keeping an eye on the babies. Mother or father, I don't know. I have seen both of them taking care of the babies. Both of them carry food in their mouths. One bird goes to the nest, feeds and comes out. Then the other bird, who waits, sitting on the cable wire, which runs on top of the nest, comes down and feeds the babies! I admired this nature of the birds.





At about 9 A.M., we heard some commotion outside and saw a third (stranger) bird (same bulbul). The parents were fighting with that bird. All of them ran away after a few minutes. The photo:





I did not see the baby bird, which was sitting on the lawn, when I came outside at about 11 A.M.


The two baby birds were sitting on the Rathnagandhi plant on the right side of the gate:





I noticed that the baby bird did not have the red colour under her belly, yet:





The empty nest:





The parents did not seem worried about the lost bird. They were happy feeding the two babies, which were sitting on the tree branch till that evening. We saw the them sitting on a branch of a jasmine plant, cuddled together (the first photograph) and the mother watching them. This image is still coming in my dream! Looked so helpless and tiny.





The happy family:





On Wednesday, I saw the parents sitting on the chain link at the backyard compound and chirping but did not see the baby birds. We just pray they are fine somewhere.

Have a look at the short video clip, we took on Tuesday. Just ignore the background sound please. The male voice is horrible. That is a commentary from a temple festival, near our house. Aadi maasam festival is going on.





The birds are beautiful. All of us are missing them.

We hope to see them back here, for nesting, next year!


This is the first part of the story:


.

34 comments :

Anonymous said...

Oh they've grown up and flew the nest too! They grow so quickly, don't they?

I can imagine how you must be feeling.. empty nest syndrome :) The pics are so nice!

I am sure the baby birds will be fine and am sure that they will be back next year :)

Sandhya said...

wordsndreamz: I had heard about the 'empty nest syndrome', but am experiencing now! I have not seen the baby birds, yet. Saw the Amma Appa birds 2 days later.

Thanks for consoling me, Smitha! You won't believe, as soon as I hear the chirping of the bulbuls, I run out to see if the babies are there with the parents!

kanagu said...

the pictures are really beautiful and they have grown too quickly :))

and don't worry.. you have got very nice garden so they will back soon to take rest there :))

you can watch them again.. :))

your post just made me to think about gardening in my home's top :)) lets see what happens :))

SG said...

Nice post. Nice garden. We get attached to these birds and they flew away. They will be back soon.

Saritha said...

So sweet of u sandhya u took video of the birds.I think u love nature and birds and don't mind spending time admiring them.

Maybe those baby birds flew away.Now new birds will come to your garden.When we were kids we used to see everyday morning whether the birds are there in the nest or not,but never saw them learning to fly or flying away.You are very sweet person sandhya,u got attached to the birds.

Liked the snaps a lot.

Shail said...

Oh my, that was quick! They have already flown the nest??!!
That must have been such a lovely experience for you, watching the eggs hatch and the baby birds grow and then fly off.
Lovely pictures!

Sandhya said...

kanagu: Yes, they grew up very fast and flew away! We had a good entertainment. Though we had watched birds nesting in our hometown, when we were small, this is new for us. We are now aware of the difficulties, the birds and animals face in these congested cities to breed.

Terrace garden? It is becoming famous now, Kanagu, try it out!

SG: Welcome here! Yes, we became very attached to them and now miss watching them!

Saritha: Not only me, my husband and sons too, love birds and animals!

One day my son brought home, a small pigeon who had got hurt and fell on his office balcony. He came home in the pouring rain in a two wheeler with that bird and both of us went to our Veterinary Doctor to treat that bird. We fed milk with an ink filler and gave the medicine for two days and it flew off on the third day. He had slept in a carton box at night.

We saw the mother flying from left side to right side of our compound and the baby birds, trying to imitate. Nice experience.

Shail: Yes, Shail, it was a happy experience for us!

Anonymous said...

oh they flew away? soo sad :( you must be really missing them.. nice pics of the grown up birdies.. dont worry.. maybe they will come back someday

Anonymous said...

such a beautiful post,Sandhya.And its so symbolic.his is what empty nesting is about isnt it?
I can imagine how sad you must e feeling after having the birds fly away to e on their own.
As much as I'm wanting Namnam to learn to e on her own,I'm dreading the day when I'll have to let her go!

The snaps are beautiful,Sandhya:)

Sandhya said...

evanescentthoughts: The babies were like small dolls. They were looking at us, when we went near them, like small babies, without any fear in their eyes.

Yes, we miss them a lot. By the way, how shall I address you?!!

Deeps: I have read about 'empty nesting'. But now I know, how we feel about it.

We know that we should let the children get out of our nest, but it is not easy for us to let them go completely, Deepu. But we have to do it, like our parents did.

Renu said...

Beautiful pictures and story..Sandhya you had a life time experience of something so beautiful.. I envy you:)

Santhi Kumar said...

It is very beautiful. I love it.
Meera

Sandhya said...

Meera: Thank you, for the comment, Meera paappaa! Did you see the baby birds? They are so beautiful.

Sandhya said...

Renu: Yes, We are lucky in that way, Renu.

Santhi Kumar said...

Nowadays, even we, human beings are like this. We have to remember seeing these birds story that one day our kids also will be independant, ready to fly away from the parents. Though we keep in touch with them thro' phone, email etc. we will be missing the total dependancy of our kids in us when they were small. And also the faith they have in us when they are younger....it's complete faith. For each kid, their mother and father are the best. We should be able to accept it easily like the bird's parents when they fly away from us.

Santhi Kumar said...

yes, Sandhya mami
I saw it.
Thanks
Meera

Sandhya said...

vaasthu: I agree with you completely, Shanthi. It is tough, but we have to go with nature.

Welcome, Meera!

R. Ramesh said...

hey friend..thanks for your concern..am really touched yar...ippo paravaillai.better except the damn cold..anywy..thanks and best wishes

Kavita Saharia said...

Sandhya...my! that was pretty fast,the pictures are great and it shows how deeply you all were attached to the birdies ...i wish you more birds coming to your garden ...i knew you must be very kind hearted and sweet ..your posts cemented my regards for you even more.

Sandhya said...

kavita: Hope you are fine now, Kavita. Yes, we enjoyed the birds' company.

Thank you, Kavita.

Anonymous said...

That's interesting. In Bangalore, people are really garden conscious. Every house has some form of plants... I have never encountered birds like that, but there were a lot of kitten around my home (when I was young) and the cats always chose either inside our house or just nearby to grow their little kitten : That was an amazing experience - sometimes the kitten were alone and we used to play with them. Once there were a bunch of kitten in a huge shelf where we kept our toys!

Destination Infinity

Sandhya said...

Destination Infinity: Really, watching these animals and birds taking care of their young ones, is amazing. I have written 2 posts about kittens which grew in our house. Have you read them?

Bangalore is full of greenery. Both sides of the roads have huge parks with huge trees. I love those roads.

Anonymous said...

What lovely pictures!! And the video with noisy birds competing with the loud speaker!

Love this beautiful story... and what an experience to share! I blogged about a lost baby bird too once, but it had all happened so quick, I couldn't capture that much action :)

Aparna said...

They flew away so soon? I hope they come back next year also. Amma Appa birds did a wonderful job. I can understand how you must be missing them.

Sandhya said...

IHM: 'the video with noisy birds competing with the loud speaker!' I didn't notice this! We were cursing the loud speaker sound. Yes, the sound of the birds were louder!

We were lucky to photograph the 'fight scene' of the birds also! We were careful not to disturb them. Yes, IHM, it is a memorable experience for us.

Aparna: Yes, Aparna, we are BORED!

Anonymous said...

dropped by to tell you,you've been tagged!
Do let know if and when you do it :))

Sandhya said...

Deeps: Had some eye problem. I will come to you in a day or two. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Those cutie pies. Thank you Sandhya for sharing those precious pictures.

Sandhya said...

Solilo: Yes, we had a good time, watching the baby birds growing up. Did you listen to their chirpings in the video? As IHM said, the birds' sound beats the sound of the man in the loud speaker.

Anonymous said...

How did I miss this post... !!

Sandhy this is the most beautiful ... most significant post... !!!!!!!!

Definitely got to show to hriday too...

I m sure you must be so so content.. and happy... !!!!!!

I dont have audio at office so cant hear the voices...

Thank god you came and reminded me i had forgotten this post... it wouldhave ebeen my loss only... !

Sandhya said...

We felt as if we were honoured, when we saw the birds grow up and then fly away, Dhiren! That too, in our city home.

The small video clip of the amma bird chirping, as if she is giving instructions to her babies, should not be missed. Hriday will love it. Yes, we are so used to seeing birds and animals in the TV channels and zoos, this is a different experience for us.

Thank you.

Dj said...

Hey i have a baby bulbul at my home. Unfortunately their mother died in a storm so since that day we are taking care of them. How much time does an average baby bulbul bird takes to be a full grown up and how will we come to know so that we can set them on their own

Sandhya said...

DJ: Welcome to my space, DJ.

It might take around a month or so, I think. But to be frank, I have forgotten about it. It is long time now.

Thanks for the comment.

chandu said...

lovely experience viewing those birds mam and madam can I know how many days it took for the red vented bulbul babies to fly away since their birth

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