Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Noiseless, Pollutionless Holiday Story, Part II - Weaver Bird!

The nests of the Weaver Birds! I took this snap from the verandah of the cottage!
Recently, we had visited Aathoor, a small town near Dindigul (Tamilnadu) and stayed in a cottage which was surrounded by greenery, facing a beautiful lake. I wrote an article/post about that.  I am continuing this post from that one which is here!  I had written there:
'We stayed in the veranda most of the time!  Watched a variety of birds flying here and there  and then, the Weaver birds, which had their nests just in front of the veranda, caught our eye!  We were hooked to the chirping sounds of these birds! They were really busy birds, building their nests.  Let me dedicate a separate post for them, who made our stay, memorable!
This post is just for the lovely birds!

As soon as we checked in and came to the verandah, we were surprised to see so much greenery and the lake at a short distance.  The whole surrounding made us very happy. We saw colourful butterflies and birds, flying here and there. The Dutch couple had many cats, some dogs too and they were roaming everywhere! Mrs.Ge said that the cats were very useful to keep the rats away! The dogs were very friendly with the visitors!  As all of you know, our whole family loves dogs and cats and birds and butterflies!  This was heaven for us! After sometime, our eyes caught the nests at some distance, from where we sat in the veranda. The loud sounds of birds flying here and there, were very interesting! All the three of us (husband, son and I!) started watching them and clicking them, sometimes fighting for the two cameras!


The birds were busy with their building work until nearly 6.15 to 6.30pm! They flew away together, collected the twigs (a lady visitor at the cottage said that the material was mostly leaf fibers!) and came back together to fix the nest with loud chirping sounds.  The male bird builds the nest and the female, if she likes, stays in the nest!  I have seen the inside of the nest long back.  They have one or two layers like rooms inside the nest.  If the female doesn't approve, the male starts building a fresh one.  The old one turns into brown colour and the new one is green! You can notice it in the picture! Most of the trees were Neem trees.  After the weaver birds left, suddenly pigeon like big birds were coming out in droves from the hollow, you see below the nests in the above picture!  Their sound was deafening but we enjoyed watching them! These activities started from very early in the morning till dusk!


I took this picture from the terrace of the cottage!
I noticed many purple rumped sunbirds flying here and there.  

It was not easy to capture them in the camera! This one is just a bit OK, I think!


I tried to google for some more cross-section pictures of the nest and a clear picture of the bird and came across Dr.Manoj's blog. He seems to be a professional photographer. He has got a beautiful picture of the weaver bird and other birds. Have a look! Very interesting blog, he has!

If you are a bird enthusiast and interested in knowing more about birds, here is a link from 'The Guardian', which explains about one bird a day! Very interesting link. Whenever you are bored, you can just watch them!

Now, to the video we took, which is quite interesting to watch. You can know why I talk so much about these birds.  The sound of the birds is heavenly:

Choosing 1080p in the above video will allow you to see the details with great clarity.

29 comments :

dsdsds said...

That was heavenly.. my son watched it and was quite amused.. when I was young, we used to see these weaver birds, tailor birds and sparrow in our homes. today one has to go to the wild to spot a few..

Sandhya said...

HEMA: I am happy to know that your son enjoyed the birds, Hema!

I don't see the normal sparrow here at all. We used to see them at Adyar. I used to drop rice for them!

Slowly except human beings, everything will go into oblivion, I think! Human beings are seeing to it!

Kavita Saharia said...

My kids loved it so much that we viewed the video thrice.We do get to see weaver birds here as there is lot of greenery out here .But in last few years because of the rapid deforestation the numbers have significantly come down .
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post Sandhya , i am sure there is more to come.

Destination Infinity said...

I used to hear those sounds a long time back, when half of our flats was like a jungle! I have seen sparrows in abundance in our grandmothers house in Parry's corner. But these days, I don't see any birds in the city, except maybe crows which are always present everywhere. The sounds were very good to hear indeed. I am sure this vacation was memorable for you.

Destination Infinity

Sandhya said...

DESTINATION INFINITY: Yes, this vacation was the best until now...next post is about Munnar!


KAVITA: I got your comment in my email. It is not displaying here. I refreshed many times. Don't know the reason. Thanks for the comment. I am happy to know that Gauri and Kaustubh enjoyed the video...they are going to be nature lovers!

Kavita Saharia said...

yes ,that is the reason i asked you if you got any notification.I am cent percent sure that i saw my comment published here.

Renu said...

very enjoyable post Sandhya!..earlier I used to live in such surroundings, and at night there were so many voices that my daughter used to say that it looks like I am sleeping in a zoo.

Wini said...

I can imagine how happy you would have been with the silence and beauty of the place! Add weaver birds to the picture and you have heaven! :)

Beautiful.

Rahul Bhatia said...

A very delightful post and the pictures of the nests were brilliant!

Sandhya said...

RENU: Those days are gone, Renu! When we came to this house, we used to hear the sounds of birds from 5 in the morning...sometimes it was so loud that my husband used to get annoyed. On koyal used to give a sound from here and another would reply from far off...don't know where they have gone now! I think it is because of too many flats and cell towers! Trees are gone here too!


ASHWINI SRIRAM: You are right, Ashwini! In a couple of years, we won't hear any bird sound near our house. We must look for such places to hear them!


RAHUL BHATIA: Welcome to my blog, Mr.Bhatia! Thank you!

Kavita Saharia said...

i hope the problem sorts out soon.

Sandhya said...

KAVITA: Your latest comment is here now! Don't know what is happening! I have started using the new blogger interface. I am getting spacing problem after displaying a picture. It looks OK in the draft but when published, the words get lost and the space varies! This is the reason, I have to hit the button 'unpublish' in my latest posts, try to correct it and then again 'publish'. Hope these problems get solved!

Thank you Kavita!

R. Ramesh said...

i just saw so many sparrows in our office compound..came here n read this post..coincidencee..eppadi irrukigo maam? ellam sugamthane...take care wishes

Ramakrishnan said...

Very nice post on Baya weaver bird.Such a pretty and colorful bird. Looked up Dr.Manoj's post for a marvelous pic of the bird. They build such complex nests with effortless ease.It is if they weave magic into their lives.And our lives :)They are slowly vanishing as also Taylor birds and common sparrow as Hema has commented.
Everything must be done to protect & preserve these birds for the sake of posterity !

Sandhya said...

KAVITA:
I am facing some problem with the comments getting published here. Kavita Saharia was the second commenter to comment for this post on 22nd.Nov.'11. I don't know why it didn't get published. She wrote once more...same thing happened. So I am 'copy pasting' her email comment here:

'My kids loved it so much that we viewed the video thrice.We do get to see weaver birds here as there is lot of greenery out here .But in last few years because of the rapid deforestation the numbers have significantly come down .
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post Sandhya , i am sure there is more to come.'

I know that your children are nature lovers. The video was taken by my son and he was very happy to read this comment from you, Kavita! Thank you!

Sandhya said...

R.RAMESH: Birds are becoming rare things now, Ramesh! We are lucky to see them, at least some variety!

All are fine here. Hope you and your family are settled there!


RAMAKRISHNAN: They literally push the thread in and pull them out from the other side! Great to watch!

We humans are selfish. Would we reduce the no. of mobile towers? I read that they are the main problem after deforestation, for the birds becoming extinct.

Did you see the other pictures in Dr.Manoj's blog? All are beautiful!

Ramakrishnan said...

Not yet. I plan to see his blog in detail and see the other birds. I am a nature lover and a once upon a time bird watcher:)

Bikram said...

Sorry i am late :)
I miss the sound of birds and all that chaos , we dont get it here in uk
and I just saw those nests when i was in india loved them ..

beautiful birds I need a CAMERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa :( have so many pictures to take

Bikram's

Sandhya said...

R.RAMAKRISHNAN: You will enjoy his blog! It is very good! I love watching any type of animals and birds! I always feel sorry for them...they are all leaving us slowly!


BIKRAM: My niece's house has got trees and a vast field behind her house in the UK. We saw very few birds, though. Used to watch deers in the field in the morning, but we didn't hear much bird sounds! Wonder why?

Get a camera and take pictures of the ducks and swans in the lakes over there, Bikram...they are lovely!

Anonymous said...

nice nature watch...

thanks

ashok said...

As an architect Iam greatly inspired by these architects of nature...So much to learn from them...

Roshmi Sinha said...

Wonderful! You must be having a charmed life :)

The weaverbird is called 'babui pakhi' in Bangla. Though I haven't seen one in real life, they are simply one of god's best creations.

P.S. Just look at the world of birds. The male weaverbird builds the nest, and if the female does not like it ... he simply starts building another. Among the most 'evolved' of all species ... there is only one answer: dowry and more dowries. Sad, no?

Roshmi Sinha said...

Wonderful! You must be having a charmed life :)

The weaverbird is called 'babui pakhi' in Bangla. Though I haven't seen one in real life, they are simply one of god's best creations.

P.S. Just look at the world of birds. The male weaverbird builds the nest, and if the female does not like it ... he simply starts building another. Among the most 'evolved' of all species ... there is only one answer: dowry and more dowries. Sad, no?

Sandhya said...

KRISHNA: Welcome to my blog, Krishna! Thank you!


ASHOK: Yes, did you see Dr.Manoj's pictures, Ashok? You can see the weaving closely! It looks beautiful!


ROSHMI SINHA: The birds look very beautiful. They have got shiny coat too! Paakhi means pakshi, is it?!

You can see so many nests hanging at the same place, in the picture! They fly together with loud sounds and silence for sometime. They come back together again with threads in their beaks...again chat loudly, build some more and fly off! They are so sensible. We will never learn but take their spaces too! Only the six-sensed humans are inferior in the world in all ways, Roshmi!

Roshmi Sinha said...

Yes Sandhyaji, 'Paakhi' is 'Pakshi' :)

Anonymous said...

I have heard such a noise from a tree near our house in Delhi, where there was a park behind our house. Love the sound!! This must have been a heavenly holiday!!
Did the larger birds use the rejected nests?
And I had never realised the nests were green before they dried and became brown! Love all your bird posts.

Sandhya said...

INDIAN HOME MAKER: Yes, you are right, IHM! We enjoyed this holiday a lot because all the three of us are nature lovers! My elder son also is a lover of animals, esp.elephants, birds and trees!

The brown nests were abandoned, it seems.

Thank you, IHM!

Shail said...

Loved the chirping. What a lovely place it sounds. Heaven with cats, dogs, birds, greenery and lake!
Oh by the way, the bird in the second picture is a Purple-rumped Sunbird, not a weaver bird.

Sandhya said...

SHAIL MOHAN: I watched the video now after a long time! It sounds great! It was a memorable holiday for us. We enjoyed! Changed the name of the bird, thank you, Shail!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labels

Agra ( 3 ) ants ( 1 ) Arya Samaj wedding ( 1 ) Aurangabad ( 1 ) awards ( 3 ) Badami cave temples ( 4 ) balika vadhu ( 4 ) Bhimsen Joshi ( 1 ) birds and butterflies ( 28 ) Book Review ( 2 ) Books ( 5 ) Chennairain ( 1 ) children ( 2 ) Churches ( 1 ) Chutney ( 1 ) Cinderella Man ( 1 ) cinema ( 15 ) common wealth games ( 1 ) concerts ( 7 ) Corporation Schools ( 1 ) cricket ( 3 ) Dharamshala ( 3 ) dogs ( 5 ) Doordarshan ( 9 ) down memory lane ( 5 ) Education ( 15 ) English Movie Review ( 16 ) Environment ( 52 ) Europe tour ( 1 ) Festivals ( 20 ) Firaaq (2008) ( 1 ) Fitness ( 1 ) Forts ( 3 ) Foto Friday ( 18 ) Gafla ( 1 ) General ( 42 ) Health ( 7 ) Hindi film songs ( 3 ) Hindi Movie Review ( 25 ) Humour ( 6 ) Jagjit Singh ( 4 ) Kalakshetra ( 1 ) Kamal Haasan ( 2 ) kanjira ( 1 ) Karsh Kale ( 1 ) kaun banega superstar ( 3 ) kbc ( 2 ) Kew Gardens ( 2 ) Kittens ( 10 ) Kurnool ( 4 ) kya aap paanchvi paas se tez hain? ( 1 ) language ( 1 ) London ( 5 ) Mahabaleshwar tour ( 5 ) movie review ( 8 ) Mumbai Meri Jaan ( 1 ) music ( 58 ) my garden ( 17 ) Nature ( 19 ) New year ( 3 ) Notre Dame ( 1 ) onion ( 1 ) patriotism ( 19 ) pattadha kallu ( 1 ) People whom I admire ( 62 ) Personal experience ( 2 ) pets ( 19 ) politics ( 20 ) Portugese anchor ( 1 ) Pt.Chaurasia ( 1 ) radio ( 4 ) rantings ( 3 ) reality shows ( 2 ) recognition ( 2 ) religion ( 3 ) s ( 1 ) Sangeeth Saritha ( 5 ) saregama 1998 mega final ( 3 ) saregama 1999 finals ( 1 ) saregamapa 2010 ( 1 ) showcaves ( 1 ) Sonu Nigam ( 5 ) sound of music ( 3 ) sparrows ( 4 ) Sports ( 7 ) Srilanka tour ( 4 ) sunrise ( 6 ) superstitions ( 2 ) Tagged ( 11 ) Tamil movie Review ( 8 ) Temples ( 22 ) Tendulkar ( 3 ) The King's Speech ( 1 ) The Taj ( 1 ) thief ( 1 ) Tirupati ( 3 ) tour ( 59 ) tours ( 1 ) Travel ( 26 ) TV serial review ( 8 ) Ulagath Tamizh Semmozhi Maanaadu ( 1 ) unbelievable news ( 2 ) US tour ( 5 ) Ustaad Zakir Hussain ( 1 ) Vaalpaarai ( 3 ) vedanthangal ( 3 ) voh kaagaz ki kashti ( 75 ) wordless wednesday ( 38 ) yoga ( 2 )