A Morning Walk in the Park - A Poem

 A Morning Walk in The Park

A walk in the park, each morning, is like a learning walk.

The gentlemen huddled in a corner discussing the latest

In politics, a glimpse into the world in crisis. In the middle,

Another group of gentlemen, practice Yoga - "breathe in,

Breathe out - all is well with the world, just breathe calmly".

And as you wonder about the new world order, you look

At the people, meeting each other in the mornings, sharing

Greetings like they've met after a long time. You realise that

Life is a collective act of sharing and appreciating life together. 

Solutions to problems might come from a morning walk in a park.

A fresh wind blows onto your face like the caressing stroke of

One loved. It brings with it a hint of Jasmine, tempting you to

Take yet another circuit of the park. Time slows, a tapestry unfolds

Of scents, trees, blossoms, birds and people. A mellowed lady 

Passes by and is overtaken by a young girl walking briskly.

In this park, the old and the young complement each other,

Bringing in life's diversity as they participate in a common act-

A morning walk in the park to start the day with. As others doze

In their beds, you catch the day as it unfolds, breathing the fresh

Air and the scents that waft by, ready to start the day with zest!

 In the park you see a young girl instruct a few mellowed men

In the art of breathing, which they follow meekly! Breathe in

Breathe out she calls out in a surprisingly calm voice and they

Obey meekly like little children. This is a park where the grown-

Ups become children and the children become the grown-ups!

For once we need to change roles, to seek advice rather than

Give advice, to open your senses to what the trees and the birds

Might offer! The fresh air with its scents of Jasmine and Rose

A better therapy than that offered in a hospital. And as you walk

You burn those calories to get a slimmer, fitter, beautiful you!

Lineated Barbet enjoys a Breakfast of Figs

The Lineated Barbet is an elusive and rather shy bird that hides quickly inside the branches when it realises it has been spotted. This rather beautiful bird has a bright green plumage, a brown head, yellow eye-patches, red beak and star-spangled streaks along its wings. The bird enjoys feeding on fig fruits. The bird has a distinct though subdued 'kurk...kurk' call.

It was a joy to spot one of these birds feasting on figs on the fig tree in front of my house in Palam Vihar. Incidentally, the sun was behind me and so the Barbet couldn't see me clearly as that would mean peering into the bright sun. Like the Green Pigeon, the Lineated Barbet is an arboreal bird that lives most of its life in the branches of trees.

All of these photographs were taken with a Canon 1500 D  and a Canon USM 70-300 mm lens. I used a ISO setting of 100 to get sharper photographs.

Greylag Geese and Sarus Cranes spotted at the Sultanpur National Park

A visit to the Sultanpur National Park during the weekend yielded amazing results in spite of the bad weather conditions. A welcome spotting of an entire family of Sarus Cranes was perhaps the best reward that I could treat myself to. Sarus Cranes are the largest flying birds in the world and they can fly at a height of ten meters or more above the ground. Yesterday's sighting was of a male, female and a juvenile Sarus Crane. The Juvenile Sarus Crane lacks the red colouring around its head. The white patch on the crown of the head is common to juvenile and adult Sarus Cranes alike.

Based on repeated sightings of these amazing birds, one can see that Sarus Cranes are a closely-knit family. In the photograph posted above, one can see the mother in the foreground and the juvenile in the background. Throughout the time, I saw them, the mother stayed close to the juvenile Crane. The male stayed ahead of the two as if to scout the area ahead (A large number of Golden Jackals in the National Park might pose a problem for these birds).

Speaking of Jackals, my brother, Sanjay, who was following an ex-student and I was surrounded by Jackals some photographs of which he shared with me that I have posted below. It looks like the Covid-19 lockdown has had a favourable impact on the population of wild animals in the national park. While one might argue that the presence of carnivorous animals is important for maintaining a healthy eco-system, an imbalance between these animals and the rest of the animals and birds might lead to some kind of a turf war!

I guess it is a good idea to walk in groups while visiting National Parks. Another good idea is to keep a tripod or a monopod handy in case one has to chase away unwanted animals!

Coming to Greylag Geese, well, I guess they are some of the noisiest migratory birds I have ever seen. You can hear them long before you see them, that is of course when their lake is hidden from you by the underbrush. Greylag Geese incidentally happen to be migratory birds flying in all the way from Mongolia and Central Asia. Greylag Geese are quite large in size and they seem to be similar to Bar-headed Geese which should be arriving soon at the wetlands in Northern India.

Scarface - the Veteran Indian Golden Jackal

Just today, when I visited the Sultanpur National Park, I did not expect to spot any new migratory birds since it was early November and most of the birds, especially the Bar-headed Geese arrive later in the month. The almost one and a half years that the park was shut down has however, been a boon to some of the Vulpine species of Mammals and the indigenous species of birds. In my previous post I had mentioned spotting a pair of Indian Golden Jackals but not being able to take a snap of them. Today, however I was lucky enough to take a few photographs of them. The weather, unfortunately was not too good, and the smog created by stubble burning in the nearby areas had contributed to less than favourable conditions to take photographs of wild animals and birds.

I have titled the post, Scarface because one of the Golden Indian Jackals I spotted seemed to bear the scars of a battle it must have fought with another animal, possibly wild dogs or even something more imposing. When I looked at other photographs of the animal, I noticed healed skin over its right hindquarters. Any ways, I will state with great respect that none of the animals I spotted dashed away into safety! I did not move, I kept still and as long as I was still these rather beautiful and graceful animals allowed to take their photographs. It was only when another visitor to the park made an abrupt appearance that they scampered away!

The Indian Golden Jackal, incidentally is under a threat of extinction, especially as their natural habitats keep shrinking to make way for human developmental activities. Very soon, even these animals will be lost to us forever. The Indian/Asian Antelope, also known as Neel Gai is also facing extinction because of a loss of habitat. This majestic Antelope shares the park with numerous other animals. I couldn't resist taking a photograph of one of them!

The last photograph I am sharing on this blog is that of what I assume to be an Indian wildcat. A little distance into the Park, I noticed a pair of what appeared to be wildcats dash in front of me. I did not have time to change the shutter speed nor the aperture and so I just let go at one of them. The only part that seemed to be clear enough was that of the tail which seemed to have a series of concentric dark circles around it.

 

First Impressions on visiting the Sultanpur National Park after almost two years

When I visited the Sultanpur National Park yesterday, I half expected to see locked gates ( this had happened many times earlier as unlike Keoladeo, Bharatapur, and many others, the Sultanpur National Park had remained shut for more than a year and a half). Fortunately, the gates were open and in I went, at about 7:35 a.m. in the morning. One of the major changes that I noticed this time was the mention of the words, 'Ramsar Wetland'. On doing some research I learned that a Ramsar Wetland is a wetland designated to be of international importance and such sites are protected under the strict provisions of the Ramsar Convention of wetlands. I wish however, that such provisions should also be given to unrecognized wetlands such as the Basai Wetland in Gurgaon, which has seen steady deterioration in recent years. 

However, returning to the topic in hand, it was definitely a unique moment to return to the National Park after almost a couple of years. The noise made my the birds was noticeable, more so than in the pervious years. It looks like the absence of visitors had made the Painted Storks bolder and bolder, as a result of which they had made their nests low down on the branches of the trees, closer to the ground than I could have imagined was possible. There was a nest of Painted Storks right above the head of one of the visitors at the park, and she wasn't even aware of its presence.

It could be seen that the chicks of the Painted Storks had little in common with their parents in terms of the colour of their plumage. The Painted Stork chicks, fluffy balls of white were distinct with a rather dark plumage around their beaks, almost making them look like dark, Woolly necked storks! It was therefore, a fine sight to be able to get a look into the nests of the Painted Storks, rather like peeping into the living rooms of a family!

I was also able to spot a pair of Juvenile Sarus Cranes at the Park. Unfortunately, they were too shy and I could barely get a few shots of them before they retreated into the scrub. Another surprise spotting was of a couple of, what I assume to be a pair of juvenile Foxes. These too, scampered away into the brush before I could get a closer look at them. 

Another welcome spotting was that of a Shikra that afforded me enough time to photograph it and another was a Hoopoe that turned its head this way and that way, affording me a good look at its rather regal crest. Also spotted were the ubiquitous Asian Antelope or the Neel Gai, the local Cattle, Parrots and of course Babblers and Kingfishers. Spot billed Ducks were definitely hatching their eggs, and I was able to spot a mother sitting on a nest of eggs. She was so busy and engrossed with preening herself that she did not spot me in the brushes. I retreated quietly not wanting to disturb her, though I wonder if other visitor to the Park will be considerate enough! 

Besides these more visible birds, I was able to spot a greater Coucal away in the branches of the keekar trees. Unfortunately I was not able to get a good shot of the same because of the poor visibility caused by the smog in the air.

Somebody told me that my posts did not have my photograph in them so I decided to take the help of my mobile phone to take a selfie of myself.