Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Sunbird Splendour

Another day of sudden, pelting rain. While the greenery might be loving it, human beings in this corner on earth have been inconvenienced not a little by breakdowns in power supply for long periods, meaning really long since the back up systems too gave up. 

Flipping through my albums, I came upon these pictures of the purple sunbird taken one bright morning in February. Arguably, my best pictures of these tiny, beautiful birds ...


This is the first time I noticed the golden spot just below the shoulders and that was because I scarcely ever saw it at repose. If not busy merrily chasing each other in crazy flight, they were almost always sighted peering into some flower or the other, hanging upside down and flitting continuously from here to there to everywhere

 

Purple Sunbird in Faridabad, Haryana


Thursday, July 14, 2016

A day with rain

The much awaited rains are finally here again, after a lot of fits and starts like an old, cranky automobile engine. Finally, the sky hangs low in an uniform grey, rather than blue grey clouds rolling in from one direction with ominously sounding thunder while the other side is lit up brilliantly with the setting sun. And finally, that steady drizzle and the visibly invigorated earth, the freshness seeping in to your heart slowly but surely, so much so that you suddenly seem to have lost your bearings and your direction, sitting and staring at the pitter patter rain with an indescribably sweet pain enveloping you. 


Slowly, the rain stops and the pall lifts as a few birds start venturing out happily calling out to each other. The light improves. Raindrops glisten on the edges of leaves. Cars begin to honk and the world comes to life once again.