The Spring Orchestra

Chapter Two
The night started at slow pace, I was again amazed by the flooding of bright light into the jungle. The edges of the valley shined white and I could see the tall trees against that light. They were huge trees and light was just flooding from the gaps where ever possible. That was full moon night, and I felt really blessed to see a huge moon climbing up the trees. The moon was on the horizon of the valley and entire valley flooded with its beautiful light. I was able to see entire valley and almost any creature if it would have come in the valley. Now I was sitting in great auditorium, with a great stage, an orchestra and tiny singers. The physics plays very important role in rolling varies sounds in the forests. The sound travels farther in forest by resonating through canopies which makes them mystique. Soon the moon climbed in the sky and air become cooler with increasing wind flow. This wind brought another singer to this orchestra, the grass. The other side of the valley had steep slope with a grass taller than a meter. The rustling sound of the grass added a flavour in the music. Now the stream, the frogs and the rustling grass and the moon light made it a never before stage. I was in the land of nature and left my so called civilized world and became a lone human spectator.
My eyes became drowsy and I went to the land of dreams. I don’t know how long I slept listening to the great music.

Chapter 3I woke up to found that its pitch dark and but the song of orchestra was on. The moon was not visible as it climbed down the grassy slope behind us. I turned to my right to see the fire wood the fire was seized and red charcoal was glowing. There were shades of red in cracked charcoal. The light was glinting from one end to the other. The glint was completely random. I tried a lot to predict the glint but couldn’t. The glint was changing its moods with slight wind blow. Now my mind started playing, I tried to correlate the song and the glint. Sometimes they were synchronised, sometimes not. It was hard brain task which I was trying to do. This brought fatigue to my civilised brain. Off course, how can a glint synchronise with the surrounding sound which is independent. I was able to feel the warmth of red charcoal which was soothing.

The Spring Orchestra

Chapter One

It was our first night halt of the four day trek in eastern part of Radhanagari Sanctuary. The forest in this area is undisturbed due to its topography and inaccessibility. We chose this destination to trace the source of river Kalama which ends up in Kalamawadi Dam. We trekked on slippery hills and unfathomable forests. The heavy sacks on shoulders pinched in our muscles and sweat on necks run down our backs. It was terribly humid day as the monsoon was closing in. We declared it a day at around 4 pm as there is always a chance of getting lost in the forest.

We chose an open area in small valley to settle for night. We started picking up dry wood and sticks to prepare food and make fire to protect ourselves from so called wild beasts. In frenetic pace all of us collected so much wood that was more than sufficient for a week. This was partly due to fear of Sloth Bears and the darkness. The light faded very fast and within an hour and half the evening crawled in. The Junglefowls started calling, yes it was time to go for the roost, the Jungle Babblers chuckled, and couple of Malabar Whistling Thrushes sung a song for a minute. Soon a silence seeped in the valley.

The wind was mild and the only sound we could here was the spring. It was nice to hear it dribble on rocks and make its way in a forest. It could be the sweetest song of nature I had ever heard. I resumed to my work of making meal, within an hour or so we made rice and pithala and put some eggs into it. The aroma and taste of baked besan and eggs satisfied us and our hunger. The work was distributed hence my part of job was over. We had our dinner and started talking on wildlife. The time passed and cool air started flowing in the valley. We put two camp fires on either side of our temporary shelter to get maximum warmth and protection from beasts.

I chose to sleep close to the fire so that I could get maximum warmth, which was benefit of being the chef. As time passed I came back to the song of nature. The flow of the water was constant hence the rhythm. It was so mesmerizing and soothing that it took me into Trans. I could hear nothing but the spring but my Trans was soon over by the chorus of frogs. Now this added into the melody of nature’s song. The frogs were not consistent they kept changing their pace and pitch. Sometimes there were duets sometimes cacophony and sometimes it was chorus. It took me lot of time to understand the pattern. My civilized brain took time to understand what was going on. It was a song sung by male frogs to attract females. This song kept on and on for long time, all of a sudden everything stopped there was huge thud on the other end of the valley. That could be a branch from an old tree fallen down. There was pin drop silence for about 5 minute and I came back to the song of the spring.

PRINCIPLES OF BIRDING ETHICS

Everyone who enjoys birds and birding must always respect wildlife, its environment, and the rights of others. In any conflict of interest between birds and birders, the welfare of the birds and their environment comes first.

Code of Birding Ethics

1. Promote the welfare of birds and their environment.

1(a) Support the protection of important bird habitat.

1(b) To avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and caution during observation, photography, sound recording, or filming.

Limit the use of recordings and other methods of attracting birds, and never use such methods in heavily birded areas, or for attracting any species that is Threatened, Endangered, or of Special Concern, or is rare in your local area;

Keep well back from nests and nesting colonies, roosts, display areas, and important feeding sites. In such sensitive areas, if there is a need for extended observation, photography, filming, or recording, try to use a blind or hide, and take advantage of natural cover.

Use artificial light sparingly for filming or photography, especially for close-ups.

1(c) Before advertising the presence of a rare bird, evaluate the potential for disturbance to the bird, its surroundings, and other people in the area, and proceed only if access can be controlled, disturbance minimized, and permission has been obtained from private land-owners. The sites of rare nesting birds should be divulged only to the proper conservation authorities.

1(d) Stay on roads, trails, and paths where they exist; otherwise keep habitat disturbance to a minimum.

2. Respect the law, and the rights of others.

2(a) Do not enter private property without the owner's explicit permission.

2(b) Follow all laws, rules, and regulations governing use of roads and public areas, both at home and abroad.

2(c) Practice common courtesy in contacts with other people. Your exemplary behavior will generate goodwill with birders and non-birders alike.

3. Ensure that feeders, nest structures, and other artificial bird environments are safe.

3(a) Keep dispensers, water, and food clean, and free of decay or disease. It is important to feed birds continually during harsh weather.

3(b) Maintain and clean nest structures regularly.

3(c) If you are attracting birds to an area, ensure the birds are not exposed to predation from cats and other domestic animals, or dangers posed by artificial hazards.

4. Group birding, whether organized or impromptu, requires special care.

Each individual in the group, in addition to the obligations spelled out in Items #1 and #2, has responsibilities as a Group Member.

4(a) Respect the interests, rights, and skills of fellow birders, as well as people participating in other legitimate outdoor activities. Freely share your knowledge and experience, except where code 1(c) applies. Be especially helpful to beginning birders.

4(b) If you witness unethical birding behavior, assess the situation, and intervene if you think it prudent. When interceding, inform the person(s) of the inappropriate action, and attempt, within reason, to have it stopped. If the behavior continues, document it, and notify appropriate individuals or organizations.

Group Leader Responsibilities [amateur and professional trips and tours].

4(c) Be an exemplary ethical role model for the group. Teach through word and example.

4(d) Keep groups to a size that limits impact on the environment, and does not interfere with others using the same area.

4(e) Ensure everyone in the group knows of and practices this code.

4(f) Learn and inform the group of any special circumstances applicable to the areas being visited (e.g. no tape recorders allowed).

4(g) Acknowledge that professional tour companies bear a special responsibility to place the welfare of birds and the benefits of public knowledge ahead of the company's commercial interests. Ideally, leaders should keep track of tour sightings, document unusual occurrences, and submit records to appropriate organizations.

Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others

The American Birding Association's Code of Birding Ethics may be freely reproduced for distribution/dissemination. Please acknowledge the role of ABA in developing and promoting this code with a link to the ABA website using the urlhttp://www.aba.org. Thank you.

The Mongoose and the Jungle Crow

It was second day of Diwali. I reached Kolahpur in morning around 9:30 and took an auto to my home. It was nice and cool as compare to heat of Gujarat. I felt like I am on hill station. Entered home and sat on sofa the door of the hall was open and I was watching my backyard. I finished up with drinking tea and went to the backyard. I was watching trees planted by me 10-15 years ago they are producing a good biomass and the soil of my backyard has significantly changed because of this. Thanks to my mom she is still maintaining the compost pit in the backyard.

This compost pit is actually a water tank which was built long back. Now this is exclusively used as compost pit. It is 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. I am always fascinated with this compost pit as I see lot of insects in it especially the ants and the flies. Common Myna, House Crow, Jungle Crow and House Sparrows are regular visitors to this pit. We started keeping the left over food on the floor in front of the pit to make it easy for these birds to eat it. Just adjacent to this place a big pile of dry wood and sticks is kept which will be a part of compost pit later on.

I was standing near the Custard Apple tree and watching at the fruits. After some time the maid servant brought the left over food and kept on the floor and threw away the water in compost pit. Meanwhile a lone Jungle Crow appeared on the compost pit. He looked cautious and sat there for almost two minutes. After that he jumped on the floor which was about 4 feet down the compost pit. It hastily started eating the food may be he did not want to share his food with anybody.

After some time a male Common Mongoose appeared in front of me on the boundary wall. He came from the rice field just behind my home. He was looking very handsome in the bright sunlight. He rose up on the wall like a stallion and looked in all directions. Looking at his gesture I felt like he is the king of this entire piece of land. He walked few steps and stopped I could not realize what he was watching. Suddenly his mood changed and he climbed down from the wall. He almost got mixed in the grass and the herbs which was about a feet tall. I could hardly see his movement in the grass and did not understand what is happening. He was heading towards the compost pit but was taking a long route. First I thought this guy is scared of something and hiding. However, after two minutes he was behind the pile of sticks. He took more than two minutes to travel only 30 feet. Now I was able to see all the movements because he was in between the pile of sticks and the compost pit. I realized that this guy has something in his mind. First I thought he must have seen some rodent or a snake that’s why he was approaching the compost pit very slowly. After reaching at the end he just disappeared in the corner.

Meanwhile the Jungle Crow kept eating the scraps and was not at all alert. In few seconds I saw the mongoose just a foot away from the crow. At this moment I realized I am going to see something very strange. As per I know the crows do not have natural enemies except for some raptors. But the Jungle Crows are different they generally live alone or in pairs and small flocks. And unfortunately at this moment the crow was alone.

The Mongoose suddenly attacked from the back but the crow realized it. But in desperation instead of flying it just entered in the pile of sticks. Within fraction of second the mongoose entered in the pile. I could not see what happened next because both of them were inside the pile. But after few seconds I heard a loud cry of crow. I could hear the struggle for half a minute and there was a silence. I could not believe I just saw fight between two mighty animals both of them were equally strong and cunning. But one of them was too smart for the day. After sometime the mongoose came out with his priced hunt. He straight away walked in open and sat down. The crow’s neck was hanging on its shoulder and the mongoose was holding its chest in his mouth. He sat down and had look at all directions. A Prinia and Bulbul noticed his presence and started giving alarm calls. But he was least bothered about them because he had hunted something unbelievable.

I decided to leave that place so the mongoose should not be disturbed. And he was the king of the day I need to give him due respect. After an hour I came back and saw three mongooses devouring the crow. I thought a family of hero having a royal lunch.

Indeed it was a great day for me to see something very strange and unbelievable. I have due respect to the soul of the Jungle Crow…