Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
An attentive observer, watching a non-sleeping bird, will very rarely see a serene creature.
For most of their waking moments, most birds are obviously keenly aware of their vulnerability to predators, their opportunities as predators, and/or of how best to defend or advance their “place” within an ever-competitive hierarchy.
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Most of the birds pictured are migratory waders, becoming airborne from a wetland in Kutch, Gujarat, western India.
If you don’t already understand how birds fly, this post will point you to some lucid explanation.
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Today’s photo (copyright Doug Spencer) was taken at 7.41 am on 05 February 2020 in the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan.
Its musical companion is a sublime morning raga, performed by one of the Indian subcontinent’s most eloquent instrumentalists.
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The featured image (copyright Doug Spencer) shows produce being sold on the footpath in the “old city” quarter of Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 07 February 2020.
This post has two very different songs.
Neither is new, but each is fresh.
Both vividly remember the calls of actual produce sellers, but the second song is really about something that money cannot buy.
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On this winter’s day in Rajasthan these demoiselle cranes had it easy.
The altitude was low, the weather mild, and they only had to fly for a few minutes – from a local dam to a nearby village, where food is provided expressly for them – then, back to the dam.
To reach this cranes’ paradise, however, they had to cross the world’s mightiest mountains…and as winter becomes spring they will have to fly over the Himalayas again.
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Long, prominent tail feathers are a key feature of Anas acuta, the northern pintail.
This handsome, migratory, large dabbling duck really gets around.
The pictured individuals were wintering in Rajasthan, before heading north to their breeding grounds in central or northern Asia, or Europe.
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The pictured individuals are within their “proper” range, in Rajasthan.
(see #26 in this “a shining moment” series for details about the very special, particular location)
However, for more than a few years, feral members of their species lived in several suburbs of Perth, Western Australia.
At least three individuals did 160 kilometres “better”, reaching the Wheatbelt town of Pingelly!
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This post’s peregrine – like yesterday’s – was photographed in the Great Rann of Kutch.
The plumage tells me that he was an adult, and his smaller size tells me that he was indeed a “he”, yesterday’s immature bird was rather larger, so almost certainly female.
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Yes, the peregrine really is the fastest animal on earth!
This post’s peregrine falcon is an immature individual.
That description is not a character judgement; the colour of its plumage makes clear that it is a young bird.
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No other large desert is so densely populated by humans.
Its remarkably abundant and diverse wildlife also defies preconceived notions of deserts as “empty” or “barren” places.
Most of the Thar Desert is in northwest India; the other 15% is in Pakistan.
The greater portion is in Rajasthan.
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