Birdwatching Escapades...

The sun was just peeping out from the mountain when the group set out on a birdwatching trail. The lush greens beckoned them to a world unknown, a mystery that was just about to unravel ...

They had just moved ahead when someone from the group exclaimed" Hey thats a Malabar Pied hornbill." She grabbed the binoculors and looked up to see Mr Hornbill. But smart lad, he eluded her. Not to be done by, as the others in the group oohed and ahhed at him, she just exclaimed "Wow nice brown feathers!!!" only to be rebuked by a group member , not higher than her knee ( yes he was that young) ," Didi, hornbill is not brown" , ( uh oh, so what had she seen then).

Then someone spotted a Drona. She couldnt hide her excitement, she anticipated a bearded old man , Drona from Mahabharata. May be Drona had set up a retirement home in this deep forest, after all jungles were known to throw up surprises. But the excitement was shortlived, Drona was a little black feathered fellow ( err.. maybe a post retirement image makeover gone wrong , she comforted herself)

After the initial gaffes, she never commented on the feather colors or the kind of beaks. Just looked through the binocs and pretended to recognise the handsome hunks ( the feathered kind.. what were you people thinking!!!!) around.

Then suddenly her eyes shone with excitement as she saw a familiar and comforting sight. There she pointed, there goes "The great Indian Crow". She looked around waiting for applause... but there was just deafening silence... the group had just moved on....

(When the itenary in the trip guide had mentioned a half day of Birdwatching, she was thrilled to bits. After all, that was one of the few things she had mastered over time... But some one should have told her.. there is a category in birdwatching other than non feathered, two legged variety too :( )

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