Baby Boom Time!!!

Slumber-kissed nights interspersed with the incessant chirp of baby budgerigars in my balcony has been my pride of the last couple of months. As the first brood of youngsters left the nest, the diligent mother set herelf to the task of raising another brood. Set to the endless task of cleaning her nest and feeding the ever-hungry fledgelings, her day seems busier than any regular birdie.

Budgerigars, natives of Australia, are very popular pets all over the world. Hardy, easy to care for and easily bred in captivity, the birds rarely survive if set free. I've known people who set their budgies free in an attempt to give them a better(free) life only to watch them being pecked to death my crows.

My neighbour recently rescued two budgies that someone had set free and had ended up on the crows' lunch menu.

Do educate people that though it's wrong to keep animals and birds caged, it's only fair to let the ones that were born and bred in captivity to live their life safely in the captive environment they're familiar with. That is the only world they know and setting them free only makes them easy prey for cats and crows.

Butterfly Effect!!!

I got home after a tiring day at work on 5th Feb and logged on to check my emails when a friend pinged me to tell me that my 'butterfly effect' photograph which I'd mailed to Hindustan times was selected for picture of the week and was published in their 5th Feb Edition of HT Cafe.

I'd photographed a male common eggfly butterfly that I'd found sitting on a leaf, basking in the sun.

The male and the female of the species are markedly different.

For more info on the species- http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_nymphs/CommonEggfly.htm

Sewri Fort

Build by the British as a checkpost, the Sewri fort which dates back to 1680 was then located on the eastern shore of the Parel Island, one of the original seven islands that formed Mumbai. In 1789 Yadi Sakat of the Janjira Islands conquered the Sewri fort along with the Masgaon fort. The fort had a garrison of 50 sepoys under a subedar and was equipped with around 10 cannons.The fort was subsequently used to house prisoners and later became a Bombay Port Trust godown. (Wikipedia)

A bumpy drive past the Imax theater through huge craters on the road brought me to the Sewri Mud flats and as I stood next to the Colgate Palmolive factory my jaw dropped at the site of icecream pink covered mangroves. The Sewri mud flats are home to the Flamingoes that migrate here every year from September to May.I took in the sight to my heart's content and then decided to make my way up the quarried hill to the dilapitated remains of the Sewri Fort. A foul smell emanated as I climbed up the stairs. The fort, unfortunately has been turned into a public toilet by the local residents. The walls bear wittness to where the cannons once stood. If you look seawards past the mudflats and the flamingoes you see the RCF factory in the backdrop.
Sad how little the government takes care of such heritage sites.