Stories
Displaying 3401-3405 of 5482 result(s).
Usha Lachungpa -
Parleshwar Society Vile Parle, East Mumbai Maharashtra
They were an integral part of my childhood in Mumbai. They would invariably nest on our living room tube light, shedding bits of dried grasses on the ground below and occasionally fly into the ceiling fan when it was on, much to our distress. Closing the windows was not much of an option. They’d simply wait till we opened them to let in some breeze. The loft above the kitchen was another favoured nesting site. All my Maharashtrian neighbours’s kids grew up on Kau-Chiu (Crow-Sparrow) stories while being fed by doting mothers and grandmothers. So ubiquitous, somehow we never thought of sparrows as wild birds.
They were an integral part of my childhood in Mumbai. They would invariably nest on our living room tube light, shedding bits of dried grasses on the ground below and occasionally fly into the ceiling fan when it was on, much to our distress. Closing the windows was not much of an option. They’d simply wait till we opened them to let in some breeze. The loft above the kitchen was another favoured nesting site. All my Maharashtrian neighbours’s kids grew up on Kau-Chiu (Crow-Sparrow) stories while being fed by doting mothers and grandmothers. So ubiquitous, somehow we never thought of sparrows as wild birds.
Usha Lachungpa -
Sikkim House, Middleton Street Elgin Kolkata West Bengal
Had to spend a day (10 April'12) at Kolkata and halted at Sikkim House on Middleton Street, a relatively busy area between Camac Street and Park Street. There is much greenery in the adjacent compound (Kankaria's), besides scattered trees including along roadsides in the surrounding areas. We saw a few House Sparrows in and around Sikkim House as well as on Camac Street and some nearby areas. Again despite my conscious scanning, of the 10 odd birds seen, ALL were MALES; only one was a female. Am beginning to take this aspect somewhat more seriously.
Had to spend a day (10 April'12) at Kolkata and halted at Sikkim House on Middleton Street, a relatively busy area between Camac Street and Park Street. There is much greenery in the adjacent compound (Kankaria's), besides scattered trees including along roadsides in the surrounding areas. We saw a few House Sparrows in and around Sikkim House as well as on Camac Street and some nearby areas. Again despite my conscious scanning, of the 10 odd birds seen, ALL were MALES; only one was a female. Am beginning to take this aspect somewhat more seriously.
Usha Lachungpa -
Sikkim Nationalized Transport Bus Terminus Siliguri West Bengal
SNT bus terminus, Siliguri, West Bengal, is where all Sikkim buses and taxis (usually jeeps)halt. My daughter Minla and I visited this place on 9th and 11th April on our way to and from Kolkata. Both times we saw sparrows (mostly males, around 15-20 in all) fearlessly darting between vehicles to pick up tidbits or flying around or perching visibly. Their chirping is also very audible, also from nearby trees, many of which hum with activity during evening roosting time. No one was bothering them or bothering about them (which is usually the case!). In fact we have always seen sparrows here from as far back as 1980, our first visit to Sikkim. So they seem very safe here. Hopefully. BUT where were the FEMALES? Other common birds sighted on these two days were House Crows, Common Mynas, Black Drongo, Black Kites.
SNT bus terminus, Siliguri, West Bengal, is where all Sikkim buses and taxis (usually jeeps)halt. My daughter Minla and I visited this place on 9th and 11th April on our way to and from Kolkata. Both times we saw sparrows (mostly males, around 15-20 in all) fearlessly darting between vehicles to pick up tidbits or flying around or perching visibly. Their chirping is also very audible, also from nearby trees, many of which hum with activity during evening roosting time. No one was bothering them or bothering about them (which is usually the case!). In fact we have always seen sparrows here from as far back as 1980, our first visit to Sikkim. So they seem very safe here. Hopefully. BUT where were the FEMALES? Other common birds sighted on these two days were House Crows, Common Mynas, Black Drongo, Black Kites.
Rahul Samdani -
village connected to Pune city Pisoli Pune Maharashtra
They play nicely in our parking lot. Also now they dont get scared from us. I love the noise they make.
They play nicely in our parking lot. Also now they dont get scared from us. I love the noise they make.
Gita Rajaram Ganguli nee Agrahar -
Puttur Village Puttur Karnataka
Sparrows…those small chirpy little busybodies…my friends from childhood. Our small house in Puttur, Karnataka had a verandah in the front where my father had fixed a small box for these beauties. As children, we used to observe these birds minutely- how they collected dry grass and twigs, built their nest in the box and raised small ones every few months. I was fascinated by their patience in bringing up each brood, feeding them in turns and as they grew, teaching them to fly. As each brood grew up and flew away, I am sure they were even taught to be wary of the crows and other bigger birds and reptiles.May be more than anything else it was these birds who taught me my first lesson of parent-child relation.
Sparrows…those small chirpy little busybodies…my friends from childhood. Our small house in Puttur, Karnataka had a verandah in the front where my father had fixed a small box for these beauties. As children, we used to observe these birds minutely- how they collected dry grass and twigs, built their nest in the box and raised small ones every few months. I was fascinated by their patience in bringing up each brood, feeding them in turns and as they grew, teaching them to fly. As each brood grew up and flew away, I am sure they were even taught to be wary of the crows and other bigger birds and reptiles.May be more than anything else it was these birds who taught me my first lesson of parent-child relation.
