Gita Rajaram Ganguli nee Agrahar -
Baner Park Society Baner Chs, Aundh Pune Maharashtra
In 2008 we decided to shift to Pune from Mumbai. For the first 2 years 2008-2010, I saw many species of birds but did not know how to befriend them. Till then my interaction with sparrows was limited to the water bowl. The biggest break came when I visited my brother in the US. He had a bird feeder hung outside his house that was visited by a variety of birds. I instantly fell in love with it and bought one for my friends back home. This feeder is a plastic cylinder with holes all around it with little perches for the birds to sit and eat. Back in Pune, I promptly filled it up with 4 types of grains (rice, wheat, jowar and ragi) and hung it in my balcony that is very inviting with a lot of lush green potted plants. I also kept another water bowl next to it and was sure that the sparrows would come instantly. I was very disappointed when for the next 4-5 days no birds visited it. Then on the 6th day 2 sparrows visited the feeder, inspected it, ate out of it and flew away. On the 7th day 4-5 sparrows came and had their fill at the feeder, and then on it was as if they went back and announced- “The Party is On!” With every passing day their number increased from 2 to 20 to 40… and the number is increasing! It’s as if my sparrows have spread their message to their near and distant relatives and friends to come and settle here, in this “Land of Plenty”. Occasionally Bulbuls, Doves and Babblers are allowed to join in the feast! A point to note is that the sparrows systematically pushed out all other grains except rice which they relished. In the beginning the plastic container of the feeder with a capacity of about 1kg lasted for 8 days. Now a days it needs to be refilled every 3rd day!!
In 2008 we decided to shift to Pune from Mumbai. For the first 2 years 2008-2010, I saw many species of birds but did not know how to befriend them. Till then my interaction with sparrows was limited to the water bowl. The biggest break came when I visited my brother in the US. He had a bird feeder hung outside his house that was visited by a variety of birds. I instantly fell in love with it and bought one for my friends back home. This feeder is a plastic cylinder with holes all around it with little perches for the birds to sit and eat. Back in Pune, I promptly filled it up with 4 types of grains (rice, wheat, jowar and ragi) and hung it in my balcony that is very inviting with a lot of lush green potted plants. I also kept another water bowl next to it and was sure that the sparrows would come instantly. I was very disappointed when for the next 4-5 days no birds visited it. Then on the 6th day 2 sparrows visited the feeder, inspected it, ate out of it and flew away. On the 7th day 4-5 sparrows came and had their fill at the feeder, and then on it was as if they went back and announced- “The Party is On!” With every passing day their number increased from 2 to 20 to 40… and the number is increasing! It’s as if my sparrows have spread their message to their near and distant relatives and friends to come and settle here, in this “Land of Plenty”. Occasionally Bulbuls, Doves and Babblers are allowed to join in the feast! A point to note is that the sparrows systematically pushed out all other grains except rice which they relished. In the beginning the plastic container of the feeder with a capacity of about 1kg lasted for 8 days. Now a days it needs to be refilled every 3rd day!!
