As we complete around five months in the new abode, we are getting familiar with the other big and small creatures that we share our space with. Listed below are some of our new finds.... Errr, I mean new friends!
Crow Pheasant (Greater Coucal)
This big guy likes to visit our backyard occasionally, especially on pleasant cloudy days. Foraging amidst our bottle gourd vines, from its vantage point on the boundary wall, it manages to feed itself with a frog or two. Belongs to the cuckoo family, though its call is not half as sweet.
Blister Beetle
Come rains, a cluster of these bright red-and-black coloured beetles descend on our front garden. They attack the red hibiscus with gusto, and sometimes munch on my white petunias as well. Alas, nothing seems to deter them from destroying our flowers. Hope they go away soon.
Ashy Prinia
This tiny cream and ash grey bird with its sweet chirps is one of my favourites. It hops all over the front garden, alternating between the curry leaf tree, the hibiscus, and the jasmine.
Tailorbird
The tailorbird probably has a nest concealed in the dense foliage of the mango tree in the backyard. Its sweet calls, and catch-me-if-you-can games with the cat babies, is a delight to watch. In the adjoining picture, she is superbly hidden amidst the gourd vines and the dry earth.
Garden Lizard
This master of camouflage remains a difficult to spot creature most times of the year but I caught him running between the rose bush and the champa tree one summer afternoon. Shy and rather unsocial, its changing colours are fascinating to watch.
Can you spot him hidden behind the gnarled champa trunk?
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