The Black Kite Congregation

The torrential downpour for the day had just ended. The Earth smelled of fresh mud. I took a deep breath and looked around.In the sky, a huge amount of Black Kites, Brahminy Kites, House Crows and a single Shikra were swooping through the sky. "Had something died?" I thought. But, when I inspected closer using binoculars, I saw that they were catching some insects flying in the sky.  I decided to find out what these insects were. I went to the adjacent plot and found a ant-hole. From these, the winged ants were coming out in huge numbers.

Each bird had a unique method of catching the insects. Black Kites soared for a second, caught the insect in its mouth, stopped for a second to eat it, and continued searching for insects.The Brahminy Kite caught it in between its legs and moved it to its beak. The crows would stop in midair, turn themselves vertically, catch it in their beak, and continue flying.The Shikra was the most efficient. It would catch it on the wing, effortlessly flying on after eating the insect. It was truly a sight to behold.

The Spotted Dove Nest

   In our school, we have a CCTV Camera monitoring the stage at the front of the school. For a while there, I had noticed that a Spotted Dove had been building a nest there, in the gap between the camera and the wall.Everyday, when we were outside, it kept building its nest, flying from the nearby trees to its nest with a stick or small twig and place it carefully in its tangled mass of already-existing twigs. Everyday, I would see as the nest got larger and larger. Eventually, I saw as the dove proceeded to sit on its nest full-time. It stayed there for a few days, when it finally flew or the first time from the nest to the netting on the sides of the school.

But today, when i went to school, there was something different awaiting me. The nest was gone and the area was clean. The school must have called someone to clear up the nest or to place it in one of the adjacent trees.I will miss seeing the dove sitting in its nest every morning.