Very nice story with fotodocumentation.
I enjoyed it. When I read the word Drama, felt a bit unhappy. But the
story ended happily, that was very good.
Regards
Nalini
Am 05.10.2011 21:02, schrieb raghu ananth:
_/
_Drama in my backyard – a woodpecker’s search for food atop a
mango tree and an inquisitive audience! _
/_*//*
This time, mom hollered from the backyard and said “Some new bird has
landed on the mango tree. It looks beautiful. Come take a look”.
To my surprise, it was a white-naped woodpecker - /Chrysocolaptes
festivus,/ which I had seen once earlier. Moments after spotting me,
it gave a loud call and flew close to the bottom of another small
mango tree stump, climbed up and after ensuring that it was safe from
whatsoever threats, startedpecking on an already cut/ marked portion
in the bark. I brought my camera and this time I asked my mom to go
ahead and I followed cautiously. The trick worked as the bird just
watched for a few seconds and continued its work and I started
clicking. (I have noticed many common birds that have strayed into the
backyard like the hoopoe, tailor bird, sparrows, koel and sunbirds
coming very close, just a feet or two next to my mom. But I seem like
a stranger to them and a slight action on my part is enough to have
them scurrying away with a cry of alarm.)
Soon, the noise aroused the curiosity of a furred mammal which came
close to the woodpecker, but one sharp peck from its beak sent the
intruder scampering away, only for it to return and peep at the
woodpecker from a respectable distance.
Once, a woodpecker continued its rap-a-tap-tap noise on the bark of
the mango tree with its chisel-like bill, making a mark from top to
bottom and then again to the top right, as if drawing out a heart.
It took less than three minutes for the wood pecker to remove a small
portion of the bark of the mango tree, eat some insects/worms and fly
away. I could see nothing what it ate. But there were small holes
under the bark. After the exit of the wood pecker, the squirrel came
to check and spent all its time sniffing and licking at the place,
where moments earlier the woodpecker had been busy at work.
It took me years to learn that the continuous firing sounds in the
wilderness which resembled a gun being fired, was thanks to these
woodpeckers boring into hollow wood for insects. The alarm calls too
are a quick burst of sounds. During trips to my village, I normally
see them on many of the Ficus species (Banyan –Ficus bengalensis ,
Ficus.Mysorensis, F.racemosa, coconut, areca and acacia trees making
their way from the bottom of the tree to the topmost branches
invisible for some time and then flying away
Photo date :20 Nov 2009, Time 1:00PM to 1:09PM
Krishnaraja nagar, Mysore District, Karnataka
Note: This Mango tree stump no longer exists
Regards
Raghu
