Teetiri protects the grassland - 1 - Teetiri waits for the dawn

1
Teetiri waits for the dawn

Teetiri, the redwattled lapwing, was looking forward to the dawn. Already, the orange rays in the sky were getting brighter. The silence of the night seemed to be louder than the sounds of the day, she thought to herself. She always had to be alert, watchful so that Dhaman, the rat-snake, could not quietly steal up and grab her newly laid clutch of two eggs. Dhaman loved to eat eggs of ground-nesting birds. But, especially eggs of the red-wattled lapwings, yes, especially eggs of the red-wattled lapwings, said Teetiri, to herself, again and again.

She could easily spot Dhaman and Naag, the cobra, in the daytime when, they were quite clumsy in their approach while hunting for food through the grassland. Why, only yesterday, Teetiri had gossiped with Chimini, the house sparrow, and told her that she was certain that Naag was actually blind and was only able to stumble upon food by accident or because his prey was too shocked to run away. Chimini had giggled as always, and immediately flew off to tell her sixty-seven brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts who were feeding nearby on a heap of harvested grain.

Chimini was like that only. Very busy, chattering all the time, and laughing about everything. Teetiri often wondered if Chimini actually ever listened. She never seemed to be paying attention. Kotwal, the black drongo, was not like Chimini. Dark, glossy and handsome, warrior-like with his alert looks and forked sword-like tail, he was a faithful friend. He loved to perch on the low branches of few grassland trees throughout the early morning and late evenings, and listen to Teetiri's constant gossip about everyone. Kotwal always listened attentively but never complained.

Kotwal, the black drongo was a faithful friend to Teetiri

He loved to listen to Teetiri's gossip from a low branch 

[Photograph - Savio Fonseca]

The orange light in the dawn sky was getting brighter now. Teetiri knew Chimini and her large family would soon wake up from their night-time sleep in the large babool tree. This was a moment that Teetiri dreaded and looked forward to, at the same time. All the peaceful stillness of the night would be gone, but, it also was an indication to her that now she could afford to relax at her nest.

Teetiraa, her partner would now come to take his place at the nest. He must have been sitting at some other spot, not so far and not so near. He knew it was time for him to take over his duties at the nest once the Chimini family began to sing. It was quite hideous, he thought, having to wake up like that. Teetiri was however very happy about it, he knew. The Chimini family did wake him up quite rudely, he thought to himself. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 5 - Teetiraa approaches the nest by walking away from it

5

Teetiraa approaches the nest by walking away from it

He walked out of the small patch of weeds around the stony rubble wherein he had slept the night. The orange band of light in the sky was fading out and was now being replaced by a shade of golden yellow. Teetiraa walked around the edge of the grassland, in a straight line, pretending that he was going somewhere else. They could not risk the nest being known to unseen watchers. There were several enemies, quiet, unseen, hidden away among the trees, bushes, stones, grass and high up in the sky. They could never be certain that they had not been spotted at the nest.

He stood straight, and walked in a determined manner, calling out, "Teetiree, Teetiree", twice, clearly, loudly, for all to hear. He did not approach the nest, nor did he seem to walk away from the nest. Most smart predators would then be able to search along his path and be able to spot the nest. That would not do. Another season would be lost. Teetiraa thought of those unlucky times as he kept walking around the nest with greater caution. He kept walking in a straight line, right upto the babool tree.

Here, among the stony ground under the branches, he suddenly started calling out loudly “Treeeee, Tteetiriiiii, Treeeeee, Teeetiriiiii”, as though he had spotted Dhaman or Naag. He jumped up and began to fly below the tree, creating a lot of noise. This would have all the unseen watchers looking at him, wondering if there was indeed some problem under the babool tree.  Teetiraa knew, that, at that very moment, Teetiri had begun to walk away from the nest, crouching, taking care to see that her head was unseen above the grasses. This was the best strategy, they had decided among themselves. All animals, seen and unseen, would be looking at Teetiraa, as he was doing something like a loud, haphazard dance, while Teetiri was quietly crawling away from the nest. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 13 - Teetiri goes to hunt for red crabs

13

Teetiri goes to hunt for red crabs

Teetiri returned to the marshy water-patch near the rocks. There would be good food to be eaten here. The small red crabs could be found among these grasses and rocks. These brilliant-red coloured animals kept running sideways when disturbed and would dig themselves into the sand thinking that they could not be spotted. But the wet marshy soil and undisturbed sand surface always betrayed them. The footprints of the small red crabs were left on the wet marshy soil and led the birds directly to the spots where they had dug themselves in. The lapwings and other wading birds followed these tracks as they could thus easily identify the presence of the red crabs and pull them out of their hiding spots and eat them up. The deeper water patches in the marsh allowed some hiding places for Teetiri to hide in if Shaheen or Shikra, came hunting in the grassland.

The marshy water-patch was also a favourite hunting place for other wading birds.  Chimini and her family usually frequented it. Salonki and her large numbers of brothers and sisters as also a number of frogs were to be usually seen there. Teetiri loved the songs of the frogs when the first monsoon came down over the grassland and the river. There would be thousands of red crabs that would be running all over the place without even any space for them to dig down to hide.

Teetiri would be joined by her entire family at that time to feed upon the red crabs. All her relatives, her parents, her brothers and sisters and Teetiraa’s relatives would be there at the marsh. Teetiraa’s cousins from across the river would also join them at that time. All of them knew of the marsh and the best place to visit it. They usually left it for Teetiri and Teetiraa for the rest of the year. There were other spots and other times when Teetiri and Teetiraa joined their cousins from across the river, like when the flying ants came out from the ground, or when the waters at the salt-water creek went down in summer exposing thousands of young fish trapped in the rocks.

There were no birds present at the marsh today. That was strange, thought Teetiri. Usually, there would be many birds at this time of the day. Was there something wrong? There did not seem anything like being totally wrong here. The red crabs were there. They were running around. The waters were very inviting.  The cool waters would be very welcome to rest in after the hot rocks that she had crawled through. The grass was not moving. Was there some predator out there at the marsh? Would she be able to spot the predator in time? Was it Mongoose or Lombdi, the wolf? Was it Naag? Hiding out there in the cool water? Frightened, Teetiri looked around for help. Who could tell her if there was something wrong in the marsh?

One of the red crabs came running towards her unaware of her presence. Instinctively she jabbed down with her beak. picked up the crab and swallowed it. Wow. That felt goooood. She needed to eat another. Already she would soon be due back at the nest to relieve Teetiraa. She walked hesitantly towards the marsh, worried. There! There was another one of the red crabs. She jumped two steps and rushed towards it and grabbed it just as it had begun to dig down. Her sudden movement among the stones had dislodged a dung beetle that had been busy rolling up some mud. She grabbed the dung beetle without thinking. The dung beetle did not taste as good as the red crab but it would have to do. She desperately needed that nutrition. She was going to go back and sit at that nest and she needed all the energy she could get. She could not complain now. Or, be choosy at the marsh when the very next moment a predator could easily jump up at her. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 26 - Salonki is examined by the pigeons

26

Salonki is examined by the pigeons

The young male pigeon did not seem to want to step away. He continued in a questioning voice, for Guturgu does not talk to strangers. Especially those who come without prior invitation. Salonki, surprised at the hostility, took two steps back, and said, Hey, cut out this hostility, my friend. I am an old friend of Guturgu, probably even before you were born. So can you just shove back, or step aside, and just point me towards Guturgu. And go back to whatever you were doing, up there in the sky.

This was new to the young male pigeon. He was not used to being opposed. He had had been having a good time until now. All the other pigeons feared him. Nobody opposed him. There seemed to be silence among the flock of pigeons now. All the hmmmming and grmmming that was going on in the flock was gone. All sat quietly on the roof of the grain-shed. They were watching the young male pigeon and waiting for him to react. Perhaps he may throw Salonki from the roof, said one vain male pigeon to a disinterested plump aunt of his. It was not to be, however. The young male pigeon stepped back. Watching the retreat, slowly the pigeons made a path among them, for Salonki to walk through towards a broken window in the shed next to the roof.

Salonki walked worriedly, towards the broken window, wondering as to what was happening. The young male pigeon, humbled and quiet, followed her very closely. The three vain male pigeons accompanied him, hoping that the female pigeons would think highly of them as they did of the sky-diving young male pigeon. A shy young female pigeon walked alongside Salonki. She whispered that the sky-diving young male blue-rock pigeons were their guards, for they had decided to protect themselves from animals like Billi and Naag. They came up to the broken window and the shy young female pigeon called out in a very low voice.

The window was very dirty, with cobwebs and grime settled on the panes. There was just enough space between the broken panes and the window frame for one pigeon to squeeze inside. Any large animal like a dog or cat trying to squeeze itself through the opening would suffer cuts from the broken sharp edges of the window pane. Salonki stood outside the broken window and tried to peer inside. It was a clear drop and it seemed to be very dark inside. Even rats or mice could not enter through this opening. Only birds could squeeze through and fly to any particular perch that they wished to inside the shed.

Salonki could hear the low hmmmming and grmmmming of many pigeons inside the shed. There were probably more than fifty pigeons inside. What were they doing inside this shed? Salonki asked her companion. These are our nesting aunts and uncles, the shy young female pigeon said and added, they are sitting on eggs at the nests built on various perches inside the shed. We protect them by preventing unwanted strangers from coming near this open window. Any bird or animal or reptile, including the dangerous Naag, would have to first cross the thirty pigeons who are always present on the shed's roof. We stay on the roof throughout the night and day. The shade from the nearby neem tree protects us during the day. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 33 - A plan to search for Bater

33

A plan to search for Bater

Bater was excellent in hiding in the grassland, Kotwal’s father said. You could spend the entire season in the grassland without seeing Bater or any of his relatives. You cannot search for Bater, he said. You have to wait for Bater to show himself. The drongo family sat together to plan the strategy to spot Bater in the grassland. First, all the drongos, Kotwal’s family included, would fly out of the trees along the river-banks, and perch on high tree branches that overlooked every path and trail in the grassland. Second, Kotwal would have to go and ask Salonki for help. Salonki would have to get all the mynas to disturb the grassland wherever there were rocks and tall grass. They would have to move around the tall grass areas among the rocks and chatter loudly to disturb Bater and his family.

Having agreed on this, the drongos flew out of the tall arjuna trees along the river-banks to the grassland and began to choose perches on the branches of all the tall trees. From up here, they could spot movement on any path or trail in the grassland. The drongos were good at spotting the tiniest of insects flitting about and would be able to pinpoint any movement in the grassland. Kotwal flew over to the babool tree to meet Salonki. He explained the strategy to Salonki who immediately called out to her family to stop chattering. Once silence was achieved, and instructions passed on, Salonki asked her family to break up into small flocks and spread out among the rocks in the tall grass.

The mynas spread out as told by Salonki. Eight to ten mynas in each flock sat on the rocks and began to chatter loudly. Hundreds of mynas started walking around, jumping up and down the rocks, running after insects and pecking at the wandering red crabs that seemed to be lost away from the water. With all the mynas moving around, the grassland suddenly seemed like a small place, after all. The drongos could immediately see the effect on the grassland. There was a confused looking Dominga, an angry Phoolchuki and a disgusted Darzi flying up from their nests, upset at the peace of the grassland being disturbed in this manner. Kotwal’s father spotted Naag rushing away to hide inside a hole next to some rocks, while Dhaman could be seen hurrying away to another hole. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 45 - The War of the Marsh Waters

45

The War of the Marsh Waters

Billi sat there, hiding in the marsh grasses, waiting for some really fat birds to show up. He had got injured in a fight with the village dogs, and had decided to hide outside the village for the day. Billi planned to catch some food that he usually was not able to taste in the village. He had heard Naag tell his wife and children that the marsh was a good spot to catch unsuspecting birds. He had come very eagerly to hide out in the marsh and try his luck in catching some fat birds. His plan was to hide in the grasses surrounding the marsh and pounce upon birds who were not expecting him to attack them.

Billi suspected that his luck may not be good on this day. Strangely, there had been no birds visiting the marsh through the day. There was only that absolutely irritating flock of more than hundred mynas, who had been chattering throughout the day. Not the entire day actually, for about an hour there had been peace and silence near the marsh. The mynas had gone away and seemed to have spread out all over the grassland. It seemed like some strange ritual among the birds in the grassland. They seemed to have gone crazy all over the grassland. Why did they not repeat that crazy behaviour in the marsh? He could have had his pick of the birds, and decide which ones to catch and which ones not to.

The peace was gone once again over the past five minutes. The mynas were back at the babool tree chattering again. They seemed to be spread all around the marsh, some on the trees, while some were feeding on the ground. He could not run after them all over the grassland with his injured leg. If only some of these silly birds would enter the marsh, his stomach would then stop growling. He needed some food, needed it urgently. As if in answer to his prayers, the grasses in front of him parted very hesitantly, and a jungle bush quail stepped out, very nervously.

Not realising that the birds had begun a war against him, Billi looked happily now at the sudden appearance of Bater in front of him. The mynas were chattering away, while a drongo perched on the topmost babool branch, was calling out in a low unfamiliar syllable. This was most unlike the usual calls of the drongo. A bulbul sat on a low perch, silent, watching him and Bater. Billi looked once again at Bater. This jungle bush quail looked very silly, standing there frightened, lost and nervous. This bird could be easily caught, Billi thought. He looked around once again, at the chattering mynas, at the drongo sitting up very high, at the bulbul nearby, and felt that there was no harm in trying to catch the jungle bush quail. He could not keep waiting for more birds to come inside the marsh.