Seattle

It is been a fairly a adventurous journey so far. It seems strange and unreal that life has dragged me here to this corner of the planet. 10 yrs ago I would have never even dream t that I would here doing whatever I am doing(;)). Cutting the philosophical crap, I am currently in Seattle. I liked the city the day I landed. Lots of water bodies everywhere and yes, lots of bridges and sail boats :).

Took this picture from the park at the Gas Works in Seattle. Took this from my cell phone camera. I could not zoom enough. The park is near to my apartment and it takes around 5 mins on the bus.

This is another picture of the Gas Works park as seen from my apartment. A perfect place to laze around with a book on a sunny day. Planning many more visits to the park and I hope that the sun makes it appearance more frequently (it has been cloudy and overcast for most of the time and they say that it starts to get sunny towards the end of June). Thats all I have for now. Hope to update the blog more frequently(I admit that I have not been giving the required attention to the blog these months). God bless.

Yoga!!

Found this banner near the university. The banner has been there for couple of weeks. I wonder what Shri B.K.S. Iyengar, Baba Ramdev would say seeing this :) .

Another journey

The journey since my previous post has been simply incredible. Now I am sitting in an apartment in Ithaca, New York. Another journey is yet to unfold and I am excited, bit nervous as well. My heart is filled mixed feelings which I am unable to describe at this moment. Hoping for the best and seeking His blessings. Ending this post with this shot taken from my apartment.

Guests at home - Part III (conclusion)

Well, I am back with the updates of bird family. Last weekend when I returned home I saw that the eggs had hatched and the chicks were out. The mummy bird was not around most of the time as it was busy searching for food to feed it's little ones. It used to visit it's chicks once in a while to feed them. I peeped among bushes and managed to take a snap when the mummy was not around.

The chicks were hairy and the feathers have yet grown. They were in their little cozy home all the time waiting for their mummy. Monday morning, I left to Bangalore to resume work and on Tuesday morning my dad found that the the chicks were not in their nest. He started hunting for them and found both of them on ground, exploring the surroundings. He put them in a cozy basket filled with dried grass.

The chicks appear to have grown slightly. He kept the basket on the top of our car near the nest so that the mummy bird finds it. After some time the mummy came and on seeing the empty nest started hunting for it's chicks. It soon found them in the basket. By this time the ever inquisitive chicks were out of the basket and had started exploring the car's top. Seen below, the mummy and the chicks. The mummy must have let out a sign of relief after seeing it's young ones, phew!!

After some time my dad transferred them onto ground near the shrub as he wanted to take the car out. That was the last he saw of the chicks. After some time when he returned, he did not see the them where. Not sure what happened to them. They could not fly as their feathers had not grown completely. It seems the mummy bird came couple of times later hunting for chicks. We all felt it's grief. I wish those chicks are out there somewhere, safe and I hope the mummy finds them. Thus, the Guests at home series concludes here.

That is all for now. God bless the chicks and everyone!!!

Visit to Gundbala

I had been to my native village Hudgod during first week of June . During this vacation I paid a visit to Gundbala. People who hail from Uttara Kannada district are familiar with the pilgrim importance of the place. A small village located in midst of the Western Ghats Gundbala is synonymous with Yakshagana, a famous folk art of Karnataka. Lord Lakshmi Venkatesh and Aanjaneya(Hanuman) are the presiding deities of temple and every night there is a performance of Yakshagana for the Lord. The Yakshagana performance is carried out during non-rainy months, the performance starts during the month of December and ends by May last week before the monsoon begins. The interesting fact is that all the performances are for the Lord. The performances are part of harake(sacred vow) that is pledged by a devotee for a return of favour. Here are some snaps:

The temple gate which faces the Yakshagana ground. The temple is located among the coconut and arecanut plantations.

The entrance of the temple.

The deity of Gundbala.

The Yakshagana ground with the stage, during the day. The stage faces the deity.

The Yakshagana ground during night. The play starts at night after the arati to the deity and continues till early morning(snap taken by my brother).

A Yakshagana artist performing in a play(snap taken by my brother).

Another picture of the artist(snap taken by my brother).

We visit Gundbala every year. This year I could not attend the Yakshagana plays at night but paid a visit to the temple during the day. My family had reached the place 2 days earlier to attend a thread ceremony and they attended the night pooja and the play.

Guests at home Part - II

This is a followup to my previous post. The nest is intact and mummy bird is busy giving warmth to the eggs. Oh yes, there is another egg added to the bird family. I dared not to go near the nest and have been watching the developments from a distance. However I have not seen the daddy bird this weekend. Looks like it's job was to help the mummy bird build the nest and once the job was done, it has absconded. The mummy bird is in nest all day / night. I wonder how she is able to survive without food. That's all for this post. Wait for the next update. Until then take care and keep reading...

Ps: For previous post, click here.

Guests at home - Part I

This weekend I had guests at my home. Two birds came and built a nest on the hibiscus plant. The hibiscus plant is more than 3 years old and it has grown into a tall shrub. It is capable of providing the shade and shelter to small birds. The daddy bird is more courageous and it has got used to human presence quickly. Today it was hopping on the ground near by searching for dry leaves for the nest. It was not perturbed and went about its work even after seeing me nearby. On the other hand the mummy bird spends most of the time sitting in the nest providing warmth to its egg. It is bit timid and if it sees any person nearby, it flies a distance and sits on the wall and waits till the person goes away. Here are some pics:

The mummy bird sitting in the nest. Took this snap when it was not looking around. But as soon as she heard the camera click she flew away and sat on the nearby wall. See below:

There she is. I went around the shrub and peeped in and saw the valuable possession of the bird family, see below:

Just see the how beautiful they have made the nest using dry thin twigs. Nature's beauty indeed.

I will provide an update on further developments in the bird family soon. Keep reading :)

Ps: I don't what species these birds belong to and hence cannot name them. Do let me know if you identify them. Also, the egg is very small in size when compared to the normal hen's egg. I zoomed the shot here to get a better view and that's why it appears big.

Last line: Have you come across any such bird families in your garden. If so then please share it here. I am waiting to hear :)