A bunch of Himalayan bulbuls.
| Photograph Credit score: Getty Photographs/iStockphoto

Yesterday, the bulbuls determined to grace my backyard with a nest.

Bebo and Bibi, as I name the pair, have been regulars in my backyard for the previous three years. I had, at the moment, lured them into becoming a member of the birdlife round my home by planting a lantana bush. Initially, the birds got here solely to eat the berries; morning, afternoon and night, they hopped about within the bush, consuming the berries. They then ventured into the custard apple and sapote bushes, pecking on the half-eaten fruits, stays of a marauding group of parakeets who lived close by.

The addition of a birdbath — merely an outdated discarded vessel — which I strung on the sapote tree was the rationale that Bebo and Bibi determined to remain and forage in my backyard for lengthy intervals. Who would have dreamt that bulbuls have been such fastidious creatures? However they have been, and so they preferred to wash thrice a day, taking turns, first Bebo then Bibi, plunging in and ruffling feathers earlier than leaping out. Then onto a department, shaking themselves dry earlier than preening within the solar. If the water was chilly, because it was throughout the rains, they might end in a rush, similar to youngsters taking chilly baths.

I quickly learnt to differentiate Bebo and Bibi’s happy chirps, excited chitters (I discovered a pleasant ripe sapota, come and see), frenzied calls (there’s a snake close by) and even the coy mating chirrups. If I had forgotten to replenish the water within the bathtub, or the water was soiled, Bebo would scream. It was amusing to see the little tyrant loudly scolding until he acquired his manner. Bibi was extra well mannered, although.

The bulbuls additionally shared house with a troop of different birds, all of which got here for a drink and a shower. There have been the magpie robins (who all the time thanked me with melodious songs), busy babblers, and the mynahs. Even the tiny tailor birds and the munias got here, cautious of dropping their footing however making an attempt to take a dip. It was astonishing to see birds ready for his or her flip patiently, although the rambunctious mynah didn’t care a lot for queues.

In the intervening time, Bebo and Bibi have been additionally busy making a household, although they all the time nested elsewhere. I noticed them carry their fledglings to the sapote tree, a few times. And I additionally noticed them lose their chicks to a predatory crow. I didn’t suppose a lot of the parenting talents of the bulbuls. In my childhood, I had seen bulbuls constructing nests in probably the most inappropriate locations, the place they have been savaged by crows and cats. It appeared to me that bulbuls have been witless when it got here to hiding nests, or instructing their infants survive. A few of my earliest birding experiences needed to do with making an attempt futilely to cease a crow from raiding bulbul eggs or cats pouncing on child birds which left the nest too early.

So it was with trepidation however not a lot shock that I noticed Bebo-Bibi’s nest: that they had determined on the web of my fruit harvester pole, of all issues! The small rounded nest was cuddled snugly into the hole of the web. I had saved the pole safely below the overhang of a sunshade, shielded from rain, however in any other case open to informal eyes. I assume the bulbuls thought it was a high-quality place, the poor muddled half-wits! And they don’t seem to be secretive about it, both. All day lengthy, you possibly can hear them chirping loudly close by, carrying bits of twigs, and thread and what-not with a flourish.

I’m not positive what the subsequent days will carry. Will my bulbuls achieve bringing their chicks into this world? Ought to I assist conceal the nest by hanging one thing over it? And will I take guard obligation when the eggs are laid? What about seeing that the chicks can attain a protected harbour once they start to fly?

Or do I merely flip a blind eye and depart them to it?

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