“The Nest”

The eucalyptus tree was visible from my bedroom window. Early monsoon a crow pair chose this place between the intersection of three branches to create the NEST. They would get these small twigs and many other trivia to painstakingly build the nest. Slowly very slowly the efforts started taking shape. it was nearing a cozy thing which will nestle the future chicks.

And then I saw the crow most of the time sitting in the nest. What I could see was that it must have laid the eggs and now was on the tedious task of first providing them enough heat and protection that they can hatch. As the one crow (I really don’t know if it was a mama crow or papa crow) sat guarding the eggs under its wings the other crow will frantically look for food and any other looming dangers. They had the hottest, windiest, wettest days, but they stuck to the nest.

And then one day I saw another blackbird (my guess it was a rogue koel ) slipping into the nest. I had read in bio books that koel smartly plants her eggs with the crow so that someone else has to do the hard work of rearing young koels. Well the crows were still busy nurturing the eggs with all honesty

And then one day the activity was at a heightened crescendo. The chicks were born. Their ever-hungry chirping was keeping the parents pretty busy. Now I could see both the crows taking frequent turns to quench the hunger of the chicks. Time was lapsing fast. The koel was not even to be seen. I think I could hear it cooing in some nearby tree

Another one of the days I could hear a ruckus. A snake was trying to approach the nest to devour the chicks. Both the crows unmindful of their own safety were putting a brave front to hurt and peck the snake. After a lot of effort, they were successful in shooing it away.

Chicks were growing fast. The frequency of feeding them was increasing, Koel and crows were growing together without any prejudice and it was time to take to the wings.

The crow would subtly nudge the chicks to the edge of the nest to make them fly. This was the decisive moment. A fall to the ground will make them easy food for so many lurking dangers. But a successful flight will mean survival and then learn how to fend for food

Then one day all was silent. No activity whatsoever. The nest was empty …. And it has been the same for so many days now ……