Here’s what happened…!

So…what‘s a juvenile crow doing perched on my tripod on a boat on Powai Lake?

In the words of a fellow obsessive compulsive…

…Here’s what happened…!

My son and I were out rowing on the lake with a couple of other birders on a Sunday in June hoping to see some migratory birds.

We’d done a similar session a few weeks ago and did see a number of different species.

Including Purple Moorhens, White Chested Kingfishers, terns, Asian Pied Starlings, Little Egrets, Pond Herons and cormorants.

 

This time around there was a lot of human activity around the lake.Thanks to which the birds were scarce.

I did get a few keepers though. Like this Purple heron.

And a few juveniles. Like the purple moorhen above and red-wattled lapwing below. But all in all, the birding was way below average for a couple of hours rowing.

We decide to head back.

It was my son, who was acting oarsman for the day, who noticed a juvenile crow floundering in the water in the middle of the lake. It must have fallen in and with its feathers wet it obviously could not fly. As we approached, it initially swam away but soon realized that we were the lesser of the two evils. It turned and began to swim towards the boat, and appeared more than happy to hop on the proffered oar and get transferred on board.

It sat quietly shivering at the bow of the boat during the ten-minute trip back to the clubhouse. Then, with its feathers now relatively dry it hopped on my tripod, stared at us for a few moments, a silent ‘thank you’ perhaps, before flying off to the safety of the shore.

Memories of another bird that was pulled out of the water way back when I was in college come flooding back, the jury still out as to who fished that one out.

But that’s another story!