Thursday 10 July 2008

THE VISITOR


It was a strange visit.

He just walked in from the open door from the balcony, head cocked, and tottered on his two clawed feet right up to the centre of the room, and hopped on to the low table there, while we watched mouth agape.
Our helper felt that the crow should not sit there, and switched on the light to shoo him away. He got irritated and flew up to the wall. He really could not fly properly; he seemed very young and his feathers were rather bedraggled.


He took a look at the Ravi Varma print on the wall and cawed indignantly (was he unhappy because we don’t have an original?) and flew on to the fan, flapping his wings, and then flew out, encouraged by my mother. She said if we did not shoosh him out, a whole lot of crows would come in looking for their lost member.

I rather like these young creatures (it was the squirrel last month) checking out our rooms!

14 comments:

Gowri Mohanakrishnan said...

Good one, Raji!
Heard of crows announcing visitors, but this is something new.

hantan said...

lovely post.. reminds me of the way crows crow at sharp 8.00 a.m,for their share of breakfast.. My mother seems to be the only person who understood them and she was the only person they listened too.. It would be surprising when my mother says"No food now, only after an hour" and lo, the crows fly away to return exactly when we give them their share..
you are getting closer to nature with each blog post i think (lol)

Kat said...

probably the crow is announcing some intended (coffee loving)visitors ? Please beware Raji :-)

Anil P said...

It can be a humbling experience to be 'accepted' by a bird.

Anonymous said...

Quoth the raven Iamacrow

Gurooji said...

Nice! Like a picture story--guess you were ready, camera in hand!

Swarna said...

Raji
Your winged visitor reminds me of warblers who miss my M-I-L as much as we do, Squeaky squirrel who visits next-door even after change of occupant, and most senti-of all, the kittens whose mom chose to litter in our cupboards twice...(http://feastforthought.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-kittens-in-more-cupboards.html)

Lakshmi Bharadwaj said...

Lovely to have creatures comin in, isn;t it? Even if it is a crow!! Jus like u , it was squirrels for me before. Now, it's sparrows. Great post as usual.

flowergirl said...

Aah, must be some long-gone ancestor!! Was probably familiar with the house, and annoyed at being chased away!:)

Resmi... said...

Hey I am reminded of one of those days (way back in the 90s) when one baby crow came and sat in our porch. My cousins and myself, we were quite amused and fascinated and tried to catch it. But soon, a whole band of crows appeared at the front of the house. Literally they started attacking us. We had no option than to lock ourselves in the house till the baby crow decided to leave, trailing behind it, the entire family.

Maddy said...

reminded me of a lovely essay on the crow! check out a new blog i will post soon.....

Alaphia Zoyab said...

Oh my God! I'm terrified of birds. If that happened in my house I would have passed out.

raja vasanta said...

I hope you do not write about all your visitors- humans also.Will be on my best behavior when I visit next time.
kuttiappa

RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

Gardenia - I know , the announcer became the visitor.
Hantan - Somehow crows are next only to the cows in closeness with us - (pets like dogs and cats bond only with their masters).
Kat - yes indeed, I waited....
Anil - Truly humbling.
Gurooji - Not really. I had to run in to get it. But I guess the crow was not in a hurry.
Swarna - Your posts on the kittens were most touching.
Lakshmi - Nothing like these to feel close to nature.
Flowergirl - Truly, could have been, and snorting that we have invaded its territory.
Resmi - Hitchcock had nothing on you - Imagine being attacked by crows.
Maddy - Yes I will.
Alaphia - :) No, you would not have, but acted with presence of mind.
Raja Vasantha - :D -that was too funny. You be your normal self - Better than most people's best!