What a sight!! Malabar Pied are next only to Great Hornbills in its spectacle. A substantial casque above the beak differentiates these from grey hornbills (in my earlier blogs i had discussed Grey and Malabar grey). Other habits remains the same and they could be found on tall trees of the forest in company of Barbets, Mynahs, Green pigeons and so on. A noisy bird, their calls are quite a shriek-i am being murdered here kind of a urgent cry-quite disconcerting. They also have a loud flapping flight. Malabar Pied Hornbills is a ‘Near Threatened’ specie according to IUCN Dandeli: the hornbill country!
There were reports in the Net on sighting of Great Hornbills in Dandeli, i had been postponing my plans to Hubli for long time now so decided to pack my sack. There are lots of trains from Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Hubli- it’s about 8hours journey, but whatever the trains they are all always jam packed and you could be lucky to get few inches of space!. An hour from Hubli (don’t forget to drop into Kamat for breakfast, it’s just opposite the railway station) is Dharwad. From Dharwad you will get frequent buses to Dandeli, it is about two to three hours. I suggest you stay a day at the lodge opposite the bus stand, it may look old and run down but is surprisingly clean (i chose the cheapest room for 140R, it was basement room triangular in shape as it was under the stairs!!. Late into night i spotted a cat on my bed, but when i thought i experienced something wriggling i decided this is it. I was sure it was a snake. The room boy dazed from his sleep-well it was 2am- didn’t agree. He said it never happened before. I said something got to start somewhere!. So got my room changed!!. As much as i like Steven Austin programs on TV, you don’t expect to get excited over snakes in the middle of the night!). Early next day i walked to Dandeli forest range office, there is a paper mill near that emits some putrid gas later into the day. But it is quite a place to be in, lots of trees and lots of birds. You will find all types of hornbills in here, though i couldn’t spot the ‘Greats’. It’s a wonderful place to walk around. Dandeli forest Department Office is also the place to book room in case you want to stay inside the nature camp (in Kulgi-about an hour from Dandeli, you will have to take the overcrowded ‘trax’) Ph no: 08284231585. There are cottages, tents and dormitory (i stayed in Dormit
ory-100R. Except for monkeys who expertise in opening bag zips there wasn’t much issue), food is cheap, good and homely. Don’t forget to pick up the free Field guide on 100 Birds at Dandeli office, they have done it well. There is also private luxury Cottages in the jungle. For back packers and those looking for value for money i strongly recommend Kulgi Nature Camp. Get up early morning and walk about 3hours on the tarred road, later mud, through the jungle you will reach a hamlet next to a river. It’s a great place to stroll. The camp also has trekking facility, guides and so on, but i thought of going it alone, not ready to get stuck with some bunch and it surely was worth it. Joyce Kilmer
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree
It was on the wall of Kulgi Nature Camp i read these beautiful lines (the full poem is there in the pic abov
e, i am also reproducing it below). Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) was a poet whose poem celebrated Nature and Catholic faith. The poem ‘Tree’, from which the above lines are taken, that he is much remembered and celebrated. He served as Sergeant in the Army and was killed by a sniper bullet in France during Second World War. Tree
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
What a lovely poem that one. There is a parody based on the above poem by none other than Ogden Nash that i came across in the Net
I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.
I like that!!
Main Street
I like to look at the blossomy track of the moon upon the sea,
But it isn't half so fine a sight as Main Street used to be
When it all was covered over with a couple of feet of snow,
And over the crisp and radiant road the ringing sleighs would go.
Now, Main Street bordered with autumn leaves, it was a pleasant thing,
And its gutters were gay with dandelions early in the Spring;
I like to think of it white with frost or dusty in the heat,
Because I think it is humaner than any other street.
A city street that is busy and wide is ground by a thousand wheels,
And a burden of traffic on its breast is all it ever feels:
It is dully conscious of weight and speed and of work that never ends,
But it cannot be human like Main Street, and recognise its friends.
There were only about a hundred teams on Main Street in a day,
And twenty or thirty people, I guess, and some children out to play.
And there wasn't a wagon or buggy, or a man or a girl or a boy
That Main Street didn't remember, and somehow seem to enjoy.
The truck and the motor and trolley car and the elevated train
They make the weary city street reverberate with pain:
But there is yet an echo left deep down within my heart
Of the music the Main Street cobblestones made beneath a butcher's cart.
God be thanked for the Milky Way that runs across the sky,
That's the path that my feet would tread whenever I have to die.
Some folks call it a Silver Sword, and some a Pearly Crown,
But the only thing I think it is, is Main Street, Heaventown.
Pennies
A few long-hoarded pennies in his hand
Behold him stand;
A kilted Hedonist, perplexed and sad.
The joy that once he had,
The first delight of ownership is fled.
He bows his little head.
Ah, cruel Time, to kill
That splendid thrill!
Then in his tear-dimmed eyes
New lights arise.
He drops his treasured pennies on the ground,
They roll and bound
And scattered, rest.
Now with what zest
He runs to find his errant wealth again!
So unto men
Doth God, depriving that He may bestow.
Fame, health and money go,
But that they may, new found, be newly sweet.
Yea, at His feet
Sit, waiting us, to their concealment bid,
All they, our lovers, whom His Love hath hid.
Lo, comfort blooms on pain, and peace on strife,
And gain on loss.
What is the key to Everlasting Life?
A blood-stained Cross.
These lines from the poem Old Poets
There should be a club for poets
Who have come to seventy year.
They should sit in a great hall drinking
Red wine and golden beer.
They would shuffle in of an evening,
Each one to his cushioned seat,
And there would be mellow talking
And silence rich and sweet.
There is no peace to be taken
With poets who are young,
For they worry about the wars to be fought
And the songs that must be sung.
But the old man knows that he's in his chair
And that God's on His throne in the sky.
So he sits by the fire in comfort
And he lets the world spin by.
Citizen of the World
No longer of Him be it said
"He hath no place to lay His head."
In every land a constant lamp
Flames by His small and mighty camp.
There is no strange and distant place
That is not gladdened by His face.
And every nation kneels to hail
The Splendour shining through Its veil.
Cloistered beside the shouting street,
Silent, He calls me to His feet.
Imprisoned for His love of me
He makes my spirit greatly free.
And through my lips that uttered sin
The King of Glory enters in.
Easter
The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings.
