I like many things about the above picture.

The overall breathtaking green of it, for instance. Then there is the lush vine climbing the tree trunk. I also love the huge leaves of the colocasia. As for the wildly growing grass, though I wouldn’t want to wade through it for fear of the creepy crawlies living in them, I like them too in the picture.

There is something more there that I love. Can you tell what it is? Clue: It has wings and a beak. Yup, its a bird. I am certain but for my love for them I wouldn’t have caught the lone tiny thingamabob with my naked eye, distant as it was from where I stood.

If you could find the munia I’d say your eyesight is pretty good. This one is a white-rumped munia (Lonchura striata), sometimes also called the striated finch.

Soon after we were settled in our apartment two of them had come over one morning. Perhaps they had come looking for a place to lay eggs and raise their chicks. But the net on the balcony stopped them short. They hung on there a while discussing the matter between them and then flew away.

Months later however, I have sighted one by sheer chance. Such a tiny thing and so far, I could have easily missed it if I had blinked. I was lucky that I didn’t that day. What’s more, I continued keeping a close watch and soon enough was rewarded by the appearance of one more.

They were too far for even my telephoto lens, so you might need a magnifying glass to see them in both pictures. 😉