Last week, on my morning walk I met an old buddy, a neighbour of mine, the Black Drongo. It was sitting on a branch contemplating things, probably something on the lines of ‘Where is my next insect going to come from?’

Meanwhile I had stopped in my tracks. Silently, and with the barest minimum movement, I withdrew the cell phone from my pocket. Next step of moving forward and closer, was tricky. Stealth was of essence. And caution too. No sudden movements.

You might wonder on my choice of words though. Buddy. Friend. Neighbour. And yet there I was in stealth mode while making my approach. Ahh! The perils of being a flightless, featherless human! Birds aren’t too keen on getting all pally with us. Or being photographed.

So

I stopped at a safe distance from the beautiful bird who had now moved from contemplative stance to doing a bit of grooming. Nothing like well kept feathers that shone on the sun. The Black Drongo then proceeded to look around. One could almost sense the, ‘Yep. I have spotted my meal’ vibe that took over next.

In the very next moment, with a glorious display of glossy black feathers, it went into a dive, catching its prey mid-air and was gone. It probably chose a different tree for the ‘dining’ experience. Umm.. that is also another way of saying I wasn’t quick enough to see where it landed.

Anyways, it was time to stop dawdling and be on my way to get back to my chores. So that’s what I did.

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