Isn’t it fun when something delightful happens unexpectedly? That’s what surprises are, and that’s why they make us so delighted. Such an unexpected thing happened to me today.
Just like any other day I was hurrying up for classes, and having my breakfast. It was about 8:45 AM. Even though spring has arrived, and birds usually twitter and chirp incessantly outside all the day long in this season, it was rather calm outside today. I was rather disliking the day because, well, who feels to cram in such a fine weather with sun shining bright, crisp clouds hanging in the sky, and warm breeze? But, the day didn’t prove to be as dull as I’d imagined it after all, because a certain bird cheered my day up. While I was having my breakfast, I heard a loud call. At first it sounded like Black Drongo, but after several repetitions it did seem to be notably distinct. While chomping my chapatti I asked my mum, who was in the balcony, to see which bird it was. At first, she just noticed a dark bird concealed in the nearby mango tree, but later on she called me to show a bird that’s not uncommon in our region but I’d only seen it in photos.
There it was, a Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) which was now perching in a metal rod extended from a building in front of our apartment. The most remarkable thing about it was its long tail, so we know where its name comes from. It’d black head which extended to the neck, black wings with patches of white, a chestnut patch in the back, and black tail with rufous outer tail feathers. After a few moments of perching there, when it finally flied way, I loved to see its long tail swinging in the air like tail of a kite, and soon it disappeared out of sight.