I wish I could read its mind.
It's one happy Gold-whiskered Barbet that was pecking ceaselessly, seemingly for the fun of it (the tree is definitely too slender for it to try and create a nest hole).
Total absorption except for the occasional lifting of its head because of the cries of a changeable hawk-eagle above. And totally ignoring my presence.
With an almost pre-historic head profile, it comes across as perpetually naive and smiley, and what's not to like?
The view from below, of one persistent raider of a Javan Myna, of perhaps another's hole nest.
Who rules the river now?
A pint-sized blue and orange zip-and-whizz of a Blue-eared Kingfisher that chased away the Common Kingfisher, even the bigger White-throated Kingfisher.
Always on the move, always fishing.
But not always successful!
It merely starts with an intent, as everything else does, an almost meditative concentration.
The Five Animal Frolics is a set of Qigong exercise that mimic the movements of animals. Created by Hua Tuo, a doctor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it aims to help overcome illness and promote overall physical and mental well-being. By embracing and mimicking the physical attributes of each animal, one gains its grace, strength, calmness and steadiness to manage one's health. The Crane is one of the five animals, imitated for its steadiness, focus, calm, balance and agility.
On a micro level, and if one believes in the universality of being, we don't have to look far, it's all in one's backyard. Consider the Little Egret.
The Little Egret did it with perfection, one stealthy step at a time, deliberate, steady and purposeful, the concentration, the balance, the stretch, all conducted in perfect stillness and calm. Yet, its alertness is always there, taking immediate flight on the hint of an intrusion.
On the wings of love, I live, and give.
"You often say, "I would give but to the deserving." The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pastures. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish."
It's almost instinctive, reflexive, to aim for any raptors, however high.
No matter that the cries of any Crested Serpent-Eagle always precedes its appearance, and already reveal its rather common presence and identity.
No matter that it appears as a silhouette.
