The magnificent Peacock in Flight

Photo by Daniel Stoychev

In both my Arunachala Birds and Arunachala Grace blogs I have written about and posted many excellent photographs of the Peacock, which is a very common bird in these parts. Not only is it an inhabitant of many ashrams, homes and farms, it is also lives wild in large numbers throughout the Arunachala countryside. 

The below photographs were not taken at Arunachala, and instead they are a selection of photographs from the Web of the Peacock in Flight. Where known I have accredited the photographer. 

Photo by Two Summers

Photo by Zhayynn James

Unknown photographer

Unknown Photographer

Photo by Sachin Kumar

Photo by Captain Supachat

Photo by Chandrashekar Badami

Nature Adapts

I posted a narrative on Arunachala Grace at this link here about the water problem at Samudram Eri (a reservoir south of Arunachala). The 750 area used to a haven for a multitude of bird species but now due to deforestation and the subsequent on-going industrial scale sand quarrying (with heavy machinery), much of the joy of the area has been destroyed for our sweet feathered friends.

Thorny bush branches covered by creepers

But its interesting to note how quickly nature is able to adapt to new circumstances. Previously the area was heavily covered with Acaia Arabica Nilotica (what I euphemistically call "thorny bush"). The trees were cut down and transported out by lorry, leaving just residual thorny branches on the ground. Subsequently creepers are now intertwining with the branches, and with great serendipity have become a haven for many species of birds such as Swift, Coucal, Drongos and Francolins. It really is a case of every cloud has a silver lining! 

Thorny bush in foreground yet to be covered with creepers