Saturday, July 12, 2014

Never a dull moment

The grey Langur paid us a visit the other day. In fact there were two of them. How I came to know about it was by the distress call of the Koel. To add to this the crows were all excited and were concentrating on the mango tree.   I had a closer look at the tree. After carefully scanning through the gaps in the tree, I found this cute face looking back at me. 


Had enough time to grab my camera and take some quick shots.



The crows were getting really agitated (and frustrated) as they could not swoop down on them. The second line of attackers were waiting above for action:


Meanwhile our friends decided to change location and descended on our garden. One of them perched on the bamboo scaffold and relished our flat bean shoots. 



Later while checking the net, I found that Langurs are indeed known as “leaf eating monkeys” as they feed mostly on leaves.  Other than leaves they eat fruits, shoots, roots, seeds, flowers, grass.
While enjoying the shoots, I saw him eyeing the Dutchman’s pipe (or queen of the night) flowers at the other end of the garden. I presume he gave up the idea, probably guessing that that they were the ‘already bloomed ones’ (these flowers bloom once a year and that too in the night)



The front line attackers had a clear target now and resumed their attack.  


Our friends now moved on to the adjacent tree and found the flowers on this tree really delicious. (this is the same tree on which the bats come at dusk during this season)
I suppose they had their fill on that tree and moved away, as the concentration of the crows shifted away from our house.

With some greenery around the house, there is never a dull moment.


I did manage to take some video footing too and you can see it here:


38 comments:

Alka Gurha said...

You are blessed to have greenery around your place. And with rains in Pune, it must be bliss. Awesome captures.

Bikram said...

wowow.. you have a lovely garden.. those are some beautiful flowers .. and some you say.. that is a lot of greenery ..

Bikram's

Enigma said...

Truly said by Alka, it's a real blessing to be surrounded with greenery. It sure must have been a pleasure capturing the Langurs from your own home.

Nice pics. :) Hope you get other such visitors all year round.

trees said...

So you don't have to go all the way to Bandipur!

Beth said...

Awesome photos!

Sandhya said...

Nice pictures! Thank god they didn't get frightened by seeing the crows. The crows don't allow anyother species to come into their area.

Joanne Noragon said...

We have crows, but not Langurs. How interesting they would not feed together.

Nalini Somayaji said...

nice to come to know abt your blog..beautiful clicks and what I like abt you is be happy and move on ...well said..

Unknown said...

That gray Langur is beautiful! I love how you captured him! Awesome shots. Thanks so much for your comment over at Communal Global : ). Have a beautiful week!

Jeannette said...

I imagine you having a brief internal dialogue..."Hey that lemur is eating my beans! Hmmm... Am I a naturalists or a gardener? ...Ha that's right, I am a photographer and a blogger! "
Lovely video, Joe. Thank you for sharing.

Insignia said...

These ones are very common in Bandipur and Mudumalai forest reserves. They are cute in a way

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the video and photos very much.

MadSnapper said...

they are so cute, would like to see a live one. my queen of the night blooms at night but is different than yours...

Julia Thorley said...

Beautiful photos. I've heard of a Langur. You must have been very still and quiet.

CDH said...

They are very cute! Must be neat to have those type of critters all around you.
Cheri

Illia from CrazzzyTravel.com said...

What an incredible animal! And so cuuuute! :)

Unknown said...

Amazing. They look like they had a really enjoyable visit.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari Om
Oh I miss them... the very first post on MY TAKE was a langur outside my window in Mumbai. The rascals were after the ashram mangoes! YAM xx

Anita Sabat said...

Cool that you managed so many pics!
We know when they pay a visit by the clamour in the air- the birds make terrified noises :)

Hilary said...

Well that's something I'll never see around here. How cute. You've captured some fine pics.

Stephanie said...

How wonderful that you were able to capture so many incredible photos! Thanks for sharing with us.

Anonymous said...

You have langurs coming near your flat? amazing! Proof how green and beautiful your garden is! - Sindhu

Maniparna said...

I love your garden ...wish I had more space in front of my house.

The Langurs are really cute and they look innocent too... :-)

Kokila gupta said...

Yours must be a great place to live.... offering such lively moments in life and great pictures... and now only I know these are called Dutchman's pipe ! Great info :) Glad I found your blog or vice-versa :D

Kokila gupta said...

Joining the fan club..super star :)

Maniparna said...

BTW , this is my first visit to your blog and must say that Haddock is a nice name :-D Hope you don't shout uttering ' blue blistering barnacles" like your famous namesake... :-D :-P

Shivani Singh said...

i am reading about people getting bothered with snails and slugs which they say spoil their garden and gobble all their veggies. Read my post and you shall know. And although your langur looks cute the monkeys who are visiting my garden for the mango harvest are quite a menace for what they do not eat they simply destroy and leave leaving behind quite a mess. Am going to do a post soon. But it won't be as entertaining as yours. You do great with ur shots and the vdo in tow...i mostly work there and before i can catch the action it is either done or when i am ready the action never takes place. Call that some Murphy's law hahaha.
pls stop by at my post too. i miss ur one liners.

Shivani Singh said...

And just one request since you have it why don't you take a shot of the queen of the night that Dutchman's Pipe you have in your garden...such a rare and beautiful flower it is which blooms only during midnight i am told...and withers away by morning. You are so fortunate to have it all. :) :) :)

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

A most entertaining video of the grey langur. He does have an endearing little face.

I have also enjoyed scrolling through many of your recent posts as I catch up since my last visit :)

Pratibha said...

wow awesome pics, you are lucky to be living in such a nice place :)

Read me here: http://wingardiumleviosaaa.blogspot.in/

Unknown said...

What beautiful creatures! And what a special place you live in!

Anita said...

I enjoyed a break in my blog reading with your lively, upbeat musical video of the langurs and crows!

Amogha Rejeesh said...

Amazing captures Haddock. This is the first time I'm seeing so many 'nishagandhi' blooms together in a single frame. And what a cute langur.

I had the fortune of discovering a fairly grown-up macaque sitting @ my dining table one fine morning, couple of years back. We were living @ Bannerghatta, Bangalore back then. The monkey had jumped in through the open balcony doors from atop the silver oak trees adjacent to our apartment. My heart which had jumped to my mouth at that juncture was what stopped me from taking any pictures. Sensing human presence the monkey swiftly exited through the very doors it had entered through, disappearing into the oaks.

Thinking back I feel it was an interesting visit, out of the blue, from the wild.

Haddock said...

Frankly speaking there were more than 15 flowers and all of them bloomed on the same night.

Heidi said...

Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos.

Marie said...

they're so cute! wonder why the crows wanted to bother them!?
great photos!

cleemckenzie said...

That's quite a busy garden you've got there. Loved the Dutchman's Pipes, even post bloom. And what a surprise to find those faces peering out at you.

Rama Ananth said...

That is Brama Kamalam. Even we have it in our house, it keeps on blooming all throughout the rainy season. I am yet to see it in full bloom, because t blooms only in the night