in the beginning was a single cuckoo. it was a female. which means, poor lass, it does not speak much, it is the male who keeps singing all through the spring and summer. it was late morning, around 11 AM, and i was working on my verandah when i heard a cuckoo making a ferocious racket. then i saw this gal sitting up their, all made up, and no one to look at her. so i took a few pix of her.
normally, the female cuckoo does not sing. today she suddenly opened her gob and let go something that is best described as a warbling yell. in other words she made a hell of a racket. on the ground below her, i am watching her through the telefoto lens and wondering what is going on.
but maybe male cuckoos are attracter by aggressively yelling females. anon comes this male in black tux, peeping out of the bushes.
his yellow goggle eyes open wide at the sight of our lady.
the lady looks at mr. goggle eyes, and then she coyly looks away.
goggle eyes is looking up beseechingly. i am here, he says. like all males, he is quick to fall in love. of all the female cuckoos in the world, she is the most gorgeous... oh, how i love you, won't you be mine? he sings. she, of course, acts pricey. but yeh point note kiya jAy, she is not flying off.
he moves a step closer. will she or won't she? yipppeee... she doesn't move back or fly away.
she is moved by his eagerness, but the time is not ripe yet. she is firmly looking somewhere else - "ah, that looks like a ripe little seedpod there. someone serenading me, did you say, hmmm, a blasted nuisance, i say, i wish to cuckoo-god they'd go away!". (if you look carefully you can just make out his beak at the bottom. )
seeing that she's a touch cookie, he backs out a bit.
"hey - what's that, is he going off now? what's the big rush, i say!" it is autumn, maternal instinct are raging. so she gives up all pretence and looks at him directly.
soon enough they are looking deep into each other's eyes. the leaves rustle in the faint morning breeze. it is the shubha-drishTi hour.
hola! what is this! beaks almost touching already?
emboldened, he moves up the branch a little.
and then they start doing this jerky, twisty dance. first he twists his body this way and that. maybe he's saying, "oh, i am just passing by, couldn't care less, believe me, that you, a beautiful and eligible female, are sitting here."
twisting and turning, their bodies are coming closer and moving away.
