Bow down to their persistence

They, too, have a strong will power. In fact, they are relentless in their pursuit of goals — not ready to give up in spite of numerous pushbacks. Well, these are pigeons whom I have grown tired of.

Spring season has set in and the pigeon couple is desperately looking for some space in our house for laying eggs. They seem to be the same couple whom I had welcomed two years back in my terrace with regular feeding of grains. Also, I had put a cardboard box, open on one side, in the space between the small concrete shade above a door (towards the edge of my terrace) and an extended metallic covering over it. This pair had started frequenting the spot, bringing in some twigs, leaves and paper. It didn’t take long for them to hatch eggs there two or three times. I do recall that I enjoyed the soft and frequent chirping cries of the fledglings (usually two) whenever one of the parents would visit to feed them. It is during this time that I learnt that pigeons initially don’t bring anything for their few weeks old babies, but both mom and pop pigeons feed their babies, turn by turn, with their own milk-type secretion called crop milk. Both male and female pigeons, and some birds like doves and flamingoes, have an expanded pouch called crop, or croup, connected to the digestive tract, and is located at the base of their necks.

But my zeal and patience has ebbed away. The main factor being one of the parent pigeons had to clean the transient baby place off and on. Many times when I would be going towards the parapet wall of my terrace, I had to cross a big bed of dirt which would be pushed down very adequately from the edge of the concrete shade on my neat and tiled terrace floor. Sometimes, I would hear continuous strong vibrating sounds and I knew the parent was sitting and its sturdy flapping would rain down their droppings.

I had had enough. So, after waiting for the last batch to grow and fly away, my husband and I had to scratch our heads and find ways to deter them. The space where the pigeon pair had been cozying up was closed with a cardboard. Some polythene pieces were attached to the edge of the extended roof, so that their flurrying in the breeze could scare them away. For generations these pigeons have been dwelling in concrete places, and now we rarely find them habitating on trees. As such, their attempts to keep peeking in our terrace and pecking the cardboard piece in repeated attempts to dislodge it has not dwindled, even after two years.

Well, like pigeons, what else is not relentless? The weeds in the garden keep popping up, in spite of repeated action. The Covid virus is persistent.

All I can do is accept and bow my head to dynamic Mother Nature.