When I photographed this plump larva on the small lime plant, I had visions of it metamorphosing into a beautiful lime butterfly.
Two days later I saw that a group of babblers had entered the garden and were busy scouting for food with their sharp eyes focused on plants like a search light. Watching from the kitchen, my first thought was "should I drive them away, because I could see that there is little chance of the lime larvae escaping attention.
Then the thought came "Who am I to play God, after all the babbler has as much of a right to live as the larva. So I watched.
Sure enough, within minutes, the loudest and and biggest babbler had got his prize-a plump green larva in his beak- the very same one which I was waiting to see the transformation into a lime butterfly. All visions of the flitting butterfly crushed in a moment!
Few days later
This white eye chick has just fallen from its nest. It is so motionless, yet a mild quiver of the body says it is alive. I resist an urge to pick it up and put it on a nearby tree. Soon I hear the frantic parents on another tree.
White eyes are usually very muted in their songs-one has to strain the ears to hear them while they are foraging. But just now the parent birds were ballistic- flying about and chirping continuously. Again I watched from a distance.
As if motivated by the coaxing of the parents, the chick flew a short distance. The coaxing continued and the chirping shriller.
About half hour later, I found the chick had managed reaching the nearest bush-a jasmine plant. It kept sitting there while the parents came with morsels of food.
So this story ended happily- it was clear that the chick had overcome the fall and was on its way to start life again.
