Marching Macaques [Haiku]

macaques on the march:
lockstep / shoulder-to-shoulder;
 a crash in the trees.

Dramatic Entrance [Haiku]

an egret flares
to a dramatic landing
in a sunny grass patch.

Heron [Haiku]

a heron stands
with perfect stillness,
in frigid water.

Cormorant Stitching [Haiku]

a cormorant weaves
into and over water:
no trace but ripples.

DAILY PHOTO: Hippos on the Shore

Image

Tree Snake [Senryū]

a snake crawls 
down out of a tree…
i have questions.

Cormorant Flotilla [Haiku]

cormorant heads
drift over the water:
fishing in formation.

Barren Hill [Haiku]

the trees are bare;
winter winds picked them clean.
a bird lands, chirps, & flees.

PROMPT: Wild Animals

Daily writing prompt
Do you ever see wild animals?

Yes, frequently. Even in the city where I live, Bangalore, I see black kites, herons, and egrets on a daily basis, as well as the occasional monkey (macaque.) [Notably, Bangalore — like Mumbai — has had issues with Leopards in the city, but I’ve never seen them.] But when I travel to wilderness areas, there’s lots of wildlife to be seen. A couple weeks ago I visited Ranganathittu Sanctuary and saw marsh crocodiles, macaques, pelicans, and painted storks. In India, I’ve seen rhino, wild elephant, mongoose, cobra, and many other creatures. In Africa, I’ve seen most of the big ones (lion, elephant, hippo, giraffe, zebra, cape buffalo, etc.)

I was just learning from the wildlife in the park this morning as I watched chipmunks scurry around in a circle of ravens, and that kind of surprised me that the chipmunks didn’t seem phased. I see ravens eating bigger rodents (city rats are about the size of housecats,) but they made no moves on the chipmunks. Maybe chipmunks have stronger kung fu, or maybe they just don’t have enough meat on the bones. I don’t know.

A bird… and if you look closely, you’ll see an elephant under it.

Painted Stork [Haiku]

a painted stork
stands so still on one leg,
passers think it fake.