How much is that bulbul in the window?

When Alan was here he tried to tell me that a bird had come into the apartment. I only sort of believed him. But for the last few days, at least two of these birds have been perching on the grating, peering inside, flapping against the glass and generally seeming to indicate that they would like to be inside. They also do some sort of dance together. I can't tell if it's a mating thing or a fledgling-still-asking-to-be-fed thing. It involves puffing itself up and gesturing at the other bird with its beak.

This is our wildlife window. The vines growing on the building are flowering and the area outside the window is abuzz with bees. This is also the window through which a now-deceased rodent probably entered. Why do I suspect this window? Because, one lovely evening, before said rodent's entry and subsequent demise, I once spotted a suspiciously similar-looking rodent eyeing me through the vines.

We can also sometimes see lizards (smamiot even!) through the window. It's a fun view through the glass, kind of like an enclosure in a zoo except that we are the ones on the inside. All of this is more interesting because we live on the second-and-a-half floor, which is no big deal for the bees and the birds, but does mean that the four-legged critters are climbing up quite a ways in the vines.


The birds are either Yellow-vented Bulbuls (because of the bright yellow patch near its, um, private parts) or White-spectacled Bulbuls (because of the white circles around its eyes) depending on which website you want to believe. There seems to be another species which is also called "Yellow-vented Bulbul" but is a different bird and lives in Southeast Asia.

It's a lovely window and I am now inclined to keep it closed. Once the bees leave I may open it again, but only when humans are sitting right near it and keeping the out-of-doors at bay.