The Kites, Mr. Patel and The Murder of Crows!

Mr. and Mrs. Kite live opposite me in Bandra West. Always watching out for the horrible crows who are upto mischief and menace most days....

Mrs. Kite sits and waits for Mr.Kite to bring her some food.

Mr. and Mrs. Kite tucked in at night....Zzzzzzzz

The baddies - the local murder of crows....booooo!

Mr. Kite in action.....

Mr. Patel is my local neighbour...he oftens whistles at me while I walk to work...he's a friendly chap but gets sad he's in a cage!

I also have lots of pigeons and little parakeets who dive in and out between the kites and crows...in the distance are the little birds but they don't dominate the skylines as the crows are just too vicious. Only the kites can keep them at bay. It's a real battle of the skies.

Need to get a good camera to capture my bird world....

The Admirable Admiral

Leaving from Ferry Wharf 7.30am heading to Mora on the mainland...

Pootling out on our little ferry...lovely sunrise....

Calm waters, lots of boats...

Pastel heaven...

The Admiral's grounds...palm after palm...

Matari Hari et moi...posing by the water .....

The Admiral's house - built in 1965

Hammocks and cots by the water....just listen to the water...

Mora pier...heading back on a lazy Sunday afternoon....

The ferry ticket office....

So early Saturday morning Matahari and I head out of the city to an area on the mainland called Uran....it's bang oppositie the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel....25 mins away. The water is dirty and full of garbage...but once we hit the mainland we see the the pretty painted houses beautiful trees and children running through the streets and it feels like 'Indiah'. We jump in a rickshaw and in 10 mins we are at 'Admiral Perraia's House'....we have to walk a good 5 mins as they are digging the road up...then we encounter a pack of growling dogs and wonder if we've done the right thing. Once we hear the friendly hello from Admiral Johnny...aged 89, recovering from a hip replacement we know we've hit the jackpot. Our room is simple and clean, retro and rustic...it's so quiet and we order breakfast and sit outside and eat happily, soaking in the trees, the quiet, the sea...the dogs..lots of them. Our Sunday afternoon ferry back happened all too soon....we had played tennis, swung in hammocks, eaten til our tummies were full, had lovely life chats with a wonderful man and barely looked at our phones. Paradise to me. All thanks to the people at the Admiral's place...great staff and of course good travelling companion helped make this weekend magic. Planning next trip!

Birds of prey.....

...flying high...OK...complete Hitchcock yesterday...was in my cab after having a meeting in South Bombay (SoBo for those not in the know) and in the jam I noticed that people in the street looking up at the sky and pointing....ignored it for a bit and then thought it may be Superman..(?) so popped my head out of the window, along with my tres friendly taxi driver and saw this bizarre, macabre sight. A poor pigeon was suspended in what looked like mid air and was surrounded by a 'murder' of crows...big black nasty buggers all encircling and picking off the flesh...could n't see how it was hanging but it was caught a wire from a telephone line...and was just being pecked to the bones. So weird and wonderful, got a quick snap on my 'vintage' blackberry...so here you go....Voila!