The significance of the pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica) fields wanes just at the onset of the winter seasons to the owners of the fields. The land owners, who are the cultivators as well pay no attention to the fields and wait for the next cultivating season. The makeshift scaffoldings for the pointed gourd plants weaken at the end of the year-long cultivation. The output strength of the pointed gourd plants diminishes as well. Also, the demand of the pointed gourds to the people starts coming down.The farmers lose interest for the few pointed gourds left unplucked in the fields.
Incidentally, some pointed gourds after beeing left in the scaffolding for a long time, ripen and turn orange. That is when a number of types of birds start visitingthe field being allured by the ripe pointed gourds. And so, these pointed gourd fields of our village turn out to be sort of ‘bird watching spots’.
Many types of Munias frequent the pointed gourd fields to feed on the seeds of grass that grow below the scaffolding as the ground remains unattended for a long period of time. Some other birds, such as Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, Jungle Babbler etc. come in search of small insects that live and thrive below the thick growth of the layer of grasses. The important birds among those which come to the fields in search of ripe pointed gourds are Bulbuls, Mynas, Starlings, and mostly, Asian Koels.
Asian Koel flying over pointed gourd field
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