Bharatpur made me a bird watcher

I have possessed my 100-400mm lens for over an year now and a part of this investment must be credited to the birds that were habituated to spend their early mornings in the vicinity of all homes I have lived in the past two years. Some of these were little brown doves, purple sunbird, oriental magpie robin among other common species. These names, that I flaunt today, hardly made a difference to me 18 months ago when all I simply wanted to do was capture a splendid shot in my camera. I cannot pin point the exact motivation to learn their names but I remember my MBA mate, Preeti, to be an ardent bird watcher. She commented 'little brown dove' on a photo I had posted online and in our, one or two, gym conversations she recommended I buy any book by Salim Ali, the great Indian ornithologist who invested his life studying birds, to better understand the feather folk. I bought myself a reference book called 'A Photographic  guide to Birds of India' by Grewal Harvey Pfister because all of Salim Ali was out of stock. That's where I began to learn a bit of the beautiful birds that bless our habitats with colorful glamour. But, I must admit, it is quite a painful task from knowing nothing to finding the name of a bird among the 500 pages of that book and infinite Google searches.

A bucket list item: someday in the future, I look forward to shoot some absolute gorgeous photos of rose pelicans in all their gigantic glory.

In the last week of December I made Bharatpur happen for me during which time studying birds filled my heart with joy. Mostly, it had to do with Mr. Sarman Singh, boss @ bicycle auto no. 103, who has become acquainted with birds for over 17 years in his role as a cyclist taking tourists around the Keoladeo bird sanctuary. His accent can sometimes become a little difficult to follow but that's where I can look up the reference guides and Google pages to correctly spell a bird species. I saw an abundant variety: green pigeons, Indian roller, storks (painted, black-necked, open bill), parakeets, robins, blue throats, grey horn bill, rose pelicans, herons (grey, purple), greater coucal, darter, hoopoe, black necked redstart, bittens, purple sunbirds, rufous treepie, kingfishers (common and white-breasted), among a few more. I could photograph some beautifully, while others have been pushed to a future bucket list.

BLACK REDSTART FEMALE

BLACK REDSTART MALE

During this trip, I learned that the bird kingdom has more attractive males vis-a-vis  females. More attractive males is a RULE than an exception. (I always knew that about peacocks and peahens, though). At a generic level, in lay man terms,  it has to do with greater vibrancy of colors in males with strategically gifted beauty spots, which are absent in females (for example,  the red breasted flycatcher).  It was during this trip I attempted to distinguish a species based on their sexes. "Black  redstart male," I guessed. Every time Mr. Sarman Singh validated my guess, my heart screamed 'yay' on the inside. Bird watching was an exhilarating experience and especially so because of Mr. Sarman Singh. His depth of knowledge helped identify unseen birds rather quickly. A sense of accomplishment is necessary to keep motivation alive and Mr. Sarman Singh helped me do just that.

RED BREASTED FLYCATCHER MALE

FLYCATCHER FEMALE

Makar Sankranti  is around the corner. So, I would like to call upon the human species and say, "While kite flying is an entertaining sport for us, it can be life threatening to the birds. The birds often get entangled in loose manzaa ends and risk cutting their wings. As a result, they can be seriously injured and later die. So, don't leave loose ends and keep 'birds rescue' contact number handy at all times."

ORIENTAL MAGPIE MALE

ORIENTAL MAGPIE FEMALE

Signing off,

A birdwatcher in making.