Birdwatching ".....I found myself enjoying the chirps of wren warblers, liquid trills of bulbuls and melody of golden orioles. I admired the graceful flight of a serpent eagle and tailor made nest of a baya weaver. I was amazed by the brains and adaptability of common crows and migration of pintail ducks over thousands of miles. I was amused by the quacking ruddy shelducks and babbling babblers. And in mute swans and saurus cranes, I saw poetry in motion." Click on the images for larger view.  Publications on wildlife, Checklist, Conservation, Contact, Home

        It was an evening in the summer of the year 1990. Bright, warm and pleasant.    Perfect for a short trek I thought and decided to chek the marsh behind valley view guest house.

        As I entered in to a wetland I saw a bird preening itself for a prospective prey. Still and poised. Crawling behind the wall of typhus grass I tried get closer to it. But in vain. My eager feet rattled against the dry typhus. Disturbed, the bird flew away hurriedly, but gracefully, drawing my eye in its direction. It was such a common scene in India that the fact that it was a white bird did not register in my mind until I saw a "black bird" a while later. A look alike but with contrasting color!  .....No, they were different! The white one had a regular beak while the black one had a different beak, saw toothed perhaps.  I had been told since my childhood that they were similar birds, that one was a "white crane" the other "black crane". Confused I met Sudhakar Marathe that weekend. I described to him what I observed. He said to me that the white one was a cattle egret, the black one a little cormorant ....They had two different beaks. Why? I asked him.

        That evening in Hyderabad turned out to be my first brush with watching birds. I was then struck by the first wave of realization that we were taught a lot about human society and its developments but not about the biodiversity that was essential for our survival. And the little we were taught about biodiversity looked hopeless. The scales from my eyes fell.  I started watching birds closely and identifying them. I made notes. Drew pictures of the birds. Flipped through pages of books on Birds. I found myself enjoying the chirps of  Wren Warblers, liquid trills of Bulbuls and melody of Golden Orioles. I admired the graceful flight of Crested Serpent Eagle  and tailor made nests of Baya Weavers. I was amazed by the brains and adaptability of Common Crows, and migration of Pintail Ducks over thousands of miles. I was amused by the quacking Ruddy Shelducks and babbling Babblers. And in Mute Swans and Saurus Cranes, I saw poetry in motion. WOW! what a wonderful world I was in.

            I Got up in the wee hours around 3 am to hear the Woodcocks. Waited  in the grass lands until 12 pm to see the Nightjars fly and squat, and fly silently. And I had hundreds of 6.00 am birdings. Every year I counted (census) every water fowl around me. I traveled to the remote; the marshes, the mountains, the woods, the deserts, in search of that elusive bird. Sometimes it was  an Indian Pitta, sometimes it was a Siberian Crane, sometimes it was a Great Horn Bill.  I ringed a Sparrow Hawk and a Myna.  Got myself invited to their roosting. When their fledglings took to flight I found it delightful. Yet another life taking to wings. .........The journey in to the lives and lifestyles of birds was thrilling and, to say the least, fulfilling.

            I was fascinated by the chronicles of evolution of birds and  the connection between our existence and their survival today. The cassowary  showed me the brute force of the dinosaurs when it forced its way with the thick bony casque on its head, through the vegetation in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. The hoatzin of South America flashed its reptilian genes in the claws on its wings.  Together they took me back 100 million years in time, in to the natural history of birds. There I saw their reptilian ancestors change from scaled, tight skinned, cold-blooded to feathered, porous skinned, hot-blooded birds. The biology and maths I learnt helped me understand why they had to change. I was intrigued by the difference between Darwinism and Lamarkism. And fell in love with both. Although the random mutations followed by natural selection seem to outweigh the inheritance of acquired properties.

            Jane Goodall whisked me back to the present and shocked me with her amazing discoveries in the ethology of African Chimps; that chimps  made tools and formed societies just like us. Gavin Hunt complemented with his discovery that crows of New Caledonia Island also made tools. That chimps and crows make and use tools came as a pleasant wonder to me. It humbled my human arrogance.  I asked myself, if tool making were considered the most significant factor in the development of modern man and when crows and chimps also made them where did we stand?  When I learnt that elephants knew what death meant, I realized they were what we were. I was touched by their sensitivity toward their kith, kin and dead, and realized they were no less emotional, perhaps more emotional,  than us. I remembered the elephant that stood still next to the pile bones of it's brother that passed away an year before, and mourned for a grueling six hours!  I remembered the Pigeon (domestic) that didn't feed for a couple of days when I accidentally pulled its nest and caused the eggs break away, in my childhood.

        The social life animals and birds is certainly well structured and as complex as ours. Male Emperor Penguins  prove themselves to be the most devoted fathers by incubating eggs for four months continuously without feeding, losing more than half of their body weight. The social dance of Japanese Cranes, nuptial ritual of Crested Grebes, flamboyant courtship display of male birds, careful selection of mates by females, political groups in chimps, forts and cultivation of ants, and life long commitment of  wild dogs towards their family, all together underscore their well developed social life, polity, technology, and not to mention their brains. When I learnt of  a honeyguide  that called and lead a ratel  to a beehive and the ratel in turn left part of the honeycomb and grubs for the honeyguide, I found symbiotic symphony in all the creatures. Communicating with a species of another kind that perceives and lives in the world in a quite different manner,  accentuates unequivocally their highly successful survival skills. I was awakened to the fact that such cooperation among all the species was a natural law and an essential factor for survival of any species including humans. Natural selection became my de facto religion.

        I also realized what was a melodious song and graceful flight for me could be a struggle for survival for the birds, especially in the era of ever increasing human interference. The moaning call of Great Indian Bustards alerted me of their possible extinction.  When they recovered, viola, a smile flashed across my face. The extinction of Pink Headed Duck in front of my eyes pained me. Huh! yet another species disappeared from the Earth, due to unleashed greed of humans conquering and rooting its tentacles every mile of the Earth! I felt the urge to be part of the global struggle to protect the diverse species  and to create awareness among people about ecological balance. About the need to preserve the biodiversity not only for its benefit but also for our own benefit. Because our existence depends on them.  I started sharing what I learnt. Wrote and talked for the birds, and about them. 

            Nature has evolved for four billion years facing boldly  ruthless evolutionary pressures and helped by natural selection. Based on mutual cooperation and coevolution. Yet today we seem to always take and never return to nature our due - the protection and healthy respect. Instead we encroach in to its territory and destroy the habitats of wildlife, well, in the name of so called development causing the  biodiversity to disappear forever.  Left to itself nature takes it own care. It's high time we allowed the birds and other species what is their due.

Present

        I am enjoying birding in the New England and my association with Brookline Bird Club. I am sure with more than  a 1000 members and planned trips every week, its the most active club around. And I am conceiving various ideas to conserve biodiverstiy, let's see if I will be able to do something concrete.......