Bird, Birder, Birding...

Birding for a layman may just mean a boring pastime of spending unending patient hours in the outdoors searching constantly for a sound, a flutter, a flyby, a hippity hop, a rustle or a song. Again, all this for what? Just to take a picture, ogle at one’s handiwork and then check a field guide to identify its name if its uncommon or doesn’t start with the name ‘Common’! So what does one do with one’s treasured clicks? Put it up on a social network, blog about it, share it in birding websites or your own website with all the feathery details and titbits, your moment of truth with the l’il or big birdy, scientific name and all! Perfecto!! Again, all this for what? Why do you do it? Is it a competition or just a hobby? Or just a personal bucket list you want to tick off once you reach your mark? Maybe, just for the experience..maybe..still…why? What is it all about?

Birding for a birder, amateur or highly mature is like a 'Calling’ - No pun intended! Like music is for a musician, like diving for a scuba diver, like going places for a traveller. Just that if you are a birder, you get to do all of the above and much more – You walk, jog, run, sometimes dive, trip, get swept off your feet,  go places and listen to birdsong which is music to the well trained ear - Literally! At times you get to do the singing too and if you closely observe a birder one might even look like one is moonwalking – Of course one is totally unaware of the fact as every ounce of one’s attention is strictly reserved for ‘The Bird’ – No matter how stupid one may look like, in the process! It is probably the only time that a Birder is least concerned about what one’s constantly changing postures may convey or make them look like. So strike birding off your list if you want to take someone out on a date unless he/she is also a birder or doesn’t mind appreciating your weird acrobatics! By the way the birds don’t mind the acrobatics as long as you are well camouflaged or resemble a tree with weirdly twisted branches and you tread every step of your way as soundlessly as can be humanly possible. And yes, you might want to also avoid screaming or cursing in case you sprain a leg, neck or back! But inspite of everything, even if it sounds a bit exaggerated – Birding is beautiful in the very deep down literal sense!

To a birder’s mind or should I say to my mind its almost everything you can ask for! Once you become a birder, you are a birder for the rest of your life.  It’s like a binding contract between you and mother nature. You may have a burn out, not think about it for awhile, be out of touch, or simply observe someone else’s work. But, no matter where you are or what you do if you see one pass you by, you’ll always look up for that one brief moment with a quiet smile if you’ve seen it before or wonder if it could be, what you thought it looked like! It will always keep coming back to you in brief timeless pangs, till you know you need to go some place soon enough or maybe just spend some quality time in your own backyard. That’s birding! Once a birder, always a birder! And that rush of excitement that almost clouds your eyes when you see a new species or a rarity or when you’re seconds away from breaking a personal record – Well you need to experience it to know what that feels like! I don’t know if I can even call myself a ‘Birder’ yet, for I am still foraging my way through the initial intriguing stage of being fascinated by this whole new world or rather a whole new way of looking at or listening to things. I wonder, ponder and meander when an opportunity presents itself growing fonder and fonder every day! No clue, if I’ve gone yet yonder..!

For want of a better word I’ll just call myself an amateur birder for now. There is still a long way, many more places and spottings am yet to be blessed with…!

For now I leave you to relish your taste buds with a few new sightings during a month long vacation at Malawi, Africa.

Southern Red Billed Hornbill ( Tockus Rufirostris)

Brown-Throated / Scarlet-Spectacled Wattle-Eye (Plastysteira Cyanea)

Cape Weaver Male (Ploceus capensis)

Common Bulbul / Dark-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)

Blue Waxbill (Ureaginthus angolensis)

All of the above birds were shot from a beautiful garden at Cape MacLodge in Cape Maclear, Mongochi District, Malawi in Southern Africa. It is a beauty of a town located on the Nankumba Peninsula on the southern shore of Lake Malawi and is part of the Lake Malawi National park. It was one of those much sought after weekend getaways, where I was off to visit to some amazing islands in the Cape and lucky enough to spend some quality time with these beauties. More about my time there and detailed trip report coming soon...