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.
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| Southern Red Billed Hornbill ( Tockus Rufirostris) |
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| Brown-Throated / Scarlet-Spectacled Wattle-Eye (Plastysteira Cyanea) |
