Bengaluru is a birders’ paradise and the ever-growing community of birdwatchers are observing the third Bengaluru Bird Day this October 1 with a day filled with talks and workshops.
The day marks the birth anniversary of Joseph George, who is considered the pioneer of group birdwatching efforts in India. He started an informal birdwatching group in Bengaluru in 1972 called the Birdwatchers’ Field Club of Bangalore, which, with the passage of time and the birth of technology also branched into the online Yahoo group “bngbirds” by 1999. Joseph George, an organic chemist, had many research papers on birds to his credit. He started group bird watching activities as early as the 1940s in Dehra Dun, where he was posted at the Forest Research Institute. Veteran birders remember him for the way he encouraged them to make their own observations, always emphasising that contributions to a knowledge base on birds could be done by anyone, and not just scientists.
On October 1, the birders’ group, along with Ecoedu, a group that promotes environment education, are organising Bengaluru Bird Day at Venkatappa Art Gallery, Cubbon Park. Today the city’s online group has over 3,000 members who meet regularly for birdwatching, says avid birder Ulhas Anand, founder of Ecoedu, and one of the organisers.
Two of the interesting talks planned are by Shubha Bhat and Shashank Dalvi. Homemaker Shubha, who lives on the Indian Institute of Science campus will talk on “My Experience with Bird Baths”. Having set up a water bowl and a feeder in her backyard five years ago, she has documented more than 50 species of birds from her kitchen, including some rare and new records for Bengaluru, such as the Kashmir Flycatcher and Tickell’s Thrush.
“Birder on the Road” is Shashank Dalvi’s talk about his “Big Year” -- a term used by birders when one takes a year off work to watch birds, says Ulhas. “The idea was to journey across India and see as many species of birds as possible within the country in one calendar year. He ended up seeing a phenomenal 1,128 species of birds, perhaps the highest ever by an Indian,” says Ulhas.
This year the “Dr. Joseph George Memorial Talk — From Birdwatching to Nature Walks” will be given by popular conservationist and educationist Karthikeyan S. He will trace the relationship that Bengaluru’s birdwatchers have had along with the birds, slowly expanding over the last four decades to watching out more holistically for other forms of biodiversity around them, including plants, tress, ants and butterflies. “All these elements are around you when you go birdwatching. It was basic curiosity that started off among early birdwatchers when there was no internet access, no digital photography, or enough field guides,” explains Ulhas.
Ramit Singal of eBird India portal, which is a popular resource for birders in India and where bird lists and constantly updated, will talk on “How to Observe Difficult Birds in the Field and Identify them”.
Two workshops are also being held -- “Birds in a Sketchbook” where nature artists Sangeetha Kadur and Shilpa Shree P. will take birders through a hand-on experience of how to capture bird behaviour in drawing. Birder L. Shyamal, one the most prolific contributor to the Wikipedia’s WikiProject Birds will conduct a workshop “I Searched Online and Found Nothing Useful”. The workshop will go into details of how naturalists can learn to utilise and contribute to Wikipedia and make submissions.
Participation is by registration only and there’s a wait-list. Details can be had on http://ecoedu.in/bird-day
