Have the binoculars made way for cameras among birders? As they get ready for the bird race scheduled for Sunday, the number of cameras being used for birding appears to have gone up, and seems like the gear of choice for spotting, logging and identifying birds.
“Not for me,” says Srikanth Bhamidipati of Birdwatchers’ Society of Andhra Pradesh. “Armed with a camera, you are likely to focus only on the quality of the photograph. But with a binocular or the naked eye, we can capture the behaviour and habits of the bird. That is more important for a birder,” he says.
Seconding the opinion is Humuyun Tahir: “For me, binoculars are the main weapons for birding. Photographers wait for a bird to behave in a particular way as they focus on good shot, light and framing. But for birders, observing a bird is itself a joy. Yes, cameras have made it easy to substantiate spotting.”
But on social media, bird photographs are a rage with some of the photographers having legendary status. Hyderabad is among the six cities in India that have their own bird races. The eighth edition of the bird race organised by Birdwatchers’ Society of Andhra Pradesh would be flagged off in the early hours of Sunday from Tourism Plaza at Begumpet. Last year, there were 70 participants, while this year the number of registrations for the race has crossed 80. Last year, a total of 221 species were spotted with the winning team recording 161 species.
“The focus of the race is on logging the most number of species. The race begins in the morning with four members in a team either in a car or on two bikes. The teams race to different bird-watching spots such as grasslands, wetlands and forests and return to the starting point in the evening. Then two independent judges go through the log books of each time to decide the winners,” informs Shafaat Ulla, secretary of BSAP.
Mr. Ulla, who has been part of the bird races in the city since its inception, says cameras are now more common. “Taking bird photographs is more easy now with cheaper cameras. Some of the photographs that are being shot of birds are of professional quality. Birds can be easily identified. Sometimes, on the field, we may find it difficult to exactly identify, but with a camera, everything becomes easy. It is not a binocular vs camera, each has its own advantages,” says Mr. Ulla.
But the jury is still out.
