: A bird feeding another is commonplace. Or so one would think till a close look reveals a tailor bird feeding a grey-bellied cuckoo that is twice its size. This slice of maternal love was captured by A.V. Abhijith when he was just 12.
Nearly 70 photographs of birds shot by the youngster are on display at an exhibition under way at the Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum here.
The easily identifiable cattle egret and the Indian cuckoo, the colourful black-naped monarch flycatcher and the Indian roller, and the beauty of the plain prinia and the Asian paradise flycatcher captured to perfection make the exhibition an interesting watch. Most of the photographs have been taken around his house in the middle of a coffee estate at Kalloor on the way from Sulthan Bathery to Muthanga or at his friends’ houses, says Abhijith, who has finished his class 12, and is taking a year off from studies.
Honed his powers early
Living in the lap of nature honed his powers of observation early. It was while returning home with his father one day that he came across birds taking a dip in a puddle of water. Despite having lived there all his life, Abhijith realised he had never seen them. Soon he was following them closely, and the desire to share with others led him to pick up the camera. It helped that his father A.V. Manoj Kumar is a keen birdwatcher and photographer.
Birdwatching is tough work, and Abijith is helped by Mathan, an Uruli tribesman who works on the estate. It was Mathan who sounded him off about the presence of the Ceylon frogmouth on their estate. Keeping a close watch on the bird for an entire day helped him capture its varied expressions, and led to a group of nine pictures titled ‘Navarasam.’ He loves all his frames for each has a story behind it, but it is the two frames of a Bonelli’s eagle and its young one taken from a hide 80 ft up in a tree that are the closest to his heart. The exhibition, on till August 24, is his fifth.
