Two young members of the Bidar Photographic Society (BPS) are inspiring others by putting up pots of grains and water to help birds survive the summer.
Vangapalli Vinayak, a post-graduate student of commerce at the Karnataka College, read in the papers that some youth were hanging empty nests and feed blocks in front of their houses to help birds. Inspired, he came up with a simple contraption to feed the birds. After spending a few hours with bar benders in the old city, he prepared a vertical tripod that can hold three pots in less than one square feet. He bought half a quintal of niger millet as it could be stored without refrigeration and because a wise old shop keeper told him the birds like them a lot. He placed three tripods and some boxes in an empty housing plot opposite his house where he has planted a flower garden.
Today, within minutes of him spreading the grain and pouring water, several birds fly in to the garden. “It is as if they remember the time of feeding. We wake up to the chirping of birds every day,” he said.
Bidar is reeling under an unprecedented heat wave. Temperature has averaged around 44 degrees Celsius for a week now, the highest in 70 years. Water scarcity seems unprecedented as most of the surface water bodies, wells and bore wells are drying up. “While cattle and pets are fed at least once a day by their owners, wild animals and birds are on their own, which is why we thought we should do something about it,” he said.
Sainath Sharma has gone a step further. The engineering student has recorded the chirping sounds and calls of birds on an old mobile phone that he keeps hidden in a bush in his garden. This attracts the birds in hordes, he said. He keeps bird feed and water in cups placed on the branches of trees and on his terrace.
The youth are planning to create awareness about conserving their winged friends. “We are encouraging friends and acquaintances to hang bird feeders in front of their house and nearby trees. A lot of people are calling up to ask where to get the feeders. Some others call to say feeding the birds has been greatly satisfying,” Mr. Vinayak said.
Mr. Sharma said they were also trying to distribute saplings of the Japanese cherry plant, also called the ‘bird magnet’. “A single plant supposedly attracts 40-50 varieties of birds,” he said.
“We are also documenting the varieties, number, habitat and other details of birds native to Bidar and the migratory varieties. Our members are photographing them and uploading their details, including names and habitat, on social media,” said Abhishek Chintamani, BPS president. He added that BPS would also organise a workshop for aspiring bird photographers.
