The excitement of an early morning bird-watching trip is unceasing. An early shower, the exhilaration, a sense of euphoria…
The roads were empty and the sun was still not up. The high-mast lamps lit up a giant still-life canvas at the road junctions. My wife was ready and got curious with the binoculars. We had been planning for this wonderful trip for over a month.
Just as we approached Madurai’s ring road, a flock of black ibis flew past. The orange glow of a beautiful dawn painted the eastern skies, which were peppered with clouds. We parked our car near a tank that had many big water birds in it.
Pelican powerThere were more than 20 spotted pelicans: they were so proximate we didn’t need the binoculars. The pelicans were cruising in a straight line, as if in a trance. The eyes and the baggy beaks gave them a comical yet saintly look.
Near the tank bund there were three grey herons with their elegant necks and tufts, waiting patiently for their catch. Six painted storks foraged in the shallow waters busily.
Then a snake-like head surfaced from the water, and it was a darter. It kept us guessing where it would surface next. After nearly a minute it appeared elsewhere, this time with a fish in its beaks. What followed was the toss-and-eat act. The fish was tossed in the air, straightened up, expertly caught back head-first and then swallowed.
Amazing showAnother darter was drying its spread wings in a frozen, blessing posture, on a small tree. We took turns enjoying the amazing show through the binoculars.
Suddenly, one of the painted storks strayed from the group with a big fish in its long beaks, perhaps trying to avoid losing it to another bird. The fish was big and it was frantic; the bird let it slip within reach to grab it again. This slip-and-catch act was repeated thrice before the prey was finally vanquished truly. It is the game of life.
Then, a beautiful kingfisher crossed over. It hovered above the water. In a split-second it dived in and emerged, much like a missile launched from a U-boat. But there was no catch. It circled around and took a plunge at an angle. This time it found a prey. It ascended and was flying for some time with the twitching and gleaming silvery fish. The fish somehow managed to free itself and dropped back to the water. The bird then decided to call it quits.
We heard calls on the other side of the tank and saw a carnival of white birds with black wings. What’s a carnival without the stilts? There they were, hundreds of them making merry, taking off, wading and standing on their long legs. The reflection of the stilts in the water made them appear still longer. In the slightly deeper waters there was a family of five teals keeping company with a flock of 15 spotted pelicans. The ducks just bobbed and floated like little boats moored.
A black coot passed by like a toy bath duck. The top of its beak and forehead were so white — as if someone had dabbed a coat of white paint. There is an adorable beauty when things are simple and in basic black and white. The giant panda, the black coot, the black winged stilts, the zebra and the kingfisher belong to this genre.
PenanceWe watched a pond heron waiting in the same hunting position for more than 30 minutes. Not even its feathers moved in the gentle breeze. Then suddenly it gave up the penance and flew away low. This bird flies low and drives fish near the shore before hunting.
A solitary little grebe dived every 20 seconds into the water and emerged, only to disappear again.
A spotted pelican appeared above like a tiny aircraft. It surveyed the scene and appeared to train on a certain spot. It took a semicircular turn, calculated the gradient and glided graciously, the landing gear descending at the last moment. The touch-down was smooth and caused minimal ripples. It seemed to have landed accurately at the spot it had finalised from the sky. We felt humbled by nature, which made such big birds like pelicans and painted storks fly so graciously. Amid a shrub, a big blue coot foraged around with a strange gait.
Then we heard a bang. It was too loud for a gun; besides, there was smoke. We learnt that the person with the fishing tender rights bursts firecrackers to drive away the birds.
The pelicans were the first to respond. They took off in their typical ‘V’ formation. The entire flock moved like a single aerofoil, seemingly headed west to safer pastures. In a minute they were all gone.
We ventured into a village tank and could spot only a little ringed plover and two little grebes. Two months ago this place was teeming with thousands of birds. Open billed storks, white, glossy and black ibis, were everywhere. Painted storks ferried big sticks between trees, much like small army cargo planes.
Cuckoo timeAt the same place the crested pied cuckoo was spotted twice. It suddenly flew in and seated itself on a telephonewire. The crest was tousled, as if it had served an ace. Bigger than a bulbul, it is celebrated as the ‘chatak’ in Sanskrit, or the ‘saathaga paravai’ in Tamil literature.
There were starlings in their thousands with their mesmerising and ever-changing flock patterns. A greater cougal was perched somewhere with its deep-throated and reverberating calls, while a tiny and energetic crimson sunbird viewed us from a tree. All these birds did not seem hungry but only to crave for spaces. Such a high concentration within a small area in a semi-urban setting, was a pointer to their shrinking habitat.
Skills learntWe reminisced how we owe our life skills to birds. Flying, swimming, nesting, fishing, stitching, weaving, hunting, singing, dancing, sharing, dressing were all skills learnt from birds.
Their huge variety and characteristics make bird-watching a hobby for all times, all ages and all places. Yet, it is an inexpensive hobby. It is a nice way to study and understand nature and spread awareness especially among the younger generation.
Bird-watching is indeed the metaphor of our life’s search and quest. To find it, you have to go and search for it. This is another memorable day of learning from nature.
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