Compared to many other cities in India, Bangalore is much greener. From the terrace of our newly built house in J.P. Nagar 9th Phase, I have shot the pictures that appear alongside — which go to show that even in highly urbanised contexts there could be ample room for birds to thrive and be about.
My husband and I both love wildlife and we try to visit at least one national park every year. But since December 2014 I have focussed more on birds in our neighbourhood. I started going to the terrace every day to take pictures. I joined a birding group on Facebook (BngBirds), and started contributing my pictures. The Internet has been of great help in identifying the birds I clicked.
Within a couple of months, I had clicked more than 30 different species of birds just from the terrace: the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, the White Throated Kingfisher, the Golden Oriole, the Coppersmith Barbet, the Verditer Flycatcher, the Common Tailor Bird, the Oriental White Eye, the Oriental Magpie Robin, the Ashy Drongo, the Loten’s Sunbird, the Purple Rumped Sunbird, Minivets, Asian Koels, Bulbuls, and more.
At weekends I go for a morning walk with my camera, an SLR. One day I clicked a family of Spotted Owlets on a tree.
As a software professional, this hobby has helped me relax and spend time with myself. The journey so far has been interesting. I have learnt to differentiate the male and the female of some of these species. By observing them I have also learnt their typical behaviour patterns, eating habits, calls and so on.
I have made some like-minded friends in the process. I also believe I have made people around me aware of the avian treasure we have in our residential layout. With more houses being built, trees are being cut down.
But we have now planted more trees and have decided to do more to make our layout greener and bird-friendly. We even organised
a birding event for children in the residential layout, which was very successful. We may not be able to live with lions and elephants, but by planting more trees, we can certainly co-exist with these lovely flying beauties.
mallika.rajasekaran@gmail.com
