An Asian koel is ready for his afternoon snack. He flutters in, perches on his favourite branch and bites into a banana. As he enjoys the fruit, a coppersmith barbet glides in.
They exchange hostile glances. This could be war.
Thankfully, the coppersmith barbet decides to retreat and flies away. The fight will continue another day.
Every afternoon at Zhayynn James’ personal photography hide, located inside his farmland at Tirukazhukundram, 70 kilometres from the city, is an episode from a Nature channel.
When this landscape architect and passionate wildlife photographer slides open the small windows in his hide, the chirps and whistles — seldom heard in the city — give him a warm welcome.
Nature’s choice
Zhayynn’s intention behind creating the photography hide was simple: to provide an environment that allows photographers to get close to wildlife and observe animal/bird behaviour at close quarters without adversely impacting them.
Combining his designing skills — Zhayynn is a professional landscape architect — with his knowledge of light and lenses, the 45-year-old conceptualised this hide that has, over the last three years, witnessed 44 avian species, 11 non-avian species including reptiles, mammals and amphibians.
“A few friends of mine were discussing what to do with some space they had, and I suggested a hide. But they thought it was an outlandish idea, and so, I figured I should create one myself, as proof of the concept,” says Zhayynn.
What followed was a process of experimentation in his 10-acre farm. He found a patch that had the least amount of human interference and zeroed in on an area in which light was ideal for photography.
The hide inside Zhayynn’s farm
He decided to make it an evening hide for convenience sake; to help him drive down from his Chennai residence, in order to catch the action. With an investment of about ₹1.5 lakh, Zhayynn and his team went about creating a small pond, planting a few trees and creating an environment that they hoped the birds would like. “Some birds do not like moving branches. Some like the bounce on the branches. The idea was to put different tensile quality purchase to suit the variety of birds that come in,” he recalls. A few metres away, they created a small, well-ventilated space for the photographer to sit comfortably.
“The first birds that came were babblers. Though they are common on the farm, the fact that they chose to come here, drink and bathe was wonderful. It is a man-made structure, but for Nature to choose it was so heartwarming,” says Zhayynn.
- Zhayynn was born and raised in Chennai’s Adambakkam, and he says that it played a big role in developing an interest in animals. “The Adambakkam of the 1970s was completely different from what it is today. Back then, we used to have snakes in our compound once a week! I was always surrounded my wildlife, and my folks nurtured my interest by getting me books.”
- He studied in Madras Christian College, a place known for its greenery, and got into active wildlife photography in 2014; he rates Kaziranga and the Rann of Kutch highly in India, and Tanzania as the best in the world to observe animals. “Wildlife photography is telling a story without words. I would rather make it an interesting story about a common subject than a boring story about an interesting subject.”
He has been making a weekly visit to the hide to document animal behaviour; and has witnessed many birds including scaly-breasted munias, white-throated kingfishers and Brahminy starlings. That’s not all; his hide has also turned into a hangout for other animals like rat snakes, calotes and mongoose. “And then one day, when my wife and I were sitting around 7.30 pm, a cobra decided to take a swim in the pond. It was an experience we will never forget.”
Feathered friends
Since 2017, Zhayynn had been making weekend visits to the hide. These increased during the lockdown last year. “It’s almost home,” says the photographer, who is usually armed with his trusted Nikon D5, bananas and grains for his feathered friends. “As a means of documenting bird behaviour, hides are a fantastic tool...but they are also great from a conservation point of view.”
Over the last six months or so, Zhayynn has been actively branching out to conceptualise hides for clients. Today, he has three projects, for clients in Bangalore and Coimbatore. “One of them even has a pantry and a built-in toilet. Hides can be customised based on budget and space, but the idea is to get a sense of animal behavour at close quarters. The kind of drama that plays around a hide is fascinating.”
