Date: January 24, 2011
I was lying on an
armchair in the courtyard outside Nitesh’s house in Vengurla after a sumptuous lunch
of rice and prawns curry. The courtyard had a huge mango tree and a couple of
chikoo trees under whose shade I was resting. Overhead I could hear a
continuous pook-pook call resonating from the canopy. I had heard this call
before on a number of occasions but could never find the source however hard I
tried. Enquiries with friends also did not help. I had no intentions of trying
this time around especially after the heavy meal. Suddenly a movement in the
tree caught my attention. Something moved near a small hole in one of the
branches. The hole was a perfect circle with clean chiseled sides. A yellowish
black face with vermilion smeared on its head peered outside. The pook-pook call started emanating from this
beautiful bird while it bobbed its head and puffed out its throat at every bob.
I was awestruck by the beauty of the bird and intrigued by its identity. It
would be nearly a year from that event that I would eventually put a name to
the bird - the Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima
haemacephala)- but the seed of observing birds was sown then.
Another bird
that triggered my curiosity was the Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia). The long extended whistle like call was amusingly
attributed to the Rat Snake (Ptyas
mucosus) thanks to the stories made up by Babi Gawde in Amboli. I always
wondered at what the snake does in the canopy but never in my dreams thought that
it could be a bird. It was in Amboli that I finally saw the male perched on a
twig of Anjan (Memecylon umbellatum)
tree and calling blissfully unaware of my presence, that realization struck.
There have been
many such occasions, when ignorance has taken the better of me, such as every
bird that was white would be an Egret. It was only in 1996 while on a holiday
from college, I was spending time in Goa and my father realizing my interest in
birds decided to show me a book on birds which was lying unused in the college
he taught. The book, which was never used since it was bought by the college,
turned out to be the Handbook on Birds of the Indian Subcontinent – the compact
edition and which I would learn later, is every birder’s envy and a collector’s
item. It was while surfing through the pages of this book, I learnt that we in
Goa have 7 different species of Egrets. It was time now to give names to all
those birds I had seen and observed, shot and eaten. As a youngster, I have
committed the crime of shooting birds for the pot but which I comprehend
allowed me to have a close and upfront look at them. This book has been my
trusted companion over years and even today when a certain Warbler causes
identification problem, I turn to the Handbook for help. Though inbetween the
pockets guides by Salim Ali, Inskipp and Grimmet have been companions on the
field, the Handbook always has its special place in my cabinet.
Within no time
my tally of birds grew and I was enjoying every moment of the time spent in the
field. Every day a new bird name was being discovered. Nothing can compare the
joy of going out into the field looking for birds, merging with the
surrounding, getting as close and possible, observing without a binocular, making
notes on various characters, scribble line-drawings and then spending the next
day looking for the names in the book.
It was only in
2000 that I finally had my own binocular. But the story of acquiring it has to
be told. My association with the WWF-Goa Chapter was taking me places in Goa
and my skills as an upcoming birder were being tested. The period of “no
binocular” had made me pretty adept at putting names to the bird calls since
visibility is much restricted. One day I received a call from Hotel
Cidade-de-Goa requesting me to speak to a guest who was a birder. Mr. Roy
Crosby from Yorkshire was given my contact from the WWF office. Having
difficulty communicating with him over the phone I volunteered to visit him in
the hotel and take it forward. I rode our old but trusted Vijay Super scooter
to the hotel to meet Mr. Crosby seated in the lobby. The sight of a 64 year old
man with a many pocketed jacket and armed with binoculars, spotting scopes and
bird books intimidated me. On interacting I realized that the gentleman knew
much more than I did and it was no point wasting his time. Hence, after saying
exactly that, I started back home. Half way down the road a thought struck me.
If I accompanied him to the field, I would get to learn. Turning back to the
hotel, I called upon him and expressed my feelings. Fortunately, he not only
agreed but appreciated my eagerness to learn. We went out to the field
regularly for the entire week to varied habitats from forests to wetlands. The
spotting scopes were a revelation at the Carambolim wetlands, where I got to
observe the waterfowls very closely and what seemed to be at a hands distance. My
presence around Mr. Crosby was not entirely useless though, since my skills
with bird calls helped him locate birds in the forests. Mr. Crosby returned to
England, probably a satisfied man but not before promising to send an old pair
of binoculars with his friend Mr. Dickie Bird, who was visiting Goa in a couple
of months time. Thanking him for thinking about it, I forgot the episode only
to be surprised one afternoon by a call from none other than Mr. Bird. I met
him at Hotel Beira Mar in Baga where he presented me with my first binocular a heavy,
metal 8-15x40. I was thrilled. Thrilled is an understatement, I was ecstatic. On
the request of Mr. & Mrs. Bird, I accompanied them on their field visits,
who before returning back home gifted me the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent
by Salim Ali on my birthday. Mr. Crosby would return back for the next two
seasons before health forbid him travel and I would join him on his birding
forays. The enthusiasm to spread knowledge to the younger generation took its
toll on the binocular and in due course of time was replaced by a lighter
Olympus 8x40 but I have always treasured my first one and put it away safely in
the cabinet as a reminder of those earlier days and ofcourse, Mr. Roy Crosby.
There have been
people who have moulded by birding journey. If not for my father and his
encouragement to observe the denizens of the forest and then the bird book, I
would have been groping in the dark. Mr. Crosby and Mr. Bird who gifted me the
binocular and the bird book respectively. Gordon Frost, who unassumingly helped
a local boy interested in birds to look more closely at waterfowls. If not for
him, it would have taken me years to sort out the difference between females
and juvenile males of waterfowls. Nitesh Parulekar who tagged along during my
field visits has an excellent eye for birds and behavior observation. Carl
D’Silva taught me the finer details of ringing, taxidermy and provided
unstinting support at every step. Heinz Lainer whose Birds of Goa was a huge
motivator to document further. Pankaj Lad infects me with his zeal of single
mindedly following his dream of taking up birding as his career.
Being a member
and then the State Co-ordinator for the Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN)
brought me touch with the likes of Dr. Asad Rahmani, Dr. Subramanya, Dr. P.O.
Nameer, Dr. Priya Davidar, Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhary, Rajat Bhargava, Ian Barber
from the RSPB, Adesh Shivkar, Raju Kasambe, all excellent birders who added to
my knowledge on avian fauna. My association with these people gave me greater
impetus to focus on scientific documentation and conservation. The reporting of
the White-naped Woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes
festivus), the Spotted Creeper (Salpornis
spilonotus), Streaked Weaver (Ploceus
manyar) and the Slaty-legged Crake (Rallina
eurizonoides) for the first time from the State of Goa are fallout of this
association.
I have moved on
to studying insects, especially Odonates, but I owe my entry into the wildlife
circuit to birds and cannot help myself focus my binoculars into the tree
canopy or on a hunting party with a hope to spot a “lifer” everytime I move
into the jungle.
