Nature & Animals….. - HereNow4U.net

Animal Crusaders • Commemorative Issue • October 2010Bird WatchingBirdsThe delightful hobby of birdwatching came to me quite latein life. In the mid seventies whenwe were posted in Bangladesh,we had a house in Gulshan inDhaka; a new area, a glamoroustwin to Dhanmondi-the old partof the city. New as it was, Gulshanin those days did not boast of toomany houses, and not a singlehigh raised building. Those daysone could see the vast openspaces that lay just a little wayaway. One could look up at themonsoon clouds piling up in thesky and be entranced by thesudden loosening up of theclouds and the heavy downpour.From far away across the skiescame different kinds of birds. Thatis when I was caught helplesslyin their magic.We had a small garden with ahuge jacktree, and someflowering plants and shrubs. Itwas in this unpretentious spacethat birds really came into my lifeand I began to marvel at thebeauty and melody of thesewinged wonders. Families of26Hail to thee blithe spirit!bird thou never wert,That from Heaven or near it,pourest thy full heartIn profuse strains ofunpremeditated art.(Ode to skylark ~ Shelley)golden orioles came; parakeetsused to screech and dart acrossthe sky, magpie robins sang fullthroated, sitting perched on thetelevision antenna.Now more than 30 years laterafter all our wanderings acrossthe globe, we are home. We livein the middle of the city, but wedo get some of those welcomevisitors who own the sky. It is witha sense of excitement andwonder that we watch thecrowpheasant ”whoop whoop”ing its way hunting for food, thewood pecker high up on the trunkof a coconut palm, the kingfisherappearing regularly and perchingitself on the same branch of thetree day after day, the myna withits heavily made up eyes flittingfearlessly near the house, thetreepies with their long tailsswinging merrily on fragilebranches of trees, a rare barn owlthat strayed into the gardentrying to escape the combinedattack of several crows.Age and householdpreoccupations do not allow mejoin the charmed group of‘Birders’ and their fascinatingadventures that I read about. Butit makes excellent reading whenthese lucky people write abouttheir bird related activities. Someof these accounts, by individualsand institutions, I would like toshare with you.The other day I read about a sixtyfour year old woman calledKunjamma who lives all alone ina place called Kalpatta in northernKerala. I am wrong to say she livesalone; I should say she liveswithout any human company. Shechose to make friends with thebirds around her instead. For morethan 10 years now her house andthe tiny plot around her househas become a sanctuary for birds.She talks to them, feeds and petsthem and the birds hover aroundher and sing to her. She is poorand sometimes has to beg andget food for her friends. Wellmeaning neighbours want to takeher away and look after her. Butshe does not care to entrustherself to such people howeverwell meaning, and leave herwinged friends.Another heartwarming storyenacts itself in a village inTirunelvelli district in south TamilNadu. The village isKoothamkulam quite likehundreds of other Tamilnaduvillages with their narrow streetswith tightly packed houses, twolakes and a temple where all thenarrow lanes converge. Severaltypes of migratory birdsdiscovered the marshy landaround the lake to be an idealplace for nesting. The villagerswelcomed the birds warmly andthe birds sensed how welcomethey were. Hordes of water birdslike pelicans and adjutant storks,flamingoes and others arrived,nested on trees and housetops orwherever they could find a place.They stayed as long as theyneeded to build nests and bring