For The Love Of Birds.

Here’s how it started.

Everyday in the morning, I nudge my husband to switch off the fan while I’m half asleep. There’s absolute silence and the only thing I hear is clock needle ticking. I get up from my bed and open the balcony door for the cool fresh breeze to gush in. I stand there for a few seconds with my closed eyes and then come back to my bed. In next few minutes, I am awakened by the birds outside, chirping hard at the break of the day. I go outside and lean on the railing and close my eyes again. This is not for me to sleep again but that’s me discerning the chirping of a kingfisher from a robin and a barbet. They’re all sound so diverse and beautiful.

I’ve been doing this for the past few weeks (since lockdown). It’s fulfilling. I feel my connect with nature has grown stronger than ever before. I had never observed the birds the way I observe them now. I spot them every morning, most of them were unknown to me until this lockdown.

First bird I spotted was a coppersmith barbet. It seemed unique with colours of yellow and orange around its head, beak and neck. I thought to myself – “must be rare”. I googled and got to know that it’s a resident of Indian subcontinent. I also had encounters with an oriental magpie robin which is a little black and white bird. An absolute stunner! A few times, I met a common kingfisher. Kingfishers are beautiful creatures who tweet daylong. I also spotted a male and a female koel. They are unlike each other. While male is all black with crimson eyes and the female has white spots all over its brown body. Albeit, she does have crimson eyes. They are always singing. I saw a blue Australian super fairy wren as well. These birds became my motivation to get up early in the morning, to witness the beauty of nature. Before I realised, this had already become a hobby of mine. I also spotted a red-vented bulbul and a greater coucal. A few times I was awed by flocks of different birds including one of sparrows which overwhelm me every single time.

My newly discovered hobby has intrigued me and it leaves me with a insatiable yearning to see more. I know what to do next when the lockdown is over!