A Half-cooked Essay on Birdwatching

There are 3 aspects to birdwatching : spotting, identifying and photographing. 

To spot a bird you have to be unobtrusive and meld with the background. Dress in drab clothes. No blings or perfumes. Khaki and olive green are the best. There are times of the day when chances of spotting birds are high. The first 2 hours after daybreak are the best. Also interesting are the last 2 hours before twilight. Noon can be tiresome as bird activity is minimal. Birds in the foliage are perfectly camouflaged. They are difficult to spot. When you see movement in the foliage, freeze. Whip out the binocular and scan. 10x zoom is ideal. Don’t approach near till you have had a good look. Approaching closer will invariably drive away the bird. When you realize that a fellow birder has spotted something interesting, don’t commit the gaffe of quizzing him. Just quietly train your sights in the direction he is looking and hope you get lucky. 

After spotting the bird, next step is to identify it or id it in the popular birding jargon. But there are those who would want to immediately photograph it. In the scrambled movements to get the camera aligned and focused properly, 9 out of 10 times the bird will scoot. Photography should wait. Observing the bird should take precedence over photography. It is the most rewarding moment of birdwatching. Once you have spotted a bird, chances are that you will see it again and again. Birds have a limited territory, their home. Every bird has a favourite perch, a branch, a fence or a pole. It will keep returning to the spot again and again. One just needs to be patient. Observation should be such that you can describe it to another for an id. The way birds feed is particularly fascinating. 

Who wouldn’t want to photograph a pretty bird? But photography can rob you much of the charm of birdwatching. 40x zoom is arguably better than 400 DSLR; easier to handle. Photographing is a good way to validate your id by consulting with other more experienced birders. 

I spotted these birds last February at Bhandup Pumping Station.