In our humdrum lives, our visions and
perceptions have become narrow, dulled... so much so that we fail to notice the
natural world around us. This does not apply to all individuals though, and beg
to be pardoned, if someone, indeed, is aware of the seemingly elusive life that
abounds all around us. Natural life, in all its diverse forms, is there, at all
times, waiting to be discovered, but, alas, that is not always the case.
Not everyone I know can claim to have
witnessed the springing action of the cat, as it bounds from the lower branches
of a tree and leaps onto the roof of a hut; the persistence of the crows as
they try to shoo away the cat from its position; the shrill cries of the Asian
Koel, as it tries to evade the pesky crows.
These may be priceless moments, only if you
perceive them that way. These are the very moments that offer us a window into
their obscure lives, and are enough to make a more complete image of them in
our minds.
I, though, am interested in the natural
world, and though I do not claim to be a scholar or expert in this field, am
aware of the birds and other creatures that live around me. I have my tools
though, like the binoculars, with which I am able to zoom in on that elusive
Asian Koel, or the Coppersmith Barbet, as they lie concealed in the foliage of
trees and leafy branches. I also use my sense organs... my ears and eyes, and
have trained them, so that now, I can at least identify a bird by its
call.
Let me be very clear, in case someone
challenges me to prove my bird identification skills, that I don't claim to
know all birds, but only those that I know, happen to populate the tree behind
my house.
I do take the help the internet and web
groups to identify birds, spiders, moths, and other such creatures. For out there,
people more knowledgeable than me exist, possess more powerful binoculars and
DSLR cameras, and have excelled to the extent that they can give a correct
reply to my queries about birds, insects and other creatures. It is through
them that I can peep into the mysterious natural world. I do thank them for
their invaluable help in identifying birds and insects.
It is not as though I am just sitting with my
binoculars near my window the whole time, but in between work-breaks, I do take
them, and aim it to the direction of the bird call, and trust on luck, that I
may just get a good view of the caller. It is not always that I am lucky!!
Sometimes, the bird simply would not appear in front of my lens, and I go back,
just content to hear the call of the bird. But there are times when I am able
to spot the entire bird.
It is at such moments that I was able to spot
the Asian Koel, Red-vented Bulbul, White spotted Fantail through my binoculars.
Sometimes, I was able to capture them through my Canon EOS 1100D, at other
times, I would spot them with my binoculars.
Copyright © 2021 Abhijit Pandit
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