Sometimes, a casual photo walk culminates in great images. Life without expectations is harder to live but that is way to attain Moksha as per Hindu sacred book "The Bhagavad Geetha". Same thing I experience today.
It has been overcast from past 4 days and birding activity was stalled owing to gloomy skies. Today, in hot midday, the sun peeped out for a while but soon hid behind arid clouds. These high clouds neither precipitate nor cool down atmosphere. Such clouds aggravate the humidness in our coastal village which can be muggy even if we are idle. Nevertheless, these are not the things to ponder upon since we can never control the patterns of nature.
I went for relaxation walk to break-out the bird photography pause created by uncanny clouds. The light was poor, implies zero expectations. I went straight nearby canopy where bulbuls were making noise. This canopy actually belongs to them :-). There are red-whiskered, red-vented, grey-headed, flame-throated and yellow-browed bulbuls having home here in canopy. While most of the day, these birds forage inside canopy (except for commoners like red-whiskered and red-vented), sometimes they come out of foliage when there is intense fight or to grab some sun. Today while was gazing near canopy for any lifers, the grass cutting machine booted and made a loud sound during its operation. Voila! What a lifer! The yellow browed bulbul starting calling out loudly out of curiosity or anxiety outside canopy nearby my position. Here are clicks for you before they pushed-off!
More closer now! Sometimes luck shines exuberantly. I walked down the road and they appeared at eye level and much closer than previous sighting. This time, picture clarity was excellent despite ISO at 800. I was elated with the result and happily walked home. The midday work began with enthusiasm after I sighted yellow browed bulbul quite crisply.
I hope to spot the other rare bulbuls at eye level (flame-throated & grey-headed). There are many other birds too in my hot-list which I aspire to capture before I leave from native village!
Birds teach us more than the lesson to be patient. They teach us simplicity equally as well. They are happy to dwell in constrained environment and adjust to everything that comes their way. Despite the atrocities of humans on mother nature, birds are trying to adapt to the ever evolving urban lifestyle. But there is always a threshold. Birds cannot dwell in human habitat. Its up to us to understand the importance of every creature on this earth and conserve the bio-diversity.
Check out my Bird Series blogs here : NKBirdSeries
