Fine watchers make fine birds

KOCHI: Come Sunday morning next week, many nature enthusiasts and bird watchers in  Kochi will head to lush, verdant outdoors  around the city.  Kerala Birder, an internet bird watchers group, along with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) and Yuhina Eco-Media is organising the annual bird race in Kerala on November 13. A signature event of the bank, the  activity will be conducted simultaneously in three cities in Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.Being held for the fifth consecutive year in Kerala, this dawn-to-dusk event will see many experienced as well as budding bird watchers,  spending a entire day spotting and recording as many species of birds around a location. Each group will select a place of their choice in the city and make their bird entries in a log book given to them. Later, in the evening the teams will meet at Hotel Airport Abad, Nedumbassery over dinner and an interactive experience sharing session.Though pitched as a ‘race’, it’s  really a fun activity for everyone,  says the event organiser, Vishu, who adds that the activity is seeing a steady rise in popularity among Kochi’s bird watchers. “Last year, we had more than 120 bird watchers from the city on the field, many of them fresh into the hobby.  Some of the teams came up with a whopping tally of  140 species on a single day,” he says.Bird watchers involved in active conservation in Kerala like Malabar Nature History Society (MNHS), Kottayam Nature Society (KNS), World  Wide  Fund  for Nature (WWF) Thiruvananthapuram, Warblers and Waders (W&W), Nature Educational Society, Thrissur (NEST), and Cochin Natural History Society (CNHS) will be helming the race.The idea for the bird race first came from Mumbai-based,  Sunjoy Monga, an avid bird watcher, naturalist, and a photographer with deep commitment to environment and natural history issues. “He started this activity in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. That is when he was approached by bird watchers in Kerala, and the event came here  five years ago,” says Vishnu. Kerala’s backwaters and wooded surroundings make it one of the more interesting places for bird-watching, he says. Last counted there are about 400 species of birds in Kerala and the number has  remained more or less stable, though there could be a decrease in certain species, says Vishnu.In Kochi, some of the spots that bird watchers  will be selecting for the competition are HMT in Kalmassery, FACT - Ambala med Campus, Vypeen, Varappuzha and Rajagiri College, Edathara, among others. As a hobby of course, bird watching is enormously rewarding, Vishnu says. It allows like-minded people to come together and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors with lakes and fields. It is also a step towards developing an interest in bio-diversity and conservation, he says. “After seeing the sheer variety of birds, there arises a natural desire of wanting to do something in the area of conservation.”A day prior to the event will see the participants coming together for an orientation programme, where the log books will be distributed and experts will explain the finer points of bird watching. Those interested in the event may contact Vishnu at 9446437410, or email him at [email protected] [email protected]