Travelholics turn birders

With wings of travel clipped and the itch to click, many travel photographers have taken to watching and capturing some winged visitors, writes Indrani Ghose

Stuck indoors, Monika Ohson, a travel photographer based in Delhi, missed the regular outings she was used to. With nowhere to go, balcony birding turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It helped her connect with nature, and with the avian denizens in particular.

“I understood the meaning of certain things much better like what it means to live in the moment, why we must learn to enjoy simple things in life, why nature is the ultimate healer and how things are interconnected and actually a part of something bigger and better.”

For travelholics, the view from the balcony was the new world where the chaos of traffic was subsiding amidst the new chaos of Covid-19 that was unfolding all around. With boredom setting in and everyone looking for an outlet to de-stress, bird photography found favour during this pandemic and lean travel era.

Several online groups on Facebook related to birding suddenly went abuzz with beginners. The popular sentiment was birding and that has proved to be a learning experience for many. While exchanging notes, most realised that bird photography is a world apart from travel photography. Birding isn’t just a fun hobby — you learn it the hard way.

While in travel photography the monuments stand rooted at one spot and you just need to position and time yourself to get the right frame, it is not the same with bird photography. The transition from travel photography to bird photography proved difficult.

Life in the avian world continued unhindered, moved forward even in this standstill world. Witnessing this progression gave hope, a reason to look forward to the next dawn. As the seasons changed, the narratives of birders too changed.

So while it was spotting chicks and mama birds feeding their nestlings in the summers, spotting wet birds was the theme of monsoons.

Bulbul

Another opportunity to get the birds seated at one spot but with a little bit of activity and drama is just after heavy rains — this was one exciting find by birders during the monsoons. If the sun pops out of the cover of dark clouds the light will be perfect for your photography, he added. Wet birds surface from nowhere; they shake themselves vigorously drying their wings.

There is a lot of action in the avian world! Bird photography is not just entertaining but enables a lot of learning too. None planned to turn into birders. Slowing down the rhythm of life helped observe and learn more.

Practice makes better photography but opportunities matter too. This pandemic era has given many just that!