“Main kahan rukta hoon arsh-o-farsh ki awaaz se, mujhko jana hai bahut uncha hadd-e-parwaaz se.” — Urdu poem as uttered by the bird Huma (written in the cover of Huma magazine) During a phone conversation with my dad last night, he mentioned me about an Urdu magazine, Huma, which he used to read regularly in past. He told me Huma […]
Kite flying and birds
Kite flying is a joyful experience and every Indian must have relished the joy of flying colourful and beautifully-patterned kites at one point of their childhood or another. But, the same joy of kite flying takes a fearfully awful turn when it leads to harm of people as well as birds. This nasty turn comes from the practise of rubbing […]
Bird with a white brow
Last year, somewhere around August or September, when the first time I spotted a White-browed Wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis) near a well in my university campus, I mistook it to be an Oriental-magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis). The mistake was bound to take place because I was observing it from quite a distance and both the species have somewhat similar colouration and build. […]
National Bird Day – 5th January
National Bird Day, celebrated on 5th January every year, is an initiative to celebrate the existence of the ten thousand plus birds that are found all over the world. I recently got to know about National Bird Day and I feel that there can be no other day better than this to write about why I love birds so much. […]
A woodpecker trying to be a toucan
It was one of those usual vacation mornings when I start my not-so-early morning walk along the long corridor in my home at Piparwar. While walking, I had made it almost a habit to peer out of a window which is at the one end of the corridor. The window commands a serene view to a row of trees among […]
Cousin of the Seven Sisters
It’s been almost an year since I came to the southern part of India for my higher studies. To say that I was hopeful about birdwatching in southern India would be a complete understatement. I was looking forward with great enthusiasm to experience birdwatching in a very different region compared to that of my hometown. But, when I actually settled […]