Birdwatching, a passion of many, the second fastest growing
hobby in the world was the spotlight at the U.P Bird Festival, this year. The
Uttar Pradesh Bird festival is an initiative by the Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Akhilesh Yadav, a detailed well executed event that spanned across 3 amazing days of 4th-6th
Dec 2015, on the sprawling grounds of Chambal Wild life Sanctuary, near Agra,
with most events happening at the enticing Chambal Safari Lodge.
Let me quote snippets from a
hasty little ‘poem’ I wrote while I was at the enchanting, blithesome, U.P bird
Festival.
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| The Sarus Village-Our campsite |
As the owls kiss their young for the night,
and crave for a whisper of their little wings
that you would tread jungles for, without fright
...................................
...................................
When the night drinks in the sun,
with your heart content, you turn in to the tent,
that is when you know, my dear,
that tis light well spent.
with your heart content, you turn in to the tent,
that is when you know, my dear,
that tis light well spent.
I’d rather not share the rest of what I wrote, as I’m no poet, but you get the picture, it was ‘light well spent’, Every Single Day!
This Bird Festival is a fabulous affair that
brought together world renowned Ornithologists, experts and veterans in
Birdwatching, Wildlife, Art, photography and other related fields in one huge
event that had me captivated throughout and increased awareness of conservation.
Be it the brilliant lectures by the Big leagues of the field- [such as Tim and
Carol Inskipp, Dr.Pamela Rasmussen, Bikram Grewal (who are authors of the books
and field guides that birdwatchers, among others refer) Tim Appleton (founder
of the first ever bird festival), Ben King, Jim Lawrence, Dr.Per Alstrom , Dr.
Asad rahmani and list goes on of other more renowned experts] or the exciting Art
and photography workshops and the exhibitions, or the thrilling bird ringing,
every moment of my 5-day stay at the Bird Festival Grounds were invigorating!
For me, an amateur bird-watcher, this was a heavenly horde of knowledge! I learnt as much in the 3 days of the fest as I learnt in my entire bird-watching experience! Meeting such awesome people from different walks of life, such as Ornithologists, Environmentalists, Doctors, Artists, Wildlife tour organizers, Writers, Army personnel, and so many others, all bound by their desire delve into the world of birds, is a memory to cherish and be proud of for life!
It is no small thing to organize such an event at such a grand scale, with so many people and activities, where the Chief Minister himself paid a visit to inaugurate, release the book ‘Birds of Uttar Pradesh’ and officially announce to make this an Annual event.
After delightful mornings spent birding, we would return back and rush into the jam-packed sessions of Lectures and workshops till the evening! As the wind turned cold and sun began to set, we would head back for a cuppa coffee and refresh at the tent. Before long, it would be time for some riveting musical and dance performances and sumptuous dinner-a delicious buffet with a camp fire! Post dinner, while one day, some of us wandered the grounds for a bit of civet-cat searching and listening to stargazing stories, the other days were spent getting to know all the incredible people who were there, swapping stories and singing songs around the fire into the night! I could not resist capturing all these on camera, sometimes on my phone, with everything being fast paced!
As the night deepened, with inquisitiveness sated for a moment at least, it would be time to turn in. The well-equipped tents we stayed in were perfect with cosy beds and bed warming bottles to keep us warm in the freezing nights, whereas had a beautiful ambiance to thrill us in the day. Heavily tempted by the cosy beds, we would get our forty winks of the night before it was time to wake up again!
All in all, it was a delightful, gratifying and unforgettable experience that has taught me a lot, made me acquaint with such exceptional people, and given me joy! Thanks to all of you who made it the way it turned out to be!!
Sharing few more of the Photographs below! Click on each, to view in high resolution. Enjoy!
Love,
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| Busy birdwatchers caught unaware! |
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| Chief Minister Shri Akhilesh Yada |
Hats off to Nikhil Devasar and his meticulous planning and execution, the event went smoothly and each of the attendee enjoyed every single moment spent at the Bird Festival! We even received a treasure of books, brochures, jacket, jute-bag and other memorabilia to carry back into our non-birding time of life!
Every morning, we woke up and rushed to either wetlands, Black buck Territory or the Chambal river, in 3 different groups, to have our daily dose of birding while eating the packed breakfast on the way and seeing how Tollywood-ish the set of 7-8 Innovas looked like as we made our way on the roads! Me, being an amateur and from South of India, had many lifers here with the show stopper being the Grasshopper Warbler! Ornithologists, seasoned birders, Veterans, amateurs, passionate novices, all of us enjoyed these morning sessions! It was the first time I have seen a group so large, so well equipped with Swarovski scopes, awesome binoculars and heavy telephoto lenses all at once!
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| Day 1 at the ravines on way to black buck territory |
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| At the Black buck territory |
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| Day 2 at Sarus Wetlands |
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| Day 3 at the Chambal River |
After delightful mornings spent birding, we would return back and rush into the jam-packed sessions of Lectures and workshops till the evening! As the wind turned cold and sun began to set, we would head back for a cuppa coffee and refresh at the tent. Before long, it would be time for some riveting musical and dance performances and sumptuous dinner-a delicious buffet with a camp fire! Post dinner, while one day, some of us wandered the grounds for a bit of civet-cat searching and listening to stargazing stories, the other days were spent getting to know all the incredible people who were there, swapping stories and singing songs around the fire into the night! I could not resist capturing all these on camera, sometimes on my phone, with everything being fast paced!
As the night deepened, with inquisitiveness sated for a moment at least, it would be time to turn in. The well-equipped tents we stayed in were perfect with cosy beds and bed warming bottles to keep us warm in the freezing nights, whereas had a beautiful ambiance to thrill us in the day. Heavily tempted by the cosy beds, we would get our forty winks of the night before it was time to wake up again!
All in all, it was a delightful, gratifying and unforgettable experience that has taught me a lot, made me acquaint with such exceptional people, and given me joy! Thanks to all of you who made it the way it turned out to be!!
Sharing few more of the Photographs below! Click on each, to view in high resolution. Enjoy!
Love,
Apoorva!!
Photographs from Day-1:
Photographs from Day-1:
Abandoned Weaver bird's nests, a Blue Rock Thrush and a Rufous Treepie
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| Some local scenery! |
The Sarus Village residents below!
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| This guy was just exploring the potato fields near my tent |
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| One of the numerous bats that basked in the sun, by the campsite. |
The ubiquitous Babblers
Photographs from Day-2:
The Sarus among egrets on the left while a Long tailed Shrike on the right!
A Plain Prinia and a Zitting Cisticola
Photographs from Day-3:
A common Greenshank and a Ruddy Shelduck
