106 not out!

One whole day. Sun rise to sun down. Twelve hours of non-stop birding. And the result? 106*... We saw 106+ species of birds - from House-crows to a Sirkeer Malkoha!

That was the story of the day. The HSBC Bangalore bird race saw its 5th edition today and for us it was the second year. Last year we had 59 birds to our account, as debutants. The target this time around was not just to get to 59, but to go past it and score a century. And we did just that!

The Ravens, as we called ourselves, set out before day-break, searching for owls and owlets. No luck there. But a Magpie Robin (a relatively easier find) kick started the day for us. From there on, there was no looking back. The valley school, our next stop, yielded us perhaps about 50 sightings. Some of those birds that we had hardly seen before made some special appearances - like the Black headed Cuckooshrike, Blue faced Malkohas, Puff throated Babblers, White browed Bulbuls, White browed/throated Fantails and on and on...

And along the way, I personally discovered the pleasure of birding armed with just my binoculars. Usually I carry around my camera with telephoto lens to take tons of pics. This time around, I didn't want to waste time looking for that perfect photograph and inadvertently started enjoying the idea of just birding, in the pure form. Walking all by myself (when separated from the team), watching those winged angels, I realised what it meant to be at one with nature!

We headed to a local lake next and then on to the Bannerghata forest corridor. And this is where we saw 'our' bird of the day - a Sirkeer Malkoha! What a beauty he was... a rare sighting I suppose. We lingered on. A few more birds were added to the list and then we headed to Jigni and Chandapura lakes before winding up. A quick status check revealed we had crossed our target. Rejoiced, we headed to the closing ceremony. The smiles and the sense of satisfaction that came upon us then, hasn't left us yet :-)

The owls and owlets still remained elusive. The woodpeckers remained invisible. Some of the water-birds didn't give us an appointment. But beyond all of this, we saw a promise. A hope that we can make it 150+ next year to put ourselves among the top 3. And that, by the way, has turned the sceptic in me into a believer!

Paravaigal palavitham! Ovvondrum oru vitham :)