I was woken just before dawn by
the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala's Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to days when all of India must have
been as verdant, as invigorating.
Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through the Salim Ali's Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. I quickly added another `tick' to my lifetime tally of 210 species of birds and settled down in the short grass, a steaming flask of tea for company, to observe the bird from a distance of less than 20 metres....Continue
the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala's Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to days when all of India must have
been as verdant, as invigorating.Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through the Salim Ali's Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. I quickly added another `tick' to my lifetime tally of 210 species of birds and settled down in the short grass, a steaming flask of tea for company, to observe the bird from a distance of less than 20 metres....Continue
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