We are students of Yayasan Chow Kit’s Alternative Literacy Program’s and this was our first bird watching trip on 4 November 2017 at the Lake Garden, Kuala Lumpur. We realized that it’s an activity which is very simple, cheap and easy to start. All we need to begin birding are three things:
A pair of binoculars and/or scope
A field guide (to help us identify the species that we come across)
A field notebook (to write down our observations)
The occasion was a guided trip by the Selangor Malaysian Nature Society Bird Group. It was very handy to have a note pad as we sketched the birds while we observed them. We were fortunate that our bird guides had lent us binoculars for this activity. We were reminded to take good care of them and use them, everyone happily trudged into the garden to begin an adventurous morning of bird watching. The scope was indeed helpful to give us a very good sight of not only the birds but also for us to appreciate the beauty of some birds, for example, Pink-necked Pigeon, White-throated Kingfisher, and Blue-tailed bee- eater.
After 20 minutes of bird watching, we were attracted to the sight of a few big birds perching and flying about the branches of a big tree. It turned out to be the Hadada Ibis but to the rest of my friends, it was all ‘ooahs!!’ and ‘aahs!!’ as they were awed by the sight of such big and beautiful bird. As everyone was captivated by this sight, two White-breasted Water hens shyly ran into some bushes from the nearby pond.
Previously, our interaction with winged creatures has been almost entirely limited to crows, peacocks and pigeons. We have been frequently visiting forest trails, but we have unfortunately paid minimal attention to its two legged avian residents. However, during this birding activity with a group of volunteers and happy birders, we were considerably excited.
White-throated, brown-throated, yellow-vented, scaly breasted, pink-necked, blue tailed, white breasted and blue throated – such a maze of identities. But with the sighting of every bird, we realized that the features are distinct and memorable, and it’s easy to match the name to bird and vice versa.
We were taught a few simple techniques to aid in identification. We were told to concentrate on several key physical characteristics. When we have the bird in sight, we don’t look away until we nail down those features. Then if it flies away, we can still look it up in a book. We were also taught a bird watching method that made spotting bird with binoculars more consistently successful. We usually spot a bird with our eyes, first. The trick is to keep our eyes on the bird. We must keep our eyes on the bird and it should be right there, before we get the binoculars in place.
This birding activity was related to our Environmental studies: adaptation, comparing and contrasting animals and animal life cycles and animal’s topography, to name a few. It also served as an inspiration for our art and writing lessons.
As we concentrated intensely on picking up the slightest sound or movement, we realized that birding was almost a form of meditation. Our whole body and mind was fully immersed in the activity. Birding makes us as alert as the bird itself. Now it has become a habit for us to look up and around as soon as we get into a forest, hoping to catch a sight of a feathered friend.
Once we begin to see the birds around us, we can’t help but fall in love with them. We will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.
