As a kid, my parents used to show me egrets and common birds. I used to be very interested in what they had to tell me. Luckily near our house we had a big Banyan tree, a mango plantation and a small coconut plantation with scrub around it. However my father's native place in Pernem and my maternal grandparents house in Nuvem in Goa were my favourite places to be in. In Nuvem there used to be in a coconut plantation surrounded by ample paddy fields and water bodies. I used to love the birds that used to arrive at the water bodies.
When I was in my 4th class I participated in a drawing competition. The prize I won was a book of birds. A reference to bird boxes there made a home in my mind. A gift of a bird book about watching birds and making bird boxes transformed my curiosity into an action based project. My father helped me make bird boxes until I mastered the art myself. Every February as the Magpie Robins started singing it struck a rush of adrenaline in me and then I used to begin my exercise of nagging my father to get me some woodden planks to make nest boxes. My dad used to get me the packing cases from fruit vendors. Thus I used to watch Magpie Robins nest in them every year. Before this adventure 2 other of my projects included
a cardboard box project with rice grains in it placed on a parapet of the house to attract birds and to make nest in it. This was a result of the information I read about Magpiie Robins in which the author mentioned that the birds easily adopt boxes for nesting. Thus without any clue of what boxes he was referring to I laid my hands on a small cardboard box and tried the experiment which of course failed.
With regards to the first nest boxes I made, several other creatures other than the Magpie Robin (which was my prime target bird for the bird box) used the boxes as a shelter. I saw squirrels, honey bees, crematogaster ants as well as Indian Yellow Tits nest in them. Once I remember watching an army of hairy moth-caterpillars crawl out of the box. Thus I realised that a small sgturdy shelter can make a lot of difference for several wild creatures. And this would also be one of the the best ways to watch and make observations on birds and nature up-close. Later I also purchased a cctv camera to put up in the bird box but never ended up doing that.
After taking up birding as a profession, I realised that there has to be something more to my hobby and now profession. So came the idea of outreach and getting hobbyists like me in serious business of data collection through citizen science programmes, getting involved in habitat improvement programmes including provision of habitats and nesting spaces.
In addition to this the most important task I felt was to introduce birders properly to birding by means of information and graphics and field visits that would glue a birder from a novice to an experienced one to trying to understand the natural history of these feathered creatures. Thus not restricting oneself only till the level of identification of the bird and knowing its sex or the stage of life.
Thus came in the need for having birding tours to various birding destinations throughout the year. I plan to make these birding workshops rather than only birding tours.
Looking forward to have you as a part of my journey and would love to have your company in accomplishing these goals.
When I was in my 4th class I participated in a drawing competition. The prize I won was a book of birds. A reference to bird boxes there made a home in my mind. A gift of a bird book about watching birds and making bird boxes transformed my curiosity into an action based project. My father helped me make bird boxes until I mastered the art myself. Every February as the Magpie Robins started singing it struck a rush of adrenaline in me and then I used to begin my exercise of nagging my father to get me some woodden planks to make nest boxes. My dad used to get me the packing cases from fruit vendors. Thus I used to watch Magpie Robins nest in them every year. Before this adventure 2 other of my projects included
a cardboard box project with rice grains in it placed on a parapet of the house to attract birds and to make nest in it. This was a result of the information I read about Magpiie Robins in which the author mentioned that the birds easily adopt boxes for nesting. Thus without any clue of what boxes he was referring to I laid my hands on a small cardboard box and tried the experiment which of course failed.
With regards to the first nest boxes I made, several other creatures other than the Magpie Robin (which was my prime target bird for the bird box) used the boxes as a shelter. I saw squirrels, honey bees, crematogaster ants as well as Indian Yellow Tits nest in them. Once I remember watching an army of hairy moth-caterpillars crawl out of the box. Thus I realised that a small sgturdy shelter can make a lot of difference for several wild creatures. And this would also be one of the the best ways to watch and make observations on birds and nature up-close. Later I also purchased a cctv camera to put up in the bird box but never ended up doing that.
After taking up birding as a profession, I realised that there has to be something more to my hobby and now profession. So came the idea of outreach and getting hobbyists like me in serious business of data collection through citizen science programmes, getting involved in habitat improvement programmes including provision of habitats and nesting spaces.
In addition to this the most important task I felt was to introduce birders properly to birding by means of information and graphics and field visits that would glue a birder from a novice to an experienced one to trying to understand the natural history of these feathered creatures. Thus not restricting oneself only till the level of identification of the bird and knowing its sex or the stage of life.
Thus came in the need for having birding tours to various birding destinations throughout the year. I plan to make these birding workshops rather than only birding tours.
Looking forward to have you as a part of my journey and would love to have your company in accomplishing these goals.
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