Birding – Before COVID and During COVID !!!

BC (Before COVID) :

Before corona (COVID) birding was limited to specific hotspots like water bodies (Lakes, Rivers Sea etc..) reason being these are the places birds find more safe and secured. And due to heavy vehicular traffic, human movement and noise & air pollution etc. these places were the best options for birds (My thoughts)

AC (After COVID):

When COVID picked up and the lockdown was imposed all over, birding was limited to balconies and terraces.When the lockdown was lifted I went to my usual spot which is a beautiful lake nearby and to my surprise the number of birds I saw was significantly low.  I can understand about the migratory birds who halt in this lake and stay for a few months, breeds and prepares its next generation and moves on. But what about the resident birds? Like the resident cormorants, Pelicans, Brahminy kites, White throated Kingfishers and many more… Based on my own experience and observation I could say that the number of birds I saw during this lockdown, right from my balcony and terrace is more than what I saw in the lake…

Possible Reasons I could think of:

1. Lockdown had led to less vehicular movement – roads are empty and all the roadside trees are now becoming a new shelter for birds
2. Lockdown had led to a less human movement – There are lots of places available now for the birds and other animals to move around
3. Pollution level of cities is reduced significantly, which in turn helped in healing the mother nature. And now I saw more rainfalls as compared to last year (2019), temperature is reasonable too..
4. Because of all above trees are healing and creating more space for birds and other animals

So what does this lockdown brought us?

I would say this lockdown may have a big impact in the economy, but helped mother nature to heal significantly. The normal we see now is, I believe, should be the normal instead of a mechanical life we were living in the name of a modern urban lifestyle, forgetting all emotional & family values and social behaviors and running for money and a dreaming of a good life. But if I look at my current situation, I am spending significant time with my near ones. Buying only things that are needed or is a basic necessity.. going out only when its needed (Buying Ration, medical etc.) Don’t know, but shopping malls and other such market place no more tempts me to go there and waste time and money. I am more cautious about savings and minimizing any sort of wastage.

So when we say this is the new normal.. is it really the new normal? Or this was always a normal and we were in a mechanical life which we accepted to be normal and were so deep into it that never realized that we have left the normal somewhere in the past.

So nature is helping us to get back to normal.. Isn’t it?. So we should welcome and embrace this time to get back to normal and live a happy and healthy life. Just my thought 🙂 Birding will continue 🙂

What do you think? Please do share your thoughts and hope these things bring new perspective to life.

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Have a safe life!! Stay home stay safe!!! Cheers!!

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