Bird Watching at IIM Campus

Which lazy person would ever want to wake up at 6 AM on a Sunday? But this Sunday, I had decided to do it, as the Nature Club of IIM Ahmedabad, Prakriti, was organizing a Bird Watching Trail around the campus. I got up at 6:15 and went to Café Tanstaafl, which was the assembling point for all of us (Like the ANC Circle in BITS). A lot of photography and bird enthusiasts had cut-short their long Saturday night sleep, which included IIM students, Profs, Academic and Research Associates and also Foreign Exchange students.

We were first of all briefed about Birding or Bird Watching by Mr. Sandeep from Conservation Consortium of India, an NGO that works for Wildlife Protection. He told us that all over the world there are about 30,000 species of birds. India has around 8,000 out of which nearly 2000 are found in Gujarat. Ahmedabad is a host to some 600 species of Birds, and IIM in particular serves as abode for nearly 60 species. IIM serves as an important nesting venue for many birds, especially Vultures. Nearly 50% of Ahmedabad’s Vultures reside on IIM Campus.

A lot of us had no idea about IIM Campus being host to such a rich diversity of Birds, so began our trail with a lot of excitement to discover something that had always been in front of us, but we chose to ignore it, in our fast moving lives. To begin with, we spotted common birds, which all of us usually see every day like Pigeons, Crows and Mynahs. Just after a 5 minute walk, we were able to spot a nest of vultures, on one of the highest branches of a tree, just above our heads. We could see it properly with the help of Binoculars provided by Prakriti Club. We moved ahead, clicking photographs on the way, seeing some more species of Birds. Next we saw a variety of Parakeets, some, snooping out of tree trunks, others, calmly sitting on branches. They were mainly of two types – rose ring and alexandrine.

Vulture

Parakeets

Dove

We came to a garden near faculty quarters, where we spotted birds like Bulbul and Babblers. There was also a Kite, sitting on the top of a tree. We could also see some aquatic birds, flying across the sky in a group. Roaming around the campus, seeing some more birds, we came near FPM Houses. It was then, I realized that for the last 1 and a half months, there had been a Vulture’s nest right outside my room’s window, but we were totally unaware of it. Towards the end, we spotted another specie called Shikra, which had a large body but small head.

Another Vulture

Kite

Aquatic Birds

Shikra

The trail was followed by a small presentation by Aditya on Wildlife Conservation who was doing his Ph.D. in Vulture Ecology, which emphasized on the causes of extinction of vultures and how why should we save them. After this enriching Bird Watching session, we thanked the organizers for widening our view, and move towards the Mess for our Breakfast. Thankfully, due to this session, this was my 2^nd Breakfast in this month :P.