Members of Kashmir Birdwatch exploring the forests of Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary in Pahalgam, South Kashmir. Photo: Kashmir Birdwatch/Facebook.
Srinagar: W.R. Lawrence, the British official who doubled as chronicler of Kashmir, once commented that “birds have a happy and carefree existence in the country”. … “the Kashmiri knows little about birds … and though he takes considerable interest in the songbirds, he is ignorant of the habits of the feathered kingdom.”
The three distinct provinces of the erstwhile state – the subtropical plains of Jammu, the temperate valley of Kashmir and the trans-Himalayan cold desert of Ladakh – together represent a species-rich region home to 555 species of birds.
These species are now attracting a major following, and Lawrence’s observation no longer rings true. More and more young people have been drawn towards learning about the lives and times of birds – so much so that the Kashmir valley now has its first bird-watching club, called simply Kashmir Birdwatch.
The club was founded in 2014 by three members, Intesar Suhail, Khursheed Ahmed and Tasaduq Muen. With the advent of easy access to social media platforms and digital photography, more young birders across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir have come together to discuss rare and different species of birds with some of Kashmir’s foremost experts.
Today, the club boasts around 9,000 members. They undertake photography expeditions and upload pictures to their official Facebook page and WhatsApp group. Offline, young birders gather at wetland centres, hold meet-ups and organise hiking excursions every Sunday. They exchange notes, tips and strategies, and reiterate their defining message: that anyone can birdwatch anywhere, all one needs are a pair of eyes and a desire to go outside.
“I began birding way back in the 1990s with a couple of friends. There was one wetland in Srinagar called the Indranagar wetland, which is unfortunately no longer there,” said Intesar Suhail, one of the founding members and a wildlife warden. “We often saw water-fowl in the wetland during autumn and winter.”
He attributed the internet as a turning point. “In those days, we relied heavily on Salim Ali’s pictorial guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. It was called the bible of the birds. It had very crude sketches of the birds from which we learnt.”
Digital photography and social media then worked like boosters. “In the beginning, people used to call me and ask about the identity of birds. After digital photography came into the picture, more people started showing interest, and with social media, other areas of birdwatching are being explored now,” Suhail said.
The club has around 15 birders from each district in the valley, and has recorded around 50 bird species through their contributions as members of the club. Many of these species were either sighted for the first time in the region or whose presence has been confirmed for the first time. They include the great crested grebe, the white-cheeked nuthatch, the great barbet, the bar-headed goose, the Eurasian curlew and the black stork.
“Bird watching is a citizen’s science. All you need is a passion for wildlife, time to spare, a little background homework and some basic items, such as a good field-guide and a notebook to document your observations,” A pair of binoculars would be an added advantage, and a camera helps you authenticate your sightings,” Khursheed Ahmad, a professor of wildlife sciences at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Kashmir, and cofounder of the club, said.
Speaking of some of the more interesting encounters during their expeditions, Suhail recalled one trip on which they came across the Kashmir flycatcher (Ficedula subrubra), a small bird that spends summers in Kashmir and winters in Sri Lanka.
“It is named after Kashmir. Earlier, it used to be quite common and was found everywhere in Kashmir. But some 25 years ago, it started declining so much” that it became listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List, he explained.
The club’s members spotted it nesting in the Dachigam national park, Srinagar, after much effort. “We could see it through our binoculars, and have recorded [its presence] in recent years,” Suhail said. “That such a small bird migrates over such a long distance without stopping anywhere is amazing.”
In other expeditions, the group has spotted a rare bird, a ground-nester called the ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii), in the Lidder valley of Pahalgam.
“This bird usually frequents fast-flowing streams. It breeds among the boulders in April and May,” according to Suhail. So “it is threatened by boulder collectors and the mining mafia. Unfortunately, every riverside can’t be declared a protected area.”
This said, photography and the social media also have their downsides. Suhail said that a new tribe of bird-photographers has surfaced overnight with a single-point agenda: to get likes on Facebook and Twitter. “Photography leads to [better] birding, so it is worth encouraging, but I would like the newcomers to be birders first and then bird photographers,” Suhail said.
Indeed, the future holds much promise.
For example, after some members of Kashmir Birdwatch sighted the Kashmir flycatcher, other members have been determined to keep track of it. More recently, according to Suhail, they have reported seeing it in the Tral area of South Kashmir and at Shankaracharya in Zabarwan hills.
“Now, every year, photographs of the bird keep coming in,” Ahmad said. Their next steps include studying its behaviour and determining its habitats, so they can help understand its decline and then prevent it.
Through their effects, the club also hopes to motivate as well as contribute to good-quality research on the region’s natural history. Suhail said “zoologists and botanists are more into lab work” and still don’t prefer studying natural history.
Fortunately, in his view, “the birders sprouting around us will eventually be bird conservators. The future holds out hope.”
Hirra Azmat is a freelance journalist.