A lot of people ask me - when will you ever learn ? I give them a blank stare, a sheepish look, or anything that I feel goes with the moment - but my mind is on to it (blank) mind you. I am a person who likes to atleast think that I introspect every little thing that I say - or for that matter others say...
Where and how does it all come in - in birding I mean ? Well I have been making a mistake in the past to see and ID a bird - and if it is a seen variety - to ignore and keep looking for something else. I have paid a very heavy price mind you. I will give you an example, I see the Black-winged Kite so very often in India that when I was out birding in Australia - I just ignored the a kite looking so like the one here. It was just by luck that I had clicked a few pictures - and forgot about them. I did enter the data into the eBird and when it said - wake up boy - these are rare (meaning - they are not supposed to exist here) - I just ignored it - saying that I have seen it and I am the last word in it come what may. I forgot about this entire episode - came back to India and to my mind that was it.
Later - I am saying - like a few months later I got a mail from one of the guys reviewing the data entry to eBird and asked me - when I entered Black-winged Kite in Australia - was I sure that it did not mean - Black-shouldered Kite? I was about to ignore this too when I decided and opened both the books - Birds of Indian Subcontinent and Birds of Australia. As I read the details of both the birds - I realised the mistake - one was Elanus axillaris (Australian) and the second was Elanus caeruleus (Indian). They were not bloody same though on the face of it they both looked no different that the other one. I did decide that I will pay more attention to this fact - and also that there are so many sub-species that every new place I go I will get something newer than what I had seen (or discovered) before.
Now coming back to the bird at hand. I had gone along with Mr Sriram (of Hyderabad Birding Pals) to Anantgiri hills and heard a call - well the first reaction - Oh the Lesser Goldenback I said. It was just about a moment that the these two birds flew across - I saw them and did not even blink an eyelid - I was too busy looking out for Brown Fish Owl… That was that and these birds to tell me my place sat on a tree a few feet away from me. I thought to myself - what the hell - if they are to pose so well - what goes out of my pocket to have a good snap? As I peered from my viewfinder, saw the nape of the bird and the revelation hit me. But before I could press the trigger both the birds flew off - as if to taunt me for disregarding them...
The signs were all there - the bird bigger than the Lesser Goldenback, the White running down the hind neck and mantle contrasting with black scapulars, the large bill and divided moustachial stripe - and I dis-regarded all this because I was hell bent upon believing that I have Lesser Goldenbacks flying around there… It was a good gap of time before the birds decided that they have punished me enough for this oversight of mine and came back for a photo. Still that were nothing compared to the moment I missed initially due to - Ahhhhh stupid me...
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