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Take off with winged visitors
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For the retired professor Ratnam, the avian world never ceases to impress, says K. Jeshi
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PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN
WINGED BEAUTIES: "Spotting a rare bird is a boon"
Painted storks, great cormorants, darters, herons, egrets, spoonbills and kingfishers ... watching birds is a passion for 74-year-old K.Ratnam, a retired zoology professor who lives in Sulur, 20 km from Coimbatore city.
"If you come early in the morning, you can spot more than 200 sparrows on a fig tree here," adds Dr.Ratnam , who has observed and recorded more than 300 kinds of birds in Tamil Nadu, out of the 350 present in the State.
PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN
LOOKING OUT: Ratnam at the Sulur tank
Even today, his day begins with an early morning visit to Sulur tank (one of the 20 tanks filled by the Noyyal river), with his friend Chinna Sathan, a trekker, to catch a glimpse of visitors from the avian world — palm swifts, coots, spot-billed ducks and cormorants.
"Spotting a rare bird is like a boon ," he says and adds patience is the key for any bird lover. A pair of binoculars, a scribbling pad and a pencil to note the time and place of spotting a particular bird are also vital. "You don't get to sight birds so easily. They appear one minute and disappear the next . You need some luck too," he adds.
Compiling life list
"Foreigners compile a `Life List' that indicates the date, time and day of sighting a bird. They travel extensively to achieve at least 1,000 recordings in the life list. Rare birds can be sighted even in your locality. In places like Salem, Tiruchi and Coimbatore, one can easily record a 100 sightings. By visiting Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in Anaimalai, the list can swell to 200. All you have to do is dedicate three hours a day twice a week for this exercise" "The black-necked stork was sighted twice in Sulur tank. Three kinds of egrets — little, medium and large — can be sighted together. The little cormorant, the Indian shag and the great cormorant also visit the tank together and that's a special feature of the Sulur tank," he states.
The magical book
It was a book `How to watch birds', he read in 1965 in the Presidency College library, Chennai, that initiated him to the world of birds. The very next day, he was out with a pair of binoculars.
Later, the 10-volume book for beginners by ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali accentuated his interest. "When I was working as a professor in Ramanathapuram district in the 70s, I got an opportunity to visit places such as Rameshwaram, Sethukarai and Devipattinam, the house of seacoast birds. Rare birds such as the Indian reef heron and ternlet can be sighted only there. I could watch more than 70 kinds of birds such as the common babbler (which is very uncommon) and two kinds of green parrots (Chlorpsis) at the Big Tank in Ramanathapuram district," he adds.
Dr. Ratnam came out with a book on `Birds of South India' (400 pages) in 1974. Now, his work on `Birds of Tamil Nadu' (Tamil - Rs. 225 and English Rs. 280) serves as a handbook for beginners in bird watching.
The book profiles more than 300 birds of Tamil Nadu and includes details such as identification, distribution, habits, voice, food and breeding. He has also given the colloquial names to help identify the birds — kambul kozhi (white-breasted waterhen), sivappu kaanaan kozhi (Ruddy-breasted crake), manal nira uppukkothi (lesser sand clover) and kottan (whimbrel) to name a few.
About rare birds
You will also find mention of very rare birds of Tamil Nadu like the Eurasian wood cock, red-winged crested cuckoo, spangled drongo and the white-bellied treepie. The book is the result of his observations in the last 40 years and follows a simple style of writing.
"Bird watching is evolving as a new field but conserving birds is also vital. We read that vultures are becoming completely extinct. In 1974, I could see more than three types of vultures in huge numbers in Tanjore. " he adds.
For details, call Mr. Ratnam at 0422-2688789.
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