Here

is the write up about the Bird Race 2013. Don’t miss

Rohan Chakravarty ’s great cartoon!

Well, here it is.... Bird Race time again! Or to be more precise, The HSBC Bangalore Bird Race is what it’s known as to the wise. As soon as the registration was declared open, Thirty-six teams registered, every person hoping That he or she would be the one to sight so many birds That “You’re the best!” would be the judges’ appreciative words. The Bird Race team consisted of a lot of names with Esses... Srihari, Subbu, Sunjoy, Swarna..to sort out all the messes And successfully stage the event. Thanks to their work, it all went Smoothly, with sponsorship from HSBC... A day of being in the open air, sighting birds happily. One team dropped out ,alas... But , in spite of that, there was High enthusiasm amongst the rest. At dawn, they fanned out north and east To partake of the birding feast They also travelled south and west To make sure they were the best. Over hill and dale they went As the “hunting parties” spent The day near water, near grass, under trees A team could tick only what its member sees. A surprising thing happened this year... Something that will bring great cheer To each and every birder’s heart... Seven teams decided they’d not be apart. Of these, one had to drop out, and the other (Three young men, a daughter...and a father Who’d done surgery till the early hours) Started late..but used their powers To ultimately win the race, And accept first place with smiling face. (Team Flowerpecker: Vaibhav Choudhary, Apoorva Managoli, Chandrashekar M, Deepak T M, Sanjeev Managoli, all aided by Surekha Managoli....155 species) The second-placed team, led by Mr Jagirdhar Wandered over the city, near and far Managed to get a hundred and forty... Enough reason for Bangalore birders to party. (TeamWhite Throat Jayram Jahgridhar, Mani, Hemanth, Vikram, Vinaya....140 species) Hemanth The third prize went to Team Black Stork; They did not have to do too much work. Between breakfast and lunch, snacks (and jokes) and chai They sighted birds, looking low...and high. (Team Black Stork: Deepa Mohan, Chandrasekhar Bandi, Mani K, Santosh B S, Yashpal and Yuvi Rathore....128 species) The White Stork was the Bird of the Day Spotted by Team Florican down T G Halli way One team had no rare bird; they decided to use As their own own choice, the “Chased Wild Goose”! (Bird of the Day: White Stork, spotted by Team Florican: Krishna Murthy Dhananjaya Kulkarni , Deepika , Gowri Kulkarni ,Srihari Kulkarni) Ibis, Falcon, Spotted Owlet and Ruff Got several birds...the number was enough. All the other teams, also, enjoyed The day very much and filled the void Spaces on their list of birds. With common names or scientific words. Whether they saw just one or a flock They’d seen enough by five pm on the clock To satisfy them at the end of the day As towards AF they all wended their way. Several Green Teams went walking or by bus And got their sightings without any fuss Kaadu Goobe were the team with the most Birds seen...However, the host Of other birders “racing” this day All met each other at Alliance Francaise (Green Team Kaadu Goobe: Sahana Balkal, Ashwini Kumar Bhat, and Sainath Vellal..108 species) The judges, Dipu, Shreeram and Karthik Carefully identified every click That the birders brought them, and did the sums. They weeded out the doubtful ones. Swarna invited Mr Vivek Sinha And his wife to cheer the winners Sunjoy spoke about how tough It was to get funding enough. Karthik and Dipu spoke from the heart About birding’s most important part: Getting to know the birds by their “jizz” Not just wanting the winners’ champagne fizz. Prizes were given away to the teams. Then dinner, till each was bursting at the seams Happy and tired, all then dispersed They’d all won even if they’d not come first. Hoping to be, again, in the next Bird Race The community of birders parted ways.

Hope you enjoyed that!