The song of birds
Among the many things Delhi-based Mehran Zaidi enjoys doing is birdwatching. He is a birder. And a keen one at that. The proof? His two books on birds. The author of Bird By Bird (Scholastic India, 2006), a young ornithology enthusiast like none other, recently came out with his second book Birds and Butterflies of Delhi: A Field Guide.
The book, a veritable treat for the bird (and nature) lovers, equips you with everything you need to know about the types of birds (water and non-water, resident as well as migratory) and butterflies that lend our city its birdsong and colour.
“I have been into wildlife since childhood. My uncle is a birdwatcher and when I was a kid, he used to take me out for bird walks. So, gradually the interest grew,” says Zaidi about his passion.
If your love for birds and butterflies is new-found, you can count on Zaidi for a tip or two. He tells you about the birdwatching e-group on Yahoo, Delhibird, whose members go out for bird walks every weekend and also conduct talks etc.
Out of the many names that figure in the book, Zaidi’s own favourites include the golden oriole and the sarus crane among birds and the peacock pansy and the common castor among butterflies.
When Zaidi ventures out to pursue his passion, he carries his Canon 400D SLR, capturing the objects of his near-obsession on camera for later observation. Apart from wildlife, Zaidi is passionate about cars and sports. He loves reading poetry too.
Zaidi wants to write about the snakes of Delhi and the man-eaters. As his work take most of his time, he hopes to squeeze out some time for his passion. To help improve the quality of our environment, he says, we should make the switch to natural and renewable energy sources.
Post new comment