Change of Season
Winter is finally here bringing respite from our usual heat and humidity. Most people like the heat going away. Many despise the coughing, scratchy throat and wheezing that the dry weather brings. This seems to be over half the people I know, myself included. While most people don't miss the sweating of hotter days, as a runner I miss the profuse sweating that results from humidity. A sweat-drenched T- shirt at the end of a long run is a tangible accomplishment, one that I miss in winter.
Birders, however, count the days to winter, when the migratory birds arrive and many of the local birds also become more camera-friendly. Our wetlands are the best places to find these birds. The first to congregate are the shoralis (Lesser Whistling Ducks). These remain in Bangladesh all year but during the summer and monsoon they scatter looking for food. Come winter, they join into large flocks and descend on the wetlands, their loud whistling calls rudely breaking nature's silence. Perhaps the best part about their flight is the landing when they stick out their feet in what must be the most hilariously clumsy manoeuver in the avian world.
Pintails are probably the next to arrive. They are easy to identify because their tail protrudes like a pin. These graceful birds look beautiful while swimming. Hunters, however, will tell you that their meat is delicious.
As winter progresses more exotic species arrive in the wetlands, for example, pochards, garganeys, shovellers, shelducks, ibises and spoonbills. Last year a rare flock of glossy ibises arrived at Baikka Beel in Moulvibazar and stayed there most of the winter much to the delight of photographers and birders alike.
Morning fog which appears in winter plays an important role for photographers. For landscape photography it can be wonderful. Appreciation of its subtle nuances are not restricted to photographers, however. I wrote about morning fog a few years ago and heard from readers in many parts of the country. “You should feel the fog in Jamalpur – it touches your bones.” Or “Nah, the most beautiful fog in Bangladesh is in Ishwardi, just like silver.” And so on.
But while fog makes for pretty landscape photographs, it wreaks havoc on bird photography. Some years ago I went to Sundarban and set out early morning in a boat on a small canal looking for birds. I spotted a lesser adjutant – the largest bird in Bangladesh – sitting on a tree. But because of the thick fog I was unable to get a good photograph. A similar fate often frustrates me on winter birding trips to other places. Once I watched a grey-headed fish eagle in Jahanginagar University catch a fish from a lake and devour it while perched – all within photographable distance – but in my photographs you could see little through the fog.
Nonetheless, I am itching to get away to my favourite winter spots – the haors, perhaps to Sundarban and certainly to the outskirts of Dhaka (Savar, Keraniganj) with my camera for who knows what surprise this winter will bring?
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