My very first birbs
It all began in an instant
There are two buildings for students on our school’s campus, one for the students of the DSE curriculum called the main building and the other one for IB students. There’s this small lengthy driveway squeezed in between the back of the main building and the IB building, and there are trees planted on either side of this driveway, it is one of the most scenic locations on campus. I’ve always loved to stroll along this driveway as the tranquillity of this place makes a stark contrast with the rest of the bustling campus, bringing me peace to clear my head
After lunch on the 26th of September, I was walking down the driveway as usual. That was when I spotted an oriental magpie-robin on a small patch of grass at the end, pecking down into the soil. As I had just recently gotten my new Nikon Coolpix p950 telephoto camera, I constantly brought it around with me, including to school. Remembering the camera that I had slung over my shoulder in the camera bag, I instantly pulled it out to snap pictures
At that moment, I didn’t know a great deal about bird photography, since I literally just started photography a few weeks ago. So when I saw the bird, I was running towards it with my arms swinging (exaggeration). Which, most definitely scared it away.
The photo on the right is the only usable picture that I took
Admittedly, this is nowhere close to being a great bird photo but, it did indeed peak my interest in bird/wildlife photography itself
The next day, I brought my camera back to school again to see if I could spot anything other than the magpie-robin, and I took it out with me during lunch once again.
Still amazed til this day of how I managed to capture its beak opening on my first try
The best picture that I took of the magpie-robin that day
I looked up as I was walking down the driveway, and there it was! A gorgeous red-whiskered bulbul was staring back down at me
Not a lot of people realizes this but, no one really talks about birds in real life, they are pretty much ignored despite their ethereal beauty. I was in awe when I saw this bird, I was studying at the campus for the 10th year in a row and I’ve never noticed that species of bird before. Thinking back, this just goes to show how under appreciated birds really are in our daily lives
Anyhow, I started taking pictures of the bulbul. It miraculously stayed on the branch long enough for my shaking hands to get a few decent good pictures of it
<——
Believe it or not, when I was reviewing the pictures I took of the bulbul after it flew off, I heard a shrill chirp behind me which made me snap my head around
The main building is on the right hand side of this driveway, and behind the building there is a small grassy clearing in which the school planted various trees and bushes. And the air conditioner exhausts of the main building are placed on the rear end, between the bushes and the back wall. There are tubes leaking out the cooling water used in the air conditioners behind the bushes, and those cries that I had heard came out from behind the bushes
At first, I struggled to see anything as the brushes were thick and blocked the view of anything behind them, and I was afraid of scaring off the bird so I didn’t dare to venture any closer. But then with some luck and patience, I started spotted shadows dashing and jumping around behind the bush, and as I looked even closer, I saw this warbling white-eye having a full body wash within one of the streams formed by the exhaust water
This guy was the size of my thumb; it was cooling itself off with the water as it was quite a hot day
I would find out later on that these 3 birds are among the most commonly seen urban birds in Hong Kong. Despite so, this marked the beginning of my hobby and was an unforgettable experience for me
Funny enough, when I revisited this location in the days, weeks and months that followed, I have never spotted these guys here ever again. I would like to think of these encounters as a sign, starting me down this path
