The Allure of Little Birds
Birders may go through many phases in their birding life.
4 February 2022, 18:00 PM
Book Hounds
We are a perpetually curious group. Like members of secret societies of the Middle Ages, we quickly recognize each other.
7 January 2022, 18:00 PM
The Enigmatic Thick-knee
Whenever I hear “Thick-knee” I think of Majeda Haq, birder, conservationist and friend who left this world too soon in 2019.
31 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Good-looking Birds
We all have our notion of “good-looking” when it comes to people. This idea extends to other creatures.
24 December 2021, 18:00 PM
The Dining Room
One of my most memorable jobs was being waiter. My cousins in Chicago had invited me to spend the summer after college freshman year. Looking for summer work there, I responded to a newspaper advertisement and was hired after an interview. My title was Waiter at the restaurant of Metropolitan Club on the 67th floor of Chicago’s Sears (now Willis) Tower.
17 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Predators of Muhuri
Screaming loudly and wildly flapping their wings, the ducks abruptly took off from the water about two hundred feet from our boat.
10 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Red Munia
The Red Munia entered my childhood through a story about the Creator painting birds after creating them. However, one fidgety bird has flown off before being painted and returns just when He finishes. There are a few drops of paint remaining with which He splatters this bird. And so this exquisite bird was created with spots of white sprinkled on red.
3 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Primates of Bangladesh
On a summer morning several years ago I climbed up the watchtower in Satchori National Park looking for birds. In two hours I saw little.
26 November 2021, 18:00 PM
Sunbittern
We got up before sunrise and boarded a jeep. It was open on all sides and had two rows of raised rear seats to afford everyone a good view.
18 September 2020, 18:00 PM
Childhood Pleasures (and Terrors)
Small things bring pleasure to children, but insignificant things can also terrify them. In my case, the pleasure came from the tangible physical world, but my fears were often rooted in the imaginary.
11 September 2020, 18:00 PM
Fishy Mornings
A string of failures followed by success – that is the story of my childhood fishing.
4 September 2020, 18:00 PM
Earliest Memories
Benvenuto Cellini from the Italian Renaissance was an artist and a sculptor, but he is remembered for his autobiography.
28 August 2020, 18:00 PM
Leaving Home
In 1975, an opportunity for studying abroad came along. My Uncle and Aunt - Rafi Chacha and Nora Chachi - living in London were visiting us in Dhaka. Seeing my grades they offered to sponsor me for my science A-Levels, which were not offered in Dhaka then. I was only sixteen, but with my parents’ blessings I said yes.
21 August 2020, 18:00 PM
Shilghat
It was during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 that I came to know and love rural Bengal.
14 August 2020, 18:00 PM
Basketball Days
When I stepped into the court on that first day, the elite team of basketball players was already there. I scanned the faces. Most were unfamiliar but my eyes stopped at one. I had seen this face before. It was Sheikh Kamal, and I was one of two schoolboys selected into the same team as him!
7 August 2020, 18:00 PM
My First School
When I was in Class 2 my teacher handed me a folded letter for my parents. At home, before giving the letter to my parents, I took a quick look.
24 July 2020, 18:00 PM
Radio Days
The small wooden table sat on one corner of the drawing room. On it was an imposing box the size of a small suitcase.
17 July 2020, 18:00 PM
Adventures at the Pond
The pond was irresistible, beckoning me every day.
10 July 2020, 18:00 PM
Admission Test
In 1970 my parents had a big problem. That problem was me.
3 July 2020, 18:00 PM
Dhaka in the Eighties
For me, the eighties was a decade of rediscovery. Completing my studies in the United States in 1983, I started working as a software engineer in an emergent area in California that someone had nicknamed Silicon Valley. I came home to Bangladesh every time I had earned a vacation. While here, I spent most of my free time on the streets of Dhaka.
26 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Thrush
Thrushes are a family of small to medium-sized songbirds. They spend most of their time on the ground inside forests, picking insects, worms and vegetable matter. There are 172 species of Thrushes spread all over the world, although the most variety is found in Asia and Africa.
19 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Taking Flight
A bird taking flight is an exquisite and miraculous event. Raising its wings, it spreads them while kicking off with its feet to sail through the air. The swift and energetic display has visual drama. Capturing it on camera is a challenge for the photographer, mainly because one cannot predict the precise moment of takeoff.
12 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Spiderhunter
I saw my first Spiderhunter five years ago. I was looking for birds inside Satchori National Park in Habiganj. Although my guide and I had started
5 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Old Photographs
While in lockdown I pulled out my old black and white negatives.
29 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Coucal
When my father passed away twelve years ago, he left behind a plantation where, for forty years, he had grown many types of plants.
22 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Giraffe
Most people remember the movie Out of Africa for dazzling performances by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
15 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Green-billed Malkoha
In 2016, while working on a book of photographs of birds of Bangladesh, I visited Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary several times looking for birds that I had not found elsewhere.
8 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Amazing Birds
We connect with birds in many ways. Their flight symbolizes freedom. Their colours and songs nourish our eyes and ears. Their postures, movement and interactions captivate us. They often perform seemingly impossible feats – such as catching an insect in flight - right in front of our eyes.
24 April 2020, 18:00 PM