As an avid birder and Pediatrician working with the Border Security Force, Angel Bennet is fortunate to have a fulfilling and challenging career that allows her to make a difference in the lives of people and nature alike. She strives to provide the best possible medical care to the BSF personnel and their families. However, when she is not working, she is out in the wild, looking for birds. Birding has become more than just a hobby for her; it’s a way of connecting with nature, unwinding and recharging for the week ahead. Here is more about Angel, in her own words…
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do and where do you live?
I am a Pediatrician working with Border Security Force and presently posted as Deputy Inspector General (Medical). I am also the Medical Superintendent of the BSF Composite hospital in Shillong, Meghalaya.
2. When and how did you get interested in birding?
I was posted in Gwalior in the year 2015, where we have a huge campus on the fringes of a man-made lake with rolling hillocks, shrubbery and dense forests. In this campus, within my large home garden filled with flowering and fruit trees, I spotted many varieties of birds. I set up bird baths under the trees for the birds to quench their thirst and take a bath to beat the extreme heat of central India. Thus started my interest in birdwatching. Slowly armed with my DSLR, I started taking photos, and reached out to the local birdwatching group who helped me with identification of the species, and slowly and steadily my curiosity & interest grew into a passionate hobby.
3. Do you have a favourite bird or birds? Why is it/are they your favourite?
My favourite birds are the hornbills; they are so majestic to watch, especially the Great Hornbill and the Rufous-necked Hornbill, which I saw in Darjeeling.
4. Do you have a birding partner or a group you enjoy birding with? How is birding alone different from birding with others?
I started birding alone but then realised that it was much more fun and easier to spot birds in the company of others. Being in BSF, I get posted out every 3 years, so I have not been able to stick to the single local birdwatching group, but I have been able to go birding with like-minded birders, especially from the Army campus, with whom I went on weekend birding trips.
5. What is your most memorable birding experience?
My attempt to sight the Collared Grosbeak on the outskirts of Darjeeling was the most memorable trip. After getting the information through a local birding group that these birds were being sighted, I fixed the date and reached my destination well in time, having started from my home in Siliguri in the wee hours of the morning. It was a chilly morning, and we had to ascend about a kilometre over a steep hillside. The frost on the weed-covered ground was making it all the more slippery; I huffed and puffed, and the steep ascent at that altitude made me breathless. My guide helped me carry my heavy lenses—God bless him! We reached just in time to see the flock of Collared Grosbeaks relishing the morning titbits from the frosty ground. I got beautiful closeup shots of them to my heart’s content. Just then marched in a group of noisy “photographers,” and disturbed by this noise, the birds just flew into the bamboo thickets, and the group had to go back without a shot! It served them right; that was when I realised that birding needs some kind of ethical limit—in our enthusiasm, are we discovering or disturbing them?
Collared Grosbeak by Angel Bennet
6. Anything on the birding bucket list? (Doesn’t have to be a bird, could be a place, witnessing a phenomena, etc)
My innermost desire is to witness the annual migration of the Amur Falcons in northeast India. Being posted to Shillong now, I guess I can turn it into a reality soon.
7. Which of the two do you enjoy more and why: a) regular birding around your house/local patch/district, or b) widespread birding in different landscapes across different districts and states?
I would certainly love to explore and see other new species of birds by visiting other states and countries. But as of now, as I keep getting posted in different regions of India, my first interest would be in exploring the local area. Exploring on weekends for birds and witnessing them in their natural surroundings. This regular weekend birding trips in different parts of India rejuvenates me and adds to my knowledge of birds and their behaviour.
8. How has your approach to birding changed over the years?
Initially, I was only interested in photographing and identifying the birds; now I am more keen to watch their behaviour and mating rituals and spend more time in their habitat.
9. Have you set any birding goals for the coming months?
I go birding on my free weekends! Setting a goal for birdwatching would be stressful and take the joy out of such a recreational and enjoyable pastime.
Header Image: Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis by Indu Shekhar Deo/ Macaulay Library
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