“Time spent in nature and birding gave me much-needed respite and solace after a personal tragedy”, says Jagat Jot Singh Flora. Jagat is a veteran birder and naturalist from Jabalpur. “Now, birding is more contemplative and spiritual,” he continues. When he is not travelling, his weekly routine involves studying maps and finding new places where he could go birding in Jabalpur. Read on to know more about Jagat’s birding journey.
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do and where do you live?
It’s about four years since I have given up working after an intense four decades of civil construction work that has been our family business for the last three generations. My grandfather had come to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh from Punjab during the Second World War to execute some emergency works for the army. Thereafter, the business flourished and Jabalpur became our permanent home. I feel blessed to have been born and spent the major part of my life among nature in this beautiful forested and wild area of the country.
2. When and how did you get interested in birding ?
Right from my school and college days. Ours was a big bungalow on one acre of land surrounded by a garden and fruit trees. In fact, the full neighbourhood was of similar houses. There were always lots of birds to be seen in the garden, sparrows nesting in the veranda and crows and mynas in the backyard. There was also a small stream at the back which always had lots of water birds. I distinctly remember an Indian Paradise- Flycatcher nesting in our garden, though I came to know about its name later. Also, I went to an elite two-century-old British school where the topic of discussion among my friends was always wildlife and hunting. The library had a good collection of books on nature and wildlife including the ten volumes of Salim Ali’s Birds of India and Pakistan, a set which I acquired later for my personal collection. During winters the most sought-after wild escapades were fishing and duck shooting with Anglo-Indian friends. There were wild rambles with the friends coming from rich landlord families from the hinterlands around Jabalpur. One of my close school and college friends went on to become the forest minister of the State and got our favourite wildlife destination notified as the Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary.
3. Do you have a favourite bird or birds? Why is it/ are they your favourites?
Waterfowl and to some extent quails and partridges, as these were the most sought-after birds during the early years and of which I tried to gather much information from Shikaar books written by British authors. During my early birding years I was particularly fond of identifying the different species of waterfowl using my father’s binos, in the water bodies around Jabalpur which were quite abundant. Even the smaller village ponds used to be full of waterfowl every winter. Sadly, over the years I have seen a drastic decline in their numbers.
4. Do you have a birding partner or a group you enjoy birding with? How is birding alone different from birding with others?
My first two decades of birding were solo. Initially, I could not find any other person in my city with similar interests. My friends and acquaintances thought that I was crazy to go out alone in the jungles to watch birds and often was the target of ridicule. Being the only son, my father got worried that I was chasing the birds of the wrong kind. Then, just when out of college and into the family business, I lost my father and the solitude among nature and birding gave me much-needed respite and solace. Things changed with the coming of the digital age. A lot of youngsters got interested in wildlife and birding and suddenly I was much sought after as a guide and mentor in their pursuits. Now, birding for me is contemplative and spiritual. I also enjoy the company of school children when I take them out for nature walks.
5. What is your most memorable birding experience?
The most memorable birding experience for me happened about five years back in the remote north Canadian wilderness, close to Georgian Bay. Sitting on the wooden deck with the family, facing the lake, we were listening to the bird calls and tracing the early summer sun dip behind the conifers. In the still of the evening twilight, we were startled by a shrill and haunting call coming from the direction of the lake which I first thought was that of a Coyote. The repeated calls were beyond my comprehension. Early morning, when others were still asleep, I slipped out to the lakeside with those haunting calls still fresh on my mind. The view of the lake was spectacular. The water vapours hung over the surface of the water and glowed in the early morning sun and among the haze, I saw a pair of Common Loons, splashing and diving as though in a courtship display. As the birds were new to me, a quick search on my mobile cleared all mist from my mind. The four different calls are the Wail, Tremolo, Yodel and the Hoot. I would suggest to everyone reading this to hear the calls of these iconic Canadian birds on Youtube.
6. Is Anything on the birding bucket list? ( doesn’t have to be a bird, would be a place, an interesting phenomenon etc. )
I try to do the most in the patch of earth I live in. Jabalpur is surrounded by many National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries which are among the best in the world and easily approachable within three hours of driving by road in any direction. Now with my children settled in foreign lands, I’ve become like a migratory bird flying and changing places. I keep a hawk’s eye on any wrong development which destroys natural areas or water bodies in and around my city and have even approached the Hon. High Court of MP to correct the course of development.
7. Which of the two do you enjoy the most and why:
-(a) regular birding around your house/ local patch/ district,
-(b) widespread birding in different landscapes across different districts and states ??
a)I continue to enjoy the same method to discover new birding places around my city which I had adopted in the initial years. I’ve collected Survey of India maps of 100 km. radius around Jabalpur and through the week would study them to select and visit a promising new site at the weekend. It worked well and I still ramble on those discovered dirt tracts in my dependable vehicle and keep pushing the distances. Some of the sites turned out to be the hotspots for birding and reflect well on eBird and I visit them regularly.
b) If only I could achieve that. I know very well that some of the places I wish to go to for birding within India will not be possible within this lifetime. Bird surveys conducted by National Parks every year are very good opportunities to do birding in different landscapes that too while walking, which otherwise were not possible if such places are visited by a tourist.
8. How has your approach to birding changed over the years?
Initially, the sight of any new species of bird would give me the same thrill and happiness as earning good profits from any business venture. Now, every birding trip, even the short ones give me immense pleasure as there is always something new to learn from nature. I would like to advise the young birders to make more use of binoculars than cameras, and share their findings with others as happiness shared is happiness doubled. It may sound harsh, but keep the rat race out of birding.
9. Have you set any birding goals for the coming months?
I wish to continue birding the way I’ve been doing for the last four decades. Setting goals and struggling to achieve them, somehow, takes the fun out of birding.
Header Image: Indian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi © Abhijit Mishra/ Macaulay Library
Pray that you continue to pursue your heart’s desire and be an inspiration to us lost souls