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Finding flamingos in Karachi
By Nusrat Ali
I, seemingly, found a solitary male bird flashing its pristine plumage but certainly the bird also found me and flew to join its flock. PHOTO: NUSRAT ALI
My friend said,
“I think there are flamingos in Karachi, and I’m going to find them.”
When I got this call from Mirza Naim Beg at around nine o’clock on Friday night, I thought this was the best way a retired man could start his weekend. No, I have not retired as yet. Beg sahib is a retired banker and was also a fashion photographer for some renowned magazines from yesteryears. He has discovered a new-found love for beauty, only this time he shot real birds with feathers and beaks.
We reached the point which Beg thought was the resting place for the flamingos and it came as no surprise when we spotted none (I was already expecting that). The place was empty, with no birds in sight. Only the sound of the sunbirds could be heard.
Since we were somewhat prepared for this outcome, we weren’t too disappointed. We started our journey further down the road, when suddenly I caught a glimpse of something white in the middle of the water body running alongside us. We looked through the zoom lenses of our cameras and couldn’t believe that a flock of over 100 flamingos was right there in front of us.
We left the comfort of the car and started tiptoeing towards them at a painfully slow pace under the scorching sun. The problem was that these birds were so smart that they particularly chose a place where they couldn’t be easily sighted or exposed to any imminent danger. The only cover that we could use was to be unobtrusive — if you call that a cover at all!
I thought I could camouflage myself behind one of those if I could reach them without startling the birds. However, a black-winged stilt acted as a whistle-blower and knocked our cover off with a frantic emergency call. The poor bird may have had a nest somewhere near by and recognised us as predators.
To our dismay, the flamingos that had been busy feeding (with their long necks ducked down in the water) were alerted.
These were ‘greater flamingos’ with their bright pink beaks and feathers. There were also many ‘juvenile flamingos’ in the flock too. One of the greatest joys of having found these birds was that this was a sign that these birds were successfully breeding and growing in numbers in Pakistan. I was able to catch a solitary male bird, flashing its pristine plumage, but the bird also found me and flew away to join its flock. It seemed to have rung an alarm bell because a few seconds after the male flew away, we noticed the entire flock become alert then suddenly all of them flew away.
They taxied first and then took off in the air with full throttle. It was a beautiful sight until we realised that they were actually gone.
Beg sahib, who was standing on my left, pointed towards my right to a spot hidden by a big boundary wall of an empty plot. When I peeked over the corner, I was delighted. There was another flock of mostly juvenile birds resting.
.........
By Nusrat Ali
I, seemingly, found a solitary male bird flashing its pristine plumage but certainly the bird also found me and flew to join its flock. PHOTO: NUSRAT ALI
My friend said,
“I think there are flamingos in Karachi, and I’m going to find them.”
When I got this call from Mirza Naim Beg at around nine o’clock on Friday night, I thought this was the best way a retired man could start his weekend. No, I have not retired as yet. Beg sahib is a retired banker and was also a fashion photographer for some renowned magazines from yesteryears. He has discovered a new-found love for beauty, only this time he shot real birds with feathers and beaks.
We reached the point which Beg thought was the resting place for the flamingos and it came as no surprise when we spotted none (I was already expecting that). The place was empty, with no birds in sight. Only the sound of the sunbirds could be heard.
Since we were somewhat prepared for this outcome, we weren’t too disappointed. We started our journey further down the road, when suddenly I caught a glimpse of something white in the middle of the water body running alongside us. We looked through the zoom lenses of our cameras and couldn’t believe that a flock of over 100 flamingos was right there in front of us.
We left the comfort of the car and started tiptoeing towards them at a painfully slow pace under the scorching sun. The problem was that these birds were so smart that they particularly chose a place where they couldn’t be easily sighted or exposed to any imminent danger. The only cover that we could use was to be unobtrusive — if you call that a cover at all!
I thought I could camouflage myself behind one of those if I could reach them without startling the birds. However, a black-winged stilt acted as a whistle-blower and knocked our cover off with a frantic emergency call. The poor bird may have had a nest somewhere near by and recognised us as predators.
To our dismay, the flamingos that had been busy feeding (with their long necks ducked down in the water) were alerted.
These were ‘greater flamingos’ with their bright pink beaks and feathers. There were also many ‘juvenile flamingos’ in the flock too. One of the greatest joys of having found these birds was that this was a sign that these birds were successfully breeding and growing in numbers in Pakistan. I was able to catch a solitary male bird, flashing its pristine plumage, but the bird also found me and flew away to join its flock. It seemed to have rung an alarm bell because a few seconds after the male flew away, we noticed the entire flock become alert then suddenly all of them flew away.
They taxied first and then took off in the air with full throttle. It was a beautiful sight until we realised that they were actually gone.
Beg sahib, who was standing on my left, pointed towards my right to a spot hidden by a big boundary wall of an empty plot. When I peeked over the corner, I was delighted. There was another flock of mostly juvenile birds resting.
.........
