One of the
features of a civilized man is that he has hobbies, serious hobbies. From time
immemorial man has invented and developed various hobbies ranging from stamp
collection to feather collection. Though man has been a social animal for a
long time, the primeval instinct in his has not died. We yearn and long to be
close to nature. There are a few hobbies that give us an opportunity to do so. One
such hobby is bird-watching.
It might seem
simple to read the word and guess that it is very easy to watch the birds. But
it is not what it seems. It needs a lot of dedication, determination and
consistency to master ‘the art of bird-watching.’ It takes years of patience
and perseverance to be a good birdwatcher.
What you
choose as your hobby is not as important as to what hobby chooses you. You have
to be the chosen one. Dr. Pankaj
Maheria, a Professor at GMERS Medical College, Valsad (South Gujarat) is one such Chosen One. Birds have chosen him as a medium between
their world and ours. He began birding in the year 2004 and he never knew where
it would lead him. He fell head over heels in love with the birds and
eventually emerged as a very dedicated birder and photographer. Though he did
his Masters in human anatomy, he is equally interested in anatomy of the birds.
He is a bird lover in real sense. He can identify variety of birds at a glance.
Spending many years on the field has made him very alert and observant. He has
seen 400+ bird species in Gujarat state. He loves all birds but his interest
lies especially in small bush-birds like warblers and wren babblers.
Like any
other hobby, birding also needs a lot of patience, dedication and above all
support from your family. In addition, if your life partner enjoys the same
hobby as yours, there’s nothing more brilliant and beautiful in life. Pankaj is
one such lucky person. His better half, Viral Patel, is also a good
birdwatcher. They both fell in love with each other and then together, they
fell in love with the birds. Viral also started birdwatching in the year 2004.
She is a nest-wife (why not!) by profession and field partner to Pankaj. She is
a post-graduate in English literature and graduate in Education. She also loves
to capture the birds she has mastered another (and very difficult) skill. She
records bird calls on field. She can identify many birds just by listening to
the call.

Birding led them
to photography as photography is a very powerful medium to capture and record
the birds. They set off with a simple Canon point and shoot in the year 2012
and then shifted to Nikon dslr. Currently, they uses Nikon d7100 with Nikkor
300mm f/4 lens combined with 1.4x converter. They also owns a Nikkor 105mm
micro lens which he uses to capture smaller objects like butterflies. Their
photography took them to next level as their images began to feature in many
national and international books and magazines.
Their images
were selected by the World Wide Fund to be used as flash card. Hong Kong
Birdwatching Society also honored him by using his images. An Educational
booklet published by Luyanghu Salt Ponds, Shaanxi Province, China also contains
his images. Carol Inskipp, a very well-known name in the field of Birdwatching,
also included his image in the field guide ‘Birds of Nepal’. Their images also
selected in the book Guidebook to the Birds of Ikhnart Nature Reserve in
Mongolia. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore has
also displayed his images. Their images also used in Birds of Shrilanka by Gehan
de Silva and Waders of India by Harkit Sangha.
Their
contribution to www.orientalbirdimages.com is very profound and useful. He regularly
updates the images of various birds on the website which proves to be very
useful for other birders. The website accepts images after much scrutiny and
his 2600+ images have been selected. This proves his talent as a photographer.
Check out his photos at: http://orientalbirdimages.org/photographers.php?action=birder&Birder_ID=1312 and http://orientalbirdimages.org/photographers.php?action=birder&Birder_ID=1608
Though they
are an excellent photographes, They call themself a birder first. They strictly
follows ethics of birding and also asks others to do so. They love birds. When he
is not his class teaching anatomy to the students, he is on the field studying
and learning anatomy of his feathered friends.

This family is a ‘Terrific Trio!’
About Website
This website
is to tell you about our trips, our stories and explorations in the wild and eventually
to inspire you to pack your bags and lose yourself in the mysteries of nature.
Escape the boredom of your life, smoky and noisy city life and enjoy the
serenity of wild.
We believe
that to observe is to conserve. Our all efforts intend to make your aware about
the natural world around you. Once you’ll know its importance, you’ll know how
important it is to save it. This trips or photographs are not just medium of
relaxation to us but it is our passion.
We
have visited many national parks and sanctuaries of Gujarat. Our deepest desire
is to visit all of them again and again. Among all the parks and sanctuaries,
Vansada National Park, Little Runn of Kutch and Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary are
our favourite.
Our
dream is to see all the woodpeckers of India and even of the world.
And
we want you with us in this journey.
Believe us; it’s going to be a
tremendous one J
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