Ornithology, or Why I Should Sleep In on a Sunday.

Last Sunday my friend invited me to come with her crew to a bird sanctuary just south of Delhi to go bird watching. Now, I've never been bird watching before and I know that this bird sanctuary is a world-renowned ornithology center--according to Wikipedia it gets over 100,000 visitors a year and has even been designated a World Heritage Site. I enjoy sitting on my balcony with a cup of tea and watching the birds flit around the tree outside, so I thought: Sure, yeah. I could be a bird-watcher. This could be fun!  So, without really thinking the matter through, I agreed. 

 

Let this be a lesson to me: spontaneous decisions are best made after doing the substantial research. Actually, spontaneity is highly overrated. For example, here are some bits of research I probably should have done before agreeing to go to the bird sanctuary:

(1) What does "just south of Delhi" actually mean in terms of driving time?  

Answer: 9 hour round trip.

 

(2) What is the best time to view birds? 

Answer: early in the morning, so considering how "just south of Delhi" the sanctuary is, it's best to leave the city around 5am.This is true even if you don't get to bed until 1am.

 

(3) What are the average Delhi driver's favorite tunes to listen to while driving? 

Answer. Bollywood inspired techno. Loud, loud, Bollywood inspired techno.

 

(4) Where are the best/any restaurants around the bird sanctuary?  

Answer: Really, there are none. But who needs food?

 

(5) What is the weather likely to be like on Sunday? 

Answer: Unseasonable monsoon rains.

Ok, ok, perhaps I'm painting too dire a picture. After all, having only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before I did manage to doze off a bit during the initial drive to the sanctuary and we got one, lovely, precious hour of premium bird watching before the monsoon struck and just ruined everything. And you know what I learned in the hour? I actually really do like bird watching, especially when accompanied by a knowledgeable guide with binoculars, in a place just teeming with gorgeous birds (and pythons, sambas, mongooses--which we also saw in that hour). In fact, I dare say that if we had gotten say, 4 hours of bird-watching in I might have even considered that well-worth the 9 hour round trip.

But, alas, the monsoon rains care for no one. All too soon we were soaked, cold, clambering back into the car, and driving back towards Delhi. Le sigh and lesson learned. Sometimes, the early bird catches no worm.