KARACHI: So many species of woodpeckers, flamingos, eagles, kites, pigeons ... seeing such a large collection of stunning photographs of beautiful birds all around, you feel like you are yourself in the woods. But there are no shrieks, chirps or tweets although it is not so difficult to imagine them at the two-day photo exhibition, Birds of Sindh, which opened at the Alliance Francaise de Karachi on Friday.

The annual exhibition has some 14 birdwatchers and wildlife photographers, including two female birding enthusiasts — Zeenat Bayat and Heba Moeen — and a teenager, 15-year-old Zafeer Shaikh. All met through a Facebook group ‘Wildlife with Dream Merchants’ started by Mirza Naim Beg. In their first exhibition in 2016 they had only four participants, but the hobby has now attracted the attention of several other photography enthusiasts who have become avid birders under Beg’s supervision.

‘Who would think these beautiful birds can be found right here under our nose?’

Bird watching and bird photography has materialised into a meaningful venture for these people who travel to various parts of the province to document birds of Sindh. So far they have photographed 320 species. While pursuing their hobby they also create awareness of adverse impacts of habitats destroyed as a result of encroachment, illegal hunting and poaching. “The purpose of the exhibition, too, is not just to spark admiration for birds, but also to channelise responsible individuals in helping us create a safe environment and habitat for these bird species,” said Beg, adding that wildlife is an essential part of our ecosystem and it is important that we maintain a natural equilibrium.

Speaking to Dawn, young Zafeer Shaikh, a student of class 10 at Bahria College, said that every picture that he took added to his knowledge and experience.

Meanwhile, Zeenat Bayat had some lovely photographs of birds such as the Indian roller or neel kund, as it is known locally, which she didn’t have to go looking for too far as she found the bird at Hawkesbay. “Who would think these beautiful birds can be found right here under our nose instead of in deep forests,” she smiled.

Her glossy ibis look like black-coloured flamingos if there ever was such a thing. And Zeenat has photographed the rare birds at Korangi Creek of all places.

To this Beg said that there was so much right before people’s noses here, which they often failed to see. “If you don’t care, you don’t notice,” he said. “Here every other person calls a small bird chirya [sparrow] and a bigger bird a cheel [kite],” he added.

To educate visitors to the exhibition, they have categorically given the name of each bird along with the place where it was photographed and the photographer’s name.

You see among the pictures a few which are definitely not birds. Beg laughs when someone points out the pictures of butterflies or his own photographs of the common honeybees in Karachi. They may have wings but they are definitely not birds. Similarly there are photographs of jackals, deer, frogs and lizards among the other photographers’ collections as well. “This time around we have allowed two wildlife photos in each collection, too,” he explained.

The other photographers whose work is included in the exhibition are Khizar Sharif, Yasir Pechuho, Noor Alam, Nusrat Ali, Saeed Jamal Tariq, Waqar Mursalin, Saad Aleem, Asad Farooq, Fahad Siddiqui and Zohaib Ahmed.

The exhibition concludes on Saturday (today).

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019