It was during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Asad Humanyoon, an Indian residing in Muscat, awoke to a wonderful morning which would trigger a new hobby that was set to dominate every other hobby he hitherto had. He found a unique looking bird perched on the top rail of his balcony in broad daylight. He hastily clicked a few pictures of it with his mobile phone for record and rushed inside to bring his DSLR camera so that he could take better shots. Though the bird was ultra-alert even in its sleep, a slight knock at the balcony door set the bird flying away.
For not being able to take better shots he felt disappointed till he knew that the bird he just clicked was a Eurasian Nightjar. Not a common bird, not so easily seen and certainly not during the daylight as it is a nocturnal creature, he thanked his stars for bringing such an exotic bird right to his doorstep for which birders sweat out their days and nights to spot one. That was the paving stone for his journey into the fascinating world of bird photography in Oman.
Since then bird photography has been his passion, his favourite leisure activity that he finds de-stressing and informative at the same time and a way to connect closely with nature.
If year 2020 has to be remembered for one positive thing it would be awakening of his love for birds.
With bird photography comes commitment, physical endurance, patience, observation and knowledge. You have to align your routine with that of birds’, getting up early and reaching a place before sunrise where a specific bird is expected to be sighted, treading on uncharted paths be it mud, sand, gravels, bushes or simply lying in wait for hours are norms in a bird photographer’s life.
Oman witnesses a variety of bird population both native and migratory. With the onset of migratory season birds start arriving from thousands of miles away to evade freezing cold in their native regions to spend a comfortable season in Middle-east, Africa and Indian subcontinent.
This is the time for bird photographers to get active to capture some of the beautiful moments from birds’ lives.
Asad is also proud to be a founding member of a Twitter based bird lovers’ community called IndiAves (twitter.com/IndiAves) which is founded with a sole intension of encouraging love for birds.
It runs various themes based on avian life and encourages people to post their bird pictures which are retweeted, discussed and knowledge is disseminated for the benefit of all. In about a year Asad has clicked over 100 species of birds in Oman and counting.
