Birding At The Golf Course
Walking on the golf course has become a regular and happening feature in my life ever since my son developed a keen interest in the game. A game I resisted as a conservationist on the grounds that more trees could be planted instead of grass. Nonetheless, the game has now grown on me. I was initiated into it by my husband who took me to walk along with him as he played and now it is my son whom I accompany and enjoy the birds and the trees on the course.
It is with them , that I am now being exposed to the lush green golf courses in the various geographical regions at Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Dehradun, Udhampur, Kashmir, Patna, Jamshedpur, Calcutta and Ranchi.
I rank the golf courses by the number of trees with flowers, old trees with huge canopies and broad girth, water bodies and of course the birds which are directly proportional to these. Most golfers may not agree to this ranking but its mine.
The Royal Calcutta Golf Course has ranked very high, on my list so far, based on the amazing sightings of pond herons, golden oriole, green bee-eater, magpie robin, Asian koel, rose ringed parakeet, stork billed kingfisher, white breasted water hen, blue throated barbet, red vented bulbul, parakeet, black headed oriole, spotted dove, coppersmith barbet ,red breasted parakeet, tree pie, little egret, cattle egret, pond heron, and others spread over a three day period in July. I also saw the stork billed kingfisher here, a first time for me.
Walking with my son over 18 holes has taught me a lot of patience and emphasized my important role as a mother and as a guardian. More important for me it came as an opportunity, to just be with myself and nature admiring the environment quietly with time in hand like my numerous treks in the forests of Uttarakhand. ( just that the dense jungle is missing.)
As far as my son’s golfing goes, a lot of his game depends on the first few holes and the initial shots, which set the tone for the rest of the game. It’s good to have tough holes in the beginning to take out all the steam and RCGC does that to you with lots of water bodies and assorted hazards in the first 9 holes.
The practice round test’s his patience, perseverance and course management and after losing some balls, from being about to quit, he continues to play on, chooses his shots with care and ultimately finishes with a decent score.
His interactions with various players and caddies has improved his social skills. He has also adapted to different caddies, virtually taking them as mentors for the course. Playing at different courses has taught him to adapt to what comes his way. I hope this will make him adaptable and learn to overlook small setbacks and instead focus on the big picture. The wanderings of a mothers mind…
Coming back to me and the birds at the RCGC, the great part of the sighting at this course was that there were so many birds in groups like green bee-eaters, bulbuls, kingfishers, some 6 of them over a pond, orioles chasing each other in pairs and creating a delightful ruckus, and lots of calls especially after the rains. For the first time I saw crows bathing, something I hadn’t seen before. I remember my grandmother showing me sparrows bathing in the little bird bath outside her room. There were also lots of pied mynas picking on insects beneath trees. The number of chases I saw here was crazy, crows chasing squirrels, black headed oriole chasing each other and real fun seeing the drongo’s diving up and down and surprisingly, there were lots of cats all over the course.
Just like the Fort Williams Golf Course, a number of picturesque dried camels hoof tress added to the landscape with their perfect shapes A little bit of interpretation in the form of some signages and explanatory boards about the flora and fauna of the golf course could be a great way to reach out to an audience especially children. Wildlife too has got used to the clubbing culture, at the golf hut there were many crows and mynas merrily table hopping, selecting scraps of food. Tollygunge Golf Course just across RCGC has adopted stray dogs and got them vaccinated. It felt good to see these well fed dogs lying around in collars. My travels across various golf courses continues, and I look forward to adding to my unique ranking list. Watch this space!!
