There truly is nothing like the monsoon. According to Khushwant Singh, it is, for Indians’, their “most exciting impact with nature”. Manipal is on the receiving end of the monsoon for almost 4 months of the year - during which period it gets close to 10 times as much rain as London through the year! And the monsoon does its own bit to provide a bit of magic and suspense to birding.
The tracks composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.
Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.
Transcript
Preetham: Every year, the long, hot months seem to go on forever… until the winds from the south west bring with them a much needed respite...
Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.
Ramit: I love rain. It seems to bring everything to life. The petrichor, the buzz of insects, the croaking of frogs, the sudden emergence of plant life… it’s great!
But while it rains, it’s not easy to observe all this. And birdwatching certainly doesn’t go well with rains. In Manipal, during the monsoon, it may rain continuously for days on end. But, birdwatchers just can’t stop themselves, can they?
Approaching monsoon clouds from Ramit’s bedroom window
So, every Sunday, the Manipal Birders’ Club would gather. With raincoats on, umbrellas out… and go birdwatching. My memories of birding in the monsoon basically consist of this group of birders, walking in rain-soaked fields and through puddles, the fresh fragrances in the air, the frogs in the background, the odd bulbuls and drongos calling here and there, and Baya Weavers nesting in palm trees.
But most of all, I remember how rain would always threaten to dampen the bird activity. Our eyes would be looking up, wary of the clouds above. We would plough on… our umbrellas ready, our binoculars and cameras prepared to stashed away, and our legs ready to escape to shelter in case a downpour was imminent. And when rain did arrive, our birdwalk would have to hit the pause button. And we would wait - hoping that the rain would end soon, but at the same time enjoying the magnificent phenomena that the monsoons are.
Ramit: And suddenly, it stops. The break gives rise to a small window of opportunity. A bit of sun, and birdlife rejoices - songs and activity everywhere. It’s magic. This… is why we chose to go birdwatching in the rain.
Ramit: And almost too soon, inevitably, it all ends. We can see a curtain of rain racing towards us. And we breathe in, time to run for shelter again.
The first monsoon showers incoming.
Preetham: I generally enjoy the monsoon… but the monsoon in Manipal is a very different experience. It rains heavily almost throughout the day and poses a tough, at times inconvenient, challenge to one’s day to day life. You just have to get used to it.
The first time I witnessed a thunderstorm there, I developed a sense of fear and I felt myself relax only when the rain stopped. The sounds of strong winds, heavy rain, and loud thunder is so powerfully evocative of my experience of the monsoon in Manipal.
I feel that the percussion is a great way to represent the build up of suspense and tension that the rains and thunder bring with them. I hope the drums and the sounds I chose can make you feel the same way.
Credits and notes: We hope you enjoyed that. You can download this track using the link in the episode notes, where you will also find the transcript, images, links to other sounds, and other useful information. We want to thank Savithri Singh for letting us use her image of the Oriental Skylark for the podcast logo. And thank you for listening. Feedback and comments are welcome.
Birds in the podcast (with links to calls):
Intro tune: Oriental Skylark
Narration and track: Red-whiskered Bulbul, Baya Weaver, Common Tailorbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Black-rumped Flameback, Common Iora, Plum-headed Parakeet, Tickell’s Blue-Flycatcher, Nilgiri Flowerpecker.