Beak Smacking Good - Lesser Yellownape Woodpecker

Sattal, Uttarakhand

Whether you like to admit it or not, beasts have a lot in common with us people. Lets back it up a little and define 'The Beast'. Techically, a beast is an animal as opposed to a human. So any creature except human, be it an ant, elephant, snake,  albatros and anything else in between qualifies as a candidate for this classification as 'Beast'. But then, blood is still blood, liver, still liver and spleen, still spleen. So, we're re primarily all running similar hardware. We’re all part of the same silent system of Mother Nature with perhaps what we’d call different system updates at different times. The more I watch wildlife, the more I learn to see. The more I see, the better I photograph. It’s a crazy road of self discovery that this hobby of photography has taken me on and in the process taught me so much about myself and this world that we live in.

The first lesson that learning to see teaches me still is our differences and similarities. How much of our behavior is just like the beast’s and how it’s only in seeing and understanding that, will I actually manage some control over primal urges that we’re all hard wired to. Staying stuck to human society and judging life only through those lenses of limited understanding all of one’s life seems like such a distant way now and such a lost opportunity in appreciating the only true birthright given by Mother Nature Herself to us all. Needless to say, that we’re all beasts but perhaps the advantage we have is the use of our knowledge and experience to know when and how to turn beast mode on and not necessarily at the most obvious time or way. That’s what makes the man beast actually the most dangerous and successful. How the hell do you know about beast mode unless you’ve watched beasts? And how dare you call a man a beast without knowing whether a beast would actually behave the same way or not? Knowing the ways of the beasts will invariably make you a better human. Not knowing, will make you behave like them while believing you are special just cause you have language. The only way to know this, is to see for yourself.

I started actually seeing birds in Sattal, in 2023. Reptiles weren’t really my thing before that. It’s natural I think to be more curious about mammals in the beginning given the similarities. I did photograph many birds before that but actually seeing them was an acquired skill and taste. The first bird who brought it on for me was this female. A Lesser Yellownape Woodpecker. You have to admit she’s got character. Look at her ! All that colour, the nape, that perpetually smiling face and I think she was the first bird I saw who was doing her thing while keeping an eye on me. Add to that, the brilliant background and the fact that I had my new higher rez kit that I was watching it all through using a digital view finder. This sighting left such an impact on me that although I didn’t have the time to get into processing in Sattal, I just had to process her photos as soon as I reached my hotel in Delhi where I was transiting from. I had seen the colorful images of birds from Uttarakhand taken with a full frame mirror less camera online. I didn’t expect my own to ever blow me away. LOL I felt so good sitting in that little room at Ibis. Hah ! Even the hotel was named after a bird.

These birds range from India to Vietnam and everywhere else in between. Most of the literature on them is from India and they’re seen easily in the lower Himalayas of India. Our girl is missing the white throat and that’s what makes the males look different. That and the red patch above the eye. I have a photo of a Greater Yellownape in Gallery 1 on here, in case you wana have a look at that patch. Ive written about woodpeckers in general earlier in “ Lessons Of The Grey Headed Woodpecker” and most of that holds true for my friend here.

So, what did I find in common with this beast who is so different from me? Look at the joy of discovery on her face when she finds that morsel in the tree. The eagerness and urgency in polishing off the find. She knew I was watching and kept giving me glances. Oh Id do the same if an elephant was watching me from across the road while I ate a sandwich. We all know these things are universal cause we see it in our pets too. But not all pets react the same. Your Cats reaction however will be very different from your Dogs. Just watching and seeing them becomes such a wonderful learning experience that I just have to keep going back for with new subjects. These creatures of nature teach me so much. About us; and them.