Birds

Hi,

Thanks for inviting me to contribute to this blog.

Ralitza mentioned that I was interested in birds and asked me to explain how I got interested in them and why I like them so much.

First of all, a Purple Gallinule is a water bird - you can see one in the photo in my profile. Nearly two years ago I started a blog of my own about life in Qatar (I'm afraid I lost interest in it and didn't continue it) and I wanted to choose a user name which would disguise my identity. I chose Purple Gallinule because I had recently been seeing these bird at a place in Qatar we call Prison Pools (it's an area of sewage water pools on the left-hand side of the Mesaieed road - unfortunately many of the best places for watching birds are smelly!) and a friend and I had just proved that they were breeding (raising young) there.

I first got interested in watching birds, although I've always loved wildlife, when my brother went on a school trip to a nature reserve and afterwards started dragging me around the countryside to look for birds. He later lost his interest but I've kept mine up. I like watching birds because I love their colours and the way they lead simple, unquestioning lives following their instinct, I envy their ability to fly and I also like the challenge of identifying a bird I see, which can sometimes be difficult or even impossible.

People think Qatar has no birds but in fact a large number of species migrate (pass) through the country on their way north or south in both spring and autumn and you'd be surprised what you can see even in the middle of the city. For example, the beauty above, a Bee-eater, is a common migrant (bird passing through) through Qatar, especially in spring.

I used to live in Kuwait and unfortunately some people there took advantage of this phenomenon to shoot birds for fun, often leaving them wounded or dying. I don't know how they can live with themselves...

Andrew

Some words:

contribute to: take part in, give something to

sewage: waste water

drag sb. around: make someone come with you, usually against their will (drag=pull)

keep up: continue

instinct: a natural feeling that tells us what to do

phenomenon: a natural event

wounded: hurt, injured