A home to more than 70 bird species

Thiruvananthapuram: Hymavathi pond, known for myths and ghost stories, is located at the centre of Kerala University’s Kariavattom campus. The once secluded pond and its surroundings are home not just to the myths, but a wide variety of flora and fauna.
It is home to multiple species of insects, reptiles, birds and plants and several unique sub-species, but these are usually visible only to those who are ardent observers. Vishnu K P, a lecturer at the Institute of Management in Kerala (IMK) and a research scholar, is such an observer.

Vishnu has studied the bird varieties in and around the campus. He is better known in the campus as ‘KP’. He was the research union chairman for 2017-18 before becoming a lecturer at IMK.

He turned to photography around two years ago. He has clicked photos of more than 70 different species of birds on the campus, which include six rare species.

Vishnu has clicked the pictures of Orange Breasted Green Pigeon, Blue Naphed Monarch, Orange Headed Thrush, Black Baza, Crested Hawk Eagle and Crested Serpent Eagle from the campus. All these birds are rare sightings in the city.

A trip to Koonthankulam bird sanctuary at Tirunelveli with filmmaker and Chennai Film Institute principal Velmurugan Periavan changed Vishnu’s perspective and prompted him to take up bird watching seriously. “The noted book by Induchoodan titled ‘Keralathile Pakshikal’ has been a real help for better understanding the birds,” he said.

According to Vishnu, it is not difficult to click pictures of birds in the wild. “You should have the patience to look around, spot a bird and then slowly move towards the bird without disturbing it to click the picture. Our campus has hundreds of bird varieties. The curiosity to find more birds keeps pushing me to venture out and seek out more birds which I am sure to find here,” he said.

Even though he has a busy academic schedule to follow, Vishnu makes sure that he finds time for bird watching.