KADAPA: An assistant executive engineer in AP Transco by profession and an ornithologist by passion, Ambavaram Mounika has captured 85 rare bird species, which are naturally found in Kadapa district, on her Nikon D7200 DSLR camera and documented them. Mounika, who completed her BTech degree from Sri Venkateswara University in 2015, joined as an assistant executive engineer (AEE) in APTransco in 2019.
A native of Kadapa city, she developed an inclination towards photography during her college days. She used to capture flowers and tourist spots on her mobile. After she won accolades for her photographs, Mounika developed more interest in photography. She bought a Nikon D7200 DSLR camera and started capturing rare bird species in 2018.
The bird species, which the 30-year-old woman captured and documented, include feral pigeon, jungle babbler, house sparrow, cattle egret, Indian silverbill, greater coucal, black drongo, scaly breasted munia, racing homer, flame back woodpecker, myna, Indian robin, black kite, grey wagtail, Eurasian curlew, brown rock chat and rofous-fronted prinia.
Mounika also captured the unique bird species found in Pushpagiri, Devuni Kadapa, Palakonda and other areas in the district. Bird species found in Tirupati and Mysore are also documented by her. She uploaded the unique bird species on eBird India website, besides sharing the details pertaining to their natural habitat to make the people aware of them.
On August 19, Mounika participated in a photo exhibition organised at the CP Brown Language Research Centre in Yogi Vemana University to mark World Photography Day, and enlightened visitors on different bird species found in Kadapa and surrounding areas. “Though Kadapa is a home to several rare bird species, many people do not know more than five to 10 bird species. Hence, I started capturing the rare bird species found in Kadapa and sharing the photos with the people to make them interested in ornithology,” she said.