Meet ‘the birdman’ Harsukh Bhai who feeds thousands of birds daily

Meet ‘the birdman’ Harsukh Bhai who feeds thousands of birds daily

Harsukh Bhai, a resident of Junagadh district of Gujarat, was just a common man before he decided to dedicate his life for a cause which may sound bit strange for many. Fondly referred as ‘the birdman’, Harsukh Bhai, who is in his 70s, is today known for his noble work of feeding thousands of birds daily. 

From last 17 years, everyday around 10,000 birds including sparrows visit Harsukh Bhai’s house. It all started in 2000 when Harsukh Bhai met with an accident and had a fracture in his leg. While he was resting at his home to recover from injury, one of his friends got some pearl millet from his farm. Harshukh Bhai hung one of these cobs on his balcony and this was the turning point in his life. Harshukh Bhai’s this act attracted a parrot and gradually their number increased. This made him feel to do something more for these birds. 

Few days later, he realised that there was not enough space in balcony to feed the birds. Harsukh Bhai then got some old pipes, drilled holes in them and fixed the pearl millet cobs allowing the birds feed on it comfortably. 

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Archaeologists Shine New Light On Easter Island Statue

Apr. 11, 2013 — A team of archaeologists from the University of Southampton have used the latest in digital imaging technology to record and analyse carvings on the Easter Island statue Hoa Hakananai'a.

James Miles, Hembo Pagi and Dr Graeme Earl from the Archaeological Computing Research Group at the University of Southampton teamed up with archaeologist and editor of British Archaeology Mike Pitts to examine the statue at the Wellcome Trust Gallery in the British Museum, London.

Dr Earl explains: "The Hoa Hakananai'a statue has rarely been studied at first hand by archaeologists, but developments in digital imaging technology have now allowed us to examine it in unprecedented detail."

Hoa Hakananai'a was brought to England in 1869 by the crew of HMS Topaze. It is traditionally said to have been carved around AD1200. The Island is home to around 1,000 similar statues, but Hoa Hakananai'a is of particular interest because of the intricate carvings on its back.

It is popularly believed that around AD1600 the Easter Islanders faced an ecological crisis and stopped worshipping their iconic statues. The Rapa Nui, as they are known, turned instead to a new birdman religion, or cult. This included a ritual based around collecting the first egg of migrating terns from a nearby islet, Motu Nui. The 'winner', whose representative swam to the islet and then back with the egg, was afforded sacred status for a year.

Hoa Hakananai'a survived this shift in religious beliefs by being placed in a stone hut and covered in carved 'petroglyphs', or rock engravings, depicting motifs from the birdman cult. As such, it may be representative of the transition from the cult of statues to the cult of the birdman.

The team from the University of Southampton examined Hoa Hakananai'a using two different techniques: Photogrammetric Modelling; which involved taking hundreds of photos from different angles to produce a fully textured computer model of the statue, capable of being rotated in 360 degrees; and Reflectance Transformation Imaging; a process which allows a virtual light source to be moved across the surface of a digital image of the statue, using the difference between light and shadow to highlight never-seen-before details.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130411075615.htm

'Bird Man' of Newbury Street Feeds Sparrows During Blizzard

Paul Magla has been caring for the flock for years.

By Kimberly Ashton

While Bostonians were dipping into the groceries they stocked up in advance of Fridays blizzard, other Back Bay denizens knew to head to Paul Magla for a bite during the storm. 

“I whistle and they come,” Magla told WBZ-TV of the flock of sparrows he's been tending to for the past 10 years. On Saturday morning, he found them waiting for him on his balcony.

"Because I’ve been doing it for years, so I figure even when it snows I'd come out and do it," he said. 

With their food covered in snow, they headed for Magla's place for some whole-wheat bread, and maybe some warmth.  

“Usually they don’t sit on [my] hand as much, but because it’s cold, they are,” Magla said. See the video here. 

http://backbay.patch.com/articles/bird-man-of-newbury-street-feeds-sparrows-during-blizzard