There is a perception that bird watching is boring, even among serious birders there can be a tendency towards the rare and exotic. This in effect means many are missing out on some really amazing things, effectively right in front of their nose.

Right now I am fortunate to live in Singapore, with roughly 400 species within an hour or so of me, there is plenty to keep me occupied. The thing is though if I told people I have been watching sparrows, pigeons and mynahs lately everyone would think I am nuts.

Of course there is a huge thrill at coming across something new or unusual but there is a lot to be learnt from watching the very common also. Sure it doesn’t help life lists but it can benefit you in many ways, intellectually and practically. Pigeons and mynahs – in this case Indian and Java – also what I have heard termed “flying rats” are actually interesting. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Mynahs in particular are very intelligent.

I was watching a pair catch a gecko – Java Mynahs that is. Interestingly they seemed to be working together, or maybe that was assumed on my part. Anyway just watching them get the lizard was interesting. It is also interesting to see just how close you can get to them, and how they respond to different clicks, chirps and whistles I make.

Pigeons are also interesting, I was watching them near the train station, sex is obviously a big issue with pigeons – why there are so many. But just through some “light” watching you start to get a grip with what is going on, dominance and submission becoming quickly apparent. Incidently watching and studying pigeons in particular is a great way to learn about birds. Columbiformes (pigeons and doves), are unique in their own right. They can actually suck water for example, and once you understand why a pigeon bobs it’s head you have already learn alot about bird physiology.

This then means that when I come across fruit doves in the forest I feel I have a greater understanding of what is going on. The fundamental principles don’t change, but my knowledge and experience does. There are differences of course with each species - and I would argue with each individual - but more knowledge is a good thing. But understanding pigeons does help with peaceful doves, orange breasted and so on.

Even sparrows which are everywhere, if Mynahs are flying rats, then sparrows must by flying mice. Still there is very interesting behaviour going on when you start paying attention to them. Again dominance is a huge issue, and you can identify quite easily the seniority when you start to look.

Sparrows at play

My real point is that it is too easy to go chasing after unusual species and never look at what is in front of us. We go travelling the world to see birds and never pay attention to the bird calls we hear around our homes each day. Birds are amazing creatures and there is much to learn from even the “boring” ones.

Incidentally, I can’t say I am a huge fan of introduced birds anywhere, again though by actually paying attention you can start to see the problems and how introduced birds compete with native birds. So again, understanding and knowledge should be taken wherever you can get it.

Spending a day watching Barn Swallows or similar is amazing in itself and you will be suprised just what you can see!

Graphic design is much more than just coming up with a design and being “creative”. It is about understanding why and how certain images work and is fundamental to all of the visual arts. . Understanding what you are doing is the key, rather than the usual hit and miss. We can think of this as “drawing attention”.

The following image shows that there is nowhere for our eyes to rest, when we look at an image our eyes do not follow through smoothly but instead flicker between fixation points. The image below if anything presents our brains with confusion as our eyes cannot find somewhere to rest. The central large dot is noticed first and then we scan back and forth from one dot to another.

Asymetrical Dots

With an understanding of what is happening we can start to control what we want the viewer to see – and how we want them to see it. In the next image we deliberately guide the viewer to the right. With the eye tending to rest on the largest dot. What happens now is almost a looping, our brains scan from left to right in an almost circular motion. This is in part due to the symmetry of the ascending sizes of the dots.

Symetrical Dots

By removing the symmetry we can again deliberately lead the eye to exactly where we want to go, and also take advantage of innate left right scanning in the next image. Keep in mind that there is a cultural aspect to this, for example a design aimed at an Arabic market would be better served by flipping the image horizontally. Why? In western cultures especially we are taught through reading to scan from left to right.

Off center Dots

This final sequence of dots being assymetrical has led our eye to the largest dot at the right by getting your attention with a mid sized dot and through the small dot pointing you in the direction – and dot – we wanted you to be looking at.

Note there is a lot of psychology in this, it will not apply to everyone (we are all different) but we can aim at a majority of viewers. Once we understand the general idea we can expand on it and start deliberately leading the viewer to exactly those parts of the scene we want them to go.

Some of the great artists and designers seem to have been able to achieve this intuitively, although like most things, a sound understanding of the underlying principles cannot be avoided.

And whoever thought three dots could be so interesting?