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Gagana says, ‘save the dead trees!’ 

19 Sep 2021

By Kusumanjalee Thilakarathna Young wildlife photographer Gagana Mendis Wickramasinghe brought international glory to Sri Lanka when he became one of the highly commended contestants in the BBC Wildlife Photographer Awards 2021. Gagana’s picture titled “Lockdown chicks” showing three rose-ringed parakeet chicks popping their heads out of a nest hole as their father fed them food was clicked from their home balcony. The UK’s Natural History Museum has been conducting this Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 57 years.  In an interview with Little Stars, Gagana shared how he and his brother Amatha had been watching the parakeet couple for a long time and how they started to take photographs of the parakeet family.  Can you tell us more about yourself, Gagana? I am 11 years old now. I live in Alwis Town, Wattala. There are six members in my family. I have an elder brother and a younger sister. My grandmother is also with us. If I was going to school I would have been in Grade Six or Seven. But my brother, sister and I are being homeschooled. Apart from photography, I also do swimming and martial arts. My hobbies are collecting coins and flying drones.  When did you develop a passion for photography?  Well, since I was really really young. Among many things my father does, he is also a wildlife photographer. So, whenever we take a camera he teaches us a thing or two.  So does this mean your passion for photography was inspired by your father? Yes. He was the one who encouraged us – both my brother and I to participate in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.  Your father was the first to tell you the award-winning parakeet photograph is an exceptional shot. Wasn’t it?  Well yes. He said it’s a good shot. My brother also had taken really good photos of the same parakeet family. His pictures came up to the final rounds under his age category. My entry was selected as the winning capture of the Under 10 category.  Is your brother your photography companion?  Yes. He was the first to start taking photographs and his passion encouraged me.  He was the first to notice the family of parakeets in the dead areca nut tree in our garden. He took some shots from the neighbour’s balcony and the clicks were really good. So I was also encouraged to try. We watched the parent birds for a long time and later we saw them feeding the little ones.  Some days I woke up around 5.30 am to take photos of this parakeet family. I think I clicked pictures of the family for three or four days and I liked the pictures I took. It was on the final day I was able to capture the best shot of them. That was a winner.  So you knew that the award-winning picture was an exceptional capture even before you sent it to the competition?  Well, yes. And my father also said it is. I was extremely happy that my father thought it was a good shot.  Why wildlife photography? Is it because you are passionate about animals?  Yes. We do live in the wildlife, don’t we?  Do you have any pets?  Well, my father is a zoologist working especially with reptiles and amphibians. Due to this reason, we have snakes at our place and they are my favourites.  Have you thought of what you want to do when you grow up?  I love to continue photography and I love to do music too. My favourite instrument is the piano.  Who taught you to play the piano? My mother taught me to play in the beginning. She plays the piano too and I fell in love with the way she was playing. Later I joined Musicmatters to improve my piano skills further. I think I started to learn music in 2016.  Can you share your experience in homeschool?  Well, it saves me a lot of time and I can spend my time learning new things. Actually, that gives me all the time I want to engage in my hobbies.  What are your favourite things to learn about?  To play the piano, to swim and anything related to drones.  Do you have any messages for us?  Yes.  Can you remember the areca nut tree the parakeets were living in? That’s actually a dead tree. I learnt something valuable from watching the bird family in that tree. Although the tree was dead, it still had the potential to give life to another animal. So, if it’s possible it’s a great help to the environment if you can keep a dead tree without removing it. Conserve it.  Can you explain to us why you say it’s important to conserve a dead tree?  If there is a dead tree in our garden we usually cut and remove it. Don’t we? But if you let it be there, woodpeckers will come and peck into the tree in search of food or create a nesting site. Later maybe the parakeets might choose the same nesting site to lay eggs. Can you see how this tree can contribute to creating new life although it is dead?


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