Believe me, once bitten by the birding bug, we see birds everywhere. 

When I say everywhere while driving, or from your home/office window/balcony, is a default. Seeing birds on family trips or runways or while flights are landing is still believable, but almost all birders will agree that they see them literally everywhere, from while buying groceries to waiting for signals. We see them printed on hoardings, in newspapers, in art, in clothing prints, and in movies. 

In our daily routine, subconsciously we have mapped the trees around us, the time, and the birds that we will hear or see. Rather, we get distracted if we don't see one every time our eyes wander away from our work screens.

We just can't help; birds are everywhere!

All this is a preset to make me feel less guilty about getting distracted on a coffee conversation and picking up my binoculars. 

One evening while enjoying coffee and the conversation, my eyes "involuntarily" (believe me when I say this) saw some movement on a peepal tree, and the brain immediately confirmed the movement was not of a squirrel. This confirmation led to further investigation, and I could see a grey hornbill. Suddenly I realised that the speed of our brain at which it can process information is directly proportional to the subject of interest. 

I was still actively participating in the conversation, drinking my coffee. A demonstration of how well our brains are taught to multitask. In the next few moments, I also realised how efficiently the brain determines the priority and adjusts the focus based on the situation.

And here the brain decided to shift my role from "talking" to "listening" in the conversation. The moment when the brain shifted priority was triggered by a signal sent by eyes spotting two more hornbills that led to seeing a barbet, a koel....and for the next 15 minutes, for a change, I was at the "listening" end of the conversation.

This peepal tree is currently full of small fruits, inviting a variety of birds. While hornbills shared top space with barbets. Bulbuls and Rose-ringed parakeets came in for a while. Then came in 5 asian koels (3 male, 2 female), along came crows...and in some time, joined the mynas. Obviously, the squirrel ran through as well. Orioles and Minivet added to the colours. In all, 16 different species in and around that tree in 15 mins.

Not tussle, no bullying; everyone was busy on their own branch.

My brain had switched on "listening" mode, and after 10-15 minutes, it promptly shifted the priority from the birds back to the conversation. With another cup of coffee, the conversation continued happily; obviously by now I had started talking again, and with a very big and guilty heart, I agreed to watch the second innings of a very important cricket match. 

And in a win-win situation, I write this while I watch the second innings. I told you, our brain is good at multitasking!

NOTE: 

Though the story and scenes presented are fictional, though they draw inspiration from real events, meaning they are not a direct, factual account but rather a creative interpretation of those real events. True to birding spirit, the fruiting peepal tree, the bird list and the 15 mins of recording them are 100% factual.