hua niao.” As soon as I read the characters (朱背啄花鸟) I understand： It is a bird (niao) with a crimson red back (zhu bei)， doing something that I do not understand (zhuo) with blossoms (hua). Later in my apartment I am able to find out this with the help of the Internet and my digital dictionary： In German this species is called “scharlachroter mistelfresser”， that’s “scarlet mistletoe-eater” if translated word by word， and “zhuo” means “to pick”， so in English this bird is named “scarlet-backed flower-pecker”， which is closer to the Chinese name than the German one. Anyway， this bird does not occur in Europe.
But still it has not shown up， we continue standing in the dazzling sun， the professionals around me wear caps， their cameras and telephoto lenses are protected with blankets or overcoats. I learn more from my opposite， including his name. He is Mr. Su， once working as an engineer and now retired， for a few years he has been just dedicated himself to bird photography only.
Engineer Su， and others， too， with his interpreting assistance， ask me many things， about my wife and family， grandchildren (because I mention this)， occupation， housing， travel. This drives me to do research as well， and as there are some women among them I wonder if his wife has joined them， too – no， she is not at all interested in photography， let alone in birds， she is playing in an orchestra. I ask if she is playing in a professional urban symphony orchestra. – No， she’s up for an amateur orchestra which is most of the time performing in parks. Of course， of such things I know！ Certainly I’ve seen his wife already there！ That pleases him.
That’s how we photographers are looking from the flower-pecker’s viewpoint.
In this way， I learn more：
The group is a special bird photography group in a Pensioners’ Association that is supported or fed by the city of ShenZhen – of course I did not understand exactly how it is organised， but in any case they are pensioners， many of them wear a vest with the embroidered name of their group. They have a website where they display their photos and discuss them together， they drive around together to take their photographing opportunities， enjoy life and fill their memory chips. They meet more or less regularly， especially if someone finds out where some peculiar bird may be observed， then they will all be there and try to take the best images.
Finally， our flower-pecker does no longer splash out. It approaches on-flight， the talks abruptly cease， frantic activity begins， the clicking of digital cameras around me fills the air. While I trigger more selectively， the others seem to keep on it with automatic fire. I’m moving slowly， though， looking for the best viewing path through the branches， being most mobile with my zoom lens and without a tripod.
It is an exceptionally beautiful， stunning little bird. Not only is its whole back bright red， but against its otherwise pitch-black feathers there is set on its back an irregular， ragged strip of beautiful scarlet colour， “zhu bei” is exactly the right description！ Hard to photograph it. It is bouncing back and forth， and if at last it is just sitting still at times， sticking its beak into a flower， then it is posing just behind either a branch or twig， or a leaf or a flower is concealing its head， or， if for once it is brightly within view， it hops off at once. I understand now why they are waiting for such a long time and do not just come here some day： Not just hours or days but weeks may pass until you have achieved a really good image.
I inquire whether they know how many individuals of this birds are here – they have no idea.
Quite contrary to my initial plans I remain there for several hours. The group makes waiting fun， I do not regret to miss other places today. Little by little I am learning to know other group members， including a married couple (both in their late 60s). They have the latest， most professional camera from Canon (I have “only” the generation before that)， in automatic shutter mode the new model acquires a lot more shots， so they inform me. Both of them have bought it immediately after launch in China a few weeks ago.
Engineer Su， however， is still more than satisfied with a model of the antepenultimate generation， it is a slightly inferior model in comparison to my camera.
The woman has “only” a 400 mm-telephoto lens， her husband has a few weeks ago bought a 600 mm， her’s was quite all right， she thinks， but her husband was insatiable.
We have fun， laugh a lot， I’m over the moon to have found such a pensioners’ group of bird photographers in ShenZhen， and I confess that I am surprised to see that retired people commit to bird photography in ShenZhen， and what’s more， with such professional， expensive， high-quality equipment.
The flower-pecker shows up several times. Later， in the work-up of my photos， I can see from the pattern of red colouration that there were four different males visiting us today， plus a female that was not so nicely dyed but rather unimpressive.
The pensioners’ group I have unfortunately never met again so far. Too bad. Maybe I should have shared addresses or telephone numbers or joined them， my age is not so far from their level. But since they have a website， I can still catch up later.