His early education was at Basti Mission School and obtained a university degree in science from Sri Bhuvanendra College at Karkala.

He applied for a field research position in the Bird Migration study project of the Bombay Natural History Society and although he had no formal education in zoology, Salim Ali found him very observant and accepted him.

[12] His finding of the broad-tailed grassbird from Point Calimere opens up the possibility of the species in Sri Lanka, from where an old questionable specimen record exists.

[15] He noted the opportunistic behaviour of the honeyguides, making use of the attacks of Vespa mandarinia on the hives of Apis dorsata laboriosa.

[16] He also saw a honeyguide in the Valley of Flowers which he suggested should belong to the little-known subspecies radcliffi described by Allan Octavian Hume.

He produced an identification booklet with illustrations by Carl D'Silva to aid volunteers identify water birds.