the phantom bird

February 6, 20261 Comment

Deep inside the dense, humid, broadleaf, evergreen temperate forests of eastern Himalayas in India there resides the feathered version of myself. The old jungle saying that the phantom has eyes and ears everywhere was perhaps coined because of this fella.

The Ghost who eats, quite less actually these days, is all set to travel by train, plane and car to find this fella. Unlike the 22nd Phantom, the Ghost who eats, who wears a purple masked suit, this elusive bird is naturally coated in feathers from whom the the masked costume gets its colours.

In the bird watching world, some birds are automatically in the I want to see it the most category. The Wards Trogon, the Phantom bird as it is called is one of those. Apparently the most obvious place to find them is Mishmi Hills, located in north eastern Arunachal and extending into Tibet these hills are a southward extension of the Eastern Himalayas. Mishmi is a renowned bio-diversity hotspot which I have heard has a rugged terrain with dense forests and high altitude grasslands. It is home to about 500-650 species of birds.

While this is my third attempt to reach Mishmi hills, the two earlier ones go cancelled because of health reasons. This time, it seems there is another spanner in the works. What was very exciting news at first has now suddenly become grave and unfortunate news now. About a month back I came to know that a tiger was spotted around the Mayudia pass area on the Roing-Anini highway and we were quite enthused and excited to learn about it. The tiger was being spotted in the night time and I wondered when we would go owling in the night, would we get lucky enough to spot the tiger crossing the road.

Spotting a tiger on foot is a thrill of its own, I had that opportunity during Kanha bird Survey and it was an experience walking the tiger terrain, walking and seeing traces of its movements. Unfortunately it seems, this tiger in Arunachal has had a conflict with a human on that highway and now it seems all hell has broken lose, there are protests, travel advisories and teams have been called from Pakke Tiger Reserve and Namdapha to try and tranqualise the tiger and locate it elsewhere. While there is no way to ascertain for sure how the conflict happened. In most cases I would like to give the animal the benefit of doubt, usually more often than not, the case is always of it being cornered or it feeling threatened inadvertently on most occasions by humans. Especially when it is a first time for an animal, more often than not, it is not intentional and mostly either self defense or out of insecurity. In area’s where they are not commonly spotted, humans are not so used to behave with equal caution and recipe for disaster is there. Tigers are not commonly spotted in this area and it seems this fellow is a new arrival.

In all probability, it seems we will have to look for the Phantom bird elsewhere than where it is most usually found, which is not ideal, but then, the world is anything but ideal. However, the ghost who eats, is not at all disappointed or down, infact finding newer territories of this Phantom bird is what is the challenge for the 22nd Phantom. I cannot wait to meet my feathered version!!! Pray and wish us luck that we find this fellow soonest. In the meanwhile, I will leave you with a photo of the Phantom Bird (male)

Ain’t that something to find eh?!

Navrang aka The Indian Pitta!

May 24, 2022May 24, 20222 Comments

It was 3.45 am and I couldn’t help but keep turning in bed, waiting for 4 am to tick over and time was just not moving. Eventually I gave in, got up, switched the alarm off and got into shower and was sitting ready on the swing on my verandah at 4.15 waiting for my friend who had promised to show up at 4.30am. This buddy of mine was sharp and punctual and he drove in at 4.30 and whilst he parked his car, I readied my car and we left at 4.35 am in a search that was now reaching desperate levels. Unlike most people who like to sleep in on weekends, I have a penchant to not let a minute of the weekend go to waste and to use the chance to go out in the field and be birding by day break.

Just the previous evening, another Instagram friend had messaged me that they saw the Indian Pitta, she thought she should inform me. I immediately responded and after talking for half an hour with her and her husband, both keen birders, I knew the location where the Pitta’s were visiting. I have been searching for them desperately since a while now. They do visit my district but somehow they have always eluded me. I have seen so many photos of it, read so much about it and although not having seen it I just knew that I was missing something really beautiful in life. How I could not have seen such a pretty bird, even after it visited my own town.

The car zoomed past the last village Gulvani on this route at 6.30 am and we parked our car on a rough road where we found it difficult to separate the road from a dry river. I was joined by my friend and his 12 year old son. We parked, ate a couple of thepla’s and took out our binoculars and were ready to go looking for the Indian Pitta.

Luckily this is not a silent bird, also this is the start of the breeding season, so I was instructing my friends son, that a lot of birding is done by the ears so to keep talking to a minimum and listening to a maximum. We had just walked about 5 mins and we were greeted by Chestnut Shouldered Petronia’s, Indian White Eye, a yellow-crowned woodpecker and the Black Drongo. We then heard the Pitta call, they were coming from a higher slope, but they were here for sure!

I do encourage small kids to join me on my birding trails, I kind of always want to show things to them, somehow I want to be able to maybe play a miniscule role in connecting them to nature and perhaps someday getting them interested the world around us and the wildlife and flora around us which desperately needs conservation. So whilst I had to show these common birds to the kid, today I felt a strange desperation, of wanting to see the Pitta. There was kind of an impatient urge in me to ignore all others and just look for the pitta. We had walked just 5 more minutes and a small Pitta sized bird flew and like the Indian pitta sat on the floor and I almost skipped a heartbeat that I found the Pitta so soon. However, that fellow was the Orange Headed Thrush and not the Indian Pitta, another not so common and a very brightly contrasting bird, this fellow wasn’t shy, he stuck around and showed us himself quite nicely, infact we let him be and moved on.

*The Orange Headed Thrush that posed for us.*

Again, a similar movement like that of the thrush, this time in the undergrowth the bird seemed all dark. We all had our eyes in the shadow, the colours not visible but the target acquired. This must be the pitta I thought to myself, then after a brief pause, the bird moved, hop hop hop… out it came into the direct sun to reveal itself. The spotlight suddenly was on the star! I finally had the Indian Pitta right in front of me! It would hop, stop, turn a leaf over, pick up something, eat it away, again hop, hop, checkout another leaf and so on. I was glued to my binoculars, following every movement. Although this was the first time I was seeing it, I almost knew how it would behave, owing to how much I had read about it and heard about it! It then called loudly and another Pitta zoomed over and there were two Pittas about 10 meters apart from each other in front of us!! This was a moment that I am not going to forget for the rest of my life! ❤

*Finally! The first look of the fella who eluded me for so so long!*

The Indian Pitta is not a very common sight also it is not a very rare bird at the same time, however, it is pretty famous. The fact that it has so many colours and is so pretty looking, it has been covered by lots of books and magazines so even though not all might not have seen a live Pitta, most of them are aware about this bird. It has various colours and that has led to its fabled status, its Hindi name is ‘Navrang’, in Gujarati it is called ‘Hariyo’. The origin of the name though is from Telugu, pitta bird, meaning a small bird.

*The subtle shades that it has are absolutely a treat to watch through the binoculars!*

It is a local migrant and spends most of its time from October to March down in southern India and even Sri Lanka. However around April it starts its migration upwards to northern India. It goes as high up as Uttarakhand, Himachal and even Nepal to its breeding ground which range from lower Himalayas to central and western and eastern India, nesting from Gujarat to Bengal! Hence the fame and so many names in so many different languages.

*The Indian Pitta can be seen foraging around and checking out all the dry leaves that have fallen during the current summer season!*

It should make a globular structured nest now around below the 3 meter height on trees and should be ready to breed and lay eggs and rear its young. It being rather active during breeding time and vociferous too it should not be difficult to locate if you find its suitable habitat. However, do understand its breeding nesting time and so do keep appropriate distance and do not go near a nest too much as they could abandon the nest if they feel threatened.

*The front of the Pitta is in start contrast to its back!*

Around the globe there are over 40 species of pittas, however the India Pitta was the first to be scientifically described and published in scientific literature in 1713. Its present day scientific name is Pitta brachyura. Perhaps the most interesting name of the Indian Pitta is from Sri Lanka, in Sinhalese it is called ‘Avichchiya’. The Sinhalese interpretation of the call of the Pitta is that the bird is complaining about the theft of its dress by a peacock!! So now you know how the Peacock got its colours and beauty! Stealing for our small dear Indian Pitta!

Now if the beauty of this fella has intrigued you and you want to find it in the wild, grab your binoculars and set out looking for it in the forests of central India to Lower Himalayas! Happy Birding!!

Sattal

August 3, 2019August 3, 2019Leave a comment

Apparently Sattal is a paradise for bird lovers, at a nice distance away from crowded Nainital, Sattal is thickly wooded, and forested, thankfully the woods here are protected and this in return has meant loads of birds and an odd leopard and a bear being spotted.

We stayed at the Incredible Birding camp, the place was highly recommended by birders and a friend of mine Tikuli. The Incredible Birding camp is run by Khusbu and Rahul Sharma who are themselves very keen birders and apparently are very good photographers of birds. Unfortunately whilst we went there, the pair was away to Iceland for birding! Well, atleast now I know some people are living the life! Anyways, since they were not there, the guy in charge was Vipul, coincidentally from Surat, 75 kms from my place, the fun of communicating in Gujarati in this state far from home! He aided us in identifying and finding favourite spots of birds around Sattal, Garudtal and Chafi river.

The reason why this is a bad time for birding is, the foliage is lush, the leaves are dense, there is water all around, moving around is troublesome and it keeps raining on and off, however, that did not deter us, we went out, we were patient, photographing was more tricky, but watching them with a binocular much easier! Mornings and evenings were particularly active, the chirps and coos wouldn’t stop, we kept spotting quite a few residents there and we actually saw a lot of species that we had not seen earlier!

The lakes here are quite beautiful and pristine, especially now with it being off season and no tourists boating in the lake or traffic on the roads it was blissful and you could actually have the whole lake to yourself. It was so quiet that you could hear and identify birds just by their calls. I can’t imagine how it would be in proper dry season and winters which is the ideal time to visit this place for birding. I have heard people saying they would spot 150 plus species in 2-3 days. In this off season we spotted 46 species in the one and half day excursions we took around.

Some pictures are in the below slide show :

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Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary

January 4, 2017January 4, 20177 Comments

So the last weekend of the year we travelled to Jamnagar for a road trip, I had spent 4 years of my life in that city and ever since I left it as a kid I had not returned there, with junior camping in the vicinity we thought spending two days in that city would be quite okay. Wife was drooling at the prospect of buying the famous Bandhani’s from Jamnagar and I was thinking of seeing my old school and eating typical Jamnagar food. Alongside we had decided to spend some time in Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary since it was winter and migratory birds would have surely come here.

I had heard a bit about it, however, I must confess we did not go with too many expectations, infact one gentleman told me that 20 days back he had met someone who had gone to Jamnagar that this year very few birds have come. That did not deter me as we wanted to check it out first hand but it did tone down all expectations. I had read somewhere that some 300+ species come there and infact when legendary Bird expert Dr Salim Ali had visited Khijadiya in one day he had recorded 104 species!! However, when you go with minimal expectations you always end up with much happier moments.

We left for the park at 6.15 from our hotel in pitch darkness to reach the Sanctuary by sunrise, its about 25mins drive from the city centre, we got our tickets from the counter. They charge Rs. 40 if a person is going to walk, if he is in a car then its 500 per vehicle, doesnt matter how many people in the vehicle. They also charge 200 for a camera. The ticketing was smooth and the guys were pretty courteous, you can also hire a guide if you like but we didn’t hire one and decided to have some own time.

It is pretty rare that they allow you inside a sanctuary alone, in your own vehicle and I quite liked the idea. I know many people misuse this freedom and break the limits however, I just wanted to be there on my own waiting for any bird or animal at my own patience and whim and at the same time have peace and not get into unwanted conversations that many times keep happening when you are on safari in National parks with a guide and a driver giving you information that many times you already have.

We drove about stopping and spotting birds, they had arrived in plenty, we even saw more than 1500 flamingos, over 30 cranes, heron, ibis, black ibis, spoonbill, mallard etc were so many and so scattered its difficult to put a count on it. The place is blessed with birds and its difficult to list them all here, over all I think we spotted more than 35 species in about 5 hours that we spent there.

The place is quite and serene, surprisingly no littering around was spotted by us, there was so much peace with few visitors and the park authorities have kept things simple, they have made roads near the water bodies and put benches under tree’s so that you can go sit there and quietly wait for the birds to slowly figure out that you are not a threat and come closer. I loved the whole concept, we were short on time other wise I thought spending a whole day in a park by just paying 700 from 6am to 6pm is a steal. There is no food or drinks available inside the park so when you do go, go prepared, carry loads of water and fruits and a picnic hamper there are so many places inside where you can sit and enjoy and bask in glorious winter weather.

To be standing together in a frosty field, looking up into the sky, marvelling at birds and revelling in the natural world around us, was a simple miracle. And I wondered why we were so rarely able to appreciate it.”
― Lynn Thomson

The more patient & silent people will probably get the birds more closer to them. I actually think that a trip simply to Jamnagar can be made with just visiting this park on the agenda. I found the place so good. The freedom, the silence, the whole place that was so full of nature kind of perked my spirits up. It seemed like a nice place to go on long walks and rejuvenate I say. People who love the peace, quiet and serene nature alongside bird watching are bound to fall in love with this place.

Here I have a few pictures I took there, hope you like them! 😀

The park has two parts walking about would be for the supremely fit as it is a pretty huge area, taking a bicycle would be the best bet, infact the next time I go, I am taking a cycle on this park’s visit!

Common Cranes flying about

A crested lark struts about royally, in its own tiny world this tiny bird is a king!

Godwits are here in loads and loads of numbers!

Then at this far off place we saw so many flamingos

This bunch was a little more nearer and more accessible, like me they didnt care for photo’s they just kept their heads down and kept eating!

Even these folks are here in plenty and they come nearer and pose!

Although I have seen the Hoopoe many times before this, this is the first time I have got a proper shot of one!

Painted Storks were there as well to perk up the surroundings!

Hundreds and hundreds of Rosy Starling, Many many White breasted Kingfishers and Black Drongos were also to be seen everywhere!

We even managed to spot one male and 6 female Nilgai’s (bluebull) grazing about

Bird watchers are a lovely bunch, I like them, quite and unobtrusive, immersed in nature and always fancying their binoculars they all revel in places like these!

This is just one spot, the park has many many spots like this, where in you can decide to sit and become a part of the surroundings, sleep, take a picnic lunch and spend time letting the birds come nearer and soak in nature

Old Magazine House

November 14, 2016November 14, 20161 Comment

I have been planning to go to the Western Ghats for a birding trip since long, many articles, pictures and stories have been coming my way since a long time about how the bio-diversity here is amazing. Eventually this Diwali we managed to go and finally made a road trip down to North Karnataka.

The first destination on the list was The Old Magazine House a jungle camp that is run and managed by The Jungle Lodges and Resorts. As it turned out this place is a heaven for bird watchers!

Tucked slightly away from the highway, a 2 kms off-road drive brings you to this small camp. Amidst tall trees and very little sun peeping through the camp gives you a feel of calm and peace and tranquility about it. They have a small area that has been cleared of the trees where they have put some bird baths and on days when there is no rain around these very bird baths are an absolute favourite of the birds. The birds come here in throngs and they have put some green nets with small gaps made for the camera so that the birds are not disturbed by the bird watchers and photographers.

The first evening itself after around 5 till around 7 we counted 32 different species of birds at one spot, all you had to do was keep your note and pen ready, we would sit around sipping tea or reading a book and the birds would come! I mean I have gone to a lot of places to spot birds and yes there is a lot of fun and a sense of achievement in walking on trails and identifying birds but this was a first!

Here you just wait and all the birds from the surrounding woods come and give their attendance! How cool is that!? We counted 48 species in 24 hours and that I think is an amazing number! So many firsts that I cannot even tell you! This place is an absolute paradise for bird watchers who are lazy to go on trails I tell you!

The staff in the place is also very well equipped in terms of bird, plant, reptile identification and can have a conversation with us quelling all our curiousness. They not only are efficient that ways but are extremely caring and hospitable, never imagined govt tourist houses to have such a courteous and caring staff. They made some awesome meals as well and also took us out on trails in the woods.

The boarding facilities are basic, whilst the cottages are under repair the dormitory that they have are quite simple and good and adequate. Very neatly run this place has to be up on your list if you are looking to go birding in the Western Ghats. Here are some of the birds that we spotted here!