Calls of Konkan
If one feels
that life is getting unrealistically fast and furious, traffic is getting on to
your nerves and your mundane job is making you a computer horse, here is a good
place away. A place so far away that it even makes one forget the meaning of
fast life, targets, deadlines, appraisals and so many more words and phrases
which snatch away the blissful happiness from mankind. A place with people so
laid back that its people yawns before giving you directions.
Konkan is
“Gods own country” in all senses. In terms of geography it has two distinct
natural boundaries, the Western Ghats on the east side and the Arabian
Sea on the west side. In terms of natural bounty, the region has
some of the most precious natural offerings like Beatle nuts, Coconuts, Kokum,
Cashews, Jack fruit, Sea food,
the famous Alphonso or locally called “hafuz” mangoes. In the early summers,
some trees are laden more with mangoes than the leaves. Almost all the villages
of Konkan are very neat and clean with a small temple playing Bhajans in the
morning and evening. These are melodious Indian classical music based Bhajans
unlike the Bhajans played in North India which are ripped off from tunes of
film music and words makes no sense apart from a few words coming every now and
then praising the lord.
Living in Pune,
Konkan has been my escape button from mundane office, traffic and so many more
worrisome things. Just five hours of drive towards west from Pune lands you in
gods own country. Konkan is such a gifted place that, if given a choice even to
collect fruit one need not to climb the trees. The coconuts, the Jackfruits,
the Kokam berries, cashew fruits upon getting ripened fall by themselves. Being
so gifted, the laid-back life comes so naturally to the inhabitants of Konkan.
Konkan has no
particular birding season; in fact, all the seasons in Konkan bring in their
own gifts in the form of different migratory as well as resident birds. Summers
bring in much colourful Indian Pitta also and rightly known as “Nav Rang”, the
rains brings in more colorful Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher for breeding and
nesting purpose, the winters announces arrival of Sea Gulls, Whimbrels and
Oystercatchers. In addition to these migrant guests the Konkan has a plethora
of birds as native residents like the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, the Black caped
monarch, variety of green pigeons, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Majestic white
bellied Sea Eagle, the Crested serpent Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Minivets,
Chloropsis, variety of Sun birds, Shrikes, Emerald doves, owlets and owls.
Geographically
Konkan region can be divided in to three sub regions, to start with the Konkan
region begins with the culmination of Western Ghats and the villages in this
region are in Ghat sections and lively hood is more dependent on rivers and
forests rather than the sea. Traces of Western Ghats still constitute the major
scenes of landscapes. The majestic Brahminy Kites starts taking prominence over
the skies around the water bodies and start the announcement of a different
avian life of Konkan. A majority part of
Konkan is covered with green in in form of semi ever green forests or mango
orchards or the mangroves around rivers linked with coasts.
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Short Toed Snake Eagle
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The first Part:
The Konkan Starts
End of the Western Ghats marks the beginning
of Konkan and places like Mahad, Chiplun, Khed, Devrukh, Kanakvali, Kudal etc
are the major towns in this Konkan belt. These towns form the entry point in to
Konkan Villages and act as junction points. Nearby forests and villages are
tremendous places of birding. Indian Pitta, Oriental Dwarf Kingfiesher,
Pigeons, and Eagles along with many other plethora of species at every turn,
every tree offers something worth exploring. I love this part of Konkan for its
rich bio diversity, it not only offers birds but reptiles are also found in
abundance in planes of these forests. My
advice to people visiting not only Konkan but any interior parts of India is to
keep a torch handy in night time and stick to beaten paths as Snakes still make
most number of victims in terms of human animal conflicts and results are as
fatal as amputation or even death. Snakes remain a potent threat almost in
every part of India and not only in Konkan. Between the Ghats and Konkan lie
the rocky planes which are the best place to spot reptilian life forms. There
is a reason why there are so many reptiles in this part, the rocky bed of
planes is made up of porous rocks and this makes it a perfect adobe for
reptiles. In summers, small crevices in the Porous rocks offers shelter and
hiding place for ambush hunting. In winters, these rocks retain the heat of the
day for longer periods and hence help small snakes retain higher body
temperatures for longer time and helping them to remain active post dusk for a
longer period of time and hence increasing the chances of grabbing a prey. In
rainy seasons, the excess of water gets seeped inside the tiny holes of the porous
rocks and ground becomes dry super quick helping the reptiles to move freely
and remain dry so as to control body temperatures. Body temperature of a snake
remains most critical feature of reptile’s life, as body temperature determines
the speed and accuracy of attack. Speaking about speed the Saw scaled Vipers in
Snake family define speed in a new way, if you happen to spot them they remain
still and move at a very sluggish pace, but do not be fooled by the sluggish
behavior of these gems of evolutions and never venture anywhere near striking
range, even the striking range is difficult to gauge as they go in to a coil
shape with head followed by a small “S” shape of body which helps them to
catapult in to larger distances and make a quick strike. When I used work quick
strike, the work quick attains a new definition this snake is capable of
striking and coming back in 50 to 70 milliseconds, if you are thinking that
this time can be managed, a fact to remind how miniscule these 50 milliseconds
can be, blink of a human eye records 300 to 400 milliseconds. The strike speed
is way above our mind to gauge and instruct our body to respond. Small things
come in good packages and same is true for this, and for a good reason as being
small allows it to inject only limited venom as a result of which people
survive and live to tell a painful tale.
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Saw Scaled Viper- Attack Mode
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Saw Scaled Viper- Defensive Mode
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These parts of
Konkan are beautiful in the Monsoon mornings as the water carrying clouds get
stuck in lower mountains first and then make a move upwards as the wind gathers
pace as the day matures towards afternoon. The entire valley turns green and
flowering is at its peak this coincides with the start of butterflies giving
eggs and Larvae start emerging out of eggs to feed on young and succulent
leaves of their choice. Monsoons also mark arrival of a very important and a
very vibrant migrant to Konkan, the Oriental Dwarf kingfisher arrives. The
arrival of ODKF is not just a coincidence as it arrives for breeding and
nesting purpose to these northern parts of the Deccan peninsula from as far as
Sri Lanka. The eggs of stream dwelling red crabs get hatched during this time
and these small hatchlings roaming in the stream without any camouflage or
cover of the nest acts as a good source of protein rich food source for the
young of the ODKF. Looking at the hunting frequency of this little beauty I can
be sure that the metabolism of young birds is very fast and they must be
growing at a very rapid pace. The ODKF makes tunnel like nests in the mud holes
on the embankments of the rivers or small rocky streams. This bird although quite common by its
presence, is a jewel in avian fauna; the plethora of bright and vibrant colours
on such a small bird makes it an awesome experience to see. I have spent hours
just watching this bird and love the fix pattern that they follow like an
obedient school going boy follows his routine schedule. The bird comes out of
the tunnel shaped nest, sits on the nearest barren perch in the open, looks
around as if waiting for checkered flag to wave, and flies off in the direction
of river stream, Flight of this bird is equally beautiful as it appears like a
small flame floating fast up and down in forest like a compressed sine wave
curve with metallic chit-chit calls while in flight. After some time comes back
on the same perch from where it took off, this time carrying a juvenile Crab,
or a skink in its beak, rests for a while and then enters the tunnel like nest to
start the process all over again.
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Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
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Colour Riot- Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
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Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
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Before the
arrival of Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Konkan also witnesses arrival of Indian
Pitta from the Himalayas. The Indian Pitta also arrives to brood and feed its
young ones with butterfly larvae which are found in abundance during the pre-monsoon
as well as during monsoons. Pitta happens to be a very caring parent in bird
fraternity, since it’s a migratory bird and arrives just before the onset of
monsoon, it does not get any luxury of time and favorite tree perch to make
nests, so the preferred nesting site is small crevices formed by bulged roots
of trees, but nesting on ground has its own perils and is open to attacks from
reptiles and mammals equally. To avoid traces of smell of its brood getting
detected and from flowing in air and catching attention of a monitor lizard or
snake who rely heavily on sense of smell to locate their prey, the Indian Pitta
keeps a carpet of leaves in its nest, the young birds do the droppings on these
leaves and then the pitta wraps the droppings of its infant in leaves and drops
it away from nesting site so as to avoid any kind of odor getting accumulated which
may lead to detection of its brood.
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Pompadour Green Pigeon- Female
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Scarlet Minivet Male
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Pompadour Green Pigeon- Male
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Pre-monsoon air
is filled with fire flies creating a spectacle with blinks of light and
reassures us that it just takes smallest of lights to break greatest of
darkness. On the forest floor calls you could spot Millipedes and Centipedes of
lot many varieties. You can also look
out for Hornbill nests in larger trees. Hornbills from the time of their
evolution have maintained their nesting tradition. The pair chooses a suitable
tree hole and female goes inside it and makes lining inside the tree hole with
soft nesting material. The male seals the hole from outside with the use of mud
and leaves only a thin slit open, the thickness of this slit is just sufficient
for female to take out its beak from the nest to receive the food. This is
perhaps done from the instinct when the predators had long necks and could
smell the tree holes for sensing prey. This period is very demanding for the
male outside as first it had to arrange food for his mate inside, once eggs are
hatched the male has to fetch the food for the newly hatched chicks as well,
sometimes the male becomes very tiresome and by the time the brood comes out of
the nest the male is in very pale state and in certain cases does not lives to
see the brood fly. Richard Dawkins in his path breaking book “The Selfish Gene”
has mentioned this instinct as a work done by the Gene to preserve itself for a
longer period as the Gene knows that the mature hornbill will survive less than
its brood and Gene can live longer with in younger brood and making him/her
repeat what it has been doing since ages. Dawkins in his work gives a new
perspective to care and affection of parents and presents it as a work of genes
which are working in a selfish manner and making the parents work in a selfless
manner. To put it in right perspective is should be kept in mind that the
“genes” are selfish and not the parents.
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Verditter's Fly Catcher
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This part of
Konkan receives maximum rainfall and is also a hub for amphibian life forms
with frogs taking prominence. Nights are always full of mating calls of frogs not
only coming from ground but also from between the tree trunks but also from
branches of the trees. Trees surrounding small water pond are the place to
found these frogs, males take care of the eggs on the leaves hanging above the
pond. The fertilized eggs look like a pile of foam on leaves. Once the eggs are
ready to hatched, the tadpoles emerge out and takes a dive straight in to the water.
This acts like a drip supply of tadpoles in to the stream or pond below.
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Malabar Gliding Frog
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Tree Frog
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In winters, you
can see small green leaves falling of the tree slowly, and before you think it
is a natural occurrence, look closely it could be a Vernal Hanging Parrot which
hangs down on trees and feeds itself, highly camouflaged and much smaller in
size as compared to parakeets which are normally seen in Urban and rural
landscape. It’s a great failure of our education system that while teaching
alphabets the P for parrot that is taught via pictorial depiction is actually P
for Parakeet, but our education system does not give importance of visual
memory or learning but more importance is given to what you write and mug up.
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Indian Roller in Flight
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Talking about
parrots and parakeets, the parakeets have long thin, elongated tails, whereas
parrots have wedge shaped smaller tails on the back. There is only one species
of Parrot in India and it is found in Indian and is found in Western Ghats and
edges of it.
The landscape in
this part of Konkan is full of rivers as they form small deltas with mangroves
before finally culminating in to sea in next 40 odd Kms, water in these rivers
usually has a murky appearance owing to mud content in rivers as well manganese
deposit in the Rocky River bed. Murky
water and loose mud helps one of the deadliest amphibian to thrive in such
conditions which depends on its camouflage in such conditions to get food, Estuarine
Crocodiles are at home in these conditions and this is perhaps the best place
to spot them. A hand roving boat is best
to spot them and get close to them. Evenings and mornings, they are out basking
in sun to regulate their temperatures. If you look carefully along the embankments,
you may find really big ones sleeping in den, real size can be gauged by
looking at the size of humongous jaws of the beast as fully-grown Crocodiles
are elusive and do not venture out in open for too long.
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Big Estuarine Crocodile in Den
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Stealth Mode On- Estuarine Crocodile
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Stealth Mode
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Sub Adult Crocodile in Sun
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Best time to Visit: Winters and Monsoons.
Best place to stay: Dongarmatha Eco Resort, Chiplun
This place is
located on a hill top and offers very good panoramic view all rounds with Vaishishthi
River in foreground and blue hills in the backdrop. It’s a tremendous place not
only for bird watching but also for nature exploration as a whole. Food is both
veg and non-veg and stay very comfortable. Hosts are very friendly and main
attraction is the bamboo based architecture of this place.
Apart from commoners
Birds Sighted: Yellow Footed Green Pigeons, Pompadour Green Pigeons, Black
capped Monarch, White Rumped Shama,
Black Hooded Oriole, Eurasian Oriole, Indian Scoops owl, White Eyed
Buzzard, Crested Serpent Eagle, Crimson Sun bird, Black Bird, Paddy Field
Pipit, Tree Pipit, Clamorous reed warbler, Dark Throated babbler, Hooded
Warbler, Small Minivet, Scarlet Minivet, Chestnut Shouldered Petronia, Vernal
Hanging Parrot, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Red Jungle Fowl,
Brahminy Kite, Indian Roller, White Ibis, Cormorants etc.
Apart from Birds
this place is not to be missed for Crocodiles, sightings are common and
requires just one boat ride.
The Middle Slice
of Konkan: The Mix of Planes and Ghats
Once you travel approximately
a further 30 Kms towards the west, roads with small ghats and snake like turns
welcome you, and you find yourself in the planes of Konkan. Small rivulets form
the basis of habitation of villages, dark green paddy fields fill up the
distant landscape, mango and Cashew orchards are on sides of roads to leading
to the villages with forests accompanying in the Ghat section.
Small clean
villages with predominantly agrarian population make up the population. Apart
from main road villages are interconnected via small beaten path roads suitable
for those who still believe in walking. Small homes with large portion of
Greenery are a norm rather than an exception. With such green portions at home a fallen
branch of a coconut tree makes a perfect broom and morning when the broom is
making its noise the melodious calls of birds start taking over the auditorium
in this part of Konkan, with metallic calls of Orioles, accompanied by Rufous
treepie screeching and small melodious chirping of White Rumped Munias, late
mornings is the time when common iora takes over the proceedings along with ever
fighting Chlorpsis aka leaf bird and ever protective Drongos looking over the
proceedings and steady black birds bringing calmness around.
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White Rumped Munia
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White Rumped Munia
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Golden Fronted Leaf Bird
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Black Bird
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The planes also
have a good amount of mammalian life, noon time is best time to spot Indian
Grey mongoose or if you are lucky you can spot an entire family of mongoose in
act of finding food. If one sits still and make no sudden movements Mongoose
acts can be a treat for your senses. If one makes no sudden movements the group
starts its routine activity but one Mongoose in the group ensures that it keeps
an eye on human intruder who is observing the family in action. The members
keep looking and smelling in to every bush for any hints of a food, it’s a patient
process of looking for food and every corner gets explored delicately to the
full satisfaction without disturbing anything. If any distant noise comes along
the eldest members stands up on hind legs to increase the scope of vision and
without ensuring that nothing a food source or a danger has escaped their eyes,
they do not give up the probing stance.
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Eye on Intruder
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Searching for Food
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Drives in the
nights can be full of surprises; I have personally encountered a big Jackal
besides a bend on a road leading to a rivulet. Pair of glittering eyes is very
common and could be of a fishing cat or a Jungle cat depending on where one has
encountered them. If near water body there are more chances of it being a
fishing cat and if near a dense bush could well be of a Jungle cat. Drifts of wild
boars are very common and their foot prints can be seen all over the landscape
in the morning all along the beaten paths.
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Green Sandpiper
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Puff Throated Babbler
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Still places
around Ratnagiri and Phansad are still holding up the treasures but how long
remains a big question. Konkan around these parts still has a lot of nature
left in it but somehow, I feel in patches it is dying away with unchecked
hunting of both mammals as well as birds. Fires in summers more often than not
are induced and smoke can be seen from miles away but yet no action is taken,
neither on the fire, nor on its perpetrators. As usual forest department in
Maharashtra remains in deep slumber induced by the political masters and
bureaucrats and can be seen in action only in Tiger belt of Vidarbh. This induced
slumber is killing nature as I see locals are not made to involve in to
conservation activities and no efforts are made to explore possibilities of
locals earning out of nature exploration. Inside the forest ravines one can
easily see signs of bonfire which is carelessly used by hunters who use snares
and small rifles to kill/ catch wild boars, hares and other small life forms.
Catapults can be seen in the hands of young boys roaming in Jungle is a clear
indicator of how they are a threat to birds in these forests. Animals and birds
in such disturbed areas are very alert and shy to humans around and this can be
noticed while observing them, in well protected areas the same species responds
in a bold and uninhibited manner. This alertness in disturbed area is
attributed to humans being harbinger of death and destruction around that they experience
in their short lives.
This patch holds
so much potential from birding point of view as trees from Ficus family,
berries are in abundance as a source of food for small passerine birds like
barbets, tailor bird, sun birds etc. along with this such trees also act as an
excellent host to variety of insects like wasps, bees, Beatles and moths which
act as a source of food for flycatchers, insects and fruit bearing trees also
support small mammals like Squirrels and Mongoose which in turn act as a food
source for predators like hawks and Eagles, it’s a chain which is balanced yet
very delicate and may not be able to bear such shocks for long time. Fire in
the forest wipes out insect population as well as their habitat, which
adversely impacts the entire chain; on top of this the hunting degrades it
further and pushes this chain to a more brittle state. How delilcate this chain
is can be understood by the fact that every fig tree has a dedicated species of
wasp which is entrusted with the vital responsibility of pollination along with
birds who feed on Fig berries. The deal is simple the wasp pollinates the fig
tree and the tree allows the wasp to lay its eggs inside its flowers. The
commoners like the Peepul and the Banyan tree are a lucrative abode for birds
of both types (fruitarian as well as insectivores) as they are yearlong fruit
bearing by nature.
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Blue Mormon
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Common Iora
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Asian Paradise Flycatcher - Female
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So next times
you visit Konkan do not just sit beneath a tree, flex your neck muscles and see
patiently upwards, there are good chances that you may get bitten by bug of
bird watching.
Best Time to
Visit: Winter and onset of winter till spring
Recommended
place for Stay: Atithi Parinay A/p Kotawade Near Ratnagiri.
Wild life
Sightings
Mammals: Indian
Hare, Jackal and Indian Grey Mongoose
Birds: Black
Naped Monarch, Verditter’s flycatcher, White Rumped Shama, Blue Eared
Kingfisher, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Brown Fish Owl, Asian Paradise
Flycatcher, Black Rumped Munia, Scaly breasted Munia, Scarlet Minivet, Crimson
Sun Bird, Yellow Footed Green pigeon, Short Toed Snake Eagle, Blue Rock Thrush,
Puff Thorated Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Yellow Bulbul, White Browed
Bulbul, Black Hooded oriole, Wood Sandpiper, Eurasian Sparrow Hawk etc.
The Heart and Soul
of Konkan – The Beaches
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Beaches - the Soul of Konkan
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Konkan without
beaches cannot be imagined and I have travelled to almost all the major and
minor beaches on Konkan in past 14 years and have found every beach to be
different from one another be it in terms of texture of sand to the patterns found
on the shells which gets washed on shores to the patterns which waves make on
sand while going back. Winter mornings are beautiful as the mist around the
planted trees around beaches is a view which can make you stand still for a
while and adore the beauty. The sunsets in the summers with clear sky are a
treat to watch, the gradual change in the shades of sky as the sun gradually
sinks in the sea beats any palate shade maker of the most intricate photo
editing soft wares. Watching Sun at eye level and going down can only be seen
in western coasts of India. Nights on the beaches are full of crabs, and in
winter if one is lucky may see self-illuminating planktons getting washed
ashore, this phenomena usually happens in mid of the night but is a sight to
see and may well be a sight that I may
carry with me when I am put to rest. Villages around the coasts are mixed with
commercial activities of Fisheries as well as farming. Farming consists of
Beetle nut, Mango, Coconut and Kokum. Farming activities are dominated by
Hindus and Muslims take care of fisheries business.
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Delightful Sunsets
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More Shades
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Sun Bird Female feeding on Spider
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Sun Bird Male- In Molting
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Sun Bird Female- Morning Exercise
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Sun Bird Female
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Villages are
very small and usually encompass a single road parallel to sea shore with
multiple roads perpendicular to the main road leading to the sea shore with
small hatched homes all along with mango or beetle nut plantations in the
courtyard. Being the west most edge of the Indian sub-continent the morning
starts a bit late than the usual eastern parts. 7 AM is a good time to start
birding and first to show up is usually the white Rumped Shama, dark fronted
warblers are omnipresent and slowly and steadily the activities increases with chuckling
screech of Kingfishers coming from poles, wires, barren perches all around, as
If it is announcing the abundance of fish disclaimers to the people passing
bye. The most standout of calls starts coming around 8 AM with a loud goose
like Nasal honking, it is a very far carrying call for an eagle and it
announces its presence far across. It’s the white bellied Sea Eagle announcing
itself around. I have observed that 2 of
the loudest eagles have a reason to be so loud, one is Crested Serpent Eagle
and the other one is White Bellied Sea Eagle, Prey base of both the species
consist of prey base which are indifferent to sounds made in sky. On the one hand,
the crested serpent Eagle aims for snakes as a preferred diet and on the other
hand the White bellied sea Eagle relies primarily on fish in the sea as a prey
base, snakes are deaf to noises in atmospheres, whereas the calls of white
bellied sea Eagle does not penetrate the heavy medium of water so the fishes
remain unaffected by the calls of its nemesis. It’s not only the White bellied
sea Eagles which the fishes have to be worried about, abundance of prime fish
hunters like Ospreys is enough to send the fishes in to depression.
Early summers of
April is a good time as it is the time when the juvenile Sea eagles start
taking coaching for taking on skies. Trees around the coast line can also
present a chance encounter with fast diving Bonelli’s Eagle, I have also
spotted elusive and rare Grey Breasted Green pigeons also known as Pompadour
Green Pigeon in the Casuarina tree near the coast line. Casuarina tree line is common
across sea shores in Maharashtra and has caused much of damage to vegetation
around due to its allelopathic properties. The thin leaves of this tree fall on
the ground below and makes a carpet like cover and does not allows any other
plant to grow and thick plantation of this plant has resulted in complete
scuttling in the growth of other plants in its vicinity. These plants have thin
barks and lesser three branched forks so also does not serve the purpose of nest
making for birds. The use of invasive and stubborn species has been a hallmark
of our Ministry of Forest and environment since beginning; and now with
development in its mind in bargain of brainless acts of conservation the
ministry and its bureaucratic machinery is working more actively towards
destruction of environment.
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Baya Weaver - Male
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Blue Rock Thrush Female
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Western Reef Egret
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Brown Headed Barbet
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Red Rumped Swallow - Female
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Common Kestrel
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Green Bee Eater- Breakfast with a toss
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Eurasian Curlew
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Crab Plovers and Sand Pipers
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Come winters and these beaches turn hosts to a
lot of migrating birds like Crab Plover, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Rudy
Turnstones, Godwits, Eurasian Curlews, plovers, variety of sandpipers, terns and
Gulls fill up these beaches in abundant numbers. Certain beaches near Guhagar and Ratnagiri
are filled up in white coloured Gulls and it’s a sight to see.
As the winter
starts its retreat another special visitor species starts arriving to these
beaches, this species can only be termed as visitor. It is strictly a visitor
and will never return to these beaches again for next one year. These beaches play
host to egg laying grounds for of Giant olive Ridley turtles, some beaches like
Velas and Kelshi can be termed as arribadas because of sheer number of turtle choosing them over as preferred
nesting grounds. Out of both male and female turtles getting hatched out of the
nesting hole, interestingly only the female will come back to land again and
will be choosing the same beach for laying foundation of its offspring where
she herself has been born. This is the precise logic for certain nesting
grounds being preferred over the other in terms of number of arrivals. Also
contributing to this is presence of a river which is getting merged with sea
nearby as water at such beaches is less saline and has more content of
planktons as well as small fish which proves out to be beneficial as a food for
the new born. Although the mother is never there to really take care of the
babies when they are born, but the selection of place for laying eggs ensure
that the mother ensures good chances of survival for its offspring’s. The arrival
of female turtles starts late in the night or pre-morning in complete darkness,
nights with heavy winds are preferred rather than peaceful nights. The mother
Turtles comes and crawls over the sand and digs a small hole with investing
heavy effort from its flaps which are meant for swimming and not for sand
digging. Once appropriate depth is achieved the female starts laying the eggs
and goes in to a trance state where she is not perturbed by any disturbance
around her. Arrival is a tricky part as the females sometimes comes to the
beach but does not lays eggs, this is known as false crawl and undue
disturbances like lights, noise on the beach may lead to a false crawl.
In beaches like
Velas the birth of turtles is celebrated as a festival and why not, Birth of a
life is always blissful, may be so because an infant is a bundle of hopes and
so many dreams which it can accomplish. This festival to me is like a nature's
pilgrimage. Volunteers at different beaches of Konkan go through above 50
sleepless nights guarding the eggs laid by female Olive Ridley turtles and
oversee that they get hatched successfully. The cheer of people that welcomes
the arrival is nothing short of any prayers. For all the negative intervention
that we humans do in terms destroying nature, and its inhabitants; this for
sure remains one of the most positive interventions by us humans.
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Olive Ridley Hatching
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Post females
leaves the eggs in holes, these volunteers collect them carefully and transfer
them to a protected hatchery where the eggs are put inside the new holes and
date of laying is marked on it so that a date of eggs getting hatched can be
predicted. This transfer is done to safeguard laid eggs from natural predators
like Monitor lizards, wild boars, feral dogs, Jackals etc. and the most
devastating of all, us humans.
Mornings are the
time when more hatch-lings come out of egg shells as compared to evenings. The
struggle of these hatch-lings to reach to the sea water is a spectacle to watch,
crowds gathered around cheer for every baby turtle to move ahead as if they are
cheering for their favorite Olympics star in a race, differences being that
here the participants never bother about crowd cheers, secondly this is a very slow-moving
race and each one who reaches the sea alive is a winner. Having said that getting
in to sea is a big challenge as even smallest of waves have enough energy to
push back the little ones far back and even tumble them upside down. Sometimes
the baby turtles halt for some time and then start their struggle back to win
the waters. In measurement terms, it is 1 step forward and 3 steps back as the waves
send them even further back from they were actually when waves had hit them.
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Struggle to get to water
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Beaches like
Malvan, Guhagar and Velneshwar, Aare, Ware, where boats are available one can
even spot dolphins in motion but one has to have high tolerance to nausea while
being in a boat in sea as it really tests your ability to counter nausea and
head spins. One can also enjoy a boat ride starting from river to the
culmination of river in to sea mangroves around are carriers to a lot of life
forms from reptiles to Mammals and from invertebrates to birds, some of them being endemic to
Mangroves as Mangroves being a special habitat requires special skills to
survive.
Suggested places
for Stay:
Konkan Serene @
Kelshi near Mandangad the property is near to beach with good food and this
beach also has Olive Ridley Turtle nesting as well as good bird life all around.
The combination
of the beaches, the Mangroves, the
Greenery, the mountains, the valleys and a good part of people who are in sync
with nature makes it a special place for every life form and making it a unique
getaway for people who are desperately seeking a break from mundane life..
So what are you waiting for..Pack your
blanket and pillows..reach out ..explore more…you will never regret