Birding @ Biking

I don't call myself a birdwatcher, because I find it difficult to identify and photograph birds, so they are not among the first things that I might ran after in a forest! But I have had the luck to spend considerable amount of time in forest with binoculars accompanying seasoned Birdwatchers which taught me to appreciate their beauty, diversity, elegance and charisma! So I agreed to a bird trip to 'Nimati-Ghat' (swamps along the Brahmaputra’s bank), when Raja (my old and trusted jungle trip partner!)casually mentioned about it. Have already heard about the place being famous for migratory birds and also Raja's description about 'Nimati' made me extra curious! But there was another reason behind my instant agreement, it was going to be a couple of days office holiday for (bohag) Bihu and I didn't want to rot at home. Apart from bird watching our plan contained another agenda to meet the 'Forest Man of Assam' and visit his forest. I came to know about him from Sanctuary Asia (Vol XXXII No.6) and wanted to meet him ever since and it was my sheer luck that he happened to belong to the same locality!

Geared up with my camera, food, water and other necessary stuff we left in the morning on Raja's bike for Jorhat. It took almost 90 minutes to reach there. A forest department's sign board welcomed us to the Birdwatching site and warned not to cause them any harm.

Purple dots on green carpet

I wasn't quite ready for what I saw immediately after, when Raja pointed towards the marshes on my right and said 'there we go!’ I noticed hundreds of purple dots over the lush green grass. I got off the bike to have a closer look; they were indeed a huge flock of Purple Moorhens (Porphyrio porphyrio)! My regular lens didn't help me at all and the birds too kept a safe distance from me depriving me a good shot.  Raja consoled me and said it's gonna continue for many more kms along the river and I might have better luck ahead. He wasn't exaggerating; I did see thousands of Purple Moorhens along with other swam and water bird species.

Black-headed Ibis

  Though on a bike we were moving as fast as walking, stopping every 10 meters or so to identify or photograph birds but they were quite camera conscious and winged upon my arrival. Early monsoon had torn the river bank road apart which was taking a toll on the bike and its driver. The scene continued for almost 10kms until we reached the sandy beach of Brahmaputra. Though it was mid-April and most of the Migratory birds had left by then, we still saw more than 30 species of Birds there. Some of them which I could identify (with my limited knowledge) were – Black-headed Ibis(Threskiornis melanocephalus), Little Egret(Egretta gazetta), Little Cormorant(Phalacrocorax niger), Ruddy Shelduck(Tadorna ferruginea), Mallard(Anas platyrhynchos), Greylag goose(Anser anser), Coot(Fulica atra), Bronze-winged Jacana(Metopidius indicus), Grey-headed Lapwing(Vanellus cinereus), Red-wattled Lapwing(Vanellus indicus), Marsh Sandpiper(Tringa stagnatilis), Asian Palm Swift(Cypsiurus balasiensis), Pied Kingfisher(Ceryle rudis), Yellow wagtail(Motacilia flava), Asian open bill stork(Anastomus oscitans), Lesser Adjutant stork(Leptoptilos javanicus)  and many other common species.

Close! Yet too far, Ruddy Shelducks

In monsoon when Brahmaputra floods and overflows it's banks, it's water gets stuck in these  lowlands/riverine forests and transforms the whole place into a unique  wetland. Such water bodies are critical for the survival of the aquatic avifauna! Am not sure about the protection status but the locals didn't seem much interested either in us or what we were seeking! I hope they will remain aware or not aware at all to this crucial ecosystem and let it be as it is. More importantly I hope (rather pray) it won't fall prey to ever energy-hungry policy makers in their some modern power project or tourism nonsense!

6 different species together

After almost two hrs. of birding on bike we halted at the beach to relax our backs. Energized with some light refreshments we began our search for the 'Forest Man'. Luckily it wasn't a very big place and he already had gathered some fame, so we were directed towards his house soon. It was a Changghar, typical Mising bamboo hut on wooden pillars. We were offered chairs  near the lawn, after a few mins of waiting a middle-aged man came down  to greet us, I knew it was him, had seen his photo in Sanctuary already! There we were shaking hands with Jadav Payeng, locally known as Mulai!

Lesser Adjutant stork

After the initial introduction, we began our conversation. Raja asked him about his mission to paint his island Green! He said it all started in his childhood when Brahmaputra yet again swelled and destroyed his island and the only thing he could see is sand. With the help of a village elder, he started planting trees to bring back the greenery. Later it grew into an obsession and also a moral realization and today after more than 30 years his efforts paid off! His 1,360 acres of dense forest gives refuge to many different species of wildlife, from elephants to rhinos, to leopards, wild buffaloes, vultures and even tigers were reported from his forest! His idea is simple but effective, 'plant trees, save the world'. Though he only has primary education and lives a simple life and hardly goes out of his island but he was aware of what’s wrong with us! Our conversation was barred by a tray full of pithas (ethnic delicacies) and tea; we got lucky since it was festive season. Enjoying smoked pithas we continued. Payeng told us how villagers opposed him for developing forest and drawing elephants which destroyed their houses! He expressed grave concern about mankind breaking the balance of nature! According to him we the Homo sapiens as a species may not be engendered but we definitely are in danger! I couldn't help myself but to agree with him. It's only because of his efforts and dedication the world acknowledges him. He was honoured with the title ' Forest man of Assam' by Jawaharlal Nehru University, awarded by President of India, invited to attend a Global conference of the International forum for Sustainable development at Evian, France and many more honours! But I was amazed to find, all the dazzle of fame and recognition haven't got into his head, his feet are still firmly grounded. He is happy in his three rooms Changghar and spends any extra resources towards his mission and love for nature!  

Since it was getting late and the world had sunk into the festive mood, we didn't want to force him to take us to his forest, which was on the other side of the Brahmaputra. Promising to come back to visit his forest we left Payeng's house.

Riding back to Jorhat I begun to admire how much change could a single man's efforts bring! But his words worried me, I understand it's not the time to be pessimistic but it is also a fact that only in 200,000 years of our arrival we, humans have succeeded in disrupting the balance of life on earth which took 4 billion years to evolve! We have everything we need, it time we took hard decisions to protect the planet we call 'HOME'!