A Bird Sanctuary.....doomed!

Since its winter, the best time to see migratory birds, so I planned a trip to a Bird Sanctuary. Called up one of my bank mates and he agreed to help. This is one of the advantages of working in an institution which has branches at various locations; you will always have someone or the other to help you almost everywhere. Getting help from locals always makes a trip hassle free and much more enjoyable.
We were whooshing through the highway beating early morning chill on our bikes! Our destination was one of the lesser known bird sanctuaries of Assam, Panidehing Bird sanctuary. Only half an hour away from the historic town of Sibasagar. Somehow I had this thought in my head that since the place I was going to visit is not favored by many so there will be less human interference and may have some special sightings. Little did I know what future had stored for me! The road was better than I thought and we reached well on time. Parking our bikes near a dried up swamp, we started walking.

They run the place

From the first look of it, the landscape appeared to be different. There was a river (almost dried up), grasslands and marshes on either sides of it. We pressed on but I failed to see any birds except a group of yellow and white wagtails which guided us the way. I climbed up the watchtower to have a better look at the landscape and to decide our course. Disappointed I was, the moment I completed a full 360 degree scan of my surroundings! What I could see was vast stretch of grasslands with thousands of cattle grazing but no Birds! All my excitement to explore an untouched bird sanctuary dried away in a second. Since the river had dried up it made the whole area accessible for humans and their livestock.

Deserted Swamps!

 
Burying my fear that I may not find anything there, I decided to walk alongside the dry riverbed. What I encountered the most, were humans fishing on the river and some collecting willow! They were clueless when I asked them about birds and behaved as if I was looking for tigers! They seemed ignorant or unaware of the fact that it’s a protected area and they are not supposed to fish there. It might also be the result of zero efforts put by the authorities to demarcate the boundary of the sanctuary with hoardings, signboards, pillars, fence or anything of that kind to aware people about the Dos and Don’ts and to keep them away. Apart from human presence and their thousands of cattle, I saw dogs (feral or domestic not known) which must have also played a role in driving the birds away over the period of time. I actually found one dog running away with a duck like bird carcass in its mouth! I have too less information to say anything conclusive but I didn't enjoy what I saw. Despite having everything for an idle bird roosting site, a river, marshes and vast grasslands on either sides, the landscape was (almost) empty! And it forced me to think that there are external human caused factors involved in eradicating birds for the sanctuary!

Alone!............yet hopeful

Despite all that disturbance and damage caused by us, nature did through some surprises at me! I almost bumped into a Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) hiding in the bushes and an Oriental Hobby (Falco severus) flew away when I went too close to photograph it. Other than these two excitements I saw small groups of Greylag goose(Anser anser) and Pintail(Anas acuta) in the shallow waters. Some Bronze winged jacana (Metopidius indicus), Marsh Sandpiper(Tringa stagnatilis) were busy doing their business in mudflats and wet patches with no or little vegetation. More than a dozen of Asian open bill stork (Anastomus oscitans), a few Lesser Adjutant stork(Leptoptilos javanicus) sunning in the open and a flock of Asian Palm Swift(Cypsiurus balasiensis) zigzagging overhead.

I hope am wrong with my theory about the status of the bird sanctuary and was just unlucky. Will be happy if nature proves me wrong with a larger number of avian attendances next time I visit Panidehing!

On a boat...... among birds..!

Some brave coots!

I signaled the boat to move towards my right without making any sound. Was ready with my camera to fire anytime as we approached a huge flock of Coot(Fulica atra) at Nimati Bird protected wetland. But yet again we were too large to be missed and it triggered serial flapping of wings and splashing of water. The whole flock winged and settled on a farther location. And this is the best I could manage controlling my disappointment and keeping my balance on the tiny boat we were in!

My last trip to this place left me restless and I knew I would return soon to admire the avian beauties and photograph some, if possible. But gearing myself up for the occasion and working out other details took some time. And yet again Raja (my bank mate) played a huge role in making this trip happen.

One of the larger tourists

It was sunny, though end of January the day was quite warm. I wondered if we were too late, but the sight of two Spot billed pelicans (pelecanus philippensis) moving swiftly at a tiny pool washed away all the doubts! We moved on and saw a number of species of swamp birds and ducks. And I kept on trying in vain to photograph some! Those wildfowls   were highly sensitive and I was completely exposed in the open marshes, which reduced my chances to photograph them. After having failed a number of times I decided to settle on a spot so that the birds get used to me and approach me. But again they proved to be smarter than me and laughed at my so called 'plan' from a safe distance. While I was trying my luck out, Raja's communication skills made my day! He somehow cut out a deal with a local fisherman to give us a ride on his boat.

Some of the brightly colored ones

There we were with Raju Das (the fisherman cum boatman cum guide) on his boat to have a closer look at the birds. Boat sounds like a big word for the thing we were in! Though Raju boast about his boat that it can carry 5 person, we both were praying that it successfully carries 2 atleast! Being on a boat turned the odds in my favor as we could go much closer to the birds but taking photos keeping my balance on a canoe is a skill am yet to master!

The closest I was allowed

I kept scanning the area with my telephoto lens and clicked as and when possible. Raja behind me was busy doing what he does best, 'Communicating'. He questioned Raju about the wetland, it's birds, fishing and protection of the species etc. Though Raju didn't deny that they hunt these birds occasionally but he was aware of the protection that they must provide. He said 'we get more fish because of the birds and we will never harm them and won't allow others do so!'. Seeing the diversity of the species and the number of birds gathered there, I believed him. The place was actually much bigger then we anticipated. It took almost a couple of hours to complete a round of the place. We could go pretty close to the birds except those highly camera conscious waterfowls and the huge flock of Greylag goose(Anser anser) who have strategically placed themselves on a place which was too shallow for the boat to reach and yet damp enough to walk!

pintails chilling out

We saw many different species of birds. Some of them were - Ruddy Shelduck(Tadorna ferruginea), Mallard(Anas platyrhynchos), Greylag goose(Anser anser), Coot(Fulica atra), Pintail(Anas acuta), White breasted kingfisher(Haleyon symrnensis), Common

kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), Yellow wagtail(Motacilia flava), White wagtail (Motacilia alba), Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger), Little egrett (Egretta garzetta), Pond heron (Ardeola grayii), Asian open bill stork (Anastomus oscitans), Large whistling Teal (Dendrocygna bicolor), Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), Bronze winged jacana (Metopidius indicus), Red watttled lapwing (Vanellus indicus), Pintail snipe(Gallinago stenura), Spot billed pelican (pelecanus philippensis), Brown-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus), Red-naped Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa) and many others which I couldn't identify. The area is quite rich in biodiversity with abundant growth of shrubs, aquatic plants, amphibians, molluscs, aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish, which attracts such diverse species of aquatic avifauna and also supports the livelihood the local people.

Thanks to Raju's boat ride I could get these photographs!

They made it possible (R & R)

Since the sun was blazing down on our heads and the birds begun to fly off we decided to leave. The second trip was even more fulfilling than the first one! And the spot has become my favorite to watch water birds. Would like to go there again before the visitors fly back!