On Tuesday, I went to the TTUF Nizhal park to help with watering of the semi-grown saplings there. Managed entirely with volunteers, the park is a beautiful place. I visit too rarely these days.
I joined the relay of merry and chirpy young volunteers with watering cans going up and down the central path. I had a good workout - carrying those five litre watering cans, two at a time. 😅
I watched the dragonflies and grasshoppers, heard the babblers and the mynas in the trees.
Magizham - Mimusops elengi - one spectacular red fruit with a background of dark wavy green.
Arjuna fruits - Terminalia arjuna - hung in abundance, ridgy and starry.
The Crepe Myrtle's purple flowering spikes were replaced by these fruits. Ripening - moving from green to this dark brown.
And this! The Noni tree was in flower and fruit! Morinda citrifolia
I sat this afternoon and tried to sketch them.
The wavy edges of the magizham leaves were beyond me, and the Noni maybe looked ore like a pineapple, and the Arjuna fruits - I need to figure how to sketch a ridge.
Finally after many a month I walked over to Nizhal's TTUF today morning.
Crossing the canal, filled with water hyacinth and a whole flock of cattle get, with many in breeding plumage.
As I stood and watched, a drongo swooped and picked an insect on the move. On the right bank, a mongoose moved purposefully through the undergrowth. A white-throated kingfisher, a flash of blue and a rattling call.
I was happy to see the trees all grown and green! The Crepe Myrtles and Arjuna's were in fruit, the Palash was in abundant green as also the Garlic Pear tree - in March, it was in flower. the Mimusops was in fruit. Has it been so long since I visited?
17th March 2024 - Crateva adinsonii - had dropped all its leaves, and a few flowers stood out, in full glory.
As Chitra and I walked along, a dog strolled past, followed by a peacock, if you please, - moving like a ballet dancer lightly and 'springily' into the far foliage.
Quite appropriately, the peacock flowers were in bloom
Looks like the park has an active night life - and I do not mean the snakes and other creature - which one would think would be a deterrent - but it appears not - Lust overcomes such fears I guess.
The pigs are an important food source for the Jarawa tribe.
"Andaman wild pigs are smaller in size with shorter limbs and a more compact body compared to mainland Indian pigs and what makes them unique is the higher oxygen carrying capacity of their blood.
Unlike domesticated pigs fed a controlled diet, Andaman wild pigs have a diverse diet consisting of fruits, nuts, roots, and invertebrates. This variety provides a broader range of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, potentially leading to a more complete protein profile in their meat.
Hunting the Andaman wild pig is culturally significant for the Jarawa, an indigenous tribe inhabiting parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands in India. Traditionally, a successful hunt of the wild pig signifies adulthood for a Jarawa man. These tribes are legally exempt from hunting restrictions imposed by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which otherwise attracts punishment of 7 years of imprisonment.
The enclosure provides a near-natural habitat for the species. Infants receive no specific external care. Generally, the female pig fed the young piglets which transitioned into normal diets as they grew.
The research paper also detailed the special attention given to diet so that the captive bred wild pigs maintain their natural protein values. The diet of captivity is diverse, including coconut, wheat bran, groundnut cake, jaggery, salt, tapioca, potato, and pumpkin, based on their nutritional needs. Leafy vegetables are added for nutrition, and water troughs are provided. The enclosure includes trees for shade, an open canopy area for sunlight, and soft soil for natural behaviours like uprooting and foraging. Deworming is also done every six months. "
It was 1030 by the time we exited the Park, and headedto the Chidiyatapu dive place - where we were to go snorkelling. The sun was high, and rather bright. The snorkelling instructors were from Kerala, bright and cheerful young lads, and some of us waded into the awaiting small motor boat in the cove, rounded the Munda Pahar beach, and went to the side of the islands where the coral reef was closer to the shore, and put anchor.
We we were told that the Crocs prefer the mangroves and were not in these waters.
Now Srinivas and Desigan were the ones with their phones and cameras - yet no pictures have they shared with me, and so I have no evidence of the beautiful blue waters, where I went snorkelling, every metre filled with new delights, multicoloured fish, and blue and purple corals that seemed to be regrowing on what looked like a lot of dead reef.
It was just beautiful - enjoyed thoroughly by Srinivas, Desigan and me. Sekar felt uncomfortable and returned quick and Umesh never did get the hand of breathing through the mouth.
We also had a bunch of young people from NIOT - learning scuba...and we had to wait until they all got into the water, including a senior white foreigner.
We we were all exhausted when we returned - I think it was close to 3pm when we had lunch, and Sekar and I just stayed in for the rest of the evening.
It was goodbye to Haddo in Port Blair,
and hello to this airport installation.
Back to Chennai after an uneventful flight - to this last bit of mirth.
The post-lunch session is always one that requires a lot of motivation. Stomachs full of a good "saapaad", courtesy Anandi meals, day temperatures that were warm and humid and a good inviting bed and nice pillow, all made for what we in the marketing profession would call barriers and de-motivators.
However, our gang of 8 was made of sterner stuff and off we went, to Sabari forest. I assumed we were visiting a dense forest and I was looking forward to large trees, lianas and wild orchids.
However, I was initially a bit underwhelmed when we stopped on the side of a road. There was a little steep lane down which Jabili was searching for a specific endemic. Which warbler I forget. The road led to a village - I think Bharatpur - and we were checking the undergrowth on each side.
I wandered a bit further down the lane, chatting school girls passed me on the way back home and they were not surprised to see me. Here are some sights from my wander.
Andaman Mormon - Male. I just saw this butterfly which looked a little different from what I have seen in Chennai. We did not have a butterfly person - so it was iNaturalist to the rescue, upon return, when I discovered this was Papilio mayo.
According to the Wiki page - "The scientific name honours Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was assassinated at Port Blair the year before the butterfly was discovered." Oh my goodness, Sekar, this one's for you and your Mayo College buddies.
Common Snowflat - once again identified through iNaturalist - isnt it pretty? The Skipper butterfly perched on Siam Weed.
A bracket fungi was growing off some dead wood, and the leaf litter was so diverse and colourful. Everything recycles, gets reused...hmm.
I loved the colours of these leaves.
A Common Cerulean - there were many - perched on a yellow Burweed. I love to see their twitching delicate tails in the binoculars.
A Sponge gourd grew on wooden supports, probably harvested by the residents of Bharatpur.
If this is a Burweed, then it is not native and has probably come in with travellers. Aster family.
High up in the canopy, I saw my first wild orchid of the trip! Papilionanthe teres - of the Vanda family. What we pay and buy from the Chennai florists.
I was very excited by the beauty in the canopy, and was a bit crushed that no one else was. Oh well. I think they were a bit disbelieving of my id probably. 😆. I could see the aerial roots as well of this epiphyte.
A Climbing Aroid made a symmetric design on a tree trunk.
The warblers were calling from the undergrowth. But were frustratingly not in clear sight. On the electric wires, the doves cooed, long-tailed parakeets flew in and out as did the sunbirds.
Toothbrush orchids! In the Dendrobium famil, with all the flowers lined up on one side, like a toothbrush.
One of my favourite sighting was that of the freckle-breasted woodpecker - a lifer. We had good sightings via our binoculars, as they busily went around a horizontal branch searching for their evening tiffin - insects. These are not seen on the mainland.
Really delightful birds, so well captured by Umesh!
Trees. Without them no woodpecker, no bulbul, no pigeon, no eagle and yet we don't "see" them. Like this Papita tree (Pterocymbium tinctorium) - we usually saw a lovely bird on these trees, but didnt bother with the tree.
Cinnamon vines of the yam family were high up in the canopy.
I still have not figured out what this was.
Mangrove Date Palm Phoenix paludosa - i confused this with Nypa, (which we saw at Dhaninullah) but in this palm, the leaves are smaller and placed at the top.
Mangrove Fan Palm clumps were in plenty along the roadside, some flowering like this one..
As we strolled along the road, I was struck by this magnificent tree, filled with epiphytes. Seemed like the familiar Rain Tree, but I could not make out for sure.
And these canopy topping Dipterocarps would stick out every now and then.
As the sun sank, there was a final flurry of bird calls. A bunch of Adam Treepies flitted into a tree, along with Andaman Drongos and minivets
Andaman Treepie (Dendrocitta bayleii) looks quite different from its Mainland counterpart. This one is more slender I thought, more rusty all over, and the tail is definitely longer. I loved that little white accent om the wings.
Umesh saw this pair of Andaman Bulbuls as well, as the light faded.
A mandatory chai stop on the way back to the hotel. This lady was doing bustling business, catering to the requests for black tea, kadak chai, with sugar without sugar, - all with speed and efficiency. Milk - a scarce commodity on the islands. ANIIDCO does provide milk, and animal husbandry has started, but milk powder is more the norm than liquid milk.
If there are more settlers, there will be more cattle needed and that means more forests lost. Everything is inter-related...my craving for milk in tea/coffee is not good for the forests, sigh!
It was time to leave Rangat and get back on to that dreaded NH$ for our return journey. What a sad way to spend Sekar's birthday! But there were some nice moments, some fun as well.
Downtown Rangat as the day dawned, silhouetting the temple, the church and the cel phone tower!
Our bags were loaded, group photos with Inderjeet were taken - he was very keen on these photos - with the reception, the name board etc, packed breakfast was given, drivers looked fresh and ready.
We were supposed to bird in the nearby scrub looking for more elusive warblers, but the morning was misty and foggy. So of course what better way to pass the time then have some tea!
These dogs were on full alert and good behaviour waiting for our biscuits. We saw them even slurping tea dregs from the tea cups that were disposed!
I enjoyed the dawn, Sekar enjoyed a doze in the car - sleep more precious than nature's beauty at this point!
The "weedy" and scrubby empty plots where we heard the Dusky Warblers, saw them dart between bushes, 2- second views.
More pairs of eyes, more 2-second sightings
I saw a shrike - it was a Philippine Shrike I was informed. A greyer head differentiates it from the Brown shrike. The shrike gave us good Darshan, on different stalks, fence and posts. Water hens too - they basked on a parapet, quite unusually, along with two ladies who were chatting busily, quite unmindful of their clucking.
I loved this plant - it was growing wild by the roadside, and the flowers were a dramatic pink, with a deeper stamen. identified via iNaturalist as Caesar Weed on return.
An Andaman White-headed starling on the wire also gave us a good Darshan - and Sekar could click this right while sitting in the car, so cooperative a model was it. yellow legs, pale bill and greyish feathers on ack all seen. We saw these birds in plenty.
It was 7am now, and time to head out from Rangat. We settled in to our seats, mentally girding ourselves for the rough ride ahead. Past the roundabout with SC Bose, so important and ubiquitous in the Andaman Islands. Field and houses drifted by our windows as we got out of town.
Our Coucal moment
Mainland coucals always skulk, inside tree canopies and are most often well hidden, more heard than seen. Not so the Islander.
Just as we were exiting Rangat, we ground to a halt as this Andaman Coucal sat by the roadside, right atop a Mexican Sunflower plant, spreading its feathers and sunning. It had opted this strange posture, as if it wanted every inner feather to get some sun!
We also saw an Andaman Crested Serpent Eagle - well some of us did.
A glimpse of the forests abutting NH4.
Somehow the journey back seemed less tortuous - it is all a state of mind. 😁
A stop at Uttara jetty tea around 9 am, and we had our breakfast of sandwiches, boiled egg, and we found these bananas at the store rather interesting.
Of course we had chai, no need to ask. Then it was back on the road again, and this time we did not stop at Humphrey's bridge over the Creek.
We had a stop at Sundargarh village, a little before Baratang. Our driver had lost his aged grandma, and he wanted to pay his respects. We realised that both the boys are related. The family was waiting for these two, to carry the grandma's coffin for burial. The whole village had showed up to pay their respects. people were walking in from everywhere.
The Sundargarh area was dry and not wooded. There were raptors in the sky up above, soaring. We then set out again from there in about half an hour.
I asked our driver about his family and his life. I am mortified to say I have forgotten his name. The younger driver was Ojas, what was our driver's name? he said he had never been to the mainland, and had no desire to, either. (Smart! I thought to myself). He seemed content with his life, happy to have family in every village, north to south of Andamans! Wherever he went with his car, his guests, he would find someone he knew. He was confident, yet calm.
Our guide Jabili - she had been to the mainland to study but had returned - she loved the life in Andamans. Even Madhuri from ANET mentioned that this is where she belonged. This complete lack of need for "more" was a revelation to me.
We reached Baratang at around 11:10, just in time for the 1130 ferry. Enough time to be "blessed" by the Large Billed Crow (Eastern) which meant I had to use the public toilet, which I discovered were clean!! (More about the large Billed Crow and the trouble it caused in my next post).
This time, the cars and us took the ferry together, across the Middle Strait. It is so beautiful, I don't see myself ever tiring of the view - the waters, the forest, the sky - and the White Bellied Sea Eagle!
The white-bellied sea eagle (Icthyophaga leucogaster) - another Andaman sight I will not tire off. All along our ferry ride, one eagle circled the straits. As I watched, I counted - 8 wing flaps, glide, bank, 3 flaps, soar some more, another 8 flaps and glide some more...and so it went in a large circle, and then finally and effortless glide to the tallest tree where it perched itself.
We disembarked at 1150, and our cars joined the long and orderly queue of vehicles. There were also vehicles parked in the parking lot, waiting for tourists to return. We expected to catch the 1230 Jarawa Reserve crossing.
We were free to wander around Middle Strait but were told no photographing of the Jarawas. We did see a few of them. It was low tide, and the waters in the Strait were low enough for a couple of men to be wading in the waters - no crocodile concerns, I wondered. We sawn fishing boat, and as we were leaving, we saw a mother and son on one side of the road trying to cross to the other side of the reserve.
A large banyan tree stood just before the checkpoint where we could sit around, away from the strong sun.
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We went back to our vehicles, and it was time for the convoy to move. Our driver waited patiently - the buses went first, then the other line of cars, and then ours. The car in from of ours waited, as one of the cars from the parking lot needed to get in.
I marvelled at the complete lack of road rage and impatience. Why are we so impatient in Chennai? Why does a 10 second delay make us behave so badly and rudely? Honestly, we Mainlanders were tutting and restless, itching to get ahead, while our driver sat patiently and then followed the car in the front.
Back through the forests, more conversations on the Jarawas, tribes, development, pensive thoughts, some snoozing and in a couple of hours we were out at Jirkatang and heading to Port Blair.
Lunch? Ah now that was a problem. All those little shacks lining the road at Jirkatang, turns out they are open only for breakfast! They were all shut, except one that required a bit of a walk back and another with only Cuppa Noodles! So, we went in to the nearest shack - had Cuppa Noodles, along with some hot vadais and bajjis. I was so busy stuffing my face, I did not take any pictures! Jabili and the drivers did not care for this "junky" option - and went off to the far away place and had a proper meal, or at least so they said.
The day was still young - more experiences awaited - the Starling show, Teals and birthday celebrations in the next post.
