A Kutchi Summer day 4- The diary

They were flowering everywhere. Doodla?, the guides said. Used to make junior cricket bats (not strong enough for the pro ones) As per Dr Rajaram via Mr Ramanan, it is Wrightia tinctoria, the indigo tree. Doodhi, not Doodla)

The Rainbow hotel beds were obviously not made for comfort, and with much groaning and moaning, I made my way towards the loo, in order to complete my morning ablutions. Ablutions done with, there was tea. Tea done with, there was the ride. I'll start from there as the tea was a very routine affair by now.

Adhi, Dhanush, Chandru and me joined Dhruva and Vijay uncle for the ride. The 4 of us juniors shared 4 cameras and not much bird identification expertise. Therefore, Vijay uncle and Dhruva were relied upon completely.

In a short while, a lion was spotted wandering in a nullah.
Adhi, even after much pointing and binocular viewing, was unable to spot the creature, and became the local laughing stock for a bit. After following our fellow Chennai-ites around for a bit, news passed on that Vikas' jeep had seen 3 leopards. Jealousy can very easily turn the least bothering people into the most vigilant and perseverant.

This very same quality overcame our jeep, and silence reigned for the next hour, as everyone kept their eyes doubly peeled for the leopard. To our credit, we came close. Twice. We heard alarm calls and all that jazz. We also saw the monkeys that had seen the leopard. To our discredit, the jeep in front of us saw it. Grumbles abounded as we thought we had been cheated. Wild boar at a water-trough. They fled soon after.

Sambar - we saw more here than at any other sanctuary that we've been to.

Towards, the end of the journey, all enmity, envy and jealousy were forgotten and a cunning story was concocted to show our superiority to Vikas. And of course, being us, the story was completely unbelievable! To my memory, it ran something like this: We saw the leopard and jackal playing cricket. Upon the discovery of their activities, the chital berated them, only to be berated itself by the lion who said no animal would scold another under his watch. You have to admit, its brilliantly ridiculous!

So, we reached the hotel to find the little prodigy loudly proclaiming his achievements of the day. (See how competitive we were?!!) This lent a lot of feeling to our storytelling, and by the time we were done, all the parents were staring very dubiously at us. Shortly after our story was exposed as a sham, breakfast was had and bags packed for our move to the Lion Safari resort, where we would complete our stay.

Jeeps loaded, we waited impatiently for the drivers to show up, because the jeeps were standing in the sun. Adhiaman, after a lot of pleading and persisting, was sent to find a driver, after having being taught two Hindi words 'Driver Bulana'. He walked off gamely, only to come back with a bewildered look on his face. His reply, 'Aunty, avan reply pannitan', had everyone in splits and was the punch line of the anti-Hindi movement for the next few days.

The driver soon arrived and we were off to Lion Safari, where it was tented accommodation with AC. And showers, believe it or not! So once we reached, rooms were slowly allocated, as guests were yet to leave some of the rooms. Once settled and lunched, the kids hit the games room and pretty much stayed there until it became time for the evening safari. The Lion Safari campus, with mango trees. The tents were on either side. My mom saw the trees full of mangoes, and pleaded with the chef to give us mangoes, so they cut a few and made us some salad!
The view from the resort down to the Hiran river. Nice area. My mom was always birding here, and I was in the games room to the right, playing billiards, or some form of it anyway!

A little temple on the other side of the river
A croc slithers into the water. Good thing it didnt decide to come the other way!
Cattle egret in breeding plumage posed for me (on the river bank).
Gir cattle - a subspecies of Indian cows. We went for a walk along the river's edge.
The Hiran river - upstream. With a check dam. This is where the crocs are.

Downstream where people were happily washing clothes, so I suppose no crocs.

The kids, after loud protestations, got ourselves our own jeep. And Bikku. Note to all those concerned:Bikku was the unofficial local head of the lion spotters union. So off we went with everybody following us. Round and round we went, with me spotting my Afirst Jackal.Even the chital thought we were crazy
Jackal!

Finally we reached a portion of the forest where four lions were snoozing. Of course, word having spread, all the tourists in Gir were at the spot and the forest guard was rationing time between jeeps which led to much Gujarati we did not understand between Bikku and said guard, and the photos posted earlier. All of us were now suitably happy and drunk with success, headed back, with only detours to see a CH Eagle nest and to go shopping at Sinh Sadan, the forest department headquarters. Hats, shirts and other paraphernalia purchased, we headed back to Lion Safari, to freshen up, play some billiards, and have some dinner.
The Sinh Sadan

P.S.: The story told to the parents was that we had seen four leopards, since the kiddy story would not not fool them. Also there was a CSK match that afternoon, which led to the gathering of cricket watchers in the games room after the evening ride. Since we had seen enough lions, mummy, me and some of the others hatched a plan to visit the historic town of Junagad the next day.

A Kutchi summer - Day 4 - Tryst with the lions

Junior photographed these lions, lazy in the summer heat of Gir.

The lions of Gir, in this home video. Thank you iMovie!

The Day 4 Dairy continues.

A Kutchi summer - Day 3 - On to Sasan Gir!

A Kutchi summer - Day 2 - is here.

Once again I was prodded awake (I was getting used to this and woke up on the second prod) at some unearthly hour, told that we were reaching Veraval. All morning rituals were done and our compartment sat in groggy anticipation of our imminent arrival at Veraval station.

Scheduled time came and passed and mutterings arose that 'the Railways was not like this in the old days'. Minnie, being enterprising and also the one with the internet on her phone, decided to check the schedule. She then very calmly proceeded to tell us that we were an hour late amidst much groaning and moaning from yours truly. Oh well, nothing I could do there.

Finally, we reached Veraval, which was significantly cooler than LRK. Bad news awaited us on the platform, as Pritam uncle had to head back due to personal problems. Upon hearing the news, we all morosely headed for the exit. I missed one of my "roommates" for the rest of the trip.

While we were winding our away down the over-bridge, Shantaram uncle delivered the best news of the day: Chennai had won the previous night. I wasted no time in informing Vijay uncle who very vaguely brushed it aside. Round one to me.

We piled our luggage and ourselves into the six Qualises that had arrived and set off to the Rainbow hotel.

We were now in Junagadh district I learnt. It was very different from LRK, green, with mango orchards and farms all along the way. It was about an hour and half to reach Sasan Gir, the town for the Gir lion sanctuary. All along there were boards proclaiming, how we were nearing the ONLY remaining home for the Asiatic Lion in the world!

Dhanush next to me dozed off while I tried hard to stay awake. Suddenly we noticed a small building where everybody was staring at us. Suddenly Vijay uncle realized that that must have been Rainbow Hotel, and we turned around.

Indeed it was Rainbow, and our companions of the other Qualises had been wondering where we were heading to. All snafus sorted out, we buried ourselves in breakfast and hot tea, before heading out for a very late morning Safari. My jeep for the morning was the photographer's jeep and I ended up getting loads of tips from Doc Alaganandan, Sivakumar sir and Hariharan sir.

We spotted our first Lion, enjoying his morning siesta in the shade of a small dried up nullah. Much excitement for us, as for me and mom, it was a first ever wild lion sighting. OK, it had its back to us, and slept through our excitement but what the heck?)

We moved on, hoping to perhaps spot more, but we spent the rest of the morning going around in circles, ending with me dozing off in the jeep and the others actually spotting some birds. We then headed back for lunch and a nap.

The afternoon saw everybody in their respective rooms and nobody strayed out, now seasoned veterans of the Gujju afternoons. The evening ride saw me doing what I never thought I would do, I climbed into mummy's jeep.

No lions greeted us, though several raptors put in appearances to save our evening from being a complete flop (Though Vijay uncle scared away an Eagle by yelling at everyone else to shut up!). We also passed through a Siddhi village. For those who are clueless, the siddhis are Africans that moved to India as slaves and ended up setting up establishments in Gujarat. They speak such fluent Gujarati, you will NEVER make out the difference.

Passing through the siddhibari village, where a game of football was on. A few of our guides were also from this community.

Siddhis soon done and dusted with, we saw a Changeable Hawk Eagle enjoying a dry martini in front of us. Cameras snapped away!

The Changeable Hawk Eagle, with my film camera

With efficiency to make the Red Bull F1 pit crew proud, the jeeps loaded up and headed back to our safe sanctuary at the Rainbow.

Upon arrival, the customary baths were had and Panneer Butter Masala Dinner was cooked, but not before one of the greatest Indian traditions was embraced- the power cut. Dinner done away with and beds looking inviting, the number of people staying outside their rooms slowly dwindled away and the day merged into the next.

Methi parathas being made

NOTE: The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is found only in Gir and in Iran, unlike the African Lion which is found in larger numbers. It has a small population that has increased in the past 5 years.

(The lions are coming, all of us saw loads the next day, so be patient!)

Read about our tryst with the lions.

A Kutchi summer - Day 2 - snake skins, an empty den and theIndian courser!

Continued from Day 1. My son's narrative continues.....

The next day, I was woken up(again) to go for tea, which I left to the very last moment, in order to get some sleep. Drowsily refreshed after the cup of coffee payasasm (Recipe: Coffee with as much sugar as will dissolve), we set out once again, with the same Jeep mates. This time, I quickly occupied the front seat along with Arun uncle, with whom I ended up chatting with until we reached our first destination. Thankfully we were spared the endless wastelands and were instead taken to a marsh or swampland where there was a largish water body

Said marsh with flamingoes in evidence.

Once again the cameras were out, fighting for supremacy over the length of their lenses. A spotting scope was also in attendance, for those who had the misfortune of not bringing a pair of binoculars. Once again a great many Flamingoes were spotted, and they soon took to the skies, their privacy shattered. I turned back thinking there was nothing else to see, only to hear the naturalists excitedly chattering about some bird, that to my eyes looked like a duck. I gave up all hope of even attempting to identify all the birds in the water body and after seeing the moorhen, purple heron and the shovellers, I went over to the vehicle to sit and watch the bird watchers watch time slip away. I was low on film for my camera, and this added to my discontent.

The same marsh, with the Nikon.

Another water body awaited and so were the many Stilts, egrets, coots and a congregation of cormorants.
Photo by Mr Ramanan. The cormorant congregation.
A cobra had also used the place for a changing room and left behind remnants of its old body.
The snake skin

Suitably sated with birds and creeped out by snake skins, it was decided that we would head home, when suddenly our jeep driver cum guide swerved off the road and onto a miniature plain. Vehicle stopped, he whispered “Indian Courser”. At once, every person in the vehicles was agog, searching for the well-camouflaged courser. For many of us, it was a first spotting, so it was exhilarating. And I, being me, usually would not have bothered, but I feel happy, now that I think back about that moment. Maybe, now I will start paying closer attention to the finer details of bird watching.

(My mom mentioned later that it was a first for her too. We saw a pair and a couple of chicks, which of course she found cute! And oh yes, Suresh uncle tried to stalk behind them, and the more he moved the more they moved away, in a kind of scurrying manner! We didn't get any picture of the coursers.)

A breakfast to suit our joy awaited us and nobody held back from gorging. The usual pre-lunch naps took place, this time along with people washing clothes. In the Kutchi atmosphere of less than 0 humidity, the clothes dried within a half hour. Lunch eaten, a spurt of post lunch packing took place, with washed clothes being neatly, or otherwise, put away. My mother, suitably surprised that I was washing my clothes, quickly put out her own clothes after washing.

See the clothes drying besides the room!

A Shikra in the tree that I spied close to our room

The pre-evening ride tea break was slightly subdued, with an assortment of members wanting to bunk. In the end, as the jeeps were getting filled, the very same members who had expressed an aversion to coming on the evening ride ended up climbing in themselves. The evening ride, sadly, saw us back on the dusty Rann. The same asses greeted us again and nothing new of interest seemed to pop up. What a strange habitat indeed!

Wild ass again!

One by one, all the jeeps had starting problems, easily enough rectified. We visited an active saltpan, teeming with birds even though the water was nowhere near potable. After a while, the jeeps and the "elephant" united at what was supposedly a fox’s dugout.
An abandoned fox den. Or was it inside, waiting for us to leave? The previous day, we had seen a momma fox and baby in the distance near a bund, and the mother scooted off, while the bay vanished down a similar hole. My mother's jeep waited patiently for a while, but it never poked its head out.
Disgusted at its absence, we all headed back to our safe base at Dasada to get ready for another train journey to Gir. On the way, we stopped to collect salt crystals that had fallen off the salt lorries and to photograph an owlet, safely ensconced on a cable.

The owl as seen by our "kutty" Lumix. Fading evening light.


The very same owlet. Photo by Mr Ramanan

A short while from this owl, all vehicles pulled over, no reasons given. Then the "elephant", which was usually at the front, showed up. ‘Clutch problems’ it seemed. So the gearbox was opened up, and the drivers, not ones for subtlety, starting whacking away at it with a hammer!

Needless to say, those who had studied engineering were shocked at this cavalier approach to the gear system. The drivers didn’t seem to care, though and they had the problem soon resolved actually!

When we returned, an anxious Vikas, who had dozed off and not woken up in time for the ride, wanted to know if we had seen anything interesting. Our somewhat lukewarm 'no's seemed to cheer him up, though.

At the resort, dinner and another journey awaited us, though these were looked forward to, since Gir and the lions was sounding very promising compared to the vastness and emptiness of LRK. After dinner, we all stuffed our bags into the back of a bus and hopped in ourselves for the ride to Viramgam station, where we were to catch our train to Veraval, the train stop for Gir. At Viramgam, I hopefully looked around for a shop selling film rolls, but all I found was a jielbiwallah and another selling paan and Coke! Oh well! Ration out the one remaining roll for the lions I suppose.

That very same night, our very own CSK were playing Pune and Vijay uncle wrote CSK off saying that Pune would thrash us. This was playing on all the CSK fans' minds as they nervously checked for updates on the phones that had internet. Finally, the train arrived and we boarded. Mummy, Ramanan sir and his family and Me were in the same enclosure, which lent a slight sense of relief that we had at least another set of fellow MNSians for company. The ticket collector came by, vastly amused, as he had gone from compartment to compartment, and all the tickets he was checking at Viramgam seemed to be Madrasis going to Veraval!!

Listening to the trains rattling along, I dozed off to the thought of another long day.


Day 3: On to Sasan Gir!

A Kutchi summer - Day 1 - Of broken down jeeps and the fashion king of Dasada

I wrote about searching for the wild asses here. Now read Day 1 "retold" by my teenage son!

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After cheerily wishing my friends an enjoyable and unenviable last week at school, I finished my packing for the MNS trip to the LRK and Gir. The next morning, I was duly awoken by Dave Mustaine singing about death and annihilation, reminding me of the long two day long train journey ahead of me. Excitedly, Me and mother were dropped off at the train station by a noticeably subdued daddy.

We then made our way to the Navjivan Express where along the way to the oven-like bogie we met the fellow eccentrics who would be our companions for the next week. Some avid naturalists with a dead serious streak and a young birding prodigy, mixed with those who were along just for the fun. (I say this in the hope that I was not the only one!!)

The journey started, I realized that a certain set of headphones of mine had been left at home and I was soon scrounging, much to my mother's amusement, for another pair. A very kind Prasanna aunty loaned me a pair for the trip and I remain eternally grateful for that. The rest of the train journey thankfully passed in a blur, punctuated only by frequent visits from the local motormouth Roshan and a hilarious Malayalam movie.

On reaching Ahmedabad at 7.30, two buses carried the luggage and us towards our destination: Dasada. A half hour detour was made to nourish the group as we made good time and reached by about 11.30. The first order of business for some of us was relieving ourselves of the nitrogenous burden that unsanitary train toilets had brought about. For those who had braved the loos, it was bed, only to be woken up 4 hours later for tea and the morning safari!

One of the jeeps, kicking up dust at the LRK


The LRK in the summer felt almost like a desert and wildlife seemed to be sparse other than the Wild Ass and the Nilgai. Bird life was also somewhat absent other than near the watering holes, where it is abundant. So off we trotted to some god forsaken place in 4 jeeps and a big Tata vandi to carry the others that didn’t fit.

One jeep conked even before we reached the destination. So that jeep’s occupants, me included, dispersed ourselves between the other jeeps and the "elephant" (Tata vandi). So finally, we were on our way and as I was in child prodigy Vikas’ jeep, the first birds were spotted:Rosy Pastors. Two of them. So everyone suitably pleased, we headed on, to spot the famous Wild Ass we had come to see.

The Tata vandi

Far from the moviestar we were expecting, “it looked just like a donkey” as someone later said. Of course, my mother finds all these things so adorable; it just had to be coochie-cooed. Moving on, our jeep saw a herd of wild Nilgai, the blue bull, which thankfully not many others had seen.

The herd of Nilgai. With the Nikon 8008 analog.

We soon hit an old salt plain, with the last remnants of a drying water body, where truckloads of flamingoes were spotted, along with a pair of shrieking lapwings, whose newly hatched chicks we had disturbed. All bird enthusiasts suitably excited about the spotting, it took everyone a while to get back into the jeeps.

Click on the picture to see two fledgling lapwings. One of them was in the process of hatching, so we left quickly so that the shrieking parent could return to her nest.
The Shrieking parent
The same lapwing waits morosely in the distance for us to clear out

Much exhilarated at our finds, we headed back to our resort to enjoy a break from constant movement after so long and a well-earned breakfast!

The dining area at Rann Riders where we spent a good portion of our time finishing off all the food!

After breakfast, the resort's resident peacock was found posing for pictures (and probably fishing for some food) on the dining room sofa and everybody was agog at its boldness. The following shots are with the digital camera.

The "star" poses, complete with backdrop and fancy setting


He obliged for a close-up.

And a frontal as well. My mother posed with him as well. Imagine!

This mild excitement notwithstanding, there was pretty much nothing to do except go to our rooms and do……nothing! I was sharing with Vijay uncle and Pritam uncle and they both hit the sack with the AC on, and were soon sound asleep. I read about the misadventures of Fletch and his fiancé, whatever her name was. Upon being groggily shaken from our respective reveries, we made our way unsteadily down for a nice north lunch.

Feet up, my mom contemplating the ceiling!

Another nap later, we headed out for the evening ride which was more agonizing as the temperatures were in the high forties and everybody was wrapped up like a mummy to keep out the dust! Young Sanjana joined us on this trip as we headed into the true Rann of Kutch and across the numerous salt plains. Although the dust slightly dampened our spirits, we soon caught sight of the asses and spirits were lifted again. We spent the rest of the evening whizzing around the Kutch and passed many a lorry piled high with salt crystals.

Once again, one of the jeeps broke down and so we stopped as the sun went down on another day spent. The issue resolved, the jeep’s occupants relocated and we were on our way to Dasada again, just in time for a delicious and sumptuous meal that knocked everybody out for the next 8 hours, till the next morning safari.

This one was out in the wild, in Gir. He had just finished his dance I think.


LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT INSTALMENT!

Flamingoes - Experiences in the Kutch and at Pulicat

The Kutch adventure began with the wild asses.
Laurel & Hardy shadows

In 2008, I saw flamingoes in the wild for the first time at Pulicat. Later that year, Mr Ramanan, took some lovely photos of these ballerinas in pink.

But still, it was a thrill to see them at the Little Rann, in April this year. The LRK is a breeding ground for them, and we saw little ones without their pink, and we saw both Lesser and Greater flamingoes. We saw them near the salt pans, we saw them in the last remaining waters in the wetlands.

They fed, and called noisily and took off in large groups, filling the skies with pink.

LRK. In formation! Junior captures them in flight with his analog camera.
LRK. Photo by Mr Ramanan, caught in a rare moment when they were not feeding!
LRK. The rest of his buddies had taken to the skies, protesting against our getting too close to them. But this one stayed back and stalked proudly up and down, posing for us. Photo by Mr Ramanan

The same fellow.
A juvenile, feeding single-mindedly.

We returned home with our stories and pictures, only to be bested by Skandan and company's experiences, right here at Pulicat!

They were privileged to witness the Flamingo March! I had not heard of this, until I saw these videos. They are the ritualised courtship breeding displays of the flamingoes, and generally precede breeding.

So then, does that mean these flamingoes are breeding in Pulicat in the middle of summer? Maybe not.

Adeesh Shivkar writes, in his post on the flamingoes of Mumbai that,

The lesser flamingos before leaving the shores of Mumbai to their breeding grounds…..perform a spectacular display that is rivaled by none…...Even if you do not get any images…...its an amazing experience to just watch this…

So does that mean these flamingoes of Pulicat will now leave? I am hoping that Skandan and friends will keep me informed!

The Kutch encounter with the fashion king of Dasada continues here.

A tree bank in Chennai

Nice to read about other tree help organisations, along with Nizhal.

Get your birthday saplings from Tree Banker | tree banker | | Indian Express

CHENNAI: What began as a small eccentric idea has now reached at least 3,500 people all over the country.
And the result is for all of us to see. G Mullaivanam of Velachery has created a silent revolution of sorts planting hundreds of trees across Chennai and its suburbs.
His little crusade has even earned him the sobriquet of a tree banker, for Mullaivanam sources hundreds of saplings and distributes them for free.
Mullaivanam, who now commands a 3,500 strong volunteer force of IT professionals and college students across the country, says, “There are blood banks for giving blood and eye banks for donating eyes. But there was no bank for tress that give us air to breathe and shade when we are in the hot sun.”
This activity which he started as a hobby now easily takes up most of his time while his vocation, farming, takes a backseat.
Free saplings are given to people who approach the tree bank on auspicious days like their birthdays and wedding days.
“Before a tree is planted at any place, we look into various aspects, like the Metro line, cables and overhead livewires that may harm the trees at a later stage. We also ensure that the trees have enough space to spread when it grows,” Mullaivanam said.
The calculation is, in fact, simple: for a plant of three metres height, a one-and-a half-foot pit should be dug.
The Tree Bank has distributed 20 lakh saplings throughout India, including 11,500 saplings this month.
Surya Narayanan, an active volunteer and a college student, said that he and other students have planted at least 15,000 saplings at the Anna University, Alpha College and other campuses in the city. The saplings are also being maintained by the students.
Apart from this, they also distribute medicinal plants as much as they do, avenue trees.
The student volunteers help maintain a forest near Tambaram where they have planted avenue trees, neem trees, sandalwood trees and many other medicinal plants and herbs. Mullaivanam said that the volunteers have also helped plant trees in burial grounds in 17 districts of the state on May 1, his birthday.
He believes that potted plants are like birds in a cage, which are dying for freedom. The Metro Rail project in the city has eaten up nearly 200 trees, laments Mullaivanam.
Apart from contributions by the people, the Tree Bank also receives occasional donations from philanthropists that helps it survive.
Tamil comedian Vivek, for example, had gifted a truck to the organisation for transporting the saplings.
It even has a sticker on it that says ‘I love trees’.
Celebrities like S Ve Sekhar, volunteer for the organisation occasionally. Mullaivanam feels the toughest part is not planting saplings but to rear up the tree.
If only the authorities thought of the painstaking work, they would perhaps stop cutting down trees, he hopes.

I see the slender loris for the first time

Last night, along with my son and other members of the MNS, I sighted the slender loris for the first time!

The MNS is doing a project to track the slender loris, which I had written about here. It was in this connection that we set out at 9:30 at night, with head torches, covered with a film of red paper.

It was a lovely night, with the moon almost at paurnami (full moon is on the 18th I think), a strong breeze and clear skies. This summer has been mild by Madras standards. We walked as a group, as quietly as we could, shining our torches and scanning the branches for any sign of those large eyes. The loris-spotting technique is to look for the "eye-shine" in the trees, as you beam the torch.

This was our first time, while the others had already been on this exploration earlier. Within the first half hour, we had heard the characteristic screech, and seen our first set of eyes as well.

We saw many more, but the one I liked the best was closer to midnight, on an Indian Ash tree, bare in this season, just with the stringy flowers that make for good sightings. I first heard a loud call and quickened my pace down the road.

I caught it in the light of my torch high up on the tree, and upon seeing us, it made its way cautiously down looking for a place to hide. So we had a good sighting of it, and as we tracked it moving downwards, we saw another one too!

Mr Ramanan's photos from his spotting at Ayyalur are here.