Up at 4am for a 5am departure to Shoal Bay. I had assumed we were going to the bay/beach. Turns out I was mistaken and we were headed for Kalatng RV which is in the Shoal Bay Area, via a ferry ride from Chatham Jetty to Bamboo Flat jetty.
The ferry ride across the Port Blair bay saves a lot of time, when compared to taking an all-land route. The plan was to take the 530 am (first ferry) to the other side.
Chatham jetty is actually on the little island of Chatham, which is reached by a short 100m bridge from Haddo in Port Blair. The jetty was abuzz with activity.
The island houses the Saw Mill. The British set it up in 1883 to systematically denude the Andamans - it was a different time and ethos. The Mill continues to work. There is a Forest Museum within it full of wood artefacts - a kind of cruel reminder of deforestation I would think. We did not visit.
We drove onto the ferry. The fisherwomen were already there, all waiting in an orderly fashion to take their fish to market. Men on bikes, heading to work, traders with wares to sell, and a bunch of tourists like us. I loved the island vibe - everything was so calm and relaxed, but everything seemed to run on time - except the service at Shreesh!
Chatham island receded, and as I looked back I saw the hilly nature of the island, the tip of a volcanic upheaval.
Twenty minutes later, we were at the Bamboo Flat jetty, and ready to move on to Kalatang. Mount Harriet National Park was somewhere on our right. I was very fascinated by the ferry on/off as you can see in the video below.
Drives through the Andamans are always scenic - water bodies here and there, turn a bend and all of a sudden, the sea may be in front of you, and of course the forest trees. But increasing pressures of human habitation and agriculture are here as well.
Wimberlygunj is on the way - and our drivers stopped at Fathima stores for much needed morning chai.
Such delight on Ravi's face on spying Pazhampozhi at Fatima stores!! The group fell upon them as if there was no tomorrow, and everyone was immediately awake, cheerful, alert and garrulous. Bring the birds on!
The mist was still hanging in the air.
A few large bungalows lined the road, before we reached the mangroves of Wright Myo Creek.
Tall Stilt Mangroves grew besides the road, probably the end of the creek. Low tide left a lot of mud and silt, and sadly, plastic too.
Click here to see the drive besides the Wright Myo creek mangroves. We drove slowly looking for the ruddy kingfisher, but all was quiet, not a single bird call did I hear in this stretch.
We arrived at our destination - a bus stop, a culvert over some water run off, a mud track going to the right past a dump yard, and a graveyard! As we alighted, we could hear bird calls from all sides.
The mud track along which we birded.
The forest path was lined with these shrubs, which I identified upon return as Malabar Melastome, commonly called Indian rhododendrons though no relation of the actual Rhodos. You can see the 3 main veins, the red stems and the beautiful pink/violet flowers.
The shrubs were probably planted/brought in by the British - flowersofindia.net notes that
"In Southeast Asia and elsewhere it is a widespread weed of industrial forest plantation crops (such as rubber and mahogany), orchards, and rice fields."
As we walked, every few steps Jabili would point to something - Long Tailed Parakeets, Minivets, Glossy Starlings and Black-naped Orioles - high up in the canopy. The birds were all catching the morning sun.
Somewhere up there was a Violet Cukooo too. It was backlit and looked like a black cuckoo to me. With a name like that I expected a nice brightly coloured bird that matched those flowers above! So, this was most unsatisfactory.
The Green Imperial Pigeons were well behaved. They sat still and long enough for me to get a good look, though the dull day did not do justice to their colours, as also those of the Asian Emerald Doves. They were too high and too far away and we did not bother taking pictures - the others did.
It was nice to see an older English birdwatching couple too, on the road.
The doctor "twins" Ravi and Gasper chose this beautiful spot to just sit and watch the birds in the Ficus tree opposite - there were Ornate sunbirds, White Eyes, Andaman bulbuls, Andaman Flowerpeckers, Red Whiskered bulbuls, mynas and doves flitting through the tree. They would not sit still and it was a great game trying to spy what I knew was definitely there but still could not be seen.
Jabili heard a Mangrove Whistler too, but I did not, sadly.
Chestnut-headed bee eaters hawked and swooped over the gravestones, and kingfishers sat on the wire watching.
White Bellied Sea Eagles soared above - we were not far from the bay, after all.
We halted for breakfast at around 815, using the bus stop as our picnic spot. No bus came, no passengers alighted, and it was all very peaceful. breakfast was heavy - 4 idlies and sambar!
More wandering after breakfast - the doctors and Sekar decided to have a short snooze in the car (the idlies were asking for a post prandial siesta), while I chased butterflies.
The dump yard - of which I refused to take a picture - was a favourite for the Andaman Crake I believe. Jabili waited patiently for it, as did some others. I think it made a fleeting and hurried scoot across the road - and I did not see it. Desigan gave a vivid and animated description of its scoot across in the blink of an eye. He managed a picture, if I'm not mistaken.
The Andaman Glassy Tigers flitted about in the undergrowth, and this one sat still for a minute.
The endemic Andaman Clippers were also quite common, and delightful to watch. They were polite and gracious enough to allow me to photograph them.
There were a lot of Common Ceruleans around - this one sat on a Hyptis (bush mint) plant
I thought this was a Common Leopard, but on return I learnt it was Phalanta alcippe, the Small Leopard. The markings at the edge are different.
A grey Pansy rested in the shrubbery.
We took the 1130 ferry back to Port Blair, via Chatham island. But there was still one more treat. Jabili asked us to watch the mango trees on the shore at the Chatham jetty. This was the tree where the Pied Imperial Pigeon hung around.
As we approached the shore, I scanned the tree with my binoculars, whilst Umesh, Desigan and Srinivas looked through their cameras. We spotted a head here, a rump there, some movement from one branch to the other. As we neared the shore, I finally did manage a glimpse of the whole bird. How magnificent it was! A lifer for me - this large white and black pigeon. What a regal beauty I thought! I learnt that it mainly seen in small islands and in coastal areas. How fascinating - why would a tree-dwelling pigeon choose to/need to live close to the coast? I came back and checked the call - and this was deep and magnificent too!
Photo by Desigan of the Pied Imperial pigeon in the mango tree.
We returned to high tide, and I marvelled at the brilliance of Phoenix Bay, shimmering blue and silver.
Back to Shreesh, and the comical struggle for some fresh lime soda refreshments.
Umesh requested a newbie waiter for 8 Fresh Lime sodas, and the chap looked distinctly unhappy. First he said "No English", then when Umesh lapsed into Hindi, he desperately said "No Hindi" and then even there "no soda, soda finished" at Umesh. Umesh was quite indignant at this, and seeing his ire, the said waiter disappeared!
Shreesh has a strange system where the dining room has a pantry attached, but the kitchen was one level down... so food came up from below. So while we waited for our dal roti sabzi, we investigated the pantry, but found no signs of any human nor of the fresh-lime drinks...After a while, the "senior" waiter sauntered in. Umesh repeated the order to him and said we had ordered but it had not showed up and neither had lunch. This waiter looked pityingly at us, and asked "whom did you order from?" And then said airily, "Oh he doesn't know anything, I will get you." it was all very Fawlty Towers and Manuelesque.
The fresh lime eventually did come - but after we finished our lunch! An oh yes, the rice would come before the rotis, making Umesh even more grumpy - since he wanted the rotis and not the rice...we all merrily chowed whatever came first!
Thoroughly enjoyed the read and the photos! Interesting that the signs in Wimberleygunj are all in English! Perhaps Cleese got his inspiration for Manuel from Shreesh!!
Thoroughly enjoyed the read and the photos! Interesting that the signs in Wimberleygunj are all in English! Perhaps Cleese got his inspiration for Manuel from Shreesh!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful read, love how you observe and pen - human and non humans alike. I would love to sit where the "doc pair" sat, such a beautiful spot.
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