The Indian "Steppes" - eagle visitors at Taal Chhapar

Jan 16th 2015.  As we soaked in the beauty of the Blackbucks on the one hand, we were also awed by the majesty of the soaring Steppe Eagles, as they dotted the grasslands, sitting on rocky outcrops, gliding over the grass and making the territory their own.

I step back into my school geography class and Ms Rohini when I think of the Steppes - those grasslands that once spread across Asia and Europe.  It coexists in my memory along with the nomadic pastoralists and Genghis Khan swooping across the plains

From the lands of the great Khan come these large eagles, swooping down to winter in our own grasslands in north-western India.

By far, they were the most common raptors we saw that day at Taal Chhapar.  Aquila nipalensis.  They eat carrion too, which accounts for the fact that we saw them at the carcass dump the next day as well.

They would take off on sorties every now and then, probably searching for small rodents and partridges.  Their large wingspans were a sight to see.

The characteristic brown and black flight feathers and tail.  This is the largest eagle I have seen so far.

The yellow gape that extends beyond the eye distinguishes it from the Tawny Eagle

The Tawny and Spotted eagles also have this yellow gape, but the extent of it, the shape of the nostrils and mouth are all different.  For our amateur eyes, we would have problems differentiating I am sure, but then we saw only the Steppes, so there was no "idying" confusion.

We almost missed the red collared doves shuffling around next to the road, as we trained our binoculars on the eagles afar. Streptopelia tranquebarica.  My first sighting of them of these reddish-matron doves that are found in fields, gleaning for seed in the undergrowth.

As the light faded, we also saw Harriers.  Couldn't figure out which one this was....

...though this one looked like a juvenile Pied Harrier

We had to leave, and our final sighting was a huge herd of wild boar grunting and scuffling through the grass.  They passed quite close to the eagles who did not seem to care!

A hot dinner awaited at Churu, in the same home where we had lunch, which was so fresh and wholesome that we shamelessly invited ourselves for the night as well!

We met the five daughters of the couple who were our hosts, and it was indeed heartwarming to see such well educated, confident and outgoing girls, where one would least expect it.

I think they were also intrigued by this strange bunch  from the south, with a large smattering of women who were by far more noisy than the men!

Horn, OK Please.

16th January 2015

The magical Taal Chhapar grasslands in Rajasthan. A tiny little sanctuary at seven square kms on the eastern borders of the Thar.  We were coming from the western ends of the desert and the gigantic Desert National Park (more than 3000 sq kms).

We left Sujangarh and motored to the ghoshaala in the early morning mist, where we chased the tree creeper most successfully.

So it was with cheer and anticipation that we arrived at this little sanctuary of the blackbuck.  Antilope cervicapra rajputanae.  Bhanu had visited Taal Chhapar in 2014, and her pictures of the beautiful blackbucks in the rolling grasslands had piqued my interest.

The 7-8 sq kms of this sanctuary is filled with grassland and saline rock and khejri trees.

Blackbuck are at home in grasslands, no forests for them.  The browns merging with the mothiya grass and only their horns standing out like a ships' flag mast! The grasslands give them an advantage when fleeing from predators, and they do not mind the semi-arid conditions. So, as we convert grasslands into farms, the blackbuck habitat shrinks.  

These beautiful antelopes are endemic to the Indian subcontinent, and we are the only country with a sizeable though endangered population.  Hunted with cheetahs by our maharajahs, protected fiercely by the Bishnois, they seemed almost mythical and magical as they moved around in the grass.  

The males have horns and the skin turns darker with age.  The fawns don't have horns and are a much lighter hue.  The ponds are formed in the low-lying parts of the sanctuary.

Young males, with a fawn brown colouring.

An adult male posed proudly, its horns resplendent.  And those rings around the eyes like big moons.

Those horns!  "A well-formed pair of horns on a mature blackbuck male may reach two feet in length and have a nearly equal spread between the tips." observes R K Menon

They grow from the base, do not fall off, grow spiralling outwards and are a pretty handy weapon of territoriality, as we saw later.    

As dusk fell, we grew quiet, watching these shadows pass by in the grass, their silhouettes like a Japanese painting.

As I saw the sun go down, I dreamed of the plains of Africa.  Would I ever make it there?

But the drama of nature had one more act.  A male passed purposefully on the track ahead of us.

And before our eyes, horns were locked and a turf war began.

Just as quickly. it ended, with both the males trotting off in different directions, and to us, it seemed like it was a "draw"!

"Blackbuck are territorial animals. A territorial animal like the blackbuck male holds a piece of meadow or land that he defends against invasion of conspecific males. The male in its white and black coat stands prominently on its territory, which he hasfought for and taken from an earlier holder or, in some cases,colonised by himself. The ownership of the territory may pass on from one individual to another each year or a single, strong male may be able to retain it for several years. 
Fights between males for territory possession can be violent.The two males clash head on to lock horns and push mightily against each other. This is where the corkscrew shape of the horns comes into use. The spirals of the horns lock into one another so that they do not slip, much as the antler of deer like chital lock during battle. Where the males are almost evenly matched, a fight may continue over a few days. 
After the first bout, the contestants withdraw for a short while, only to clash again. The contestants engage, break off, and re-engage in this turf battle until the issue is settled. When the loser flees, it is usually chased only for a few yards, and then it may be seen somewhere else where it is more comfortable.
The winner then stands in the territory waiting for the females to come, for, in blackbuck, territory is the ticket to reproductive success. When the females do arrive, the male tries to herd them and keep them within his patch of land. This it does by what is called the 'head-up' or 'nose-up' display. The male raises its tail upright to show the white underside, raises his nose till the horns are almost flat along its back, turns its ears downward and backward and moves with mincing steps, all the while forcing the females deeper inside his territory. It may also grunt during this behaviour. The females may move inward in response to the 'head-up' display and begin to graze there, but if they are not so inclined, they simply walk across into an adjoining territory. 
The male has no recourse other than to do the'head-up' display in front of the wandering female. It appears strange that once a female or herd of females crosses over into another territory, the pursuing male will stop short at the end of his territory and not take one step more. In most cases, the neighbouring male will come forward to escort the female into its own territory.To the human eye, the exact demarcation line between two adjoining territories is not always visible."

The Quintessential Antelope - Life of the Blackbuck - by R K Menon

The ghoshala near Taal chappar

Our hotel at Sujjangarh

16th Jan 2015

We had checked in the previous night into Hotel Rich Garden at Sujangarh, the accommodation of choice in this little town.

The rooms were clean, as were the bathrooms (importantly!) the water in the taps was salty, and the food came from somewhere we didn't want to know I guess!

We had an early morning start, and as usual, it was quite an effort of mind over body to face the morning cold!


We went outside only to be greeted by a strange sight and a lot of roaring engines!  A bunch of bikers were on their way to the hills - Dharamsala, via Amritsar!

According to me, this was even more lunacy than ours!

Breakfast was not great - it just wasn't good quality food, and thanks to Lakshmi, we discovered a great place for lunch. (More about that later.)

I was glad to get into our warmer vehicles, as we headed to the outskirts of Taal chappar sanctuary, to the "cow shed area" or goshala.

Well, I expected to see some nice Indian cows, mooing in the morning, and a familiar rustic scene of milkmen and cow dung, but instead was greeted by this!

The Khejri-tree filled landscape, made ghostly by the morning mist

There was a silence filled only with our muffled laughs and whispers, as even the birds obviously felt  too cold to call.

I spent some time in juvenile games of blowing "smoke" and pretending to puff a cigarette, delighting in the morning air, as I was layered like an eskimo and not feeling miserably cold!

Suddenly Nabeel, our guide was making  frantic hand signals and asking us to follow him.

And so began our saga of creeping behind the tree creeper!

Our first sighting! The Indian spotted creeper (Salpornis spilonotus)

The first time any of us were seeing this bird, and it was an amazing sight.  Such a methodical and industrious hunt for food I have not seen.  It would fly to the base of one khejri tree, go peck, peck peck into the bark with its long thin beak, make its way to the top of the trunk, then fly off to the next, where it would repeat the same process all over again!

Through the binoculars, we got a clear sighting of its mottled or marbled back, so well camouflaged against the tree bark.  And that thin long, down-curved beak with which it extricated insects from the bark.

It was a fast worker, and no malingering at any point.  Now you saw it profiled on the left..... 

.....and in the blink of an eye it was on the right.

I know the pictures look brown and boring, but it was a marvellous sight, as it flitted from tree to tree, and we crept along with it.  We were told that there was a group endemic to the cowshed.  These birds do not migrate, and are residents in this patch.

The light had improved by now, and slowly we heard and saw some activity.  Bulbuls called and flitted in the branches, while large grey babblers noisily moved around in groups in the undergrowth.

A drongo flew into view, as if seeking our attention

It perched on the branch of the scrub, seemingly glad for the weak sun that had emerged.

Rose ringed parakeets screeched and settled in the khejri trees.

And then suddenly there were flashes of orange and yellow among the branches.  A group of small minivets brightened the trees like little christmas decorations!

The grey-black heads and the orange chests seemed to catch the sun.  Pericocotus cinnamomeus male

They moved in flocks and wouldn't sit still.  I heard the shutters of everyone's cameras madly clicking.

Through the binoculars they made for a breathtaking sight, with their little perky heads and long tails,....

....and when they flew it was a flash of brilliant colour.

The treecreeper came into view again, and with the brighter light, the colours of its feathers could be seen better.

Indian Robins hopped around on the ground, unmindful of our presence.

And so ended our outing to the Goshala - and no I did not see a single cow through the morning!

We then went off to the lovely Taal chapper grasslands, with the oh so beautiful blackbucks.

And then there was lunch at this lovely old house/mansion - hot rotis, dal and sabji of the most fresh carrot and peas, papad and a local pickle which was rather delicious.  We all burped contentedly after and then lazed around on chairs and in the verandah, feeling like rock pythons after a meal, not wanting to stir.

We shamelessly invited ourselves to dinner as well, which was a good thing as we met their lovely daughters as a result.

The Blackbucks at GNP and Tal Chappar

My good naturalist friend Bhanu was at Taal Chappar, Rajasthan recently, and as I plan to go there in January, I have been following her closely!

These pictures below were just so magical, that I had to share them here, so I can revisit them whenever I want to.  It looked like a scene from some fantasy movie with a pair of mythical creatures,  and if I blinked they would be gone.

These are the beautiful blackbucks that the Bishnoi protect and why not. 

These were larger and with more widespread horns than the ones I had seen at GNP, and Bhanu informed me that the two were different subspecies.

North-western Blackbuck - subspecies (Antilope cervicapra rajputanae) found in northern India, from Rajasthan upto Punjab.

South-eastern Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra cervicapra).

I look forward to seeing these beautiful creatures on the lovely grasslands of Tal Chappar. Thank you Bhanu!