Visual Quotient

After a hearty lunch (packed from home) and a short nap later, we started to grow restless in the pagoda at Maidanahalli. So we started driving around the place. Luckily, the cloudy day ensured that all the animals were fairly active through the day. Tawny Eagles flew around looking for prey. Green Bee-eaters seemed to be enjoying the weather while catching bees mid-air.

As we drove through one of the off-road tracks, we saw a Yellow-wattled Lapwing that was moving around hesitantly.

We looked around and found the reason – it had a family around the place! Another adult was at the other corner of the field and the 2 juveniles were very well camouflaged. We shut down the car’s engine and sat silently. Slowly, the Lapwings grew comfortable with our presence and started going about their activity of collecting worms.

The scene unfolded like this – the adult Lapwing would find a bug or a worm. Immediately, the juveniles would run towards it.

And would have their meal while the parent watched over.

We spent close to half an hour watching them go about their business. At a point of time, the juveniles came very close to us that I had to make sure they were not under the car or along the path before setting off.

Coming up: Agumbe trip report

As we turned off Kanakpura towards Galibore Fishing Camp, all of us were looking at our watches. Aren’t we too late to catch the action? Well, in the birding world, 8:30AM is a bit too late especially in the height of the summer.

And then, the deluge started. What started off as single butterflies crossing the road slowly graduated into hundreds. Crows, Blue Tigers and Danaid Eggflies were migrating from East to the West. We entered a huge open space (what used to be a pond a few months back) and were treated to some awesome sights. Butterflies on every available shrub, bush, blade of grass and many of them mud-puddling. And then came the first lifer – Spot Swordtail. 5 of these beautiful butterflies were mud-puddling in a “quiet” corner.

The road to Galibore was like an avenue of Gulmohurs. Some of them were just beginning to bloom with light orange flowers emerging. Yet others were at the end of the blooming cycle with the leaves almost disappearing from the trees.

Butterflies were virtually everywhere. Even within the camp, we saw thousands of Danaids all over the place. Others, like the Lime Butterfly, joined them in mud-puddling.

As we entered the camp, we were wondering why we didn’t come across many raptors. Other than the 3 species of kites and the Shikra, we didn’t see any other raptors along the way. As we wandered around the camp, we saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at us and trying to assess the threat. The Shikra-like shape was a giveaway – Brown Hawk-Owl – Lifer #2.

As we were recovering from the enthusiasm of getting a lifer, the bird quietly disappeared. Disappointment gave way to super-excitement as we saw another bird, then another 2. There was a complete family – “Hum Do Humare Do”

We were able to watch the family, without disturbing them, for almost 4 hours! The first-sighted juvenile was playing the guard and was constantly moving from one perch to another, before settling down. The others didn’t seem unduly disturbed, either by other visitors walking underneath their perch or by Bonnet Macaques coming dangerously close.

As the day progressed, it became very cloudy. As we were waiting for our boatman to take us on a short ride, we spotted Lifer #3 – Grizzled Giant Squirrel. It was feeding on the trees along the river bank. Before I could get a good photograph., the squirrel disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared. May be next time…

The excitement didn’t end there. As we got into the coracle, the clouds began to look more dangerous than earlier. Combined with the gloomy skies, the evening light and the winds lent some very scenic views.

Moments after we got back from the coracle ride, it rained heavily for about an hour. On our way back, a couple of Nightjars (Indian in all likelihood) made their appearance in the car headlights before flying away into a nearby field.

A superb drive later, with thunder and lightning all around, back home for dinner. What an amazing day it had been!

Nightlife in the Rann is very interesting!! As the sun sets, most birds go to roost.

Some of them get active around that time. The Syke’s Nightjar is one of them. On the day of our arrival at Kutch, Mr. Dhanraj Malik promised that we would definitely get this lifer.

A couple of days after we landed at LRK, we finished our evening safari and headed to another place in the Rann where Mr. Dhanraj was waiting for us. After the evening tea, we waiting till it was completely dark.

Then, we started off in a jeep with Mr. Dhanraj flashing a searchlight in all directions. His expertise at this was truly remarkable as he was winding his way through the emptiness of the Rann and at the same time making sure he doesn’t miss the most likely places to spot the nightjar. For me or anyone else unaccustomed to the Rann, this would’ve been like searching in the dark.

And sure enough, we found the Syke’s Nightjar. This one seemed a bit skittish; not really waiting on the ground despite the searchlight. Then we found another. And another. And another. So many of them scattered all over the Rann.

The beautiful bird was so well camouflaged with the ground even in the dark. It allowed us to approach fairly close on foot with the searchlight on it. The first nightjar that I’ve been able to observe at such close quarters.

Searching for the nightjar, we came across 2 Jungle Cats (Felix chaus) in the Rann. Though pretty far away, we could admire them with the help of the strong searchlights. Another night, we took a short drive around the villages and found another one. Got this record shot.

If you are visiting the Rann, my strong recommendation would be to spend some time at night in the open Rann. The vast openness, the silence, the stars and the moon can be truly mesmerizing.