Sunday 30 June 2013

THE VANISHING WETLAND



{Near Trivandrum in Kerala,there is a remnant wetland called Punchakari,which has been a haven for birds and bird watchers alike for the past several decades.I first visited this place 30 years back and I was astonished to see the sheer profusion of bird life.The mud flats of Punchakari had a greater abundance of winged visitors than even the coastal mud flats.

But over the years this magnificent bird habitat has undergone systematic destruction.A great part of it has been purchased by land mafias for 'construction purposes',and annihilated .Farmers have abandoned paddy cultivation in favour of more profitable dry land crops resulting in loss of wader habitats.Little remains today to remind one of the lost paradise I used to see in the 80's. Gone are the vast flocks of egrets,cormorants,plovers,darters,ibises,terns,king fishers,wagtails,teals,stilts etc.In their place one now sees stragglers prodding about,facing the inevitable uncertainty of the future.I decided to visit Punchakari just to see what of left of this once magnificent bird habitat.]

  As is my wont,I reached Punchakari before sunrise and took up a suitable vantage point to await events.Eventually the eastern horizon started turning red and a vague orange orb appeared as if from nowhere which soon became too bright to look at.
    
              The waking wetland greeted the rising sun ,reflecting it's glorious hues by the second.
I sat transfixed as the celestial drama unfolded before my very eyes,a drama that had been enacted long before life originated on Earth.So enchanting was the vision that I nearly forgot the real purpose of my visit. 
Reluctantly I stood up and glanced around.I had a quick change of dress and got ready for work.
At first,the sleepy wetland was loath to reveal her secrets.But gradually,I sensed rather than saw, some figures moving in the mist.
                              Slowly,ever so slowly,the wetlands were waking up.....
                                                       
  But not all were living beings,

                        
 no wetland scenario would ever be complete without them. 
 

                                      Mist still clung tenaciously to the wetland,
                                             

But I knew it would eventually loosen it's grip to retreat in defeat before the advancing army of the sun's rays.
                                                   
                  I walked around slowly looking for birds.It seemed rather sad having to look for birds in what   had once been a avian paradise.

              I knew they would eventually show up as the day brightened.
                                          
                                And sure they did,one species after another...
    
Sand pipers...
 
                         A sleepy little egret,hoping to catch the early worm..

                                  A family of black drongos,feeling the chill...
A pair of small blue kingfishers,unmindful of the morning mist...



A couple of cattle egrets in the golden hue of sunrise...





































Birds were there of course, but I was as much astonished by their present scarcity as I had once been by their past abundance .With more winged visitors coming up,soon birds were everywhere..
I decided it was time to pull out the binoculars.
               
                              A median egret and a little egret wait for customers...
A large egret comes on land showing off his dimensions..

2 purple moorhens sun themselves.

A painted snipe hurriedly  makes himself scarce among the water hyacinth weeds..
A small blue kingfisher dares unwary fish to stray within range..

A large egret starts the day's hunt.. 
          
A blue-tailed bee eater on the look out for reckless insects..
A swallow relaxes after an  insect-catching sortie..
A pair of blue tailed bee eaters ,ready for action..Woe betide any over-ambitious insect that dares to show up..
A mixed flock of egrets,wary of my presence..
A small green bee eater waits for ground insects..
A  pretty ..but  ruthless killer of insects
                                               A black drongo, another ferocious insect hunter.. decides to attack insects in their own lair,the reed beds..

                            A great reed warbler practising his warbling notes...
                                          But he just can't get them right...

A blue tailed bee eater dares insects to show up..
The swallow continues his yoga exercises...
At last,prey sighted,the blue tailed bee eater prepares for take off...
Yet another insect hunter...another small green bee eater..
A common sandpiper has spotted his breakfast..
A white-breasted water hen in squelching mud...
No food in sight yet..
A solitary black-winged stilt..
those vast flocks are history..
A pair of spot-billed ducks swim in to view..
More and more purple moorhens emerge from their reed fortress...
a dab chick leads a flock of domestic ducks
a whiskered tern warming up..
the spot-billed duck wants a closer look at me..
a visitor to the wetland trees..a black-headed oriole..
A kora and a Baillon's crake wait for the coast to clear..
                                  A flock of blue-winged teal rest in the grass                                         

                                 A darter(snake bird)  in perfect camouflage... 

A little bittern pretending to be a stick...
A pond heron on his fishing boat,well-anchored...
A yellow wag tail struggles to balance himself against the strong wind.....
A dab chick swims up to study me in detail...
A little egret decides to wade after elusive food..
The queen of the wet lands..
 A flock of  black headed munias,and one spotted munia..gleaning   seeds..
                                                                             
           A flock of blue rock pigeons feel the heat,right time for a dip..
                                       ( below)

                                          Someone else is feeling the heat too....
                    Wetland birding is thirsty work..

                                Nearby is the nest hole of a small green bee eater...
                                     
                      These birds are true wetlanders feeding,nesting and breeding there.....
A small green bee eater feeds it's chick a crisp dragon fly...
             
A pond heron and 2 little egrets weigh up things before a hunt...
    
The pondy smells a rat,decides I am up to no good...
A median egret waits for breakfast..
                                           
Doesn't get it....
Black-headed munias in their element..
         Streaked weavers,well-hidden in the reed beds..in fact hundreds of them...                                                                                                                

                                         A grey heron eyes a juicy frog...

                                         A pair of whistling teal join the garganey...

An open-billed stork in a contemplative mood..
A streaked fantail warbler surveys the scene..
He is feeling the cold..
A small blue king against a backdrop of dew-dripping grass..

Gotcha!..A blue-tailed bee eater shows off his catch..

A kite takes a break from his soaring...
   
A painted snipe hurries to make himself scarce....
but loses his nerve and flees.....
A painted stork chick braves the big bad world..alone..

A purple heron sets out to hunt..
A blue hen(purple gallinule) studies the world from his reed jungle..
and reports my presence with a nasal quank..
A startled yellow bittern takes a long hard look at me....

Another purple moor hen  is apprehensive.. ''Something amiss?''
A spotted sandpiper keeps his cool
                               They keep an eye on me..and discuss me in cat-calls.

                                           undecided about my presence''
                 regarding me as more of a nuisance...rather than dangerous..
                                     May be I am not so dangerous after all... 
The swallow,a real fitness fanatic ..continues his exercises...
A yellow wagtail gets on with his hunt for insects..
His friend however is not sure of me..
and keeps me in sight..
A median egret and a little egret proceed to hunt,with a pondy on sentinel duty..
Another blue tailed bee eater watches over the wet land..
And a pair of small greens too watch for insects..
With so many insect hunters around,class insecta must be having a rough time ..
 
But the bee eaters won't have the insects all to themselves...
For the master of express flight is here..the alpine swift..
      The world's fastest bird...I have seen the peregrine as well and
     I can promise that this bird is 3 times faster in horizontal flight..
      than the peregrine which can generate speed only with the aid of gravity....... 

 This farmer is searching for his buffalo


But his ward is too well hidden...  

Two little egrets seek prey..
one keeps me in sight..
A common myna doesn't like the look of things..
A pond heron edges closer...
This pretty hunter has to ward off rivals to guard his perch...
Whistling teal keep to the safe waters...
A rather dainty little egret...

A pair of gadwal teals join the party...
Evidence of a wetland tragedy..

Evidently a lesser spotted eagle had paid a visit.. 
 
Birds are not the only things to be seen in a wetland...


A Grey pancy. butterfly..

A lime butterfly..

A peacock pancy..

A peacock pancy ,one of the wetland jewels..

A plain tiger butterfly, feeding time..
A tawny costar...
A lemon pancy...
And a chocolate pancy...
..
 And a staggering variety of dragon flies and damsel flies...



And not only insects...

This rat snake believes there is a fat rat somewhere inside this stack..
and he is not going to miss it..
 
 With so many streaked weavers around,there is bound to be  a nest somewhere..

 
And sure there is...

                                         Although it took some hard searching...                         

 But it is worth a search,quite intricate.as they come....
                                        


Bee eaters have taken up every available vantage point..
With such competition ,no room for complacency...
                                           time out..... for dating...
                                              .....A bit of wetland romance...
A few more stilts have landed..(above)
One tree pie looks for food,her mate keeps a look out...
                                Hey,ain't that a big fat fish down there?...            

                                          Am I blue really? or green?
                               A flock of streaked weavers...enjoy the morning sun.. 

A teal probes the mud...a gadwal..
A bronze winged jacana literally walking on water..
A red wattled lapwing calmly guards his nest..
An open-billed stork looks for crabs...
Cotton teals,perfectly camouflaged..
Cotton teals rarely expose themselves too much..
A whiskered tern ready for action..
                                     The open bill continues his crab hunting...
A small blue king fisher guards his territory...
 
A coot swims in to view..
the queen of the wetland blooms...
And the queen's maid...a lilly
a blue tailed bee eater sunning himself..
a grey shrike,another fierce hunter of the wetlands...
This should do nicely! A purple moorhen finds some nesting material.


A garganey or blue-winged teal enjoys peace and quiet...


A kora,feeds,keeping one eye on me.... 
''Don't you have anything else to do?''A blue hen seems to ask me.
a legitimate question...

A wary pelican keeps far away..a good idea when you have meat on you..

                             Cotton teals eventually decide I am harmless...
A cotton teal couple..
Another of the wetland jewels..

Ain't i look pretty? A pondy in nuptial plumage..
A prowling prankster..A pondy well hidden..
                                                                                                                    
The large egret,the giraffe of the wetlands...
                                                                      
He doesn't like me one bit....
                                                                      
                                                 Spot the bird!!!!                          

A yellow wagtail wonders what I am up to...
                                                              
A pied king fisher female and a fresh catch...
                  A trio of little cormorants rest after a fishing expedition..                                  
                                       
                                   A male kora runs to join his sweetheart..(below)...

                                                                                        
            a sexy lady waiting far away.a female kora..love is in the air..                                        

      Flowers bloom all over the wetlands in myriad hues and colors,,,
                                                                          
           A coot swims peacefully,unmindful of the love-sick koras..                            
                              But he has a subtle plan,,,


         Sure enough,he has his own sweet heart...waiting in the reeds..            
                                                                                                                           
A purple gallinule searches for nesting material...

A moorhen tries to befriend a dabchick...
but the latter doesn't want company..
This purple gallinule plays it safe...
    Every like is not the same..This frail creature is a fierce hunter...
Gadwals mind only their business....
Whistling teal and garganey rest,the more eyes,the better..
This lone whistling teal is understandably nervous..
Streaked weavers always hide in the reed beds..
This grey heron has made friends with the teals..
A rare visitor to the wetland fringes..a golden oriole..

                       Human presence in the wetlands was overwhelming..   
Some harmless..
Some ominous...portending the final scene of devastation,the fast approaching apocalypse,of which man is blissfully unaware..
      The final sunset of all life on earth,leaving behind a barren desert..
The future looks bleak....
How much longer will these wing beats last?
                                             
                                   Are we seeing the last of our wetlands?               

                                                                                                                                                              
                              DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED GURU----Dr.Salim Ali
               

                                                                      THE END