Little Pratincole - Small mercies in a long dry Summer

A dead laptop and a long dry summer. It's very hard on a Woodcrawler! I haven't been out in the woods for a long while now, unless you count the weekend trip to the dry reservoir to teach a 10 year old driving. Yes, the Little Woodcrawler has learnt to drive the Duster so his papa can keep taking pictures! The best place for a 10 year old to drive is any dried up reservoir bed. No oncoming traffic or lawmen.

Birds are plenty as I mentioned in the last post. The shallow water body means easy pickings for the variety of birds that congregate along the mudflats. These are pictures from the previous weekend. Light was fading but all my friends were there.

Asian Open billed storks

Spotbilled Ducks

Large egret & Grey heron

Asian billed Stork

Asian open bill with Grey heron

Last Sunday, 22nd April, was another trip with packed brunch to our usual haunt. There was a newcomer this time, a beautiful blue jay (Indian Roller), which would take off the minute I stepped forward.

Unlike the other waders here, it wasn't used to my presence yet.












My old friends were completely unconcerned and going about their daily business in earnest! I wasn't too much of a distraction, even to the buffaloes wallowing in the mud!

Brahmini kite

As we packed up from the western end of the reservoir I saw this clown. This little egret had been perched atop a buffalo and he decided to explore the muddy water. I guess something underfoot was making him uneasy so he attempted a take off.

 Much to his embarrassment he fell face first into the water. In case you thought he was fishing, you are wrong. It seemed his foot had got caught in some invisible obstacle in the mud and he egret lost his balance.

He managed to right himself quickly and take off, only to land a few feet away. Dented in its dignity, but too proud to admit it!

A month ago, I had driven into a wet patch and had my wheels stuck in the mud and spinning. The car had been trapped for good and eventually got hauled out after a 5 hour frying session in the hot summer sun. That too, after the first truck that came to haul me out also got its wheels bogged down in the sand a few meters before it could reach my car! Eventually the tow truck that came had to struggle to get that truck out, though it only needed a few seconds to pull my car out.

I had been avoiding that patch for a while now because that slushy experience was still fresh in my mind. Though I carry the calling card of the tow truck chap I wasn't keen for another baking of my bald head! It was  my on who suggested we go there again to see how the place was now. The water in the reservoir was disappearing rapidly and the place we got stuck was looking very dry. 

As we climbed the slight rise of shingles we spied a flurry of activity. Little birds running around and swooping over us with shrill cries. There were too many to count but it would have been close to a 100 birds all together in the sky and on the ground. They were running about a small area and suddenly pressing themselves on the ground. Something was up.

These were little pratincoles or the small Indian pratincole, a little wader that was about the size of a common babbler and coloured similarly.They were superbly camouflaged that you'd miss them if you took your eyes off even for an instant.

In flight their short tails and long wings make them look more like the swallow below.

Wire tailed swallow

We stopped the car at the bottom of the shingle patch and my son got out to inspect the ground in front of us before we drove further. A movement in the periphery of my vision caught my eye. It was then I realized why there was such a buzz around us. We were parked in the middle of a small nesting ground for the pratincoles!

 

I could understand their consternation. Every little plant or rock was an ideal nesting spot for these little birds. Since I had been careful about avoiding protruding rocks and plants I had just avoided a carnage!

These myna sized birds lay eggs on the  ground in a small depression they create and most sources on the web seem to just copy and paste info found on Wikipedia, that these little creatures breed in Karnataka and North Kerala! There is however one article that appeared in The Hindu that records these birds nesting in Palakkad.

Both, the bird and its eggs are so superbly camouflaged that you'll miss it unless you look for it. It's not hard because the little bird keeps circling around its nest either on the ground or the air!The eggs themselves look like small pebbles.

In a 20 meter radius around my car, were at least 20 nests. Three of them with 2 eggs in each of them.

After a while these little birds got used to my pointing my camera at them and settled down in their nests.

Once in  a while, it appeared they were taking off to dip themselves in the water to wet their feathers. Perhaps the wet feathers help protect the eggs from the intense heat of the sun.

These birds have a very interesting way to dissuade predators. If they feel that any creature in their vicinity are going to steal the eggs or chicks they do the Dance of Distraction! They run around in circles splaying out their wings giving the appearance that they are hurt. Once the presumed attacker is drawn towards the 'injured bird' they keep moving away farther and farther from their nest. Bad luck for the neighbour if the attacker chanced on the nest next door!

It was a very informative morning for me and an entertaining one for the Little Woodcrawler. I was only wondering how many of the eggs and hatchling (when they came) would survive attacks from stray dogs, jackals, blundering buffaloes and humans. This particular area has been a favourite spot for families on picnic. So if someone drove in without being aware of these little bird's presence a lot of accidental deaths would happen. The only consolation is that this little bird is not on the endangered list. It is in fact classified as 'No Concern' in the conservation status list!

Fire & Water

Summer is here and I've just been woken up from hibernating. Not too much woodcrawling except a small trip to Bandipur (more about that later).

The dry cold winds sucked the moisture from everything, living or dead. The reservoir, where only a couple of months ago, I had test driven a new car to see its off roading capability, was already dried up significantly.

News of wild fires were trickling in from everywhere and that is worrying to everyone. The forest department is worried about the devastation and effect on wildlife, conservationist worry about everything and owners of farms and estates (encroached or legitimate holdings) on the fringes are worried about the monetary loss.

It was a very different Malampuzha. The water levels had receded so much that we had to drive out to a considerable distance to reach the edges of the remaining water. Even there it was shallow enough to wade through. The shoes kept sinking into the mud so we didn't fancy testing the capability of the car, especially with no other human being in sight. It would be a long walk if I had to get a tow truck to dig us out of trouble!




There was still a tinge of green along the water's edge, the result of a minor thunderstorm that lashed Palakkad a week before, but there were also places which looked like it was part of some desert.

The little water that was still remaining meant that fish would be surfacing for air regularly. There weren't many birds around but the ones that were there were having a field day.





The Northern Pintail ducks were too busy exploring underwater to take notice of me. Most of the time I was around they were with their head underwater!

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER

The few waders present were not in groups. I spied individuals of  a few of species. 

SANDPIPER

GREAT EGRET

GREY HERON

There were also a small group of black headed ibises and Asian openbills

BLACK HEADED IBIS

ASIAN OPENBILL STORKS

Cormorants were the only birds on large numbers and they were dive bombing in the shallows and finding great success.

LITTLE CORMORANTS

Other than the kites gliding overhead the only other birds were a lone wagtail and many pipits.

WHITE BROWED WAGTAIL

PADDY FIELD PIPIT 

It seemed that the birds were having a good time as the water disappeared. The unfortunate part was that the forest on the edges of the reservoir were passing through their worst crisis. The leaves that had been shed during the winter months with the dried grass form a deadly combination. A carelessly thrown cigarette or even a spark from a fire lit to clear the under bush can lead to disaster. 

It almost happened on the other shore a few weeks previously. The farm owner was allegedly clearing his property but things quickly went out of control.

It took a mere half  hour for the fire to spread but mercifully it died out before doing too much damage. The forest official whom we ran to inform could only watch helplessly. The nearest fire station was in Kanjikode, at least 10 kilometers from the scene of fire. The water in the reservoir was only about 100 meters away but there was no way to bring it to the fire. Perhaps God intervened!

Our Bandipur trip in late January too was spoilt by fire, but of a different sort. Watch this space for that story.

Woodcrawler Jr & the Bronzeback of Valiyaeri

The euphoria of the Duster has died down and family trips during Christmas vacation have come and gone. School has reopened now and the Little Woodcrawler is busy.

It had been a busy December that I did not find time to update the Journal with all the running around. Palakkad is known for Malampuzha, Parambikulam, Nellyampathy and Silent Valley but if you look hard enough you can find interesting little places closer to home. Places that are not frequented by pesky tourists and hidden from prying eyes.

Off the NH-47 in Kanjikode, nestled at the foothills of the Western Ghats is Valiyaeri. You won't find it on Google! I heard about from an old driver of mine. He related tales of elephants dropping in on the farmsteads on the fringes of the forests near there and my curiosity was piqued. I had gone there many years ago but had to park my car and walk a considerable distance to reach the southern side. The only thing I encountered that day was a cobra that went into the paddy field I was crossing, like a Bullet train!

Now many years later, my son had graduated to being Woodcrawler Jr, I had to show him this little secret. Elephants were still raiding crops but lately the electrified fences along the forest's edge had  effectively ensured that their visits were infrequent. In any case, a Sunday was time for exploring so we decided to go.

This time I took another road, going further from the point where I had accessed the Southern edge. It would eventually reach the railway track but that was not my aim. About half a kilometer before the railway lines a mud track veers left into the edge of the forest. I had no fear of getting stuck on this trip because we had a bigger vehicle but I wanted to be sure I'd be able to back out. An old man told us that we could go all the way to the lake's edge and we did.

There were the regular cormorants roosting and a Brahmini kite swooping overhead.

It was mid-morning and we didn't expect much. As we walked around the Eastern bund a bored Pied kingfisher and a pair of red wattled lapwings surveyed our progress.

It was too warm to be swooping around and we didn't seem to be a threat to them so they stayed put. My son's attention was on the little cars he'd carried along while I was busy surveying underfoot.

I wasn't sure if it was a good day for a trip to Valiyaeri till I saw a slight movement, against the wind, in a crevice on the rock. It was a slender snake with beady eyes and it was trying to sway like the grass behind, but not quite getting the hang of it. The grass would wave one way and the snake would sway in the opposite direction. I was worried about the kite overhead. The snake would make a nice meal!

I hissed to my son to attract his attention. Bronzebacks are fast and it wouldn't need more than a fraction of a second for it to disappear from sight. I needn't have been so worried because the snake was as curious I was. It retracted into the rock with it's chin resting on the edge.

It seemed to me that the snake had decided that it's first priority was to warm up. It had probably been lying up the night between the cracks in the rock and as the day warmed up, must have decided to come out to sunbathe. Unfortunately  it's plans were being interrupted. My son had picked up another camera and was on the topside of the rock.

The next 45 minutes was a hide-n-seek game between my son, the snake and me. It would pop it's head up and my son would crane his neck to see if he could get a good shot.

The snake had withdrawn into the crevice and was trying to find another way out.

My son was sitting patiently for the snake to make it's move. The bronzeback was not intimidating enough for him. He had handled one in Bandipur a couple of years ago and knew it was harmless. He was more keen on getting a hold on it than get a picture! Disappointment was writ large on his face as the snake kept refusing to climb out.

The snake won round one but we weren't about to give up. We withdrew behind the rock. The snake had to make it's move eventually. Move, it did, but from another side.

There were shards of glass lying around from someone's party and the snake was using the pieces as cover!

It would raise itself up slowly to survey the surroundings.

Though we crept behind the snake but it was not about to be fooled. It would look around to see what we were up to behind it.

He was a clever little fellow. Every time we circled around, it would twist and crane its neck to see where we were and what we were upto.

Eventually, probably realizing that we were as tenacious as it was, the snake disappeared one final time before emerging from another side and swiftly vanishing into the dry grass beyond.

It was an exciting 45 minutes with a beautiful reptile. We would have to make trip to Valiyaeri again and Woodcrawler Jr is ready for it. Watch this space......