Sarath’s Journal

The very name Namdapha has held a deep fascination for me and i longed to go there for many years now..at last my dream is about to come true ! I am in Kolkata and tommorrow i leave for Namdapha ! We..Kalyan,me,Aparajita..very few people in India know Namdapha better than her..and Divya and Sridhar..two other researchers..are going to be trekking across the Park for about two weeks !!
The bio-diversity of Namdapha is simply mind-boggling ! It has about 600 species of birds..fantastic flora..incredible Butterflies and Dragon flies and some really exotic Mammals..specially the smaller ones..sample this: Golden, Leopard, Marbled Cats..Binturong..Burmese Ferret-badger..Himalyan Palm Civet..seven different flying Squirrells etc ! Then the bigger ones include Serow,Takin,Clouded Leopard etc !

(Copyright : Aparajita Datta)

Here’s a sample..a Marbled Cat caught in Aparajita’s camera-trap !
You all will have to wait for a few days to hear more about my trip !!

I spent four days at Dudhwa N.P in the Terai area close to Nepal border. The Park is mainly a dense Sal forest interspersed with beautiful swampy grasslands. I saw my first Rhinos in the Sal jungle, Swamp Deer actually feeding on water weeds..in true Swamp Deer style ! Hog Deer etc
I also had an amazing encounter with a Tigress on foot ! She charged at me and my local tracker !
But the highlight of my trip were not wild animals but a remarkable wildlifer, the legendary Billy Arjan Singh..in fact i stayed with him in Tiger Haven and spend a lot of time talking with him on his experiences and the current state of wildlife in Dudhwa etc.His commitment to wildlife conservation and his passion for the Terai is amazing ! More about him and Dudhwa later !

At Mukki, Kanha N.P..where i am based now for the Phase 2 of the Naturalist Training..it’s monsoon time and the place is a virtual treasure-trove of insect life ! I just forgot about the large mammals, about which we get so obsessed while driving in the N.Ps…if you look keenly, you will find these amazing little creatures everywhere ! For instance, just look closely at a shrub which has well-eaten leaves and you can spy upon a superbly hidden Caterpillar ! Here are some of my pictures of these fantastic creatures !!

A formidable Moth Caterpillar

Giant Wood Spider with a freshly trapped Dragonfly

As we were driving into the Kabini jungle (South Nagarahole) late evening in July, i asked Indu if i would see Elephants..my most favourite animals on Earth,whom i miss so much in Central India ! I was also really hoping to see them as i had one a day at Kabini. She said,” Of course, they would be here to welcome you!” I could’nt believe my eyes, when within five minutes of she saying this, we saw this most amazing Bull, in the middle of the road..what an impressive Tusker! He kept walking on the road towards our vehicle..we kept reversing..for almost a kilometer ! He was checking out every rain-water puddle on the road as he advanced towards us..with peaceful intentions and body-language…He finally left us, since a heavy vehicle came along. What a beautiful encounter with such a handsome Bull and i was completely thrilled at this ‘welcome’ !! I did’nt even have a camera and this picture was taken by a good friend Ramesh, a Kabini veteran, on the same road exactly two years back ! He recognised the Tusker by my description of it’s behaviour and it’s Tusk pattern ! A heartening thought that he has been around un-molested by us human beings !

On 30th June, the Phase one of the Naturalist Training ended..nobody could believe that 35 days have passed so quickly ! Eleven highly enthusiastic youngsters out of the initial 19 made it to Phase Two successfully ! They were all so relieved and happy ! But many did want to leave Pench and go back to the cities..several asked me if they can stay back or come early to help ! The next Phase starts at Kanha on 23rd July, after a three week break. They have a ‘long-haul’ after that..3-4 months..before they actually qualify.
We had a ’surprise’ sundowner celebrations to mark the successful end of Training and also a big party that night !

The 11 successful Naturalist Trainees, who managed to get ’selected’ from Pench Training arrived at Kanha for the long Phase 2..which could last anywhere between 3 to 6 months. We started off with an amazing drive to Suphkar,which gave a good idea of the incredible bio-diversity of Kanha to them ! Saw 65 birds in 3 hours as we drove, including the spectacular Scarlet Minivets and the lovely White-rumped Shama.
We have long Nature walks and drives in the buffer zone. It just so beautiful to walk in the edge of one of India’s greatest Parks..it’s the monsoon and there is a great diversity of insects and birds…i also got back to cycling and reading..this phase of Training is not as intensive as the first one, so i get some breathing space for myself too.

We had a fantastic Birding experience at Pench on 26th June 2007…we split into two teams and began ‘competetive’ Birding at 4.40 am with the “dawn chorus”! Later we walked along the edge of the Park, birding till 8am..came back to the Lodge for BF and got into the Park by 8.45am and continued birding the whole day…finished off with some ‘nocturnal birds’ at 8.30 pm !! We recorded a total of 120 birds in one day !! A good record for this time of the year !
Everyone enjoyed this intensive birding experience to the core and it managed to convert many non-birders to birders,which was the whole idea anyway !

Many birds, reptiles and animals take advantage of the sudden explosion of so much protein on wings in form of the new Termites emerging from cracks in the earth, after the first rains. I see it as a re-cycling of energy from trees back to the food chain..imagine, trees keep contributing to the eco-system even when they are long dead ! In Pench, we have noticed a whole lot of birds, Monitor lizards and even a Jackal feeding on these amazing insects. But an unusual sighting was of a Three-striped Palm Squirrel hunting Termites with such dexerity ! It was well placed on a tree trunk with a termite explosion happening nearby.We watched this intrepid creature for a long time and i managed to get a couple of decent pictures !

We had some welcome pre-monsoon rains in Pench and i was so relieved gazing at the low, dark-grey rain clouds taking over the skies..got drenched a couple of times in the Park, but it was sheer bliss ! We were all happy to see the end of the mind-numbing heat of the past three months !
The jungle was showing signs of transformation and one of the first hints was the explosion of winged termites emerging from the earth…birds and some animals were actively going after this un-expected bonus of high protein ! I found this Common Myna picking up a whole stack of termites and heading off to her nest nearby ! Also saw an unusual sight of a Purple Sun-bird feeding on these termites ! A couple of Monitor Lizards and even a Jackal..jumping and gorging on these hapless insects !

I had this great fortune to sight this amazing Tigress, early morning this Saturday in Pench.We were driving on the Junevani-Purethadi road and the Trainees were practising Guiding techniques..abruptly some Chitals started giving alarm calls…and then they all scaterred helter skelter !
Allwyn, who was driving..we had stopped by now..saw the Tigress first and screamed in excitement: Tiger! Tiger !! She emerged from behind some rocks and sprayed at them..and started to walk in our direction. We had got into a good position by then and watched this amazing First Lady of Pench walk past us, with her beautiful golden coat glistening in the early morning sun-light. She spray-marked on a tree and walked past us non-chalantly…

We were simply enchanted by her presence and were spell-bound by her sheer beauty and power. When we recovered, everyone was jumping up with joy and sheer exilharation ! Hetal was in tears and David, a committed Dragon fly specialist from Kerala was so fascinated by his first Tiger sighting that he swore to give up Dragonflies and take up study of Tigers ! For four out of seven in the vehicle, it was their very first Tiger sighting in the wild !! Tigers always have this mesmerising effect on me…every sighting seems like my first one !