Tryst with life in the East coast and Eastern Ghats

 Tryst with life in the East coast and Eastern Ghats

— Part two of a six part series on my recent sojourn into this unique part of India.

Day 2: Vishakapatnam Srikakulam and Naupada

It was May day, supposed to be a holiday. We reached Vizag early morning and checked what looked like a lousy lodge. Freshening up, we headed out to grab something to eat. Turns out, May Day was indeed taken seriously. We walked for about a kilometer and not a single hotel was open! Eventually we found a place and ate whatever was there. We later topped it up with some snacks from a ‘Bangalore Iyengar’ bakery. Being an Iyengar myself, I couldn’t be more tempted to go there and talk in the Iyengar tamil. I did not. That chap in the bakery however, spoke to us and in Kannada. We went back to the hotel and there was a big ‘Scorpio’ an SUV, often associated with rowdy’s and hooligans was waiting for us. Initially, we had booked tickets to Naupada in train but they never got confirmed. Only other way was to drive up. By 10 am, it felt like it was 12 in the noon. We all left and the day progressed in the hot weather, driving along the bay of Bengal for quite some distance. Customary tea stops were normal. By the time we reached Naupada, it was noon. Being May Day, hotels were closed. We headed towards the heronry known as Teelineelapuram. Upon asking, people said there was only one ‘Bhojanalaya’ and it was good. From the initial looks of it, it did not seem good in any stretch of imagination. Cattle shed, dirty looking front yard, man cooking rice in the cow shed, chicken roaming around and a drum of dirty water to wash up. Having no other choice, we went in. Big paper plates, lined with thin cellophane paper and pressed in the shape of plate was laid out for us on the floor. Turns out this place had no table and chair. Infact, it was a mess inside the house, first room being the pantry, second being the kitchen of sorts and the last being the dining hall. Once the food was served, the first impression was shattered. It was a stupendous meal so to say!. 

We reached Teelineelapuram at noon. It was a small village, comprising of mostly ‘Komati’ a local sect of people, often known to be stingy!. The village had tamarind trees upon which birds would nest. This place is recorded in history for having the birds there over centuries. Dr. Ganesh pointed out that tamarind tress were often associated with evil and were never planted within the village. They always used to be away. May be the village expanded and the trees were in the village. We also noticed a pair of Painted Stork juveniles standing in a nest on a Bamboo plant!. Below the nest was a pond heron. The parents came with fish and regurgitated it on the nest, amidst total chaos by the continuous squawking by the young ones. The heron, made several easy meals by picking out fish from underneath the nest! Ingenious indeed. Later, we heard from a young local that people too, wait for the birds to bring fish and manage to take several pickings when they fall down to the ground!

A clever pond heron fishing from the nest!

 Turns out, a major fire broke up in the village and most thatched houses got burnt. That was the reason we saw solid concrete roofed houses. The forest dept and also established itself in the village. A few buildings, an interpretation centre and a huge four storey watch tower adorned the village. After resting under the trees for a while and watching Indian Grey Hornbills chase each other, we climbed up the tower to get a view. 

 

Indian Grey Hornbill

We could see the Eastern Ghats at a distance, a goods train chugging its way along and the canopy of the big tamarind trees. An odd Pelican or two perched on the tree tops. Giri caught up with an elderly man and began talking to him about the history of the place. Much of it we did not understand. 

Heronaries can be a nasty place with bird poop, stench and constant calling of birds!

Heronary on a temple tree cluster. Often, these old trees serve as safe sites for these birds.

By evening, we decided to head to the swamps at Naupada where the birds go to feed. It was an estuary of sorts. However, we were told that a major protest was happening there as a Nuclear power plant was about to come up there. People were up in arms. We thought we will try our luck and went. A huge crowd had gathered in the village. We stopped for tea and everything seemed calm. However, half way, we were stopped and advised to go back. We went to salt pans instead. There was a film crew out there filming the salt making process. Rock salt, dirty brown in color was put in heaps. The sun was going down behind the distant hills. The cool sea breeze began to blow. 

Salt pans' in Naupada. Eastern Ghats is seen at the distance.

 While returning, we went up to the sea. With sun behind our backs and the cool breeze on our face, it felt really good. A quick walk on the sand dunes showed a bit of un modified habitat. Around us were large areas of Casuarina planted as protection against Tsunami!. A lone bushlark was calling its heart out parachuting in the air. None of us had seen this bird so close to the sea and that too on the sand dunes. Sand crabs dung they way into the soft sand and several cones and shells adorned the sand bank. 

Sand dune ecosystem. A natural thing that has gone missing from our coasts thanks to mindless Casuarina planting.

Done with the long day, we headed back, with several tea stops of course. An easy paced dinner at a fake ‘Kamat’ hotel where there was only one light and one server and two tables. The server had to be told to lay out plates, lay out water, get the menu card etc etc. He coolly got water from the wash basin as we had asked for normal water!. By the time we were done, a major fight had broken in the hotel. We paid our bill and walked out. We hit the bed for the first time in three nights. Next day was another bright day.
To be continued. In part three, we traverse through the forests of Eastern Ghats and witness the dark side of things.

For the previous episode, please visit :http://www.seshadriks.blogspot.in/2013/05/tryst-with-life-in-east-coast-and.html

Tryst with life in the East coast and Eastern Ghats

 Tryst with life in the East coast and Eastern Ghats

— Part one of a six part series on my recent sojourn into this unique part of India.

The plan started early last month. Over tea, I could not help but turn around when I heard my colleagues say ‘Seshadri’. It turned out they were planning for a trip along the Eastern Ghats of India for some work on heronries and to see a potential field site for a doctoral thesis. They were planning to book tickets on the Seshadri Express of the great Indian Railways. I asked if I too could join them. Yes I know. It was utterly shameless. So the deal was done over tea itself and tickets were booked for Allwin, Prashanth, Vikram, Giridhar, Dr. Ganesh and myself in the next half hour. None of us except may be Giri and Vikram—who were organizing the field visit seemed to have much of a clue on what to expect or where to go. The deal was to leave on a Monday afternoon and return the following Monday afternoon. In between, it was hectic travelling overnight and through the day. The locations did not make any sense. Not much was known about the Eastern Ghats anyways. Not even its boundary has been definitively marked. Forget points-man knowledge of the places we would be visiting.  Over the next couple of days, several other train tickets were booked and cancelled and all of us were busy checking if the berth got confirmed. I, for one, have felt booking tickets on IRCTC is more difficult than executing a Phd thesis. 

Fast forward a fortnight. We managed to reach the railway station on time and board the ‘Seshadri Express’ which came 2 hours late. The dirty train of ‘Indian Railways’ was as dirty as it can get. A maintenance guy sweeping the floor with a WWF logo and Panda on the handle caught our attention. His minion came up and wanted one of us to fill in a questionnaire form. He only wanted our name and contact, did not want to tick any of the services they had been designated to do! Anyways, it was done.  Lots of food kept coming by and we did have something or the other. Conversations ranged from railways to conservation and pretty much everything under the sun. Tea, we realized, was a hard commodity to get. No one drank tea in the hot weather I suppose. Buttermilk was an obvious alternative choice. Dinner at the godly abode of the other ‘Seshadri’ at Tirupati hills marked the coming to an end of a rather un-eventful day of the journey. 

A map depicting the entire journey

Day 1: Uppalapadu and Kolleru

Morning came early for us. The train was late and for us, the later the better. At about 430 am, we got off at Vijayawada and instantly began searching for tea. Groggy eyed, we went to the Andhra Pradesh’s state milk parlor. Five cups of tea came. They tasted as if it was 2 days old and smelt of Almonds. The man serving us told it was Almond (Badam) Tea. I think it was left over Badam Milk mixed with left over tea. We hit the bus stand and reached Guntur in one hour, put our luggage in a cloak room and then took an auto straight to Uppalapadu Sanctuary. This place is unique in many ways. It’s a small village with a lake and a few trees. Historically, several birds like Spot Billed Pelicans and Painted Storks would build their nests on it. Historically too, the people around it would chop the trees for fuel wood or some such thing. Off late, a few platforms have been erected on which birds nest and bring up young. We reached the place, had our customary tea at a local shack and reached the wetland. It was already hot at about 7 am. About a thousand Spot Billed Pelicans greeted us. While some were feeding in water, many others were on the platforms with their fledglings.  We continued watching those birds, not losing any time to perform the morning ablutions.

A panorama view of the sanctuary from the watch tower.

Uppalapadu, I am told has a bit of history attached to it. Both ecological and political. Undoubtedly, there is conflict too. In the past, as many as 10,000 birds supposedly nested on the trees. Gradually, the trees were felled and the number of birds reduced. Also, the birds used the same part of water to feed which was also being used by the villagers for drinking and other such domestic purposes. There is also a school bang in the middle of the heronry in an island of sorts. I am sure the noise from the nesting birds would drown the noise made by the school kids. 

A cattle egret was breeding there too!

Whereabouts circa 2000, a local MLA was called for a meeting with people. People wanted to cut the trees on which birds nest and use it. The MLA apparently said NO. No cutting of anything and went off. People actually stopped felling it seems. In an attempt to bring the historical number of birds back, someone came up with this idea of putting platforms. They are basically 20 ft long wooden poles with three storey’s, 5-10 ft diameter made of wood steel mesh. Broadest at the base and narrowest on top. About 20 such things have been erected in the lake. The bund has been pitched with stone and 2-3 islands made in the centre and planted with trees. The big lake has been divided into three zones. One for the birds to nest, another for them to feed and remainder for people use. The part where birds roost was rich in nutrients and was as green as a crocodile’s eye. The one they feed in was slightly better and the last one seemed pure enough for domestic use. Water comes from the River Krishna. 

Platforms on which pelicans were nesting

I wonder who gave the idea but the pelicans seem to have taken to it like fish takes to water. Over 200 pelicans were seen nesting on the platforms and several had more than 3 fledglings. Painted storks, however, were pushed out to the outer edge where they nest on Prosopis trees. I also suspect that people stock fish in the tank for their use. If one sees it with a broad perspective, the sanctuary is a sort of semi-captive support program. Platforms provide nesting ground, fish stock provides food. The birds breed like mad. 

Pelicans and Painted Storks in the tank

While all this brings back the BIG number of birds, I would suspect there are several problems with this, ecologically speaking that is. First, providing nest boxes and supplement of food has proven to be having negative effects on birds, especially in the temperate region. Second, the ease with which the pelicans have taken to the platforms would be a very valid reason to say “Oh, the birds take to platforms, cut all trees, use it for timber and put platforms for the birds!” Both these possibilities will affect the long term persistence of the population. Both of it may not happen but no one really knows. There is a need to understand what is happening in this managed population of birds. 

A lot of pelicans!

With the problems people face about birds dirtying the water with their droppings, I have a conceited view. The very first sight that greeted us at the wetland was a man taking a morning dump. The bund of the tank was littered with dumps, even on the way to the school. People don’t seem to have issues in using the water they themselves take a dump in but don’t want the birds to do the same!. May be I am over simplifying things but I really fail to see the point. Another issue we noticed was a bunch of stray mongrel attempting to catch the birds. Through the 2-3 hours we spent there, the dogs kept chasing the birds. I am sure one of their attempts would end up being successful. 

Free ranging dogs are a big threat to wildlife.

With the outing done and a quick count of birds taken, we headed off to another wetland called ‘Kolleru’. We hit Guntur, had a quick brunch, picked up our luggage and reached Vijayawada. From there, we were to head to a smaller town called ‘Elluru’. The bus stands in this part of the country were unique. They had a big complex and it pretty much had everything. Internet parlor, saloon, food, water, dormitory and lodge.  We also saw, for the first time, water being sold to be filled into our own bottles. A liter of cold water costs 3 bucks! We did not fill up though.

The trip to Elluru had some misadventure. While some of us were having the Himachal Pradesh’s Apple Juice, others went to relieve themselves. We had taken tickets on a Luxury Bus. As we were seeing, the driver got in and the bus started. Vikram ran to tell him to stop for a few mins. We were not fluent in Telugu and relied on him for much of the stuff. The driver just took off!. We then boarded another bus and that fellow too was about to start when he saw our tickets and did not allow us inside. The tickets were for the earlier bus and that alone. We could not travel in the next bus. While Giri and Vikram got off to go find out, the bus started. A good 20 mins were lost in the resolving of tickets. Prashanth and Dr Ganesh hurriedly got off the bus. As the bus left the stand, Vikram realized his stuff was still in the bus and was luckily able to stop and take things off. We then had to board another bus. The Supervisor of the bus called the Luxury bus fellow and asked demanded how he left without his passengers! He was advised to stop and wait for us and we were asked to change over to that bus. None of it happened though. We reached Elluru bang at 12 noon and the hot sun took a toll on us by the time we walked half a km to the nearest lodge.

We checked into a hep 3 star AC room at the Grand Arya. It was a surprise to find such a nice place in a small town! Having ordered tea, we had to spend the next one hour for all of us to freshen up. The food too was upstairs and we spent the noon taking time off. Evening, we headed to Kolleru. It was a long 20 km journey which took an hour ended and we got down from the bus. We were supposed to walk up to the tank. But if we did that, the sun would have gone. We tried flagging down an auto, he sped away and stopped at a workshop. We chased him down and asked if he would come. He agreed and we reached Kolleru as the sun was going down. 

A picture postcard sunset greeted us!

Kolleru is one of the largest wetlands in the country. It gets flooded when it rains and if not, is a marsh. Scores of fish ponds have been made and fish and shrimp culture is practiced. A lot of politics too is involved. The late YSR congress brought in an overnight ban on the fish culture and destroyed the vote bank of an opposing party. People, none the less are angry. Dr Subbu tells me that pesticide use was a main reason for pelican numbers to dwindle. Another reason would be the felling of all the Palmyra Trees on which the birds would nest. With the fading light, the ugly artificial platforms caught our eye. The whole lake was dotted with it. A quick count resulted in more than a 100. About half of them were un-occupied. Some genius seems to have taken the idea from Uppalapadu and put it everywhere. 

 

Over crowded platforms!

We saw several cattle herders with buffalo. One fellow took us to be forest officials and started out a rant on how they took over his (illegal) fish pond and how it also took over the road they had made from their money to access the ponds. It took Vikram and Giri some bit of sweet talk to convince them that we were just bird watchers!

Getting back into the same auto that was waiting, we reached the Grand Arya after a long bus ride and after having food in a family restaurant which resembled a Bar than a hotel with dim blue neon lights! Another round of tea followed and we headed to catch the bus to Visakhapatnam. We had booked it earlier that day and it was scheduled to arrive at about 2250. We kept waiting for the bus. Half hour became forty five, one, one and half and two hours passed with no sign of the bus. The controller of buses had no clue what happened to the bus. The driver was not reachable. Some number was given to us and that poor fellow kept receiving calls from us at 12 in the night!. We had lost all hopes of the bus coming and almost got into a fight with the controller when the bus arrived. After the long day, we wanted to sleep. But No. Things would not go the way we wanted. Some movie was being played in the bus. Full volume. I could not bear to watch the terrible movie and dozed off. Next day was Visakhapatnam.
To be continued...

The tale of the Broad 'Tailed' Grassbird

The tale of the ‘Broad Tailed Grassbird’-- a note I wrote for Agasthya the newsletter of KMTR

It was a cloudy morning in the middle of June in 2011 and yet, the rain in Kodayar was hardly a trickle. I was returning from Kakachi with Preeti and Chian after searching for frogs the previous night. We rode past a swamp in Nalmukh tea estate when a sharp warbling call caught our attention. Weary of previous nights work, we did not stop to investigate but kept going and as we navigated a curve, it occurred to me that the bird could be the Broad Tailed Grassbird! We got off the bike and ran to investigate. The sky was overcast and a light drizzle brought out a nip in the wind. The calls were incessant. It came from the base of two eucalyptus trees. The swamp had a lot of thick sedge growing in it. As we intently waited, the bird flew out from a clump of sedges and perched on the tree and began warbling. One could clearly see the black mouth inside when it was calling. The broad tail too was distinct. Elated on seeing an endemic and vulnerable bird in a tea estate, we tried to photograph the bird in vain.

A record picture of the Broad Tailed Grassbird calling from a eucalyptus plant

I had on one earlier occasion, seen a pair of Grassbirds in the Muthukuzi area albeit being obscured by grasses. This sighting was clear and is etched in my memory.  For the next couple of days, we would regularly hear the bird from the same place. The bird possibly had its nest in the sedges and from literature; I came to know the nest remains water tight through the monsoon. Very little knowledge exists about this bird. 

A few days later, we noticed a pile of the very sedges in which the bird was nesting being harvested and stacked along the road. Turns out the sedge was being used as mulch for growing organic tea.  Organically grown tea was supposedly environmental friendly but on the contrary, the exact opposite seemed to have been happening. What the estate owners had not realized was that their tea growing practices had in-fact allowed a vulnerable bird to persist and even breed in their estates. 
 

A sedge of the cyperaceae family being harvested and ferried to the organic estate. The bird nests in the thick clumps of this plant.

While tea consumers and tea production is bound to increase, the fate of the bird lies in limbo across much of its geographic range. The estate could help in conserving this bird by maintaining a situation where even vulnerable species survive in an island of tea. Such a situation could lead to a certification for following ‘green’ practices and definitely boosted their sales. But, in the name of organic tea, a bird is being pushed a step closer to extinction.

Mis-adventures on a bike

Working inside a Tiger Reserve is a privilege. Working inside a Tiger Reserve on a motor bike is taking things one step further.  I have had some very nice experiences when on work inside KMTR. I have seen anything from a rare snake to birds like broad tailed grassbird to elephants and even a leopard when on the bike.

A gaur that almost threw me and Chian off the bike!

Similarly, I have also faced situations when death (well almost!) looked me in the face and I lived to tell the tale, especially when working at night. On several occasions the tires get punctured when on the road, away from human settlements and I end up walking atleast 3-4 km to get stuff to fix the bike or push the bike itself in hilly country back to field base.  Other times, at night, with the rain gods pouring away, I have had to ride back with heart in my throat hoping not to bump into an elephant or two which apparently come to the road when it rains! Another time, I have had to ride thru a mud slide!

With the trusted Yamaha navigating thru a mud slide!  PS: No bravado here! got this for the records!

A recent experience in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve with my cousin vinay becomes one among the long list of misadventures when doing field work.

We were visiting a Tea Estate near Gudalur called Madhuvanam. Our task along with many other biologists and researchers was to survey the place for amphibians and arrive at a comprehensive list. We took two days to do this and the estate was a wonderful place to be. Over 50 species of birds made our day including the Great Pied Hornbills! At night, we were treated with sighting of the rare Malabar Torrent Toad which Vinay spotted and picked up to show me- the only so called expert around at that time! For two days we enjoyed our stay there and got back to Gudalur where another colleague, Thomas from the French Institute had to head back to Bangalore. We then went with Tarsh (our host) to his house on top of a hill in the outskirts of Gudalur. The house was serene and I wish I could have lived there for ever! 

the valley at Maduvanam estate

Me and Vinay were bound to return the next afternoon and had half a days time to spare. We dint know what to do. Eventually, we decided to ride into Mudumalai and then to Bandipur. Getting transport early in the morning was tricky. It was Deepawali time and all were either celebrating or plain busy catering to the high tourist demand. Luckily, Joby, who lives in Gudalur had a bike which he offered to us. We agreed and left early the next day. The mist had not lifted and chill was strong. The 20 odd km felt like 100 km! The National Highway inside the park was relatively empty and not many vehicles, except only at few places. The forest, however, was Pink. Yes. Pink because of dear Lantana which has grown everywhere. Up the trees, up the tall bamboo shoot. Down into ditches. You name it. We did not see any animal except for the Cheetal and a group of Sambar deer.

Not satisfied with this, we decided to take the forest department safari in Bandipur. Surprisingly, the bus was almost empty and we got tickets!. I dropped a few names and said I had worked in bandipur a few years ago. Probably that and my camouflage attire made the ticket issuing forester to allow me to sit next to the driver in the bus and get a front view of the forest!. The ride started. People were yapping in the bus. An well meaning idiot googling on his smart (ass) phone for calls of lion, tiger and peafowl and playing it loud in the bus for his kid and the kid aping the call. Another bunch apparently slept off!

Torrent Toad spotted by Vinay

The forest was pretty pink again. The game roads were muddy and the view lines for 10 m on either side were empty. Again, only a few cheetal. An odd langur.Vinay spotted a treepie and yelled Malabar Trogon. The bus driver stopped. People wanted to see what we had seen. I saw the tree pie but the mind's eye was looking for a trogon. A trogon in a Dry deciduous forest! It took me a while to figure out what vinay had seen and he too, by then realized that it was only a lowly treepie. 

We moved on. No animal crossed our path. A small heard of gaur were up ahead. We reached closer and the poor animals tried to move away from the road but could  not penetrate the thick wall of lantana. They ran helter skelter and some ran on the road. Further ahead, one gaur became two and two became four and soon there were not less than 50 Gaur all walking on the road. I could count 25, the driver said there are not less than one hundred. It seems Gaur never go in such big herds. I had never seen or heard of such a large herd. 

That done, we got back from the ride and waited for the critical mass to take another ride at a discounted price. A bunch of hippies came by and said the fare was expensive and returned. The department chaps wound up the tour saying the time was up. We had time left and decided to drive down to Moyar. We stopped enroute to shoot a great black woodpecker which was on a roadside tree and calling away. About half way to Masinagudi, a small town before Moyar, disaster struck.

The throttle became non responsive. The bike would not move. It was illegal to stop a vehicle inside the reserve but who cares and what choice did we even have anyways?! Unfamiliar with the bike, vinay and myself started to figure out what went wrong, then we saw a small piece of cable hanging loose from the carburetor. We tried fixing it but the cable was too short to fit in and we dint see any loose end to fit it in! Assuming the piece had fallen off, we walked up and down the road for a few meters in vain. 

Vinay suggested we upturn the bike and see where the cable connected. But, I had in the past removed and put the throttle cable in my bike and knew that it fit in the carburetor and decided against it. Instead, I pulled out my ever trustworthy swiss knife and unscrewed the throttle handle and noticed that the cable was cut!. Such a simple thing. We stopped the next vehicle that went past and checked up if there was a mechanic nearby. They said the nearest was in Gudalur. By then, we were starting to run short of time for the bus. I called up Tarsh, our host who was on a survey on other side of Gudalur. He said that I will either have to push or leave the bike there and get back somehow to catch the bus. 

I tried pulling the cable back and fixing it but it fell short. By then I had pulled out a pocket nose plier. I decided to try pulling the cable with the plier and see if the bike moved. It did! Quickly, wiping our greasy hands on to the grass nearby, we picked up our bags and began our journey.
Initially it was hard to pull the cable in one hand and controlling the gears on the other and all the while concentrating on the road ahead! Somehow, we reached Gudalur. A distance of 25 km from where we got struck! All the passing cars and busses were all eyes at our antics. Vinay on the pillion with 2 camera bags, me riding the bike with a nose plier and both of us trying desperately to spot some wildlife!

With an hour to spare for the bus, we quickly got the cable fixed and then raced to Tarsh's house where we had left our stuff and again raced back to eventually catch the bus.

While our misadventure taught us a good lesson, all through the bike ride, I was hoping against hope that our tiers would not get punctured. That would have been the last thing we both wanted! Luck, seemed to be on our side and nothing of the sort happened. And yet again, I won and the Bike lost!

With Muthu and John, trying to fix a punctured tube back in the field station! Ages ago.

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 Not formally edited. Forgive typos!