Curiosity gets me places – Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa!

Every human being is born curious. It is this trait that has got us thriving and evolving to become the dominant species in the world. Curiosity in itself is innocent. I too am curious, curious to observe and explore the original treasures of the world. Curiosity has four aspects, namely ‘How’, ‘Why’, ‘Where’ & ‘What’. ‘Where’ & ‘What’ make greater sense to me, serving a higher purpose. Of the many adventures that have come my way, the one ‘Where’ & ‘What’ I will take you along is the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa for its avifauna.

Wintery mornings in Bondla WLS are just magical. The silvery mist takes over the forest; the road is just about visible, tempting and beckoning. As you pass through the archway of the sanctuary, there is a notable transformation; the air is thicker, temperature has dropped, the noise has ceased, you may have even grown wings, you surely have gotten a ticket to a different world! You will want to tread carefully, so as not to disturb its residents.

As the mist clears, the forest transforms once again. The Giant Wood Spider webs glisten in the morning sun, the sun rays dance about, playing hide-and-seek with the rustling leaves and tall trees. The foliage is dense and mysterious, the canopy magical, but the real tales lie in the understory amongst the lianas and vines. The forest floor is laid with leaves golden, upon which you dare tread, for they will trumpet your presence to the inmates of the land, in loud crunch squeals. 

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

But, if you tread carefully, just pause momentarily and bow to listen, the whole jungle is yours to see.

The morning songs will come strong, resonant through far and near, and the first song that you hear may very well be of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. A rhapsodic melody from a hidden perch, the tail visible as it sways to each note, like a conductor’s baton to every score. Behold the majestic bird, carefree in his forest; well, this is just the beginning as his band of boys will follow.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Orange Minivet, Bronzed Drongo, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Velvet-fronted Nuthatche, Black-
rumped Flameback and many more species follow. What we have encountered is a hunting party, a mixed flock of birds, each benefitting from the others’ company, flittering and hopping, going about their business, foraging for munchies from tree to tree, making merry of a beautiful morning. Well, they will disappear as abruptly as they came, and then again, you will be left behind with impressions dear, to continue along the road much taken, for the untold tales lie in the lost trails. 

Great Indian Hornbill (Female)

If you are lucky, you will be graced by the presence of many beauties, such as the Malabar Trogons, Black-hooded Orioles, Hair-crested Drongos, Indian Blackbird, Green-Pigeons, Great Hornbills and others.

The terrain at Bondla WLS is unusually hilly, nesting amidst the Western Ghats, each bend taking a different tone, the wavering light transforming the place with every passing minute. The shadows can be wary, and if you are not curious enough, you will pass many a beauties camouflaged in pure sight, unnoticed. At times, you seem to be ascending towards heavenly green, while at others, descending towards a fiery yellow. The passage of time notwithstanding, the show will go on forever.

Crested Serpent Eagle

Although I am not an expert at deciphering forests, from what I have learnt, Bondla forest is of the mixed type, primarily moist deciduous and partly evergreen. Understanding forests is a beautiful science and there are key identifier species that can help us decode.

The road is paved, open to all vehicles, entry fee reasonable, at times the traffic can be a bother but that is a necessity for self-sustenance and preservation of the habitat. Within the sanctuary is a zoo, the only one in Goa, serving as a bridge that can shape young minds, sensitizing them about our co-inhabitants, their importance and preservation.

In the end, all journeys must culminate, to seed another.

PS: This article was published in "The newsletter of Ecological Society, Pune" January 2021 edition, called Ecology@Work.

Nature just unfolded unto me…

This winter morning seemed to be a blessing in disguise. Having lost several such weekday mornings this chilli winter to slumber, today I woke up with the sun rise.

I left Mariam sleeping (for which I had to pay, but that later) and went cycling.

We have a two type cycling plans, one for the weekdays and the other for the weekends. The weekday ones haven’t happened for quite sometime, while the weekend cycling is very much alive, where we cruise out of town.

Our weekday circuit takes us through a big village and then onto a road parallel to the Kuankhai river on one side and a canal on the other. Along the canals’ other bank are several small villages that stretch for the next 5 kilometres before hitting the highway perpendicularly. The outer half of the village is called the stinker, for these guys have something for the roads which they beautify with their nature call routines all along.

It was a chilli morning with the temperatures having come down to record levels, my hands and knuckles cold to the core, felt quite brittle. This was not going to stop me; the sleep is a bigger hurdle than any that I’ve faced in my life.

As I passed through the first village, there was not much of activity noticeable except for the local kiranawala and a laundry shop that catered to our colony.

Today somehow I felt not in touch with nature, as if the distance had increased over the days of my no-show. I however took to the Kuankhai river road still occupied with this thought although wanting to do a fast warm-up lap. My only companions were the stealthy babblers who are almost everywhere amongst the foliage and vegetation but only if you can catch their surreptitious movements. They are also called the ‘seven sisters’ since they are always found in the mentioned numbers. They are single coloured pretty birds who can scare you by their deadly looks. Never look into their eyes or they may bite you, had they any teeth. As I whizzed past the flora, there was not much that I could get a glimpse of better than the drongos who are black, in fact they describe the word black very well, blacker than the black, a beautiful glazy black, you cannot miss them. They are found on high wires, electric poles, tree tops; you can surely identify them by their forked tail. You can try and get close to these birds for they are urban bred and do not shy away that easily. Mostly perched on electric wires, they help clean up your streets. Observe them catch a fly or any small little flying insect with an expertise surely written into their genes.

As I turned to head back, I noticed billu in a flock, billu as in open billed stork, biggest Arial species visible in Bhubaneswar skies, about to make a landing on the other side of the river. They resemble the flying pterosaurs from Jurassic park in the way they make a landing and in many other ways such as their appearance. Surely someone in Hollywood has been inspired by their flight pattern; let me try describing to you their descent. The flock makes long circles around an identified patch of their possible landing and then slowly shifts their circular jig in the direction of their initial flight, in the same time gradually making their descent. They take their time and I mean it, landing in succession with lot of grace and harmony.

Proceeding ahead I made an abrupt stop by a neem tree by the road on the riverside upon hearing for the first time in two years the full call of one of the most shy and strikingly beautiful birds, the golden oriole. As the name says it all, the oriole is completely golden with one species having a touch of black, making it the winner of the most beautiful bird prize; their call is something like ‘pee-loo-loo’. She is most visible in winter and the trees of her choice are huge and dense trees like siris, peepal and banyan. All winter I have been spotting her with as much excitement as watching a new born baby; and have heard her regular call of ‘twue’, but today I was lucky to hear her sing.

I descended towards a patch of land on the river to first observe the winter ducks visible at a distance at the opposite riverbank. They were a first in this area. Not much was visible, even difficult to identify their colour and type; for glancing towards eastern side with the sun rising, was causing me to squint and all who have ever clicked a photo will tell you this ki it is not possible to get a good picture of the subject with his back to the sun, and the same is valid for the naked eye especially at distances.

I headed back to seek out my favourite golden oriole. I stood still, facing the canal side observing for movements on the trees by the road. There was a siris tree which surely would have initially lured the bird, and if I lingered long enough, I would surely get to see more than I asked for.

All of a sudden Nature unfolded unto me. It was like a world once invisible, was gradually revealing unto me its treasures. The surroundings quite peaceful and serene, I could now sense a lot of life here. With a little more concentration, I could now notice faint signs of flutter everywhere.

I spotted a woodpecker, a flameback carving a hole in a broken and dead portion of a tree trunk, a first ever in these lands. Then on the dried canal were perched two female koels about who nobody ever speaks, they are grey with polka dots all over and are very beautiful up close, but sadly only their male counterpart is much spoken of; or then you would have heard about the koel story just like the one in the movie ‘3 idiots’.

Then of course I spotted her, not just her but a pair and they were strikingly beautiful. It was a pair of black-hooded golden oriole. They were so strikingly beautiful, clearly visible with the sun at my behind, accentuating their varied colours. As I stood still, they carried on with their chores while I enjoyed God’s magical creations. This sisis tree was full of life with drongos, koels, babblers and bulbuls, with swallows flying high up and all this and more awaits the seeker, by an untrodden road.

And then I spotted a barbet which flew to a bush up-close. I was about to get to my bike when I sighted her on bare of-branch. What a rare sight, its colours visible in full, varied greens, a brown-headed barbet it was. These ones we can spot only on high dense trees, but this was my lucky day, I got to see her in lateral view and then it flew.

I headed back riding with verve, stopped again by another ‘twue’ and was lucky to get a passing glimpse of a flying Eurasian Golden Oriole. These ones have a little black on their wings and come with a regular pink beak and are obviously golden. Well this was one power packed morning.

As I passed by the village enroute to my colony, villagers were to be found in clusters by the tea wala, others in preparation for the hard day ahead, some others were half-naked with soap foam all over, taking a bath by a hand-pump on this chilli chilli morning while many others just idling away. Leaving with these last glimpses I cycled on, and whoa, by the gate of our colony, an Indian Roller, also known as ‘blue jay’ or ‘neel-kant’, greeted me. The morning could not have been better, neither could I have wished for more nor would I have wanted it any other way.