|
Harike and
Aitiana, Punjab
Birding Trip Report
By Ranajay
Gupta & Chandan Chaudhuri
It
wasn’t a very encouraging start. The fog had enveloped us by the time we
stopped at Moghul Sarai; the gloom still enveloped us when we reached New Delhi
by Poorva Express after 4 pm on 4 January 2000 — more than eight hours late.
Seven of us had left from Howrah on 3 January 2000 and two joined on the way at
Asansol. Two more were to join us from Delhi; hence the route via Delhi instead
of taking a direct train to Ludhiana. The fog had disrupted all train services.
The New Delhi railway station was choked with passengers whose trains had been
delayed or cancelled. We had planned to catch the Paschim Express; we did, but
only the next day, and even then, the train left more than four hours late. We
reached Ludhiana after 9 pm, where our host, Mr Sohan Singh was waiting. The
drive to Aitiana, a village 30 km from Ludhiana, was again through fog. All the
strain was compensated, however, by the hot dinner of makki ka roti and sarson
ki sag (a mustard-leaf preparation with unleavened maize bread) Mrs Manjit Kaur
had waiting for us, followed by a divine dessert of hot gajar halwa.
Aitiana
The next
day — 6 January — was spent exploring Aitiana village, as far as the fog and
cold would allow us. Even then, the experience was unforgettable. The bird life
was not only rich, but incredibly bold. Mr Sohan Singh’s farmhouse is a
three-storied building, with a large, brick-paved inner yard enclosed within a
high wall. Low sheds for farm machinery as well as the cattle sheds, which
housed a number of buffalo, surrounded the outer yard. Behind the cattle sheds
was a heap of chaff, and beyond it a small enclosed field where the cattle spent
the day grazing and basking in the sun on the rare occasions the fog allowed it
to shine through.
The
men in our group slept in a large room converted into a dormitory of string
beds. The room had a window that looked out on the heap of chaff and the field
beyond. And on to an incredible collection of birds that fed on the chaff-heap
all day.
There
were doves and rose-ringed parakeets, mynas and sparrows, babblers and munias
— but soon enough we found it was a collection unlike any we usually see.
Among doves, there were the ring doves that seemed to populate the region in
their thousands. You could go kilometre after kilometre and the power or
telephone lines running beside the road would be one continuous of stretch of
roosting ring doves. There was the little brown dove. There were bank mynas,
which were as common as crows here, along with common mynas and pied mynas. But
it was the sparrows that had us perplexed. What, at first glance, looked like an
ordinary enough flock of sparrows on the chaff-heap turned out to be a gathering
of at least three species, one of which we were unable to identify with any
certainty. A similar flock on the village road proved to include three species
of pipit. The bare tree in the field behind the chaff-heap had its own
attraction, with species like the common grey hornbill; and spotted owlet — a
charming family of six which would come out from a hole in the tree to bask in
the insipid sun. A little patch of marshy land under a grove of trees at the
edge of the village had a few waders and kingfisher. Red-wattled lapwing almost
allowed you to trip over them before they made way.
Harike
On the
7th, we went to Harike, or Hari-ke-Pattan, as it is often called — a journey
of about 110 km from Aitiana via Moga (actually, the nearest major town is Moga
(40km) and the nearest railhead is Amritsar (60 km)). We had our first view of
the wetland from the Gurdwara on the bank of Harike Lake. The Harike wetland is
formed by a barrage at the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Ferozepur
District. The main lake is fringed by marshes, Shisham woods and cultivation.
Harike town itself hugs one shore. Surprisingly, we found the greatest
concentration of migratory waterfowl right next to it — in their thousands.
Coots comprised more than half the number. There were wigeons, shovellers,
red-crested pochards, tufted ducks and cotton teal. There were black-headed,
brownheaded gulls and river tern, besides an assortment of waders. However,
local villagers complained of poaching by rich landowners, and we did hear shots
while we were there. On land, we had the rare sight of a starling. Other birds
included the spanish sparrow. The total bird count came to 66, in conditions
that left much to be desired. Time was limited, and the fog did not lift before
late afternoon. A properly-organised trip with sufficient time on hand,
preferably with base camp at Harike itself, should prove to be a birdwatcher’s
dream. An employee of the Rajasthan Canal authorities gave us valuable advice on
staying at Harike. There is an inspection bungalow which can be booked by
writing to The Executive Engineer, Harike Canal Division, PO Harike, Dist
Ferozepur with a copy to the Sub-Divisional Officer, Ferozepur. There is also a
Gurdwara at Harike which allows visitors to stay at a hall beside the river; if
you are carrying tents you can also make a camp beside it. Meals are not
available close at hand; you have to go to Harike town, a couple of kilometres
from the site. (The authors wish to record their gratitude to Mr & Mrs Sohan
Singh of Aitiana Transport and their relatives at Aitiana for making the visit
possible and for making their tour an incredible experience; and to all the
people at Aitiana and Harike who went out of their way to help. The checklists
were prepared with the help of Mr Purnendu Dasgupta, Dr Ruma Dasgupta and Mr
Arup Chakrabarty (who is blind, but a keen birder nevertheless, with an
incredible capacity of identifying birds from their calls) of Prakriti Samsad,
who were part of the team. The other members of the team were Dr A K Das and Mrs
Kalpana Das, Mr Jaydeb Dasgupta, Mrs Mitali Gupta and Ms Chaitali Dasgupta, who
all contributed in no mean measure to making this trip so fruitful.)
Checklist of Birds at
Aitiana
English
Name / Scientific Name
-
Indian Peafowl Pavo
cristatus
-
Indian Grey Hornbill Ocyceros
birostris
-
Common Hoopoe Upupa
epops
-
Indian Roller Coracias
benghalensis
-
White-throated
Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
-
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle
rudis
-
Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula
krameri
-
Spotted Owlet Athene
brama
-
Laughing Dove Streptopelia
senegalensis
-
Red Collared Dove Streptopelia
tranquebarica
-
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaocto
-
Common Redshank Tringa
totanus
-
Green Sandpiper Tringa
ochropus
-
Common Sandpiper Actitis
hypoleucos
-
Temminck's Stint Calidris
temminckii
-
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus
himantopus
-
Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus
indicus
-
Shikra Accipiter
badius
-
Little Egret Egretta
garzetta
-
Cattle Egret Bubulcus
ibis
-
Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta
vagabunda
-
House Crow Corvus
splendens
-
Large-billed Crow Corvus
macrorhynchos
-
Black Drongo Dicrurus
macrocercus
-
Indian Robin Saxicoloides
fulicata
-
Pied Bushchat Saxicola
caprata
-
Variable Wheatear Oenanthe
picata
-
Brahminy Starling Sturnus
pagodarum
-
Asian Pied Starling Sturnus
contra
-
Common Myna Acridotheres
tristis
-
Bank Myna Acridotheres
ginginianus
-
Jungle Myna Acridotheres
fuscus
-
Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus
cafer
-
Western Crowned
Warbler Phylloscopus occipitalis
-
Common Babbler Turdoides
caudatus
-
House Sparrow Passer
domesticus
-
Spanish Sparrow Passer
hispaniolensis
-
Rock Sparrow Petronia
petronia
-
White Wagtail Motacilla
alba
-
Paddyfield Pipit Anthus
rufulus
-
Indian Silverbill Lonchura
malabarica
Checklist of Birds at
Harike
English
Name / Scientific Name
-
Little Grebe Tachybaptus
ruficollis
-
Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax
niger
-
Cormorant Phalacrocorax
carbo
-
Darter Anhinga rufa
-
Grey Heron Ardea
cinerea
-
Purple Heron Ardea
purpurea
-
Pond-Heron Ardeola
grayii
-
Large Egret Egretta
alba
-
Smaller Egret Egretta
intermedia
-
Indian Reef-Heron Egretta
gularis
-
Night-Heron Nycticorax
nycticorax
-
Openbill Stork Anastomus
oscitans
-
Common Teal Anas
crecca
-
Gadwall Anas
strepera
-
Wigeon Anas
penelope
-
Shoveller Anas
clypeata
-
Red-crested Pochard Netta
rufina
-
Common Pochard Aythya
ferina
-
Tufted Duck Aythya
fuligula
-
Cotton Teal Nettapus
coromandelianus
-
Black-winged Kite Elanus
caeruleus
-
Indian Whitebacked
Vulture Gyps bengalensis
-
White-breasted
Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
-
Moorhen Gallinula
chloropus
-
Purple Moorhen Porphyrio
porphyrio
-
Coot Fulica atra
-
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus
himantopus
-
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius
dubius
-
Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus
indicus
-
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa
limosa
-
Redshank Tringa
totanus
-
Green Sandpiper Tringa
ochropus
-
Common Sandpiper Tringa
hypoleucos
-
Brown-headed Gull Larus
brunnicephalus
-
Black-headed Gull Larus
ridibundus
-
Indian River Tern Sterna
aurantia
-
Indian Ring Dove Streptopelia
decaocto
-
Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula
krameri
-
Coucal Centropus
sinensis
-
Spotted Owlet Athene
brama
-
Lesser Pied Kingfisher
Ceryle rudis
-
Whitebreasted
Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
-
Indian Roller Coracias
benghalensis
-
Hoopoe Upupa epops
-
Lesser Goldenbacked
Woodpecker Dinopium benghalense
-
Black Drongo Dicrurus
adsimilis
-
Starling Sturnus
vulgaris
-
Pied Myna Sturnus
contra
-
Common Myna Acridotheres
tristis
-
Bank Myna Acridotheres
ginginianus
-
House Crow Corvus
splendens
-
Jungle Crow Corvus
macrorhynchos
-
Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus
cafer
-
Striated Babbler Turdoides
earlei
-
Jungle Babbler Turdoides
striatus
-
Rufous-tailed
Flycatcher Muscicapa ruficauda
-
Red-breasted
Flycatcher Ficedula parva
-
Streaked Fantail
Warbler Cisticola juncidis
-
Yellowbellied
Wren-warbler Prinia flaviventris
-
Stone Chat Saxicola
torquata
-
Yellow Wagtail Motacilla
flava
-
Grey Wagtail Motacilla
cinerea
-
White Wagtail Motacilla
alba
-
Large Pied Wagtail Motacilla
maderaspatensis
-
House Sparrow Passer
domesticus
-
Spanish Sparrow Passer
hispaniolensis
Animated
bird clipart
Holiday
bird clipart
Butterfly
and Bee clipart
Miscellaneous
birds
|
