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Dance of the peacock
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A trek in the Anaikatty forest is a great way to get up close and personal with Nature
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PHOTOS: K. ANANTHAN
A DELIGHT TO WATCH Green bee-eater and common babbler
"Ssssshhh... ," says naturalist P. Pramod. "Silence is important while bird watching. Now, identify the spotted dove from the laughing dove just by their sounds," he tells members of the Salim Ali Naturalist Forum (SANF). And, it works.
An early morning trek in the Anaikatty forest is a great way to get up close and personal with Nature. And, watch birds. Dancing peacocks, hummingbirds and tunnel spiders add to the experience.
We first sight a pair of owlets. Indian robins, grey jungle fowls and grey partridges... . Pramod keeps spotting them effortlessly, and the nature enthusiasts accompanying him quickly leaf through Salim Ali's History of Indian Birds for details.
Leafy tale
A pair of binoculars provides a clearer picture. "That is a tailor bird," says Pramod, pointing to a small tailed brightly coloured bird with a bright green upper part and a whitish under part. "It collects large leaves, pierces them with its sharp beak and sews together a nest. That explains its name."
We spot a couple of good singers — the beautiful female Iora, a common bird with a yellow body and a black streak; and the magpie robin, another common bird in South India.
Suddenly, it's bliss. A flock of peacocks comes out of hiding, displaying their blue-green plumage and dancing merrily. A sight to behold!
Then, the tunnel spiders catch our attention. These spiders, found under logs and rocks, have built a silken tunnel with a wide entrance that alerts the spider to the presence of potential prey.
The Anaikatty forest is also home to elephants, gaur, leopard, spotted deer and the black-necked hare. "The marks on the trees are an indication of the presence of elephants. They rub themselves on smooth trees to clean their skin," Pramod says.
The `heat sensation' of leeches, the evolution of man, Salim Ali's chance encounter with an unusual sparrow that introduced him to the world of birds, the bird lover in A.O. Hume, the founder of Indian National Congres ... the trek is packed with information all the way.
Birds aplenty
The slender, rich-hued green bee-eater, colourful hoopoe birds, brilliantly plumaged sunbirds and green sandpipers (the migratory bird from the Himalayas) and Tickell's flower pecker (the smallest bird in India) make their appearances and disappear in a flash.
"The Western Ghats and the North-Eastern Himalayas find a place in the list of 28 global bio-diversity hotspots. This is based on the diversity of flora and fauna and the endemic species," Pramod says, guiding the team along a stream.
Deep inside the forest, it's absolutely still.
The chirping of birds is music to the ears. As you settle down on the boulders, Pramod has another request. "Close your eyes for 10 minutes and identify the birds by their cries." Tree pies, bulbuls, babblers, peacocks... each sound is distinct.
The SANF, functioning since 2003, is a platform for those who love Nature and want to contribute towards its conservation.
It conducts camps for school and college students, and organises bird watching camps, trekking, discussions and afforestation drives.
The Nature Education Division of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in Anaikatty, Coimbatore, co-ordinates this programme. For details, call: 0422 2657103-5; e-mail neosacon@gmail.com or visit www.sacon.org.
You can write to them at SACON, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore - 641108.
When Dr. Pramod talks, everyone listens. For the tales are dotted with anecdotes, personal experiences and loads of information. This avid Nature lover, who has done his doctorate on relationship between forest and bird community, has an interesting connection with the Indian Ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali too. "Dr. Salim Ali's last Ph.D student is Dr. Mathew and I am Dr. Mathew's last Ph.D student!"
He has travelled to forests across India to study tribal settlements and bio-diversity.
"In the North-East, you can spot four to five birds every two km. During one visit, I noticed that one man's photograph found a place in every tribal dwelling. Later, we got to know that he is the grandfather of the village. He had 18 wives and 83 children," Dr. Pramod narrates.
Later, in a presentation on `Communicating sustainability', Dr. Pramod talks about availability of natural resources, the mismatch in utilising it, the commercialisation of agriculture and how water is taken for granted.
K. JESHI
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