Mt. Saramati and Fakim
Wildlife Sanctuary
Mountain Bamboo
Partridge, Khonoma area
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A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life;
like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is
inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’
character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor
happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and
severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!
-Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
This was to be our third and last trip, on behalf of the Government of
Nagaland, to do a bird survey of this extreme but truly fascinating northeastern
state. Sumit Sen who had been on two earlier trips was otherwise occupied, but
Shashank Dalvi and Ramki Sreenivasan would re-join the team, as would Mohit Aggarwal, now an aficionado of all things Naga. Bano would continue as team
leader and mother hen. We considered all the places we should visit,
particularly the Mon and Tuensang areas, where we hadn’t been before, but after
hearing reports of heavy hunting and slash-and-burn in those part of Nagaland,
decided to settle for the Khonoma and Benrue area, which we knew were free from
these two curses and decided to revisit them and do a more in-depth study.
Ramki, Shashank and I had spent the previous week trying to set up target
species and the brilliant Shashank had produced a list that contained, inter alia,
four laughingthrushes viz. Yellow-throated, White-browed, Spot-breasted and Ashy
(or Moustached) as possible candidates. He studied what little was known about
them, which was miniscule as two of them have never been photographed and the
third was represented by a photograph of a dead bird taken in lower Arunachal.
All we truly deduced was that they preferred degraded scrub rather than the
traditional thick vegetation. Another bird that made the list was the rarely
seen Spot-throated Babbler.
I hadn’t seen the Rangapahar Zoo in Dimapur, so I flew in a day earlier and
ensconced myself at the comfortable Aier’s Residency. Bano and I shopped for
essentials (mostly supplementary food) and next morning made the trip to the
Zoo. It was uncomfortably hot as we trekked the vast and verdant confines of the
Rangapahar Zoo. As zoos go, it isn’t much, having a few birds cramped in
terrible conditions, but the compounds were full of trees, which would make for
good birding in more salubrious conditions. The only birds we saw were a few
House Sparrows, Black Drongo, and a Greater Coucal. I promised that I would
return in winter and try and see the Grey-Peacock Pheasant that is rumoured to
lurk in the vegetation.
We collected Ramki and Shashank in the afternoon and drove (chauffeured again
by the silent Tokaho) straight to Khonoma, where we decided to sample the
alternate home-stay run by the delightful Mr. & Mrs Meru. The rooms were
brilliant with lots of warm water and having consumed a delicious dinner, nodded
off as soon as our heads hit the pillows. Gulping tea at 4am, we waited for
Shashank to appear with all his gear. A sound-parabola, binocular, camera,
recording and playback equipment and assorted wires sticking out of him made him
look like a character from a bad science fiction movie. I wondered how he ever
got through airport security. Ramki confirmed that it took
Shashank at least 30
minute to complete that particular operation.
We got into Tokaho’s canary-yellow Sumo jeep and drove through the familiar
coppiced Alder forest to the parking lot above the sleepy hamlet of Khonoma. The
short journey produced Little Pied Flycatchers, a Spotted Forktail and
tantalizing glimpses of Black-breasted Thrushes, which made Ramki salivate. A
pair of very dark Khaleej Pheasants quickly crossed the road denying a chance of
a photograph. They were almost black and that made us wonder if they were of the
moffiti ssp. that I have been obsessed by after hearing about them from Tim and
Carol Inskipp. Another mystery to be resolved in the future!
Ramki was keen to photograph the Naga Wren-babbler, which had managed to escape
his frenetic camera on the earlier visit, as well and try and see the almost
mythical Gould’s Shortwing, photographed by Sachin Rai at the same spot exactly
a year earlier to the day. The energetic duo decided to climb the steep gully
straightaway, while we sauntered more leisurely along the road. I knew they
would be gone for a few hours, so had ample time to loiter without intent. The
first thing I noticed was how the numbers of Crested Finchbill and Grey Sibias
had declined, since we were here in January. Presumably they had paired up and
fled higher to cooler climes where they could bring up their young in more
comfortable surroundings. A few still lingered but they were uncommon.
We walked along, finding that bird densities were lowers than the last time but
I knew that would happen since the migrants had left. I managed to see a
Yellow-rumped Honeyguide on a cluster of newly erupted honeycombs. Both Mrs
Gould’s and Fire-tailed Sunbirds made swift appearances. Grey-hooded Warblers
were much in evidence. Cuckoos – European, Indian, Oriental and Lesser – called
from everywhere, the loudest being the Large Hawk Cuckoo. The Great Barbet tried
it best to keep up in the cacophony. A large flock of Nepal House Martins
circled the skies in the company of Himalayan Swiftlets. We walked up and down
the stretch a few more times waiting for twosome to return. Hours passed but
there was no sign of the duo and I started getting worried. We ate our breakfast
watching the resident Long-tailed Shrike (tricolor). The familiar sound of a
pair of the recently split Spot-breasted Scimitar Babblers made me dart out to
the adjoining foliage and for the first time in my life, I managed a
satisfactory look of this great skulker. My good fortune continued, as a singing
Naga Wren-babbler drew my attention and I spent a fascinating few minutes seeing
this Nagaland specialty in full song. Great relief for I had refused to be
coaxed by my younger colleagues to join them in their heroic activity of scaling
the mountain in orders to see this bird.
It was almost lunchtime when they returned having managed to photograph the
Naga Wren-babbler as well as its cousin the Pygmy. Other birds they saw and
photographed included the Rusty-capped Fulvetta, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon,
Mountain Hawk Eagle, Striated LT, Red-cheeked Liocichla, Slaty-Blue (cerviniventris
ssp. with rich buff underparts) and Snowy-throated Flycatchers. Perhaps the most
important bird they photographed and one that had them puzzled a great deal was
a seicercus warbler with a broken eye-ring and a grey head, which does not match
any of the illustrations and descriptions in the current guidebooks . As I write,
intensive detective work is underway and the results should be declared soon.
(Since identified as Grey-crowned
Warbler Seicercus tephrocephalus -Ed.)
Grey-crowned Warbler, 1st image from
India
They however missed the shortwing and managed only to elicit a weak response
from the Cachar Wedgebilled Babbler. Much to their disappointment they missed
the Brown-capped as well as the Striped Laughingthrushes.
Back in the warm confines of Khrieni & Gonguii Meru home-stay, we dined royally
on a meal cooked by Bano and went to bed early. The plot was to do a quick trip
to the coppiced forests just above Khonoma to see if we could find the Lesser
Shortwing that Shashank had heard singing, earlier in the day. Finding a suitable
spot, Shashank played the tape and a Lesser Shortwing went berserk circling us
and posing briefly, but allowing enough time to let Ramki practice his art. The
Lesser Shortwing of the NE carolinae has dark brown upperparts and I was very
thrilled with my lifer. We also saw Dark-sided and Ferruginous Flycatchers, but
yet again the Black-breasted Thrushes evaded Ramki.
We decided to move location to Benrue from where we had received several
reports of Dark-rumped Swifts breeding in the village. What we thought would be
a three-hour journey stretched into almost six hours, over bad roads, and it was
dark by the time we drove into Benrue. The journey itself was though the immense
and awe-inspiring forests of Dhulekie valley, but largely uneventful, bar a
small nightjar, which we failed to identify, and a single Blue-winged LT. The
only true excitement being when our car flushed a large crake or rail-like bird
with dark dangling legs. It was not a Black-tailed Crake for sure, but what else
could it be at this height? Another mystery.
Next morning the young duo came back from an early morning jaunt with a picture
of a Forktail. The spots were visible but it had no white on its crown. Perhaps
a juvenile turning into an adult? In the meanwhile Bano had gathered a huge
number of local residents and we showed them photographs of the Dark-rumped
Swifts, but they were unaware of its existence.
We then trooped into the village square below which the rarest of swifts –
Dark-rumped – purportedly breed. We peeked into an old thatched house (whose
dark interiors housed several skulls and bones of unidentifiable birds and
animals) and saw several birds swooping under its eaves. We watched these birds
for several hours and ALL of them turned out to be Himalayan Swiftlets. This
prompted two opinions, the first of which was that perhaps the Dark-rumped had
breed and left and the second being that the said swifts were misidentified. We
would like future and past birders who have been to Benrue to share their
thoughts with us. Disappointed we decided to wend our way back to Khonoma, where
Mohit awaited us. The journey back was much quicker as there were few birds to
stop for.
The next day would be our last together and Ramki and Shashank would head to the
Mt. Saramati region, while the three of us would make a brief foray to Tuophema,
before heading back home. All along Ramki was fidgeting and complaining that he
had not been able to photograph the Mountain Bamboo Partridge, the Spot-breasted
Scimitar Babbler and the Black-breasted Thrush. So early morning saw them
disappear with determined looks and it was great relief all-round when they
declared that they had achieved their goal and more. They also saw the Striped
LT. Bidding goodbye to the charming Merus we drove on to Kohima where we would
part ways. What happened subsequently to the twosome can be read
here.
Leaving Shashank and Ramki in the comfort of Kohima’s Heritage Hotel, Bano, Mohit
and I left for Tuopema Village, which has the distinction of producing
Nagaland’s incumbent Chief Minister N. Rio. It was truly charming place with
very comfortable rooms and great food. The local women danced and sang for us
and we took lots of pictures. Next morning we left early, as we wanted to
explore some of the lowlands around Dimapur, before catching our flight. We
veered off the main highway and entered the Seithekiema area, near the airport,
and added many common lowland birds to our checklist. The area resembled parts
of neighbouring Assam, and there was no evidence of hunting and so the birds
were not shy.
So ended our third trip to the most fascinating of states. We made several
friends over our three trips, received nothing but kindness from everyone. Saw
birds that are almost mythical and had a truly life-enriching experience. We are
all aware that Nagaland is beset with many problems. Hunting and Jhum leading
the list, but the areas which are protected, have some of the finest birding I
have experienced in forty years of wandering in strange and faraway lands. The
forest department is seized of the problem and is genuinely trying to improve
matters. I understand that it is soon going to be mandatory for every village to
declare a minimum of ten hectares as protected area. If this is done it will be
a major achievement. We wish the Government more power and greater strength to
their arms.
© Bikram Grewal 2010
Part 2
Trip list
Bird Images
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