A Beauty Pageant of the Natural World

On a recent trip to Goa with Nature India, I witnessed a beauty pageant of a different kind.

They wore the trendiest colours as they pranced and preened in sheer vanity. In hues of blues, yellows, reds, greens, browns, whites and blacks, some looked bright and colourful, others dull but pretty. Some wore spots and others streaks.  Some had spangled manes and others sported crests. Shapely eye brows and stylish eye liners were there to see. Colourful cheeks, plunging necklines and collars were on display too.

It was a beauty pageant of the natural world – a beauty pageant of birds! But unlike our own beauty contests, here its not the females but the males who would score high on the beauty stakes!

With so much beauty on display, and add to that a trip named “Romance with Birds and Butterflies”, there couldn’t have been a more romantic experience for me. For, I fell in love all over again with my beautiful feathered friends!

We reached the Nature’s Nest resort to a warm welcome with a cool and refreshing glass of Sol Kadhi! This was just the beginning of a gratifying indulgence of food and beauty that was to follow over the next 3 days.

Goa doesn’t sound like a place one could go birding, would it? One would rather loll on the sandy beaches or relax under the swaying palms right?

Wrong. There’s much more to this tiny state of Goa than just its beaches, swaying palms, rock music shows and flea markets.

Goa has as many as 6 wildlife sanctuaries, 5 of which are part of the area covered by the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are internationally recognized as a region of immense global importance for the conservation of biological diversity. UNESCO has listed them as a World Heritage Site. There are more than 450 species of birds found in Goa. Such is the natural wealth of this little gem of a state.

Over the next 3 days, we would roam the forests of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary in search of our feathered friends and also visit the relatively unknown Maina Lake and go on a river cruise over the Zuari for water birds.

Our trip began with a foray into the nearby forests in search of the elusive Sri Lanka Frogmouth.

The Sri Lankan frogmouth is a nocturnal bird related to the nightjars. Distinctive in both its appearance and its loud laughing song, it’s head is as wide as its body and has a broad, flattened, hooked bill. A master of camouflage, when alarmed, it slowly moves its head up pointing its bill upward so that it resembles a leaf or a dry branch! It relies on something called crypsis to remain undetected.  In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to conceal itself especially from a predator by having a colour, pattern and shape that allows itself to blend into the surrounding environment. 

So when Adesh announced that we would venture out in search of the elusive bird, the excitement was palpable. It was early evening. Omkar, our local guide/expert lead us into the woods where he had seen the bird roosting a couple of days earlier.

The frogmouth generally chooses a spot to roost during the day, and then uses the same one for months. So with fingers crossed, we followed Omkar in anticipation, hoping the bird would still be there at it’s chosen spot. A few minutes later, Omkar’s face lit up with a wide grin. He excitedly pointed out to the bird which, as expected, was perched right there on the very same spot!

Sri Lanka Frogmouth

Beauty, they say, lies in the eye of the beholder. This was the fourth time I have seen the Sri Lanka Frogmouth. But believe me, it seemed even more beautiful this time than ever before! We had just feasted our eyes on the first contestant of our beauty pageant!

Pleased with our sighting, we moved out of the woods towards an open meadow-like area. 

There on a huge ficus tree, was a frenzy of activity. A large flock of Pompadour Green Pigeons that seemed to be carved out of plasticine, were gorging on the fruits. Thick-billed Flowerpeckers flitted around from tree to tree. An Ashy Woodswallow sat atop another, Malabar and Plum-headed Parakeets called as they flew swiftly around, Sunbirds showed off their iridescent feathers as they hovered around flowers for nectar. Green Bee-eaters displayed their aerial feats. The beauty on display was no match to any other beauty pageant in the world!

Pompadour Green Pigeon

Usually birds have two peak periods of foraging activity during the day. One in the early morning presumably to replenish energy reserves depleted during the previous night of fasting. The second peak in foraging activity is late in the day as the birds build energy reserves to prepare for the coming night.  It was business as usual here on this meadow. Soon the birds would fly back to their roosts for the night.

After a satisfying half day of birding, Adesh had planned night trail in an attempt to locate another nocturnal bird, the Nightjar.

Nightjars are nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills surrounded by rictal bristles (but they've got big mouths). They prey on moths and other large night-flying insects which they catch in flight.

Like the Frogmouths, Nightjars too are masters of camouflage. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves. And to make their sighting even more difficult, nightjars have developed a rather unique perching behavior. They perch a fair distance above ground but sit along the length of the branch rather than across it. Smart indeed!

Armed with torch lights, we tottered up towards a plateau in the fading light of the evening, following the footsteps of Adesh, Mandar and Omkar.  By the time we reached the plateau it was pitch dark. We waited in pin drop silence. Adesh scanned the area with his torchlight as we waited with bated breath. Soon, Adesh’s torchlight was following what seemed to be two bright lights. The eyes of nightjars glow in the dark if some light falls on them. We had spotted our first nightjar! It was the Jerdon’s Nightjar. As it flew around the periphery of the plateau, we could see its glowing eyes!  It soon settled on a perch. We scampered to get a closer look. “Khatarnak!” Mandar’s reaction to the sight said it all! As we were ogling and clicking away in frenzy, another pair of eyes was seen in the distance. Our attention now shifted to this one. We waited patiently, hoping this one too would settle down soon. And sure enough, it did. Soon were gawking at our second nightjar, the Grey Nightjar.

Jerdon's Nightjar                                                                                        Jungle Nightjar

Delighted with the beauty that we had just witnessed, we returned to the resort for a delectable spread of Goan cuisine graciously prepared by Nature’s Nest staff and then to the cozy comfort of our beds to retire for the day.

The next day began early. I woke up to the melodious call of the Indian Pitta. Although during this time of the year, the Pitta is usually silent, it often calls just once at around 6 o’clock in the morning only to fall silent during the rest of the day. This habit gives the bird the sobriquet “6 o’clock bird”.

As we got onto the bus to drive to our birding location of the day, we experienced another frenzy of activity on the powder-puff tree at the entrance of the resort. Several Lorikeets or Vernal Hanging Parrots showed off their acrobatics as they hung upside down feeding on its blossoms.  A lone Loten’s Sunbird hovered around in search of nectar. The campus of Nature’s Nest itself had such a wealth of bird life. It was a wonderful start to the day.

A bridge over a small river was our birding location for the day. Nicknamed “the studio” by Adesh as one gets to see and photograph birds at close quarters, the place proved to be ‘ammmazzing’ in Nature India’s parlance!

The wires running across the bridge ran perfectly at eye level. They were choc-a-bloc with swifts and swallows of several species. Wire-tailed, Streak throated, Red rumped and Barn Swallows, Asian Palm Swifts and Dusky Crag Martins all jostled for space. Indian Swiftlets and Brown Backed Needletails displayed aerial acrobatics. Some were juveniles, others’ feathers moulting. When not breeding, swallows form large flocks and roost communally. Swallows are excellent fliers and more often than not feed on insects on the wing. Their flight is fast and involves a rapid succession of turns and banks. It is a wonder how they never ever collide into one another in their aerial display! 

As the drama on the wires continued, our attention shifted to a nearby cluster of trees. The melodious call of a Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher showing off his vibrant hues, caught our fancy. A vivid Iora called from its perch in the thickets. Inspite of its bright yellow and black colours, it was difficult to spot in the foliage. A tiny Nilgiri Flowerpecker prancing around in the tall bamboo grass was a close encounter. This is one of the birds endemic to the Western Ghats that is found in Goa.  A pair of Magpie Robins seemed to be expressing their love for each other in song. Across the bridge on a huge ficus tree, a Brahminy kite sat majestically on a high perch. As I was taking a shot at this handsome bird with my camera, I noticed a flash of colour in the bushes nearby. A vibrant Crimson-backed Sunbird was proudly brandishing his beautiful bright plumage. This was another endemic bird.

A Verditer Flycatcher peeped from the broad leaves of a bush. This gorgeous bird is a lovely blue-green colour, as the name suggests. An interesting fact is that these birds don’t get their dramatic plumage colour from pigments; instead, this is a structural colour that results from the feathers scattering light in such a way that it appears blue. The beauty pageant just got better!

White Bellied Blue Flycatcher

Another beauty we were lucky to have seen, was the White Bellied Blue Flycatcher. Lucky, because it tends to be extremely quiet and inactive, making it very difficult to uncover. It forages mainly in the dark shade below the forest canopy. Its low song that can be heard only at close quarters only adds to the difficulty in spotting it. Another bird endemic to the Western Ghats (including the Nilgiris), we chanced upon this beauty the following day as we ventured into the Bondla Wildlife Sanctaury.

As dusk approached, we made our way towards what Nature India calls “Hornbill” bridge. It is here that we see large congregations of Malabar Pied Hornbills as they return to their roosts after a long day of foraging in the forests. Malabar Pied Hornbills are easily identified by their huge size and striking black-and-white plumage. They have a huge casque on their beaks giving them a unique appearance. It would be of interest to know that Hornbills display rather unusual breeding behaviour.  The female lays up to six white eggs inside natural existing tree cavities. The female remains inside the cavity with the eggs. When the eggs are ready for incubation, the male begins to close the entrance to the cavity with a wall made of mud, droppings and fruit pulp. Initially the entrance is just large enough for the female to enter the cavity. Soon, the remaining opening is also all but sealed shut with mother and chicks inside the cavity. There is only one narrow aperture, big enough for the male to transfer food to the mother and eventually the chicks. During the incubation period the female undergoes a complete moult. Eventually the eggs hatch and chicks emerge. They continue to remain inside the cavity with the mother for a few weeks. When the chicks and the female are too big to fit in the nest, the mother then breaks the wall with her beak and emerges from the cavity. Both parents then feed the chicks until they are ready to fly.

As we stood at the “Hornbill” bridge waiting for the Malabar Pied Hornbills to arrive, a Stork Billed Kingfisher sat majestically on a twig abutting the water. We noticed a few Little Swifts indulging in a fantastic aerial display. They would fly swiftly upwards and then hurtle below the bridge in full speed only to re-emerge gracefully. This behaviour continued for some time. Slowly, the number of swifts began to increase. Soon, there were hundreds of them indulging in the same aerial display. It was a sight to behold! Then, almost as quickly as they had appeared, one by one they began to disappear under the bridge. It was time for them to retire to their roosting site which was under the bridge.

Just as the swifts disappeared under the bridge, Adesh gestured in animated excitement! An Amur Falcon female was flying past overhead. Rarely seen in the Western Ghats, Adesh’s excitement was only proper. A small raptor of the falcon family, this bird was one of the least talked about species until recently when, in 2012, Conservation India reported massive large scale harvest of these falcons in Nagaland. Researchers estimated that between 120,000 and 140,000 individuals were being trapped and killed for human consumption in just one location in Nagaland at the Doyang roost site in Wokha district each year. 

The Amur falcons start their annual migratory sojourn from south-eastern Siberia and Northern China to Northeastern India. They stop-over and roost in Nagaland and some adjoining Assam districts before leaving for southern Africa where they spend the winter. This migratory stop-over and roost is believed to be by far the largest and most spectacular roosts of any species of falcon ever seen. As many as 140,000 to 150,000 falcons are seen roosting together. The most amazing part of their migratory flight is the three-and-a-half days non-stop flight across the Arabian Sea. The birds make a cycle of an incredible 44,000 kms annually.  

Thankfully, the massacre of the Amurs has now stopped with the great efforts of Nagaland Forest Dept.  alongwith several non-governmental organizations like Nagaland Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Trust (NWBCT), who have initiated extensive conservation education programmes. This year not a single bird has been poached. On the contrary, people in Nagaland, are preparing to not only welcome the avian visitors but also hundreds of tourists and bird-watchers from different parts of the globe. An incredible effort indeed!

The excitement of seeing that solitary falcon had barely subsided when the magnificent Malabar Pied Hornbills began arriving. They made a pit-stop on a distant tree. There were atleast 10 to 12 of them. It is indeed a delightful sight to see so many Hornbills together. After some preening and grooming, one by one, they began to fly towards us. We were after all, in the path of their flight to their roosting site.  Hornbills, like many other birds indulge in communal roosting. Communal roosting has several advantages. Birds in a communal roost can reduce the impact of wind and cold weather by sharing body heat through huddling. A large roost with many members can visually detect predators easier, allowing individuals to respond and alert others quicker to threats.

So who says beauty doesn’t go with brain? These beauties of the natural world may not have brains but their instincts and behavioural and survival patterns are highly evolved. And they play an important part in our lives as well. Birds keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. They also feed our spirits, inspiring us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to fly and reminding us that we are part this earth. Birds are the proven bio-indicators of environmental quality and so are ecologically important too.

Spotted Dove

As we wandered in the forests of Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary, White Browed and Yellow Browed Bulbuls gave us glimpses of their wonderful selves. A Spotted Dove sat staring at us on an overhead wire. Indian Robins hopped playfully along the road. 

Amongst the mammals, the Malabar Giant Squirrel was a delight to watch as it scampered acrobatically up and down the tall trees, excited on seeing us. Being an upper-canopy dwelling species, it rarely leaves the trees and travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6m. When in danger, it often freezes or flattens itself against the tree trunk, instead of fleeing. 

The species is believed to play a substantial role in shaping the ecosystem by engaging in seed dispersal.

While the first 2 days of our trip were extremely fruitful in terms of the number of sightings, it was on the last day that we were fortunate enough to see some quality species. The forest was dense but clear. It was abuzz with the songs of various birds. But our target that morning was the Malabar Trogon. As usual, Adesh and Mandar began scanning the forests with their hawk vision. Malabar Trogons usually perch absolutely still, especially when alarmed making it very difficult to spot them in the foliage. Their call too has a very low tone. So it was a pleasant surprise when after a lot of searching and waiting, we spotted one male sitting still, deep inside the thickets. Soon we could see the female too. Beautiful candidates for our beauty pageant! But it was the male and not the female who won on the beauty scale hands down. 

We were now all charged up for other quality sightings. It was not long before a gorgeous Fairy Bluebird in all it’s splendour appeared before us. A Flame Throated Bulbul sat atop a delicate branch. A White bellied woodpecker made a guest appearance as he flew across the canopy. The Speckled Piculet, a tiny bird with behaviour very similar to the woodpecker and lives on a diet of ants and termites, gave us a 2 minute appearance and disappeared into the foliage. A Blue faced Malkoha too gave us a dekko. So many quality species at once! Delighted would be an under-statement!

We were now headed for the ancient Tambdi Surla Temple. The stream behind this venerable temple is home to many a beautiful bird. We hoped to see the Blue-eared Kingfisher, which we were told is often seen along the stream. We sat along the stream, each one of us settling on one stone each, and waited with bated breath for the little beauty to make an appearance. We had heard his call. It was not long before his majesty finally made his appearance. He zoomed past us at full speed and perched on a branch abutting the water. We stared at him in amazement before he zoomed away as swiftly as he had appeared.

Blue Eared Kingfisher

It was indeed a fulfilling day at birding and I was full with contentment with the beauty I had witnessed in the natural world.

The excitement of the day continued into the night as we were in for a pleasant surprise back at the resort. To our utter delight, a special barbeque was arranged for us! Dishes were laid out with marinated chicken and vegetables, thoughtfully laid out separately. The non-veggies were soon busy piercing the skewers into the chicken and setting it on the coal for grilling. Our veggie friends were doing the same with their paneer and potatoes. There was cheerful banter as everyone took turns grilling juicy chunks of chicken and veggies. The night ended on a more serious note with some revision of the birds we had sighted.

Our last day of the trip, we were now headed for a cruise on the Zuari river in search of marine birds. Zuari is the largest river of Goa. The Zuari along with the river Mandovi form the backbone of the river system of Goa. The two rivers are connected by Cumbarjuem Canal. The mangrove habitat along this canal supports a wide array of bird life in this region. 

Brahminy Kite

Even as we waited at the jetty for the boat to arrive, several Brahminy Kites were intensely scouring the waters from the skies. We dug into our packed breakfast while we waited. Soon we were on the boat and cruising off into the river. 

A visual treat soon followed. Several Greater Crested Terns had perched themselves on the bamboos anchored by fisherfolk for securing their nets. There were a few Sandwich Terns too amongst them. They usually forage in the shallow waters of lagoons, coral reefs and estuaries and sometimes also far out in the open seas. 

Large Egrets waiting for the best catch!

A little further down, a huge congregation of Large Egrets sitting along the nets made a pretty picture. The nets had provided a wonderful opportunity for these birds to forage. As Gull-billed, Whiskered and River Terns hovered ravenously over the water, a majestic White Bellied Sea Eagle flew strongly towards us. He had apparently already spotted his prey beneath the surface of the water and, before we knew it, had swooped down and grabbed it with his fierce talons and was soon on his way to find a suitable perch to devour the hapless fish. It was an incredible sight!

White Bellied Sea Eagle with his prized catch!

As we passed under a bridge spanning the river, a Peregrine Falcon sat precariously on a bolt under the bridge. This was apparently his favourite spot and was often seen here feasting on his catch of the day.

As we cruised along the river towards the Cumbarjuem Canal, we were now closer to the mangrove habitat. It was here that we saw 5 different species of Kingfisher – White Throated, Collared, Black Capped, Pied and Common Kingfisher. 

Black Crowned Night Heron

A lone Night Heron sat attentively in the mangroves. A huge crocodile lurked on the banks, while several Black Headed Ibis sat atop a thick bare branch jutting out through the mangrove foliage.

Black Headed Ibis

Western Reef Egret

It was now time to turn around and return to the jetty as we had one more session of birding at the Maina Lake before heading to Madgaon for that evening train back home. But the drama just didn’t cease to end. A stately Osprey gave us our parting shot.

At Maina Lake, another visual delight followed. Thousands of Lesser Whistling Teals, Cotton Pygmy Gooses, Shovellers,  Garganey and several other waders crowded the lake.  A lesser-known lake, Maina Lake is one of the largest and most productive wetlands in Goa in terms of birding. Marshy and covered with water lilies, it is filled with a wide variety of water-birds. Purple Swamphen, White-breasted Waterhen, Pond Herons and Egrets on the periphery were graceful even while stalking fish. The nearby paddy fields and woodland of Maina Lake provide a good habitat for Warblers, Munias and various woodpeckers, bee-eaters and parakeets. As we readied to return to our bus, a spectacular flock of hundreds of Glossy Ibis gave us the most memorable farewell one can ever get.

Lesser Whistling Duck

This beauty pageant of the natural world was indeed an experience to cherish and remember. But in the end, it would be unfair to declare a winner, as each and every living being of this incredible natural world is beautiful in its own way. It has immense beauty, incomparable to any man made world. Let us cherish the natural world because we are all a part of it and we depend on it.

In the end, it would only be appropriate to quote the most passionate naturalist in the world, Sir David Attenborough. “The natural world is a great treasure that humanity has and that we are part of. Every mouthful of food we eat, every breath of air we breathe depends on the natural world. If we damage this natural world we damage ourselves …. “ (in a recent interview to NDTV)

Thanks Adesh and Mandar for giving me an experience I will cherish for a lifetime.

Thanks Sweedle, for being my bouncing board J

Nivedita Kothare

Goa – November 2015