Hi
finally i am able to pen down the trip report on Buxa-Duars.
This birdwatching trip was simply wonderful...and one that i wud always remember. The first week of June generally marks the onset of monsoon in North Bengal. So i was pretty sure that my trip would be spoiled by heavy rains. But i had no other option becoz my summer vacation starts from 1st June.
Generally i do all my birding tours alone becoz i dont always get the right person and companion....but this time my colleauge Saurav Thakur (Chemistry teacher) accompanied me.
But its sad that he is more interested in chemical reactions than in birds....so i had to try a lot to draw his attention towards the avifauna of Buxa. And that was the most pathetic task..
But he is really pleased with me becoz i had shown him the beauty of the North Bengal forests and huge herds of elephants in Buxa.
Day1.(5th June). We reached Alipur Duar junction by Kanchankanya Express at 11.30am...and a hired auto took us to Appal Naidu's forest resort...on the banks of the mighty Jainty river. We had already booked a double bed room from Kolkata a month back. The resort is really nice...the owner Mr.Naidu is an amiable person and the rates quite cheap.
I m grateful to Soma Jha..who had given me Naidu's contacts and details.
We spotted a Changeable Hawk eagle near the Forest Check post office...where we had to get the permits.
At my request, Naidu da had arranged for a Maruti Omni that wud take us inside the forests for the eveing jungle safari. After a tasty lunch and short nap..we were ready for the safari by 330pm. The forest was very dense. Our car was moving along the forest path...and we stared outside hoping to get some wildlife. A pair of Asian Fairy Bluebirds perched on a roadside bush for a short time, and flew away into the forests very fast.
Black-crested Bulbuls could be seen often...
We reached the Bala river bed and waited there for almost half an hour anticipating to get some wild animals....
elephants are known to come to this part regularly. But we got nothing. Our guide Bappa spotted a pair of Peafowls at a distance...and we watched our lovely national bird thru the field glasses. A River Lapwing circled overhead constantly, and called loudly...to divert our attention from its nest that is hiden somewhere among the pebbles.
It was getting dark...so we had to leave the place and return back to the resort. After a cup of refreshing tea...we made our plans for the next day. Suddenly it started raining heavily...and we became worried. I started praying for the rain to stop...and went to sleep listening to the loud barks of the Tokay...and the soothing rythm of raindrops...
Day2 (6th June): We woke up at 530am...and were thrilled to see that the weather was completely clear....after a light breakfast we rushed to Bhutiabasti with our guide. There was much water in the Jianti river due to last night's heavy shower..the water current was strong...but we somehow managed to cross the river and reached the other bank.
On our way to Bhutiabasti, we got a lone Green-billed Malkoha, a flock of Ashy wood swallows....and many Chestnut-tailed starlings. We trekked along the moist sandy bed of the stream (forgot the name) that flows into the Jainti....and spotted Scarlet Minivets, Red-breasted Parakeets, Imperial Green pigeons and one Rufous Woodpecker. Suddenly rain clouds started gathering in the sky..and we hurriedly ran to our resort...and this time I fell down while crossing the Jainty river and was completely drenched...but luckily my camera was not damaged.
After a delicious lunch of steaming rice and machher jhol....we went to Pukri...a small lake located atop a hill in the Buxa Reserve. I was anticipating to get Wreathed hornbills near the Pukri lake,,,because Dalia di had told me that they got this bird during their recent trip. We got down from the car at the base of the hill..and trekked uphill to reach the Pukri lake. The rocks and ledges were all covered with moss..and were slippery.So we had to be very careful while climbing the hill...
We waited near Pukri for a few minutes...but unfortuntely got no hornbills. But i had some nice views of the Crimson Sunbird in the bushes near the lake.
I had just started lamenting over my failure to get Wreathed Hornbills...that a guide suddenly informed us that a herd of elephants had arrived at the plantation below. I just couldt afford to waste any time at Pukri...i ran very fast to reach the car as soon as i cud....i descended from the hills almost like an agile Alpine Ibex.......God knows how i did that....
Poor saurabh also tried to run fast to keep pace with me..but he fell down...and got hurt on his right ankle...I feel sorry for him...
somehow we managed to reach the car and we rushed to the spot where the herd was seen. Thankfully the herd was still there busy grazing in the grassy fields. Some other tourists also gathered at that spot to see the elephants....and we all enjoyed watching the huge pachyderms.
The rest of the evening was spent treating Saurabh's wounded leg and reminiscing the lovely elephant sighting...
Day3 (7th june): Saurabh couldnt walk properly...so he prefered to stay in the resort during the morning. I went the forests near the Jainti river to watch birds...the trail on the right side of the Forest Dept Guest house was rich in birds. I spotted White-rumped Shamas, Abott's Babbler, Green-billed malkohas,
Pygmy Woodpeckers, Goldfronted leafbirds and Lesser Yellownapes in these areas....but overcast sky and poor light didnt allow me to take good snaps...
a pair of rufous brown babbler-like birds darted across the trail...and called loudly while flitting among the hedgegrows.
I coudnt recognize them..
in the evening...we planned to go to Rajabhatkhawa watch tower with a Govt. guide. Another tourist Mr. Roy also joined us with his family.....first we went to Rajabhatkhawa station to take our guide from there...and then we entered the forest. The jungle here was extremely dense and inpenetrable. We waited at the watch tower for about half an hour. I spotted a large Greater Yellownape with all its grace pecking on the bark of a Shegoon tree...i approached closer to the bird to get some nice snaps,,,and the bird obliged me. After coming back i realised that i had donated some blood to a large leech....that crawled up my shoes and punctured my ankles...and gorged itself with warm blood. Saurabh was almost going to faint to learn that there were so big blood-sucking leeches in these forests....and from that time started his "leech-trauma". He checked his socks and trousers like a maniac repeatedly....as if all the leeches wud attack him.
Suddenly a flock of Great Indian Hornbills adorned the evening sky....and flew away deep inside the forest.That was the sight i was waiting for. I tried to take pics in vain...becoz i m really bad at taking pics of birds in flight. We watched the birds almost spellbound.
We were just going to come out of the tower-premices...that our driver noticed a huge herd of elephants arriving towards the tower. We took out the cameras and were all ready to take snaps. The herd came near the tower to collect salt..and we took some lovely shots and videos of the elephants from a very close range. The calves played among themselves...what a wonderful sight!
We were completely satisfied to see so many elephants standing only a few feet away from us....
Dusk falls in the forest with the accompaniment of the calls of Forest Owlets...
While returing back, we found a pair of Red-jungle fowls digging the soil for insects....a White-rumped Shama perched nearby....a lone Barking deer (Muntjac) darted across the path. The sound of the car probably frightened the animal.
Finally we came out of the dense forests...and our car was running along the main road that runs thru the heart of the forest. All of a sudden we noticed that a auto-rickshaw stopped a few metres ahead of us..and our driver started shouting "Leopard...leopard".....we just got a fleeting glimpe of a large leopard that jumped and crossed the road. It was something that we hardly expected.
We returned to our resort cherishing the lovely memories of these great wildlife and bird sightings....
Day4 (8th June): We got up at 5am and were ready by 6am. Our car would come to take us for the last jungle safari in Buxa forests...and today we would leave Jainti, and would go to Buxa-Fort Sadarbazar...where we had planned to stay for the next three days.
we were dying to see the Indian Bisons in their natural habitat, and we anticipated a lot to watch and photograph these wild bovines, because other tourists got it in the last few days. So we planned to enter the forest in the early hours. Our car was the first to enter the Buxa forests. We drove through the dense forest and finally reached the spot where tourists had seen a small herd of Indian Bisons the previous day evening. The air inside the forest was heavy and cold. The crickets were chirping loudly, and the cicadas driving us carzy with their deafening calls. Fairy Bluebirds announced their presence with their fluty calls.We were waiting inside the car on the forest path. My eyes peered through the binoculars to register any movement in the thickets. The entire forest was covered with a veil of mist. The incessant rain of the night finally gave way to the Sun, and gradually the surroundings started changing….the mist vanished within seconds.
The guide suggested us to wait for few more minutes at that spot hoping to get the herd of bisons on the road. We could feel there was some movement in the thickets.
Suddenly there was tension in the air…we were anticipating that some large animal would come out of the forest.
But to our utter surprise, a dwarf funny bird walked out of the bushes and did some nice cat-walk on the forest trail. It spread its rufous brown wings from time to time…and puffed its throat.
The bird allowed me to take some really good snaps, and it stood in front of the car for a few more minutes, before it finally flew away into the forest. At that moment, I could hardly identify the bird, but I was sure that it was something that I had not seen earlier.
After the jungle safari, I rushed to my resort to consult the birdbook (Grimmet-Inskipp) to get the ID of the bird…and I was literally astonished to know that I had spotted and photographed the extremely elusive Malayan Night Heron….a bird that was always on my wish-list.
Our driver told me that he had been seeing a queer brown bird with black crest from the first week of June..but i could hardly recognize the bird from his description....he called it a "beedeshi paakhi" (meaning foreign bird)
i really had no idea that the mysterious bird he was talking about wud turn out to be the Malayan Night Heron.
It is a shy forest-dwelling beautiful heron with rufous brown body ,black hood and crest, and a sky blue patch at the base of its stout bill. It is found in the dense tropical forests of North East India, Western Ghats and Nicobars, and is very rarely spotted in the Duars region of Bengal.
As far as I remember, there had been a previous record of a juvenile individual of this species from the Gorumara National Park in 2008. (by Miss Soma Jha)
So, I think this is the second photo record of the Malayan Night Heron from the Duars region….and probably the first photo-record of an adult bird from the Buxa Tiger Reserve.
My trip to Jainti forests was really exciting and wonderful...i definitely got more than i had ever expected.
have a great time.
Shantanu : )
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