FIELD TRIP TO GHUGHUPARA BHERI, HOWRAH
Date of Trip: 26th September 2010. (Sunday)
Duration of Trip: 6:15 am to 6:00 pm
Location: Some 14kms from Sealdah Station. Nearest bus stop
Bali Jaipur bill. Nearest Station Bali Halt on Sealdah Dankuni Line.
Route – Bali halt to Bali Jaipur bill bus stop by Auto rickshaw (10
mins). Then to Ghugupara rail line on foot (2 mins). And finally to
Ghugupara bheri. This is a connecting line between Eastern rail (from
Belanagar) and S.E. Rail (to Mourigram-Andul). We start watching from
Bali Jaipur bill bus stop.
Temperature: (As in Alipur) Max 32.6°C and Min 25.7°C.
Humidity: (As in Alipur) Max 98% and Min 69%.
Weather: Cloudy morning. Not so dense cloud. Moderately
sultry weather. Drizzle for 10 mins, then after 9:30am gradually clear
sky. But sunlight is not so strong, sometimes gentle wind blowing.
Habitat: Wet Land on both sides of Railway track – Full of
aquatic plants, tall and medium grasses. On the north side of the
track has a few small and medium factories by the side of Bombay road.
Immediate surroundings of the track have sufficient shrubs, herbs,
medium and small grasses and also some medium trees. No of large and
medium trees is low. Creepers and climber are also not in plenty.
Bheri part of the wetland is a cooperative of fisheries, which has
very low number of aquatic plants. On the embankment of the fisheries
have a few large and medium trees. The west side of the fisheries is a
wetland and has enough tall and medium grasses, aquatic plants. And on
the embankment of it, there are few large medium and small trees.
BRIEF REPORT:
-------------------------
This Sunday's plan was more than trilling to me as it is said that
Ghugupara bheri is one of the best site in Kolkata for odonates,
butterflies and birds and also because somehow or the other I
personally have missed this spot whenever it was planned. We were all
excited. Starting from different stations like Howrah or Sealdah we
reached Bali Halt and took a auto to the Jaipurbill bus stop to find
Subhankar da seating there in Anima di's tea shop from 6am in the
morning along with Pradipto Bagchi and Sujit Das. So, birding has
already started. With great enthusiasm we started off in our
destination to unknown, yeah surely unknown, as we were not sure what
we will get today. Starting with a Indian palm bob and a pointed
ciliate blue we got up in the railline and started our journey down
the train tracks. Train are less in these tracks only goods carrying
train go through these line and so less interruption in our business.
With lots and lots of human shits here and there, mainly due to
morning time, we really had to watch our every foot steps, regardless
to mention some even stepped on them. With all the hesperidiies coming
out it was great and almost everyone in the group got a clear idea of
which is what. For last few weeks, Soumik Chatterjee was telling us
about a dragonfly species which is very similar to Ruddy Marsh Skimmer
but with a blue line in the edge of the eyes. Soumik saw the same here
and photographed and identified same as Crocothemis erythreae.
Subhankar da proposed to locally call it as Blue-eyed Marsh Skimmer as
common name. We have never identified such a species before in any of
our field trips. Thanks to Soumik Chatterjee for bringing it to our
notice. Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper was spotted by Subhankar
da by the side of the embankments. Brown Shrikes and Long-tailed
Shrikes were also seen within short intervals. A tricolored Shrike was
found chasing a group of Baya weavers which were in good numbers
there. In the meantime Subhankar da on his way pointed out the
season's first Hoopee and Red-rumped Swallow. Really an exciting find.
With day progressing, it was becoming tough and sultry and sunny
weather was exhausting us. Anyways, always heard of that this is a
very difficult site for nature watching because to walk on the
sleepers of railway track is troublesome and exhausting. Soumik da
again found a dragonfly which looked different and can be a
Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer's female(not verified yet). But the color
of the same was awesome and eye-catching. Then Prasenjit pointing out
a Tree Flitter and Aritra pointing out a Yellow Pigmy
Dartlet(Agriocnemis d'abreui) we stopped for lunch in the station
master's cabin. After long lunch and long rest and Jayanta joining, we
again started our journey. Now, the weather was favorable and cool
breeze blowing made it somewhat easy. With single records of Common
Baron and Lemon Pansy, we went forward to see black, yellow and
cinnamon bitterns for quite a few times. We started our return journey
at around 5pm and left the place by 6pm after having rejuvenating tea
again at Anima di's tea stall near Jaipurbill bus stop.
This wass a very difficult site for nature watching but inspite of
that everyone of the team was very glad and satisfied as they found so
many species of birds, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies etc. Each
member enjoyed the field trip very much.
Special Mention:
1. Common Hoopee and two Red-rumped swallow: Season's first sighting.
2. Dragonfly Blue-eyed Marsh Skimmer (Crocothemis erythreae): In our
Sunday field trip this was our first photo by Soumik Chatterjee and
identified it. Before today we did not identify this species and also
did not know about it. Thanks to Soumik Chatterjee.
TEAM MEMBERS:
1. Subhankar Patra.
2. Jayanta Manna.
3. Sujit Das.
4. Arka Sarkar.
5. Avisek Chatterjee.
6. Soumik Chatterjee.
7. Prasenjit Dan.
8. Ushnish Das.
9. Aritra Mishra.
10. Animesh Manna.
11. Saroj Kumar Tula.
12. Susantha Bag.
13. Srikanta Dhali.
14. Suvendu Das.
15. Pradipto Bagchi.
16. Tiasa Adhya.
PLEASE NOTE THAT AN APPOXIMATE NUMBER OF A PARTICULAR SPECIES OBSERVED
IS INDICATED IN BRACKETS () BY THE SIDE OF THE NAME OF THE SPECIES.
BIRDS OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP:
1. Lesser-whistling Duck(35)
2. Cotton Pigmy Goose(4)
3. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker(2).
4. Streak-throated Woodpecker(1).
5. Black-rumped Flameback(4).
6. Blue-throated Barbet(5).
7. Coppersmith Barbet(4).
8. Lineated Barbet(8).
9. Common Hoopee(1).
10. Green Bee-eater(2).
11. Common Kingfisher(5).
12. White-throated Kingfisher(7).
13. Stork-billed Kingfisher(3).
14. Pied Cuckoo(6).
15. Common-Hawk Cuckoo(10).
16. Asian Koel(4).
17. Greater Coucal(4).
18. Rose-ringed Parakeet(5).
19. House Swift(2).
20. Asian Palm Swift(35).
21. Rock Pigeon(40).
22. Spotted Dove(20).
23. Eurasian Collared Dove(5).
24. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon(100).
25. White-breasted Waterhen(6).
26. Watercock(3).
27. Common Moorhen(2).
28. Common Sandpiper(2).
29. Wood Sandpiper(3).
30. Pheasant-tailed Jacana(5)
31. Bronze-winged Jacana(20).
32. Red-wattled Lapwing(4).
33. Black Kite(6).
34. Shikra(5).
35. Little Cormorant(35).
36. Great Cormorant(1).
37. Little Egret(2).
38. Intermediate Egret(1).
39. Cattle Egret(250).
40. Indian Pond Heron(50).
41. Purple Heron(3).
42. Black-crowned Night Heron(4).
43. Black Bittern(4).
44. Yellow Bittern(3).
45. Cinnamon Bittern(1).
46. Asian Openbill(50).
47. Brown Shrike(20).
48. Long-tailed Shrike(Tricolor)(6) – 1 erythronotus.
49. Rufous Treepie(5).
50. House Crow(50).
51. Large-billed Crow(5).
52. Ashy Woodswallow(20).
53. Black-hooded Oriole(7).
54. Black Drongo(30).
55. Oriental Magpie Robin(4).
56. Chestnut-tailed Starling(50).
57. Asian Pied Starling(250).
58. Jungle Myna(15).
59. Common Myna(50).
60. Barn Swallow(6).
61. Red-rumped Swallow(7).
62. Red-whiskered Bulbul(2).
63. Red-vented Bulbul(30).
64. Plain Prinia(20).
65. Yellow-bellied Prinia(2).
66. Zitting Cisticola(2).
67. Common Tailorbird(20).
68. Jungle Babbler(25).
69. Pale-billed Flowerpecker(5).
70. Purple Sunbird(12).
71. Purple-rumped Sunbird(8).
72. House Sparrow(15).
73. Baya Weaver(50).
74. White Wagtail(leucopsis)(3).
75. Scaly-breasted Munia(35).
Also most probably we saw Tricolor munia and Chestnut munia in the
Scaly-breasted Munia flock of 30.
BUTTERFLIES OBSERVED IN THE FIELD TRIP:
1. Common Rose(5).
2. Common Jay(25).
3. Tailed Jay(15).
4. Common Bluebottle(1).
5. Common Mime(1).
6. Common Mormon(15).
7. Lime(10).
8. Common Wanderer(2).
9. Common Jezebel(8)
10. Psyche(5).
11. Striped Albatross(15).
12. Common Gull(5).
13. Common Emigrant(15).
14. Mottled Emigrant(35).
15. Common Grass Yellow(15).
16. Three-spot Grass Yellow(10).
17. Tawny Coster(3).
18. Common Castor(6).
19. Angled Castor(5).
20. Great Eggfly(5).
21. Commander(6).
22. Common Leopard(4).
23. Lemon Pansy(1).
24. Grey Pansy(3).
25. Peacock Pansy(15).
26. Common Baron(1).
27. Common Bushbrown(3).
28. Common Four Ring(2).
29. Common Palmfly(3).
30. Blue Tiger(8).
31. Plain Tiger(8).
32. Stripped Tiger(3).
33. Common Crow(4).
34. Common Pierrot(10).
35. Rounded Pierrot(20).
36. Quaker(50).
37. Gram Blue(3).
38. Lime Blue(2).
39. Dark Grass Blue(4).
40. Pale Grass Blue(3).
41. Ciliate Blue(2).
42. Pointed Ciliate Blue(1).
43. Common Cerulean(2).
44. Yamfly(1).
45. Indian Sunbeam(4) all female sp
46. Awl(unidentified)(1).
47. Bush Hopper(7).
48. Chestnut Bob(4).
49. Grass Demon(3).
50. Indian Palm Bob(8).
51. Tree Flitter(1)
52. Indian Skipper(2).
53. Rice Swift(10).
54. Paintbrush Swift(1).
55. Bevan's Swift(5).
56. Straight Swift(8).
57. Large-branded Swift(8).
58. Small-branded Swift(20).
DRAGONFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP:
1. Trumpet Tail(8).
2. Rufous-backed Marsh Hawk(25).
3. Ditch Jewel(30).
4. Ruddy Marsh Skimmer(Crocothemis servilia)(20).
5. Crocothemis erythreae(20). [Blue-eyed Marsh Skimmer][exactly same
as Crocothemis servilia expect the glossy blue part of the eye which
is missing in the case of former].
6. Ground Skimmer(100).
7. Pied Paddy Skimmer(7).
8. Green Marsh Hawk(50).
9. Wandering Glider(40).
10. Rufous Marsh Glider(4).
11. Common Picture Wing(25).
12. Coral-tailed Cloud Wing(8).
13. Crimson Marsh Glider(3).
14. Long-legged Marsh Glider(6).
15. Greater Crimson Glider(25).
16. Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer(1) Female(?)
DAMSELFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP:
1. Pigmy Dartlet(75).
2. Agriocnemis dabreui(2) [We locally call it Yellow Pigmy Dartlet]
3. Coromandel Marsh Dart(50).
4. Orange-tailed Marsh Dart(20).
5. Senegal Golden Dartlet(15).
6. Black Marsh Dart(20).
7. Blue Grass Dartlet(4).
WE ALSO ENCOUNTERED:
We casually watched a few other species which we encountered in the
field. Reporting of these species is done to give an idea of the area
which we surveyed and this is not a comprehensive report of mammals,
reptiles, amphibians or insects in that area. Any serious watcher in
these areas must watch much more than what we have encountered.
MAMMALS: - 2 SPECIES
1. Five-stripped Palm Squirrel(5).
2. Pipistrelle sp.(?)(3).
AMPHIBIANS: - 3 SPECIES
1. Indian Bull Frog(5).
2. Common Toad(6).
3. Skipper Frog(2).
REPTILES: - 3 SPECIES
1. Garden Lizard(10).
2. Water Monitor(1).
3. Snake: Buff-striped Keelback(1).
4. Snake: Checkered Keelback(1).
5. Bronze Grass Skink(2).
ANTS: - 11 SPECIES
1. Bengali Name: Kalo Sursuri Pipre.
2. Bengali Name: Badami Sursuri Pipre.
3. Crematogaster sp.
4. Golden-backed Camponotus.
5. Black-backed Camponotus.
6. Small Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Choto Kath Pipre].
7. Large Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Baro Kath Pipre].
8. Small Red Ant [Bengali Name: Choto Lal Pipre].
9. Diacama sp. [Bengali Name: Deo Pipre].
10. Another 2 unidentified species of Ants.
OTHER INSECTS:
1. At least 14 species of Spiders (including Signature spider, Brown
Lynx, Green Lynx, Daddy Longleg, ant-mimic spider and many species of
Jumping spider )
2. At least 8 species of Grasshoppers
(including 1 locust(Bengali: Pangapal) which is becoming very
rare to this locality).
3. At least 7 species of Beetles.
4. At least 4 species of Bugs.
5. Cricket.
6. And many other insects.
OTHER INVERTIBRATES OBSERVED:
1. Black Millipede.
2. Red Millipede.
Thanks to Subhankar Patra for giving me ideas, helping me and guiding
me in writing this report. His encouragement is helping us to produce
this weekly report on our field trips. Also thanks to all team members
for their contribution in bringing out this report. Thanks to Sujit
Das for formatting the report in such a good way.
Cheers,
Avisek Chatterjee on behalf of the team members.
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