[BirdPhotoIndia] A Field Report of SAFAR(Field trip organized by Prakriti Samsad) to Badyabati, Hoogly, Kolkata, West Bengal - 14th November 2010

Hi All,

A FIELD REPORT – SAFAR(FIELD TRIP) ORGANIZED BY PRAKRITI SAMSAD

Date of Trip: 14th November 2010. (Sunday)
Duration of Trip: 7:15 am to 6:00 pm
Location: By the sides of Badyabati Khal, a near about
100ft wide DVC Canal in the district of Hoogly in West Bengal.
Badyabati is a station in Howrah Bardhaman main line. A 40mins journey
from Howrah station to Badyabati Station by Bandel bound train. Then
to Badyabati Khal on foot. Watching start right from the station.
Temperature: (As in Alipur) Max 31.8°C and Min 23.1°C.
Humidity: (As in Alipur) Max 98% and Min 53%.
Weather: More or less clear sky, sun is not so strong.
Sometimes sultry sometimes gentle wind.
Habitat: Cultivated lowland, grasses, deciduous and
evergreen trees, herbs and shrubs on both side of the DVC Canal.

BRIEF REPORT: -
-------------------------
Pujas and festive season are over and I am back again into our weekly
birding. The weekly birding trip was never on hold due to Puja, it's
just that I missed it. Subhankar da as always has kept the show on by
going to different hotspots in and around Kolkata in last one and a
half months. Field reports of those trips were published by Aritra and
Subhendu in different sites. Hope that this mail finds you all in good
health and surely you all have enjoyed this festive season to its
fullest in your own ways.
Last Sunday we were off to Badyabati. From Howrah Station we boarded a
train going towards Bandel in the Howrah Bardhaman main line. After
reaching the Station and having tea in a sideby stall, we started
walking by the side of the rail tracks through the bazaar to reach the
canal side. Subhankar da started his day with a few House Swifts.
Butterflies flying around in the herbs and shrubs gave us a few good
shots and also Subhankar da helped us by identifying a few herbs and
shrubs and also relating them to particular species of butterflies. A
lot of skippers, mostly swifts were seen here and there in the lantana
bushes. We reached by the side of the canal to see a white wagtail
sitting in a small patch within the canal. The water has dried down in
the canal exposing few patches of muddy area at the middle of the
canal. Soon we found lots and lots of wood sandpiper sitting in those
patches and sharing the habitat with pond herons and cormorants.
Lapwings were found in those patches in numbers and calling in their
sweet voice every now and then. Sight of Green Sandpiper and Pied
Kingfisher really made our day. Sujit da by now have spotted a few
common snipe which me missed as a fisherman entered into the water and
all the snipes flew away. We then had our usual break for lunch and
continuous calls of Red-wattled Lapwings and sights of Green Bee-eater
made our lunch and rest more rejuvenating. Post-lunch, we headed off
towards the mandir where we again halted before returning back at
4:30pm towards station. Yellow, Citrine and White Wagtails were seen
throughout the day moving from one patch to another in their
undulating rhythmic flight. While returning most of us, were hoping to
have a sight of a Snipe, which was fulfilled just before reaching the
railway track where we found a few snipes(mostly common snipe) hidden
in between the grasses in the cultivated lowland. One of them, after
being photographed can be identified as a Swinhoe's Snipe. I was
really happy, as this being my first sight of a snipe. Also the near
sight of the pied kingfisher hovering in air before catching a fish
from the canal was totally breath-taking and it really made our day.
With sun setting and after having tea and little rest in a tea shop,
we boarded our train back to Howrah at 6:00pm. The tiring day ended
but experience gathered was endless.

TEAM MEMBERS:-
-------------------------------
1. Subhankar Patra.
2. Sujit Das.
3. Avisek Chatterjee.
4. Saroj Kumar Tula.
5. Ushnish Das.
6. Subhendu Das.
7. Arundhati Guha.
8. Soumyadeep Guha.
9. Tiasa Adya.
10. Santanu Mondal.
11. Atanu Basu.

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(8).
2. Streak-throated Woodpecker(1).
3. Blue-throated Barbet(4).
4. Coppersmith Barbet(10).
5. Lineated Barbet(4).
6. Common Kingfisher(4).
7. White-throated Kingfisher(5).
8. Pied Kingfisher(3).
9. Green Bee-eater(100).
10. Common-Hawk Cuckoo(2).
11. Asian Koel(5).
12. Greater Coucal(8).
13. House Swift(5).
14. Asian Palm Swift(50).
15. Spotted Owlet(2).
16. Rock Pigeon(20).
17. Spotted Dove(50).
18. Eurasian Collared Dove(25)
19. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon(50).
20. White-breasted Waterhen(10).
21. Swinhoe's Snipe(1).
22. Common Snipe(10).
23. (Unidentified) Snipe(10).
24. Wood Sandpiper(100).
25. Common Sandpiper(10).
26. Green Sandpiper(5).
27. Bronze-winged Jacana(5).
28. Red-wattled Lapwing(35).
29. Black Kite(5).
30. Little Grebe(5).
31. Little Cormorant(50).
32. Indian Cormorant(25).
33. Little Egret(6).
34. Cattle Egret(250).
35. Indian Pond Heron(50).
36. Asian Openbill(20).
37. Brown Shrike(10).
38. Rufous Treepie(12).
39. House Crow(100).
40. Large-billed Crow(5).
41. Ashy-wood Swallow(2).
42. Black-hooded Oriole(10).
43. Black Drongo(35).
44. Red-throated Flycatcher(8).
45. Oriental Magpie Robin(10).
46. Chestnut-tailed Starling(25).
47. Asian Pied Starling(250).
48. Jungle Myna(250).
49. Common Myna(250).
50. Red-whiskered Bulbul(4)
51. Red-vented Bulbul(100).
52. Zitting Cisticola(3).
53. Plain Prinia(4).
54. Yellow-bellied Prinia(4).
55. Blyth's Reed Warbler(12).
56. Common Tailorbird(15).
57. Greenish Warbler(1).
58. Jungle Babbler(4).
59. Pale-billed Flowerpecker(2).
60. Purple Sunbird(2).
61. Purple-rumped Sunbird(4).
62. House Sparrow(8).
63. White Wagtail(35)(leucopsis).
64. Citrine Wagtail(70)(calcarata).
65. Yellow Wagtail(35)(beema).
66. Baya Weaver(30).
67. Scaly-breasted Munia(50).
68. Tricolor Munia(4).

BUTTERFLIES OBSERVED IN THE FIELD TRIP:-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Common Rose(10).
2. Common Jay(2).
3. Tailed Jay(5).
4. Common Mime(5)(dissimilis 4, clytia 1).
5. Common Mormon(30)(male – 17, stichius – 8, romulus – 3, sirus - 2).
6. Lime(20).
7. Common Wanderer(5).
8. Common Jezebel(50).
9. Psyche(20).
10. Stripped Albatross(12).
11. Common Albatross(1).
12. Common Gull(2).
13. Common Emigrant(100).
14. Mottled Emigrant(50).
15. Common Grass Yellow(15).
16. Three-spot Grass Yellow(3).
17. Tawny Coster(2).
18. Common Castor(50).
19. Angled Castor(15).
20. Great Eggfly(5)(male – 3, female -2).
21. Commander(2).
22. Grey Pansy(70).
23. Peacock Pansy(30).
24. Lemon Pansy(5).
25. Chocolate Pansy(1).
26. Common Baron(5).
27. Common Bushbrown(3).
28. Dark-brand Bushbrown(1).
29. Common Four Ring(4).
30. Common Evening Brown(50).
31. Common Palmfly(5).
32. Blue Tiger(3).
33. Plain Tiger(40).
34. Stripped Tiger(20).
35. Common Leopard(10).
36. Common Crow(10).
37. Common Pierrot(30).
38. Rounded Pierrot(6).
39. Quaker(40).
40. Gram Blue(6).
41. Lime Blue(2).
42. Dark Grass Blue(2).
43. Tiny Grass Blue(5).
44. Pale Grass Blue(1).
45. Falket Oakblue(5).
46. (Unidentified) Oakblue(8) Probably Western Centaur Oakblue.
47. Common Silverline(10).
48. Slate Flash(3).
49. (Unidentified) Flash (1) Probably Indigo Flash.
50. Chestnut Bob(2)
51. Common Redeye(2).
52. Rice Swift(2).
53. Bevan's Swift(2).
54. Straight Swift(3).
55. Large-branded Swift(30).
56. Small-branded Swift(30).
57. Dark Palm Dart(3).

DRAGONFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Common Clubtail(5).
2. Blue-tailed Green Darner(5).
3. Rufous-backed Marsh Hawk(2).
4. Little Blue Marsh Hawk(5).
5. Ditch Jewel(70).
6. Ruddy Marsh Skimmer(50).
7. Crocothemis erythrea(20).
8. Ground Skimmer(50).
9. Green Marsh Hawk(100).
10. Wandering Glider(100).
11. Rufous Marsh Glider(2).
12. Common Picture Wing(2).
13. Crimson Marsh Glider(100).
14. Macrodiplax cora(4).
15. Long-legged Marsh Glider(40).

DAMSELFLIES OBSERVED DURING THE TRIP:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Coromandel Marsh Dart(100).
2. Orange-tailed Marsh Dart(1).
3. Blue Grass Dart – Pseudagrion decorum(2).
4. Pigmy Dartlet(25).
5. Agriocnemis femina(10).
6. Agriocnemis d'abreui(2).
7. Senegal Golden Dartlet(40).
8. Golden Dartlet(1).
9. Blue Grass Dartlet – Pseudagrion microcephulum(5).

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.

MAMALS: - 2 SPECIES
-------------------------------------
1. Five-stripped Palm Squirrel(6).
2. Small Mongoose(5).

AMPHIBIANS: - 3 SPECIES
------------------------------------------
1. Indian Bull Frog(1).
2. Common Toad(5).

REPTILES: - 2 SPECIES
-------------------------------------
1. Garden Lizard(10).
2. Keeled Grass Skink(1).
3. Smooth Water Snake(1).
4. Checkered Keelback (1).
5. Unidentified Gecko(3).

SPIDERS: - 15 SPECIES
--------------------------------------
1. Daddy Longleg.
2. Two-tailed Spider.
3. Green Lynx Spider.
4. Signature Spider.
5. Tent Spider.
6. Stick-mimic Spider.
7. Giant Wood Spider.
8. Ant-mimic Spider.
9. Two-tailed Spider.
10. 2 species of Jumping Spider.
11. Another 4 other species of spider.

ANTS: - 12 SPECIES
--------------------------------
1. Bengali Name: Kalo Sursuri Pipre.
2. Oecophylla [Bengali Name: Nalsa Pipre ].
3. Crematogaster.
4. Small Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Choto Kath Pipre].
5. Large Tetraponera [Bengali Name: Baro Kath Pipre].
6. Large Red Ant [Bengali Name: Choto Lal Pipre].
7. Diacama [Bengali Name: Deo Pipre].
8. Golden-backed Camponotus.
9. Black-backed Camponotus.
10. Another 3 other species of Ants.

OTHER INSECTS:
----------------------------
1. At least 15 species of Grasshoppers including a locust.
2. At least 12 species of Beetles.
3. At least 8 species of Bugs.
4. At least 15 species of Moth.
5. At least 3 species of Solitary Wasp.
6. At least 3 species of Honey Bee.
7. Many other insects including paper wasp, brown wasp, black bee etc.

Thanks to Subhankar da (Subhankar Patra) for 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 da
(Sujit Das) for formatting the report in such a good way.

Cheers,
Avisek Chatterjee on behalf of the team members.

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