In search of the lesser florican
So finally, here is the write-up. After my previous post on 'the glimpse of Rajasthan' where I mentioned about the purpose of this special visit to Sonkhaliya, many asked me 'So did u see the florican after all'?
Before I describe this visit in search of the lesser florican, I must go back to 2010. That was the first time I saw people post pics of this magnificient bird. Of course nobody disclosed the exact location. But it was Kutch that's all I knew. When I got Kalpana Malani and Rajashree Khalap to see the pics, all 3 of us were clear......2011 monsoon had to be in search of this bird. I don't recall how and where we got the info but we were told it is Little Rann of Kutch. Since I knew the guide at LRK, I asked him. I now think I don't know if he understood then, but he said yes. So the 3 of us went to LRK in July 2011. Now most birders reading this will laugh at us. Who goes birding to Kutch in monsoon? Yes, but wildlife enthusaists are known to do strange this every now and then. We got accomodation et al very easily and at good rates coz it was the off season. But so also was the service. The resort where we put up was a pain, though it is otherwise quite well-known. Anyway, we of course saw no sign of the florican and somewhere on day 1 or 2 itself it had dawned on us that either the guide had not understood what we were looking for, or he had fooled us. We decided to enjoy our birding nevertheless and even in that off season got 120 species. Then someone told Rajashree, 'Oh they are very easy to sight in Velavadar. They are just at the edge of the park'. So it was decided that Kalpana and Rajashree would go that year when the park opened and if they were successful, I would make a visit with other friends. Well that turned out to be a wild goose chase too and they drew a blank. Then we decided - let us follow all postings on forums for a year or two and then plan well. We gotta get it right this time. So no plan was made for 2012 monsoon. Before 2013 monsoon, we were just back from North Bengal and besides, I had just changed my job. So no leaves were possible. But we kept gathering info. That's when Sonkhaliya emerged. A good friend was just back from there seeing the floricans from 10 feet!!!! Our hearts burned again. Come what may, we must o in 2014.
By March/April 2014, I was doing my homeowrk to plan the trip. For we not only wanted to see the florican but also its mating display. From my contacts and other sources, I got to know of the local expert RajendraSingh Rathod. I called him up. I asked if mid-July was ok for the display. Perfect, he said. Great then, the dates were finalized and I said I am willing to block the dates as per his availability but I wanted to be sure that Mr Rathod would be with us. He said as of now he hasn't taken any bookings. We decided the dates. Mr Rathod was so confident, that he said just a day's visit would be enough. I said no, we have been jinxed, I would like to keep an extra day. So we planned to reach on a Sunday morn and take a return train on tues. Mr Rathod said ' What will u do for 2 days? U will get bored of seeing it!!' ' Bored??? No way!! Only we know how we have been dying to see it'. Ok he said then, but also said, 'I want to be honest and tell u that at times I get busy on Sunday with some govt officials' visits and may not be able to join u if there is a dignitary coming. But ur day will not be wasted. My guys will show u the florican nevertheless'. I said 'In that case, I want to keep one more extra day and we will take the return train on Wednesday'. Mr Rathod insisted it wouldn't be necessary, but I persisted. He said 'Fine. But I bet on Tues u will ask me to take u sight-seeing to Ajmer coz u would have had more than enough of the florican by then. But I will gladly be ur guide for sight-seeing too'. And we laughed. I am a native of Rajasthan myself and Mr Rathod and me had developed a good rapport right during our first conversation. Without asking us for any advance payments, he blocked 3 days for us as well as did all the logistics for us. From then on we kept in touch on phone every few days and looking at his confidence I was super-excited. Moreover, any visit to my beloved Rajasthan, gets my adrenalin flowing a little more than ususal :)
Since Kalpana and Renee were not going to be able to make it due to family commitments, Rasjashree, Anjali and me were to go and the tickets were done. In June first week Mr Rathod told me the floricans had started arriving. We were jumping with anticipation. Every week he told us he had been seeing them on and off and once the rains arrive, they would be all over. Wow!!! Just 15 days before our visit, Anjali had to drop out due to personal reasons. We asked other friends if anyone was keen and Amit bandekar from Goa decided to join us. Just that he didn't have as much time as us and was to leave on Tues morn itself. thus he had 2 days. That wasn't really a concern as the sightings were sure. Yes, but monsoon hadn't arrived even in Mumbai by then and the whole of India was a little worried about the drought and so some worry of the sigthing had started to creep in amongst us too. But ah, 15 days was long time. Rains were sure to arrive by then. Mr Rathod even suggested we could postpone our trip by a fortnight, but no, we said. Getting leaves approved is never an easy task. We will leave that little bit to destiny we said. Since the floricans had already arrived, we were sure to see at least one in 3 days. And the plan remained unchanged.
The day arrived. To our good luck, it had rained for 3-4 days at Sonkhaliya before we left Mumbai and all our fears were at rest. Amit reached on Sat evening from Goa and we on Sunday morn. By the time we got to the village, Amit had had his first outing on Mr Rathod's bike. Meanwhile we had heard on the way that it hadn't rained for last 2-3 days after those 3-4 days. We were a little dejected. Amit met us as the village and his face showed he had drawn a blank in the morning. We set out at 4.30pm and I told Mr Rathod and the driver, in local Rajasthani.....'I am dying to see this bird. Do anything, we are willing to spend 12 hrs in the field over next 2 days, but I want to see it'. No, this is not any way of pressurizing the guides and they understand it too. It is pure enthusiasm. All of us in the wild know that there are no guarantees in wildlife. A lot depends on destiny. Yet, u will find wildlifers talking like this and we all take it sportingly :) . The guide would incur no wrath from us if we did not see the bird.
Nothing happened that evening. We saw other scrubland birds, but not even a distant glimpse of the florican. Rathod took us to a field where he said there were 150 of them last year and anyone who wanted to see a florican, a 2 hr visit to Sonkhaliya was enough. But there was not ONE that day. At about 6.30 pm we were waiting near a waterbody and a duck-like silhouette flew above me. Since I could not see the colors due to fading light, I did not mention it to anyone, think it must be one of the common ducks - a teal or a spot-billed. Then after sometime, 2 ducks indeed flew over and Mr Rathod told us the species. I casually said, yes one more duck flew over just moments ago but that was different. I could not identify it due to the light. His eyes shone and ears stood up!!! Did it have any prominent white and was it alone? Yes, I said. That was the female of lesser florican, he said. What!!!! and I hit and cursed myself. Never mind he said, we have 2 more days. After some time something very similar flew past and he said this was the female again and told us to remember not to ignore anything which we feel looks like a duck in silhouette and is flying alone. We then went to some fields where the Eurasian eagle owl roosts and spent some time chasing the owls. Sunday was over. Mr Rathod mentioned that because of the lull in monsoons, not all numbers of floricans had yet migrated. The usual number is close to 150. They could be searching for areas to nest away from Sonkhaliya as well, as this was their peak nesting time and with no rains, the vegetation of moong had not grown, though the field had been ploughed and sown. At least 8-10 inches of vegetation is necessary before they start courtship and nesting.
Monday morn we went with renewed vigor to another distant part of the village. The vegetation was thicker there. Within a few mins, suddenly a female florican flew over our heads. Hopes rose again. We followed it with our eyes to see where it landed. We then quietly went closer to the spot. Before we could even look around, a male flew up and way from the vegetation. We had not even seen it with satisfaction. The next 2 hrs, we walked all over the area but again only got a distant glimpse of a female flying away. I must mention here that it is the male we wanted to see, for it is he who has all the beauty. I did see my first ever black cobra here.
That evening we went to yet another area which had received comparatively more rain. By now our hopes were diminishing. We stopped when we saw a European roller. Suddenly Mr Rathod asked for a binocular. 'There it is. A male florican!'. There was a sudden rush of madness in the gypsy. We saw it, but it was too far. Rathod said, see it first then we will think of how to get there. That done, Rathod asked the driver to take a certain route. But when we reached there, the route did not exist!!! The kaccha road had been developed into a motorable road which did not approach the fields. How cruel could fate be. By the time we were able to figure out how to get there, we had lost our florican. We went and scoured the place on foot, but no glimpse. Alas....
Tues morn Amit had only 2 hrs before he had to leave. We decided to go the place we went on Mon morn again. But as fate would have it, the driver arrived a good one hour late!!!! We cursed him no end and there were tempers blowing. Nevertheless we rushed but got nothing. At 8.30 am we came back to see off Amit and then went back to our search. We had given up all hopes by then and were enjoying the other birds. Rajashree and me decided, 'At least we know the right place now. Next year again'. We spent some good time and returned by 12 noon.
TUes evening at 4.30 as we set out for our penultimate session, Rahtod said, I can't join u tomorrow morn. There has been a bereavement in the family and I need to go. Oh God!!! There is no way we can spot the bird without his eagle eyes, moreso we don't yet even very well know what it looks like. That means today evening is the only chance. We had resigned to not seeing the bird. Mr Rathod too appeared very low as he had not been able to show us the florican. Never mind we said, next year we will come again. We went to the same fields where we had seen it the previous evening. Rajashree and me got busy enjoying whatever birds were there. Suddenly Rathod yelled, 'The florican is walking right in front of us'. I thought he was pulling our legs and ignored. He yelled again ' Sangeeta, the florican is 100 metres in front of you'. He was right!!! There it was, the male, walking ahead of us. But for the size of the bird, 100 mts was too far to see it satisfactorily or click it. We started driving very slowly. Before we got close, he flew. Damn!!!! But he flew in our direction and I got 2-3 flying shots. Not good, just record ones. besides, I wasn't yet satisfied as I hadn't seen the bird well and close.
It landed in the fields. We reversed the gypsy. It had crouched so low in the field that only the head was visible. Rathod said, u try going into the fields while we will stay in the vehicle. Luck be with you. I got off and pulled out my cap, as it was white and would make me obvious. Besides, the field had barely 2-3 inches of vegetation and no trees. I couldn't hide and proceed. I crouched low and walked the distance. Then i found a small shrub abt 50 mts away from the bird and I sat behind it. I started clicking what I thought was the head of the bird. yes, the camouflage is so good, you can't be sure if you are indeed seeing the bird. The bird was some mts to the right of the spot I was focusing on. Now I could see it well and moreover I could see the streamers on its head which i so much wanted to see. I decided I will not go home till this bird does not go home :). 15 mins he sat and I sat. Then it stood up and started walking. I now had to come out of my cover to be able to follow it. But I had to keep distance so as not to disturb it. Tough job. It would fly fore sure as soon as it sees me. I followed it for a good distance and took some shots. But I was never able to get quite close to it. After some distance, it flew away. What remained were the memories and our 3 day adventure, for one glimpse of this magnificent beauty. When I walked back to the gypsy, Rathod was beaming with happiness and his face shone. That's how the bird lovers' commmunity is.....
The complete trip album is here
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