Silent Creeks, Sinister Crocs & Spectacular Kingfishers

[Jayanth Sharma]

Bhitarkanika National Park, Orissa

In September last year, thoughts of visiting Orissa’s Bhitarkanika National Park (BKNP) were discussed. It took nearly three months to put a plan in place for this trip as BKNP was not just something I had never seen before, but it was also one of the places about which not much information existed in the Wildlife tourism community. February was the right time to visit the park as most of its abundant wildlife is at its glittering best. BKNP is the home to the largest population of Giant Salt Water Crocodiles in India. These are supposed to be largest crocodiles in the world and are found mostly in the mangroves of Orissa and Sunderbans. More than 215 species of avifauna including spell binding eight varieties of Kingfishers are found here. BKNP is also the second largest viable Mangrove Eco-System in India in which more than 70 species of Mangrove can be found.


BKNP (Google Map Here) is intersected by a network of creeks with Bay of Bengal on the East. BKNP is 672sq kms of mangrove forest & wetland and is home to many bird species including winter migrants from central-Asia and Europe. Giant Salt Water Crocodiles and variety of other Wildlife inhabit the eco-system which form Asia's one of the most spectacular Wildlife area.

The plan was to fly to Bhubaneswar on Thursday night along with my friend Gautam Shah, and drive to BKNP the next morning. Aditya Panda, a naturalist from Bhubaneswar welcomed us in the airport. Aditya happens to be the recipient of the “Young Naturalist of the year” title in the Sanctuary Awards recently. For his age, Aditya shows a lot of maturity that is required for understanding wildlife issues and he is a bundle of useful information. A long drive within the city to find a perfect dining table allowed us to talk about our common passion. We had a very interactive session discussing various topics and upcoming Tiger reserves of Orissa after which we retired for the day.

We had to cover a distance of 190kms to reach a small town of Chandbali from where we had to continue our journey on a motor boat for the rest of our trip. On the way, we stopped in the city of Cuttak and met Mr. Biswajit Mohanty, the secretary of the Wildlife Society of Orissa. Biswajit explained to us about the Olive Ridley Turtles and the problems they face. After an amazing breakfast at his place which constituted of Pitha (Almost like Dosa), a potato/mutter curry and the popular dessert called Channapodo (prounced as poda) we continued our journey to reach Chandbali by lunch time. A motor-boat was waiting for us in Chandbali. Gulya was our boatman, and he was accompanied by Chaudhry a helper and Brindavan the cook.

Our boat took off from the jetty and we started our journey towards the rivers and creeks of Bhitarkanika after lunch on our boat. Within a few minutes we spotted a crocodile basking on the bank of the river. As the boat approached the reptile, it jumped in to the water and vanished. That made me setup all my cameras and tripod and I got alert waiting for the basking crocodiles on the banks of the river. After an hours ride on the boat, Chaudhry - our helper spotted a gigantic crocodile sitting inside the bushes with its mouth open. I had no clue a crocodile could be that large. At least two and a half feet in width and over 18 feet long this opportunist took less than two seconds to cover ten feet of ground and sneeze into the water. That was my first ever photograph of a truly Giant Salt Water Crocodile in action.



Dangmal & Bhitarkanika Creeks
We soon reached the Khola gate from where we had to obtain permission to enter the park. After paying for our camera and entry fees we entered the creeks of BKNP. Nearly twenty minutes later Gautam spotted a colorful kingfisher at a distance. We saw the purple back of the kingfisher through our binoculars and I asked Gulya to switch off the boat while it floated slowly on its own. I was pointing my 600mm lens at the bird and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It was a Black-capped Kingfisher and that was the first time I was seeing it. And luck was on my side to the fullest extent. The bird flew away later but not before I got a full frame portrait of this gorgeous kingfisher. I was so excited seeing it for the first time but I later realized it was more common than the Common Kingfisher in this mangrove forest and its creeks. But on no other occasion I got another photograph of this bird as good as the first time.

Crocodile! I exclaimed and our boat turned towards the other side of the river. Here the water was still and the boat would rock only when the engine is switched on. When the engine is switched off, it’s a nice floating experience through the surface of the water. This also meant I would have very little time to focus the subject and take pictures and if I missed the bird, I couldn’t come back because the boat was not small enough to turn in all parts of the creeks. Over the next couple of hours, we spotted at least ten different crocodiles of various sizes and ages.

It was east India and the sun would set much earlier than six in the evening and we landed at the Dangmal jetty. That’s when we learnt that our room in the Forest Rest House would be at least a kilometer away. To carry huge bags, equipment and ration that far was not going to be very easy. Gautam and I sat on the jetty waiting for the sun to submerge in to the horizon while the sky was painted in all sorts of hues that evening. Frequent crocodile sighting would happen on the muddy water as it was low tide at five in the evening. We retired early that night hoping to explore the area the next morning. We couldn’t do much in Dangmal after sunset as there was no electricity and the solar lights would hardly work that evening for which the cloud cover over the park that day was blamed. The accommodation was very minimalistic and we went to bed with the company of loving mosquitoes which sang the lullaby for us in order to put us on to sleep. Gautam and I couldn’t believe we were having candle light dinner with mosquitoes to accompany us on the “dining floor”.

We were on the boat as early as six in the morning with our equipment ready for the crocodile extravaganza. Our boat ride led us to various different creeks of Dangmal and Bhitarkanika island area and after a while we spotted a Stork-billed Kingfisher from a distance. When we reached closer and closer I was spell bound and overwhelmed. The boat was hardly 25 feet away from what is possibly the largest kingfisher recorded in the country. Brown-winged Kingfisher I whispered and clicked pictures of the bird in glory. I was being told before while I was planning a trip to Sunderbans about this species and how hard it was to see them. They were probably very scarce and are also threatened to extinction. They are basically found in the subtropical and tropical mangrove forests and habitat loss is the main reason for their limited numbers. For nearly fifteen minutes we observed the huge kingfisher which is much bigger than the Stork-billed. Our journey led us deeper in to the creeks only to see more and more crocodiles swim across the muddy water while some jump in to the water seeing us.

We reached a jetty on the other side of Bhitarkanika Island and Gautam decided to walk to the opposite side of the island with our guide while I decided to ride back to that side trying to hunt for kingfishers and crocodiles. During this ride, the elusive Ruddy Kingfisher also blessed me with its sight and flew away quickly. Common Kingfisher was also observed for a while and we also spotted the Collared Kingfisher for the first time inside the mangroves. I reached the other side of the island and started walking from the opposite side from where Gautam was walking. Rhesus macaques were all over the place while chital saw me inside the island and started alarming.

On one occasion a chital scared the daylights out of me when it raised an alarm. Usually such alarm calls are blessings in Tiger land and are indications of predators around. But here, the chital perceived me as danger. We had lunch near the jetty and resumed our afternoon ride only to be interrupted by rain. Packing our equipment we hid in the interiors of the boat while we were dropped at the Dangmal jetty. The evening was cloudy and we hardly saw crocodiles out in the open as even the water level increased because of rain and the tide. The Brown-winged Kingfishers were the only ones co-operating with us letting us observe them in the rain. The afternoon was relatively inactive and we ended the day with a bit of ill luck.



Ekakula: Olive Ridley Turtle Nesting
5 AM! Was when we were supposed to be ready the next morning to drive to the eastern part of Bhitarkanika to reach the Ekakula Forest Rest house. (See Map) Tides were the culprits that were blamed this time as the reason for an early departure and I didn’t seem to realize what that mean until I reached the place. A five hour boat ride took us to the Ekakula jetty where the water was ferocious. We were at the mouth of the rivers and hardly 400 meters from the sea. We could hear the waves on the other side of Ekakula and after nearly fourty five mintues of waiting, my stomach started reacting to the constant rocking of the boat which made me get out of the boat and jump on the jetty. We went ahead and made ourselves comfortable in the rooms while our luggage was transported later. Ekakula is a very remote location of Bhitarkanika where the sea is on one side while the river is on other.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are known to use this beach during February every year as their nesting site. Olive Ridleys come to the beach at night, dig holes in the sand and lay eggs and run back in to the water within 45 minutes. An Arribada is a mass nesting of turtles and hundreds of turtles come and lay eggs and vanish in to the sea during this time. While they are at it, predators like Jackals, Heyenas, and Wild Pigs wait for them to lay eggs and plenty of them are devoured in no time. Even then due to the scale in which the turtles lay eggs and go, hundreds of eggs are protected and after they hatch, the tiny turtles instinctively come up the surface of the sand and quickly race in to the sea.

Due to the timing of laying eggs, most eggs hatch at the same time and young ones erupt out of their eggs and start running towards the sea. This is again feasting time for numerous predators like the jackals, and wild pigs. Plenty of birds pickup the tiny turtles and feed on them as well. It is also believed that a large amount of turtles lose their lives once they enter the sea which are killed and eaten by predators in the water like large fish and other predators of the sea.


The Olive Ridley Turtle Deaths
As soon as we walked on the beach, we could see a Turtle from a distance. As we neared the Turtle the only thing I wished was it should have been alive. Unfortunately plenty of such turtles can be seen dead on the beaches of this area. (Gharimata Sanctuary) Turtles are known to be around the shores and are seen within five kms from the beaches. Turtles can stay under water for a maximum of 45 minutes after which like submarines they should reach out to the surface and grab oxygen for their next session under water.

Though fishing is banned in this area, plenty of fishing happens and fishermen lay their death traps for kilometers across the sea here. Turtles get stuck in such nets and fail to make a trip to the surface of the water on time which leads to their death on many occassions. Over time the net is either cut off or the dead turtles are removed from the nets which later float on the surface for a while and after a few days the waves transport them to the beaches of Gharimata. Biswajit Mohanty, told us at least eight to ten thousand of them die every year likewise and this is a serious cause of concern to the turtles. Aditya also tells us that the cause of their death is more than just fishing and various theories float around for their deaths here.

Gautam and I explored the mangroves on foot and spotted jackals that were feeding on the turtle carcasses. Wild pig would make frequent trips and we were warned of their aggression. It was night and we were hoping to meet some turtles which could possible come over to lay eggs and get back to the sea. We studied the reports of a few years and realized there would be occasional times when the turtles hardly came for nesting. This time they still hadn’t shown up here. We made scouting trips to the beach at various points in the night only to be disappointed by Wild pig pugmarks and the same dead turtles. Though we had timed our trip to coincide with the nesting (Arribada) we were unlucky to have not sighted at least one of them. Soon it was time to leave Ekakula and get back to Chandbali.

We realized our boat was on the ground and it was low tide. We had to wait till 10 in the morning for the high tide so that we could make our journey back. Predicting the aggressive waves at the mouth of the rivers, Gulya informed us that we would take the same route back to Chandbali and not go towards the Kalibanj Dia side (See Map).

That afternoon on our drive back, we should have spotted at least twenty five basking crocodiles on the way to the Bhitarkanika Island. Our trip back lasted only 2.5 hours with the current this time and since it was still noon, we decided to trek to the interiors of Bhitarkanika Island. Water Monitor lizards, Wild pig, chital, Rhesus macaque, lots of waders like the Black-winged stilts were found feasting on the ponds inside and I was unwilling to get up from a beautiful water hole that had at least a few hundred Common Teal, Egrets, herons and kingfishers. Finally we made up our mind and walked back to the jetty.

Just after I collapsed on the boat after the long walk back, I was again alerted of a huge crocodile that had stretched outside the surface of the water near the bank feeding on something. Though I didn’t see what it was feeding on (But I guess it was a crab seeing the series of photos), I picked up my enormous lens and camera and shot a few pictures of it chewing and swallowing its prey. After a few shots of them handheld, I was gasping for air and just watched the giant make merry of his prey. On our ride back to Chandbali that afternoon, we spotted even more crocodiles and kingfishers. The last photograph of the trip to Bhitarkanika was that of a Brown-winged Kingfisher that was reluctant to get up and fly till its photograph was captured for ever on my camera. Spell bound and mesmerized by the last three days of experiences we have had, we closed our eyes in the speedy bolero that was supposed to drop us back in Bhubaneswar.

The Charismatic Chilika
Aditya was supposed to take us to Chilika the next morning and by 10 AM we reached a place called Mangalajodi via Tangi village and we entered the fresh water portions of Chilika Lake. I realized immediately that there was a long day ahead and I would go berserk watching birds and capturing them on my memory cards. There was a “Flutter-flutter-flutter” and hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits flew in harmony across the marshy terrain. Numerous Whiskered terns, Herons, Egrets, and Drongos flocked the area and it was a mesmerizing sight to watch. We quickly hired a row boat and ventured out on the shallow waters of the lake.

In less than half an hour, we were overwhelmed by the variety of birds we were presented with. I went mad sighting Brahminy ducks (Ruddy Shelducks) in pairs and on one occasion the usually shy ducks cooperated with the camera for nearly fifteen minutes before making calls and flying away. Black-winged stilts, Sandpipers, Godwits, Whiskered Terns, Black-headed Ibis, Crakes, Intermediate and Litte Egret, Grey and Purple heron, Litte Bittern, Spot-billed ducks, Pintails, Little Grebe, Purple moorhen, Lapwings, Snipes, Jacanas, Asian Open-billed Stork & Robins flooded the lake where we hardly knew what to do and which bird to focus on. I also clicked a photo of the gorgeous “Blue-throat” along with plenty of Wagtails, Pipits, Warblers, Pied Mynahs and other birds were in abundance and none of us even thought of lunch that day. A long ride on the boat on the evening marked the end of this trip to Orissa and the only thing that was going in my mind was calculating budgets for quick/frequent trips to Chilika soon. We were dropped at the airport after which the usually problematic Air Deccan left ahead of schedule and we reached Bangalore ten minutes earlier.

We realized we had visited a place which was one of the country’s best places to sight the Giant Crocodiles, plenty of varieties of Kingfishers, Water monitor lizards, picturesque landscape and a place where not many tourists visit. It shall be one of the places that would get tagged as my “Favorite Wild Havens” for years to come and this is just the first time I have been there. Now that we have contacts and more information, in the future more success is bound to greet us for which intelligence gathering seemed to be crucial.

I wish many more Wildlife enthusiasts make up their minds to visit these havens and help people earn their livelihood through responsible tourism. I was also appreciative of the fact that the fishermen in Chilika had given up poaching and had started conserving their precious birds and eagerly waiting for tourists. Without many tourists, they would probably find no means to earn livelihood and I hope they don’t get back to poaching birds again. With new Tiger reserves coming up in Orissa, It is only a matter of time that Orissa competes with the Kanha’s and Bandhavgarh’s on the Wildlife Tourist map of India. Best wishes to Orissa and its little known Wilderness.

See All Photographs of the Trip (First 4 Pages)


Mammals & Reptiles sighted in BKNP
Golden/Common Jackal pairs - Canis aureus,
Wild Pig/Boar - Sus scrofa,
Chital – Axis axis,
Rhesus Macaque - Macaca mulatta,
Indian Palm Squirrel - Funambulus palmarum,
Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile - Crocodylus porosus
Water monitors - Varanus salvator
Bengal monitor - Varanus bengalensis,

Interesting sighting
Olive Ridley Turtle – Unfortunately only carcasses
Mudskippers - Periophthalmus modestus

Birds Sighted in Bhitarkanika National Park
Little Grebe - Tachybaptus
Little Cormorant - Phalacrocorax niger
Darter Anhinga - melanogaster
Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea
Pond Heron - Ardeola grayii
Little Heron - Butorides striatus
Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea
Black-crowned Night Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax
Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
Intermediate Egret - Mesophoyx intermedia
Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
Lesser Adjutant - Leptoptilos javanicus
Asian Open-Bill Stork - Anastomus oscitans
Black-headed Ibis - Threskiornis melanocephalus
Lesser Whistling Teal - Dendrocygna javanica
Brahminy Duck - Tadorna ferruginea
Common Teal - Anas crecca
Pintail - Anas acuta
Shoveller - Anas clypetta
Gadwall - Anas strepera
Garganey - Anas querquedula
Black Kite - Milvus migrans
Shikra - Accepiter badius
White-bellied Sea Eagle - Haliaeetus leucogaster
White-rumped Vulture - Gyps bengalensis
Pied Harrier - Circus melanoleucos
Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus
Red Jungle Fowl - Gallus gallus
White-breasted Waterhen - Amautornis phoenicurus
Purple Swamphen - Porphyrio porphyrio
Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus
Bronze-winged Jacana - Metopidius indicus
Red-wattled Lapwing - Vanellus indicus
Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus
Black-headed Gull - Larus ridibundus
Whiskered Tern - Chlidonais hybridus
River Tern - Sterna aurantia
Rock Pigeon Columba - livia
Orange-breasted Green Pigeon - Treron bicincta
Spotted Dove - Streptopelia chinensis
Large Indian Parakeet - Psittaculla eupatria
Rose-ringed Parakeet - Psittacula krameri
Green-billed Malkhona - Phaenicophaeus tristis
Greater Coucal - Centropus sinensis
Spotted Owlet - Athene brama
Palm Swift - Cypsiurus balasiensis
Common King Fisher Alcedo atthis
Pied King Fisher Ceryle rudis
Brown-winged Kingfisher Halcyon amauroptera
White-breasted King Fisher Halycon smymensis
Collared King Fisher - Todiramphus chloris
Black-capped Kingfisher - Halcyon pileata
Chestnut Headed Bee-Eater - Merops leschenaultii
Blue Tailed Bee Eater - Merops phillippinus
Green Bee Eater - Merops orientalis
Indian Roller - Coracias benghalensis
Common Hoopoe - Upupa epops
Greater Flameback - Chrysocolaptes lucidus
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
Golden Oriole - Oriolus oriolus
Black Drongo - Dicrurus macrocercus
Asian Pied Starling - Sturnus contra
Common Myna - Acridotheres tristis
Rufous Treepie - Dendro citta vagabunda
House Crow - Corvus splendens
Large Billed Crow - Corvus macror hynchos
Common Iora - Aegithina tiphia
Red-whiskered Bulbul - Pycnonotus jocosus
Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer
Paddy Field Pipit - Anthus rufulus
Citrine Wagtail Motacilla cirreola
Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla flora
Black Tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa
Great Tit - Parus major
Common Tailor Bird Orthotomus sutorius
Jungle Babbler - Turdoides straitus

Sighting in Chilika’s Mangalajodi Area
Brahminy Duck - Tadorna ferruginea
Pintail - Anas acuta
Gadwall - Anas strepera
Spot-billed Duck - Anas poecilorhyncha
Shoveller - Anas clypetta
Common Pochard - Aythya ferina
Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus
Black Tailed Godwit - Limosa limosa
Little Cormorant - Phalacrocorax niger
Little Grebe - Tachybaptus
Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea
Pond Heron - Ardeola grayii
Little Heron - Butorides striatus
Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea
Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
Intermediate Egret - Mesophoyx intermedia
Great Egret - Casmerodius albus
Little Bittern - Ixobrychus minutus
Cinnamon Bittern or Chestnut Bittern - Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
_________________
Cheers,
Jayanth Sharma
jay@wildlifetimes.com

[ramnath]

jayanth,this is an extremely well written trip report and images are stunning as usual.... thanks for sharing...

[Pramod Viswanath]

For me the title will be Silent trip, Superb images and Spectacular writeup! Amongst time crunching deadlines and pressurizing wildlifers......this is truly professional! Just love to visit this report a zillion times to learn and try to incorporate at least a small percent of it in me! Don't want to say anything more....images says everything! I guess you are an 'Indian Multinational"

Wish you luck for many more kudos!

[clement Francis]

Wonderfully written text and the Brown-winged Kingfisher picture is very heavenly.. Great going!!

Clement

[mdangi]

What a lively pics.....info is too infromative....

[sreekar]

i liked picures of Black tailed Godwit, Salt Water Crox and black capped Kingfisher in that bright Plumage.

[Guest]

Hi Jayanth,

What an article. I am a photographer myself and shoots a different kind of beast mostly ( Cars ), your wildlife pictures are breathtaking. I wish I can join you some of your trips and learn something from you.

Marvelous job. and happy shooting.

Saleem Kormath.

[doctorsubash]

the pics of the turtles are pretty sad to see..in chennai groups go regular patrolling during the nesting period but its limited to a brief stretch and successfull .maybe they should try turtle walks as we call them in orrissa too..

[Balamahesh]

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your experince and images. I'm proud to be a member of wildlife times. Congrats & I wish you all the best for future trips...

Regards,
Balu

[aditya.spiritofthewild]

Great images Jayanth! Can't regret enough for not accompanying you guys to BKNP Next time for sure!

A request to fellow wildlifers here- guys, please take the last two paragraphs in the above article seriously. Only if enough tourists visit places like Mangalajodi in Chilika will such community initiatives survive. The ex-poachers Jayanth mentioned are very demoralized at present with hardly 3-4 tourist days a year. If things continue this way, they will get back to poaching.

To read more about Mangalajodi, please click on the link below:
http://www.wildlifetimes.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=280

Cheers,
Aditya

[pvijaykumar]

dost....as usual great pics and lovely writeup. I went back 7yrs and remembered my trip to this lovely place, eventhough it was not as extensive as yours.

Very sad to see the dead turtles pics and people still always talk about tiger conservation, no one is bothered about the other species...sigh...

VJ

[shivanayak]

Inspiring.

[Anand Narayanan]

deadly pics !!! biiiiiiiiiiiiggggggg crocs !!!!! yeah !!! beautiful !!
i was ignorant of the presence of horseshoe crabs in tropical indian waters ... thanks for showing them !!!
and the kingfisher in rain is sooooooooooooooooooper

[RD]

xlnt report, amazing pictures,

[gouthamns]

Hi Jayanth,
Awesome write up...
Mind blowing pics....

[Jayanth Sharma]

[santhosh kumar]

hi jayanth,

thanks for sharing pictures

[anoopmysore]

Hi Jay,

Great Sightings, Good Pictures and wonderful explanatory.Thanks for the information and right up... Good to see the various and colourful kingfishers and lots of other birds u mentioned. I still can't think how can you remember the names of so many bids that you sighted in the trip, Hats off to your RAM memory.

Felt bad to hear about the rear species "Oliver ridley turtles". The only thing the goverment of orissa can do to save them in future is try to impose more strict laws and abandon fishing and other kinds of human activities particulary in this region of the wildlife sanctuary.

A great and rejuvinating place to Visit. Thanks
_________________
Anoop
Going Wild....

[Giri Cavale]

You have managed 2 of the best ever photos I've seen. Congrats on both the KF's & cheers for the third!

[suhas_anand]

The kingfisher pics of this trip takes your photography to a level few of us can dream and still fewer can aspire ..as someone following ur pics for around a year, all I can say is im blessed to watch these....

[travinfoindia]

On one hand tourism might help, these ex-poachers for a decent livelyhood. On the other hand, It might create other problems like damage to environment with polythene bags and non-decomposing garbage. So I would firstly recommend responsible tourism in such sensitive places.

And yes, fishermen can be given better equipments for fishing I guess. Moreover NGO's can play significant role in these areas.

Its good to see people giving such encouraging replies.. this is what Jayant needs .. Keep the gud work going.. I will keep track of all your future journeys.
_________________
Check me at:
www.travinfoindia.com

[Rathika Ramasamy]

Super pics,and very informative trip report....

[Rahul]

Hi Jayanth,

It's been a while since I last visited the site(hopefully that changes). but everytime I do It makes me realise we can always dedicate some time off to realise our passion. sounds like you've had some wild experience in this trip. Appreciate the information to help tourism and in-turn helping maintain the delicate eco-balance also. It's definitely on my checklist when I visit India next. About your pics..they just keep getting better!

cheers,
Rahul

[Simi]

spell-binding jayanth! what else can i/ anybody say say?
simple love the last sentence of ur article.

[suhas]

Hi Jayanth,
Really,Stunning Photography....!Simply GREAT.Thanks for such awonderful photographs and trip report.