Where : Yerwada Bird Watching Point, Left of Smashan Bhumi.
Date : 20.01.14,
Team : Jyotirmayi Banerjee and Debarpan Banerjee
Weather : Sunny with clear skies. Bit of a chill in the air.
Gear : Canon 600D with 70-300IS USM Canon lens and Sony HX-100V.
Date : 20.01.14,
Team : Jyotirmayi Banerjee and Debarpan Banerjee
Weather : Sunny with clear skies. Bit of a chill in the air.
Gear : Canon 600D with 70-300IS USM Canon lens and Sony HX-100V.
We were at Pune for our cousin's wedding on 20th January. The birder in me couldn't resist a chance to explore Pune Birds and so I turned to Google Maps determined to zoom in on at least one spot nearby to our hotel accommodation where
some birding could be afforded. While I got a lot of hits on locations outside Pune,
birding spots within the city were few and it seemed almost all were public
parks or gardens. I now consider myself lucky that I came across the details of Yerwada birding point, less known as Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary-PUNE (mentioned
in a few Google search results, although this may be incorrect) mentioned by Pune based
birder Mr. Amod Phadke in his blog “Bird View India”. His location details and directions
were pretty accurate and quite conveniently I found it a 10 minutes ride from
Hotel Parc Esteque, Phoenix Junction.
Armed with whatever info we could
gather about this nondescript location near the river bank and a few hazy location
pictures Deb and I, set out on an Auto Rickshaw from Phoenix Junction
to Yerawada Smashan Bhumi. Just after entering the gate we took the road to the
left that passed through some garbage dumps and then further into a wooded forest
path. As Amod rightly described in his blog, entrance to the path was littered on both
sides by decaying carcasses and animal bones, however the path became clearer further on. Must add here that this is not a
path for the faint hearted, who may best turn back at this point. Those who
are up for some challenge and are brave to take a few risks may march ahead for
the trail may look deserted but is frequented by local vagabonds. Not safe for
couples and best visited in group (It was only later that we realized what a
great risk we had taken, but I won’t digress now and come back to this later).
We could hear the river on the
right and the characteristic “did he do it” call of the lapwings promised the
presence of other water-fowls, though they remained obscured by the boundary wall
that ran parallel to the path. But as we moved deeper, the river came into
view. We were greeted by the calls of sunbirds and Great Tits that were
skirting around the foliage unmindful of our presence. We were able to get some
excellent pics at this point. Further on the trail widens and the boundary wall
disappears so that you can get a clear view of the bank below and the river
beyond it.
We took off the trail to get onto
the bank when we were accosted by three very ruffled roufous colored fowls that
fit the description given in Wikipedia of Red Spurfowls "Overall reddish-brown, large partridge -like bird has a somewhat long tail" (In absence of photographic evidence and from the
description I can only hazard a guess but not a concrete ID, therefore I am not
adding them on the list). All the three fluttered away above our head with great protest. We hadn’t any clue that these frail creatures were
hiding among the bushes. We were however distracted from following the fowls by the magnificent view awaiting us. Just along the edges of the bank
were a flock of spotbilled docks all in pairs basking in the sun while a
couple of Ruddy Shelducks played vigilante.
The Jacuzzi formed by the looping river
seems to be favored by many other water birds. We were able to spot sandpipers,
red wattled lapwings, black headed ibises, and black winged stilts, common coots all at
the same spot. A common kingfisher was busy shuttling to and fro across the
banks.
I was contemplating on skimming near to the bank but was dithered by a sudden movement from the corner of my eye. I spotted a water snake literally flying above the ground in its haste to catch a rat that was running for its life. What exemplified this moment was the shrill screech of a Booted eagle that was circling above the mouse and the snake in tighter circles perhaps deciding on which was a more worthy breakfast!! All this commotion however got the attention of the Rudy Shelducks that flew away trumpeting our presence to their kith and kin. And that's how the birding by the bank ended for us.
I was contemplating on skimming near to the bank but was dithered by a sudden movement from the corner of my eye. I spotted a water snake literally flying above the ground in its haste to catch a rat that was running for its life. What exemplified this moment was the shrill screech of a Booted eagle that was circling above the mouse and the snake in tighter circles perhaps deciding on which was a more worthy breakfast!! All this commotion however got the attention of the Rudy Shelducks that flew away trumpeting our presence to their kith and kin. And that's how the birding by the bank ended for us.
Deb was hoping to explore the
woods flanking the banks a bit more. May be we could find those spurfowls we
missed earlier….However all we could manage to find were few Jungle babblers, Oriental Magpie Robins and a lone Pied
bushchat male and a lot more endemic birds. A Red-breasted fly-catcher was playing hide and seek among the thorny
bushes. I suddenly experienced a deja vu and had a very bad vibe that I took as
a signal to get away from the place. Since Deb wanted to stay for a bit longer
he escorted me back to the main road and then went back to the spot. However half
an hour later he was back at the hotel recounting how he was warned by a local
youth not to venture any further and to turn back immediately saying it was
unsafe.
He had had an altercation with a group of derelicts who were knocking bats out of their perches on the trees using stones. He witnessed a few dead bats scattered below the trees. When asked why they were killing these bats they said they were killing them for sport as they found it funny that they were hanging up-side down....How gross!!. While returning back he saw a couple of men smoking something from a newspaper which they later set on fire and carelessly threw it on the dried up underbrush. As you can see from the location pictures, even a small splinter may rapidly set ablaze the entire park.
All seen and considered ,we are left with a feeling that we might have underestimated the risk and that we had escaped by a hairs breath!! A place such as this should have been better conserved. The dumping for one needs to be stopped, rotten carcasses all across the river bank needs to be cleared and the place made safe and secure for the public.
He had had an altercation with a group of derelicts who were knocking bats out of their perches on the trees using stones. He witnessed a few dead bats scattered below the trees. When asked why they were killing these bats they said they were killing them for sport as they found it funny that they were hanging up-side down....How gross!!. While returning back he saw a couple of men smoking something from a newspaper which they later set on fire and carelessly threw it on the dried up underbrush. As you can see from the location pictures, even a small splinter may rapidly set ablaze the entire park.
All seen and considered ,we are left with a feeling that we might have underestimated the risk and that we had escaped by a hairs breath!! A place such as this should have been better conserved. The dumping for one needs to be stopped, rotten carcasses all across the river bank needs to be cleared and the place made safe and secure for the public.
View of the trail while returning.
Press coverage and conservation initaitaives in relation to this sanctuary:
Press Coverage:
‘Yes, bird sanctuary is used as garbage dump’
Ms. Ketali Latkar, Journalist associated with Pune Mirror has written about this blog post and my first-hand account of the habitats dilapidated condition and in her article in Pune Mirror.
"Save Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary Campaign"
Join hands with Sanjay Chandalia, a pune bases activist who has taken up the cause for saving this habitat.
The list of birds sighted are as
follows:
 |
| Purple sunbird |
 |
| Black Headed Ibis |
 |
| Green Bee-eater |
 |
| Spot Billed Duck |
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Spot Billed Ducks (30-40)
- Black winged stilts
- Red wattled lapwings
- Common coot
- Black headed ibis
- Wood sandpiper
- Common sandpiper
- Common king fisher
- White breasted king fisher
- White wagtail
- Laughing dove
- Spotted dove
- Common Tailor Bird
- Pied bustchat
- Common iora
- Oriental magpie robbin
- Booted eagle (dark morph)
- Shikra
- Black kite
- Jungle babbler
- Jungle crow
- Red-breasted Flycatcher
- Coppersmith barbet
- Brown shrike
- Black drongo
- Purple sunbird
- Purple rumped sunbird
- Great tit
- Pied starling
- Common myna
- Green bee-eater
- Asian palm swift
- Pond heron
- Egret
- Common house sparrow
- Roufous treepie
- Greater coucal
- Asian koel
- Unidentified fowl
- Blue rock pegion
- Indian cormorant
- Red vented bulbul
Other Fauna:
- Mongoose
- Watter Snake
- Squirrel
- Flying fox
 |
| Booted Eagle |
 |
| wood sandpiper |
 |
| Common Kingfisher |
 |
| Great Tit. |
 |
| Spot Billed Ducks |
 |
| A black-winged stilt flying with Spot billed duck |
Photos contributed by Myself and Debarpan Banerjee.
References:
1. http://birdsviewindia.blogspot.in/2013/02/yerwada-river-bank-17-feb-2013.html'
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Spurfowl
3. https://maps.google.co.in/maps?safe=active&q=yerwada+birding+point&ie=UTF-8&ei=lWHnUuGkNMSXrgfPj4HQBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ
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