In the Search for Ruddy Turnstones of Henry Island

Location: Usthi - Henry Island Beach-Fisheries-Frazergunge beach-Estuary-Bakhali

Route : Up: DH Road via Usthi, Down: DH road via Diamond Harbour.

Who: Jyotirmayi Banerjee, Debarpan Banerjee, Rishav Pal, Subhaprata Matilal, Paramita Matilal and Santanu Bhattacharya.

Date: 22^nd and 23^rd feb 2014.

It was quite a challenge squeezing six of us into an I-10, but the promise of a fun and exciting weekend of birding by the sea was too much of a temptation to resist. Our target was to photograph Ruddy Turnstone and Grey Plover that we had missed on our last trip. So we pressed on, our hopes fortified by some good sightings on the way. Little did we know that disappointment awaits at Namkhana. We were informed that the barge that transports four wheelers to bakhali across the Hataniya- Doyaniya River has malfunctioned and won’t be repaired till one month. It took us a while to find an empty ferry boat that could take us across. The six of us booked a minivan for Rs. 350/- which got us to Bakhali in 30 minutes.

It was high tide when we reached Henry Island around 2 pm on 22^nd. For those who haven’t visited Henry before, you might want to know that it’s a 2 km walk from the fisheries department to the beach which goes through a stretch of ‘Bheris’ or fish tanks and then the last 500 meters is through the mangrove. At one of these dried up bheris we came across Black-capped Kingfisher, few Common Red-Shanks, a flock of Temminck's Stints and a very agitated pair of Red-wattled lapwings. 

The beach itself is not visible on this route as the shore line is elevated and lined by a stretch of casuarinas and acacia trees that runs parallel to the beach hiding it from the view. All you can see while approaching the beach is a small cave like opening through the grove of trees. The walk up to this point acts as a sort of build up, as you can hear the waves, smell the ocean but can’t really see it, until you step out of this opening to a mesmerizing view of the beach. For first timers it takes a while for the spectacular view to sink in.

Henry Island Beach Then

Henry Island beach Now: 

Fortunately for us the tide was ebbing and the receding ocean revealed sandbanks in its wake. Like most beaches the one in Henry is an almost flat beach, that ends into the sea but the beach topography has undergone a dramatic change since last year. The sea retreats upto 1-2 kms at low tide. Last year the beach offered a view of endless white sands rolling into the sea in low-tide. This year however the white sands have vanished and the width of the beach seems to have been rather cut short. Low-tide reveals a stream of strong current that that's neck deep at its deepest point.  You'll have to walk quite a bit of the beach front, then tread through this stream of water and then amble across another stretch of sand bank to finally get to the ocean.  This sand-bank gets inundated at high tide and in low-tide remains cut of from the main beach by the stream thereby offering a safe heaven for the waders to feed. 

These sand-banks trap a lot of fish, mollusks, clams, crabs, chitons, sea slugs etc as the waters subsides and you'll find a lot of shorebird alighting on these sand banks to feed on its offerings. We were delighted by the sight of pairs of Whimbrels, Sand plovers, Stints, Gulls, Sanpipers and Redshanks feeding on the sand-banks. A group of Ruddy Turnstones huddled together cut a grim picture trying to fight the waves crashing on them at the edge of the shoreline. The most memorable moments however were these whiskered terns diving vertically into the shallow water and scooping up fish!!

Lesser Sand Plover

Whimbrel

Common Sandpiper

King Crown Sea Shell's egg casing

The beach at low-tide becomes a canvas for Fiddler Crabs decorations

Marsh Sandpiper

We got to enjoy 2 hours of uninterrupted bliss soaking up the sun, taking in the natural beauty of the beach with not a sole around. Come 4 pm however, a truck load of tourists, spilled out of the blue unto the beach. Then came local youth who were completely inebriated and riding the beach on bikes and creating nuisance for birds and men alike. I must add that I was at Henry Island last year and back then I was thrilled to see a pristine white sand beach teaming with Red Fiddler crabs (Uca Bengali). This time around however I was disappointed by the way the beach has been totally destroyed. Gone were the Fiddler crabs, white sands and the untouched beauty of the then virgin beach.

Frazergunge

Frazergunge Beach, which we visited next morn was a surprise. In our last visit, the sand on the beach was invisible as the whole beach was caked by thick slimy mud, poke-marked by a bed of clams and cockles, bricks, boulders, drift wood and sharp debris that the ocean threw up at high tide. It was practically impossible to walk on the beach (as you can see in the pics). This time however the beach was a lot cleaner and flatter and therefore much easier to walk on. We were immediately greeted by flocks of brown headed gulls mostly sub adults that were busy feeding on fish trapped on nets along the shore line.

Estuary

The best kept secret of this beach is the estuary, that’s hidden from the view by sand banks.These white sands littered with straw and creepers are the perfect camouflage for Kentish Plovers, Little Ringed plovers and Pacific Golden Plovers that nest in flocks here.

Pacific Golden Plover, courtesey Debarpan Banerjee

Little Ringed Plover Courtesy Debarpan Banerjee

Kentish Plover, Courtesy Debarpan Banerjee

Ruddy Turnstones

It was a long walk to the estuary, in the company of turnstones, plovers, sandpipers, red shanks and gulls. Imagine our joy when were greeted by an army of  Red Fiddler crabs moving on the beach. Feisty little creatures this crabs, they can feel us approaching from about 10 meters distance and start scurrying away. If you manage to isolate one of these Perky little devils they will throw up their arms and stand on their hind legs menacingly with an amazing tenacity that you wouldn't have attributed at first sight. Their ornamental display of mud pellets transforms the beach into a beautiful canvas during low tide.

It seemed that somehow over the span of a year the beaches at Henry and Frazergunge have inter-changed. The complete absence of Bengal Fiddlers on Henry Island beach and their presence in Frazergunge beach is a clear biological indication of this change.

Frazergunge beach before: 

Frazergunge Beach Now:

Birds Observed:

·         Ruddy Turnstone. (8, Frazergunge; 8-10 In Henry Island)

·         Lesser Sand Plover.

A pair of Ruddy Turnstones

·         Greater Sand Plover.

·         Kentish Plover.

·         Little Ringed Plover.

·         Whimbrel.

·         Eurasian Curlew.

·         Pacific Golden Plover.

·         Temmincks Stint.

·         Terek Sandpiper.

·         Common Sandpiper.

·         Marsh Sandpiper.(2)

·         Common Red Shank.(groups of 4-7)

·         Brown Headed Gull.

·         Red-wattled Lapwing.

·         Pied Kingfisher.

·         Black Capped Kingfisher.

·         Collared Kingfisher.

·         White Breasted Kingfisher.

Hoopoe

·         Common Kingfisher.

·         Whiskered Tern

·         White Wagtail

·         Yellow Wagtail

·         Grey Heron.

·         Pond Heron.

·         Cattle Egret.

·         Intermediate Egret.

·         Dusky Warbler

·         Small Minivet

·         Taiga Fly Catcher

·         Bengal Bush Lark

             Brown Shrike

·         Plaintive Cuckoo

·         Common Hawk Cuckoo (enroute near usthi)

Temminck's stint

·         Copper Smith Barbet

·        Hoopoe (8 all in one location at frazergunge beach)

·         Streak-throated Woodpecker(male)(enroute, usthi)

·         Black-rumped Flameback

·         Shikra

·         Rufous Treepie

·         Black Drongo

·         Paddyfield Pipit

·         Purple Sunbird (male and female)

·         Common tailor bird

·         Greater Coucal

·         Greater Cormorant

·         Indian Cormorant

·         White Breasted Water hen

·         Bronze Winged Jacana

A pair of common Red-shanks

·         Jungle Crow

·         Ashy Wood Swallow (enroute near usthi)

·         Asian Palm Swift

·         Collared Dove

·         Spotted Dove

·         Common Myna

·         Pied Starling

·         Jungle Myna

·         Red Vented Bulbul

·         Oriental Magpie Robin

·         Green Bee Eater

·         Black headed oriole

  

       

Brown headed gulls -sub adults

 Other fauna:

1. Red Fiddler Crab
2. Moon crab or Sandy Shore crab (Matuta planipes)
3. Tube anemone
4. Hermit Crabs
5. Angle wings
6. Clams
7. Sundials (shell)
8. Conchs (shell)
9. Whelks (shell)
10. Oyster (shell)
11. Gangetic Dolphins (Diamond harbor)
12. Limpet (shell)
13. Mussels (shell)
14. Barnacles- growing on Conch shells (balanus species)
15. Unidentified Marine organism (Sea cucumber/ slug??)

Tube Anemone Courtsey Debarpan Banerjee

  

Unidentified marine organism- courtesy of Paramita Matilal

Image courtesy of Paramita Matilal

Oyester Shell, courtesy of Paramita Matilal

A Whelk- Courtesy Paramita Matilal

Angel Wings Courtesy Paramita Matilal

    How to get there:

The Barge at Namkhana Dock shuttles vehicles to and fro over the Namkhana river. They charge 150-250 /- per vehicle depending on the carrying capacity. They probably charge less on two wheelers. If you are looking for cheaper options, look for local ferry boats that ferry people and bikes for nominal fee.  (Rs 1/- per person and Rs 20/- per two wheeler). You can make avail of private vehicle sharing service (minivan) on the other bank, which will drop you at Bakhali for 30 Rs. If you don’t mind the jostle and wait you could also opt for the local bus service that charges Rs 13/- per head. For more details on transport options you can visit www.bakkhalihoteliers.com.

Bakhali Beach

Lodging:

There are a lot of options for stay at Bakhali. The tariffs range from 300/ day for a double bedroom to 800 with ac and non ac options. The fisheries department lodgings at Henry Island can be booked through their Kolkata office only. Benfish Guest House is another option for an economical stay at Frazergunge. The Benfish Docks and the river are just behind it. You can avail boating trips to Jambu Dweep from here at Rs. 80/- per head. This involves one and a half hours of sailing through the mangroves athough you will not be allowed to alight on the Jambu Dweep due to security reasons. The best option is to stay in Bakhali and travel to Frazergunge and Henry.

River behind Benfish Guest House

             

There are regular Boat Rides for Sight seeing around Jambu Dweep

Local Cuisine:

There are series of shacks or hotels lining the village center that offer combo meals/ thali consisting of rice, vegetable curry, fries and pulses with four types of non-veg options on menu: chicken, fish, jumbo prawns and crabs. You could get to choose among a lot of fish varieties which includes Pomfret/ Bass (bhetki)/ Rohu/ Catla/ Marine fish. A lunch thali of rice/ paratha, dal, fries and chicken curry comes for Rs 140/-.

If you are looking for a unique dining experience you could go for the “chicken cooker service”, in which you can buy a whole country chicken and have it cooked by the local cooks. The chicken can be bought from the local market. You could choose from two types of poultry options: Broiler that costs 140/- per kg or Desi breed costs Rs. 170/- per kg. 

Fish lovers will be thrilled by the variety of mouth watering fried fish options dished out by the shacks along Bakhali Beach at night.

References:

http://www.bakkhalihoteliers.com/Pages/view/Transport-and-Communication
http://www.iloveshelling.com/

Photographic contributers:
1. Myself
2. Derbarpan Banerjee
3. Paramita Matilal
4. Subhaprata Matilal

Thanks for reading my Blog. Do feel free to leave your comments. Cheers!