Chanoud Garh

We are watching the sky fill with stars as twilight fades to night. There is no wind; the only sound is the subdued rustling of insects on the salt pan. Conversation is redundant in this stillness. Time appears to slow down, as the starlight illuminates the surface of this vast flatland to a shimmering silver sea all around us. A shooting star blazes across the constellation of Orion.
An hour earlier, at sunset, we had crunched softly through the salt-encrusted sand, weaving between tussocks of grass,  and shallow nullahs, deep into the heart of this (now dry) saline marsh. Here the staff had assembled camp-chairs and served sun-downers.

salt-pan at sunset ...

Later at night , back in Chanoud Garh, we are welcomed by the rest of the family.
Jairaj, his wife Anchal, and his siblings Mahiraj and Swati, with the help of their parents, have been working for years to restore their family residence. Chanoud now has seven suites open for guests.

Night view of the mardana (gents) courtyard...

Entrance to the zenana (ladies) wing ... now the private residence of the family

We have visited several times over the years, and have witnessed first-hand the various stages of restoration. The oldest parts of Chanoud date back three centuries, and it has been continuously inhabited by succeeding generations. However after the Independence of India, it had suffered years of neglect. In the oldest wings (which have Marwar / Jodhpur and Mewar / Udaipur styles of architecture), soot and dust coated the walls, many rooms had bat-droppings littering the floors. Wooden beams supporting the ceiling, weakened by decades of water seepage, threatened to collapse. Furniture and carpets lay unused. The original  buttery 'araish' finish on walls was either crumbling away or had been covered over in slap-dash repair.

As we enjoy a late dinner in the open zenana courtyard it is clear that an almost miraculous transformation of the property has now reached fruition. We have been promised a full tour of the Garh in the morning.

At dawn, with the village awakening ..

Fortified with a hearty breakfast we begin our re-acquaintance with the property.
We begin with the Durbar Hall which has been restored and re-opened just days before.

                                                                   Durbar Hall 

This high-ceilinged room now houses paintings, photographs, trophies and other antiques. I have heard stories over the years of how many of these objects were literally salvaged from rubble.

Outside in the courtyard, Jairaj points out a stone carving panel depicting a scene of pig-sticking. This was obscured for decades by layers of limewash on the main facade ..

In many cases the original has been deliberately left untouched. Anchal gestures to the patina on this door, formed by years of having the natural elements work their unrelenting magic on a painted wooden surface. ...

Swati is a trained designer, and her creative imprints are everywhere - from the refreshingly liberal use of bold colours on walls, to the fabric and linen in the rooms.

Here is a typical suite with its own private jharokhas (balconies).                                                                            

Later in the morning Mahiraj is taking a couple of the hotel guests on a tour of the village, and I decide to join them as I have not seen the family chhatris (cenotaphs) and the baoris (wells). As we emerge from the passage to the front entrance, we can see an old woman at the fortified main gate. She has come from the village, and is pouring water from an earthen pitcher over the 'kada' (iron knocker), and is carefully collecting it in another vessel held below. I am as puzzled as are the foreigners with us. Later Mahiraj explains that the villagers believe the kada has curative powers. Possibly her sick grandchild would be made to drink this water.

 'kada' on the main gate

Village life is similar to other rural areas in Rajasthan, and all the little shops filled with jootis, bangles, fabric and such-like are a great delight for the tourists with us.

A house in the village

As they dawdle, I press on to the Chhatris. I have been told earlier of one in  particular, that of a much-beloved ancestor and his three ranis. Indeed some villagers have just emerged from it after lighting incense sticks. My grasp of the vernacular is just about adequate for me to understand their conversation. They have asked for his blessings in a new venture. This veneration and belief  has inspired the present Chanoud family to undertake a modern hospital project and other development and welfare initiatives.

 Chhatri 

Nearby are temples, small vegetable patches, and examples of the different types of baoris.
There is the ubiquitous circular, stone-lined shaft, from which water has to be hauled up by hand using a pulley. Another  shallower well has steps cut into the sides allowing access to the surface of the water; and a section from which oxen can be used to draw water. A third well is a true step-well, much larger and rectangular in shape, with its neat geometry of steps leading down. This is adjacent to the village lake. As I stand quietly in the shade of an ancient tamarind, I spot a group of pelicans on a small rocky island in the lake.

Great White Pelicans 

On my way back to the Fort, I pass some village elders who have started gathering for their daily ritual of sharing a smoke and passing the day.  I suspect the 'chillum' contains not just tobacco but possibly some other, more stimulating substance too!

Village elders socialising ...

Indeed, many of the young men from the village now work in towns and cities, so the majority of the resident  population consists of elders, children and ladies. This is a harsh, unforgiving land. A benevolent monsoon will allow a single crop to be cultivated in a year - mainly wheat or pulses. At this time of the year they are also harvesting mustard stalks, the yellow flowers having long dried in the hot March sun.

At lunch, which is served in one of the dining rooms, we are joined by several visiting family elders.

The painted walls of the dining room were covered over for years with whitewash 

This older generation shares tales of life here when they were children. An aunt remembers her Irish governess and life in 'purdah'. Jairaj tells her that they have recently found a secret passage connecting the residence of a former rajah to the room of his favourite rani in the zenana. Such instances of serendipity are now increasingly common in the restoration process. An abandoned trunk has yielded surprisingly well-preserved ancient tomes from the late 19th century. There are books on royal pastimes like pig-sticking. Superb calligraphy embellishes tales of Chanoud's history in another large book ...

Hand-written historical tales

Several historical references record a heroic, yet tragic tale of the Mertia Rathores (a clan of Rajputs), of which Chanoud is an integral and important part. When the Marathas invaded these parts of Rajputana, they cleverly exploited the divisions and distrust within the ranks of feuding Rajputs. A crucial battle was lost when the defending army was surprised at daybreak by the French General De Boigne's cannons, and they were decimated as they awoke. News of this carnage reached the Rajput cavalry camped nearby. These doughty warriors from Chanoud and other sub-clans chose not to withdraw in the face of this huge army. All four thousand of them, fortified by doses of opium, and with cries of famous victories before, charged at the eighty well-protected and entrenched cannons and the army behind. Most were cut to pieces by grapeshot. Yet several of them burst through the protecting lines and hurtled forward, sending the 'Marathas flying in all directions'. However, the cannons were reversed and quickly primed, and the returning warriors were shot down almost to the last rider. Songs are still sung in these parts of such tales of valour.

To my regret, I failed to take photographs of any of the several elaborate and truly memorable meals during our stay. But an abiding memory remains of the ' hara chana ka halva' at dinner on our last night. Earlier, driving past agricultural fields, an exuberant farmer had thrust some freshly uprooted stalks of hara chana in our hands. This was the main ingredient in the halva .

Here are some photographs of Chanoud that we took during our visit ...

Rear entrance to the Garh ...

An ancient, hand operated  room-cooler ...

The iconic, drought-resistant and long-lived tree of this area - Salvadora or Peelu...

Arches and jalis ...

Baghera looking out for his lately deceased companion ... in the 'noor' of the setting sun...

The front courtyard by day...

Arches were added to buttress the sagging stone beams supporting the ceiling...

The front facade of the Garh...

The zenana courtyard ...

Bathroom...

Wall painting in the private temple of a part-human, part-animal figure ...

Newer wing of the Garh - with Colonial influences...

 resident Barn Owl ...

Another Suite...

Approach to the salt pan - only 4 WD vehicles can make it here when it is dry!

The main entrance to the Garh ...

Child in the village...

Stone-pillared corridor ...

 Dining Room ...

Dawn ...

 email  -  sahdevsingh2004@yahoo.co.in

The Peregrine

Many people have witnessed the stoop of a Peregrine Falcon.
Indeed, I have, but just twice over many years of birdwatching.

 But to have it described in words like this ....

"He hovered, and stayed still,striding on the crumbling columns of air, curved wings jerking and flexing. Five minutes he stayed there, fixed like a barb in the blue flesh of the sky. His body was still and rigid, his head turned from side to side, his tail fanned open and shut, his wings whipped and shuddered like canvas in the lash of the wind ....
 There is no mistaking the menace of that first easy drifting fall. Smoothly, at an angle of fifty degrees, he descended ; not slowly, but controlling his speed; gracefully, beautifully balanced....
The angle of his fall became gradually steeper till there was no angle left, but only a perfect arc. He curved over and slowly revolved, as though for delight, glorying in anticipation of the dive to come...
For a thousand feet he fell...then his speed increased, and he dropped vertically down... he fell sheer, shimmering down through dazzling sunlight, heart-shaped like a heart in flames. ....
The partridge in the snow beneath looked up at the black heart dilating down upon him, and heard a hiss of wings rising to a roar. In ten seconds the hawk was down, and the whole splendid fabric, the arched reredos and immense fan-vaulting of his flight, was consumed and lost in the fiery maelstrom of the sky".

.... An extract from 'The Peregrine' by J. A. Baker.

So we have a somewhat different blog post this time. A friend has suggested that I review the book.

This slim volume is not new. It was first published in the year 1967. The author still remains virtually unknown. Yet, many lay readers (and not just birdwatchers) consider this to be a classic. For what it is worth, I certainly concur. This is the kind of book that you start reading and just cannot finish ! And that is all praise. I needed to constantly stop myself from rushing ahead; and return to passages (that just rang in my ears) to savour again the images evoked so viscerally on these pages.

So who was J A Baker ? What is this book about ?

To the first question, I suspect, there is a book waiting in the wings which may finally tell us something about this very private individual who died as quietly as he lived... and so we will have to wait for that.
As Baker writes, he obsessively chooses to follow the peregrines over the course of several winters in eastern England on foot, by bicycle, learning their habits, their routines.
The book itself is in the form of a diary telescoped into one single winter season, observing the falcons hunting, feeding, bathing, preening, resting ... and at one level it is just that. There is no 'story', there is no 'plot'.
Yet Baker's powers of observation have been honed to the needle-sharp point of the peregrine's talons, he rips through to the core with his unique prose like the raptor tears the flesh of a red-legged partridge.

And like all the better writers of literature he has 'found his voice'. And what a voice it is.

Descriptions of the falcon riding the wind are a crescendo of music which wash over us ...
 "  He climbed vertically upward, like a salmon leaping in the great waves of air ... he dived to the trough of a wave, then rose steeply within it , flinging himself high in the air, on outstretched wings, exultant." ... " He left the blue sky baroque with fading curves of power and precision, of lithe and muscular flight".

Other passages are almost  poetic ...
"He rose upon the wind, and climbed in a narrow spiral, wafting a thousand feet higher with lyrical ease. He skimmed and floated lightly, small and slowly spinning, like a drifting sycamore seed".

You may have noticed in one of the extracts earlier that Baker uses the terms 'hawk' and 'falcon', both for the peregrine. This is deliberate. Actually 'tiercel' is a falconry term for the male or 'hawk' ( smaller in size ); whereas the female is the 'falcon'. Over time the author is able to identify each of the individual wintering peregrines, even in flight.

Much of the text is from the point of view of the peregrine ...

"The peregrine lives in a pouring away world of no attachment,a world of wakes and tilting, of sinking planes of land and water..."

So, the peregrine sees his / her world as such :
the land ( "...the neat squares of orchard and woodland, the endlessly varying quadrilateral shapes of fields"...);
 the sky ( "...patches of distant sunlight circling round and rafters of blue sky crumbling into mist...");
the wind ( " ... wild peregrines love the wind . It is their element. Only within it do they truly live..");
the prey (  "crackling blackness of jackdaws... gleanings of skylarks...streams of golden plover.. white helix of gulls...")

The only character in the book other than the peregrines, is the author. The hunter. Tracking the birds from before dawn, till after sunset, through fields, over marshes, skirting tide-exposed sea shore.

"I will follow him till my predatory human shape no longer darkens in terror the shaken kaleidoscope of colour that stains the deep fovea of his brilliant eye. My pagan head shall sink into the winter land, and there be purified".

"Pagan head... be purified"?  What purgatory does Baker seek ? What ails him ?
While nothing is actually revealed in the text itself, other than oblique references that all may not be well with him physically; there is mention of other species in distress, mainly because of man's insidious effect on the environment.

"No pain, no death, is more terrible to a wild creature than its fear of man. A red-throated diver, sodden and obscene with oil, able to move only its head, will push itself out from the sea-wall with its bill if you reach down to it as it floats like a log in the tide".

What burdening carapace does he seek to slough off  in this demented, metronomic, single-minded pursuit of the peregrine ?

"I shut my eyes and tried to crystallise my will into the light-drenched prism of the hawk's mind.... Like the hawk, I heard and hated the sound of man, that faceless horror of the stony places. I stifled in the same filthy sack of fear".

And then, as autumn turns to winter and then to spring, the author is finding the catharsis that he possibly seeks from the peregrine.

"I think he regards me now as part hawk, part man... but never to be wholly trusted; a crippled hawk perhaps, unable to fly or to kill cleanly, uncertain and sour of temper".... and later ...
"There is a bond : impalpable, indefinable, but it exists ".

So in time, as he comes upon a fresh kill of a peregrine which is still warm and seeping blood, he is almost tempted to eat it himself. Or when he places his hand reverently on a perch that the peregrine has just flown from. The hunter is becoming the thing he hunts.

For the serious birder there is much to delight in - many of the creatures that inhabit these pages are familiar to us. The astonishing clarity and singularity of the prose describing the birds and animals and their behaviour, (while the author waits for his quarry), inevitably makes one exclaim, 'that is exactly how it is !'
And while even the lay reader would exult in the landscape painted on these pages ... there is always the shadow of the falcon hovering, a harbinger of death.

Raptors of Tal Chhapar

 October - November 2012.
As the sun sets over the grasslands of Tal Chhapar, the harriers begin their thrilling show.
This is the famous harrier roost.
For a few days (or weeks in a season) at the most, this daily spectacle has enthralled visiting birders over the years.
 The monsoon has nurtured a sudden explosion of grasses in these arid flatlands at the edge of the Thar Desert. Tens of harriers, mainly on passage migration, hunt the plethora of grasshoppers, crickets and locusts, during the day. At dusk they roost on the ground.
I have deliberately put away the camera, determined to just experience this with the binoculars.
These elegant, long-winged raptors glide low over the ground, checking suddenly with splayed tail-feathers and dangling talons, the narrow supple wings arching to arrest momentum. In mid-flight they abruptly dive to the ground, sometimes flushing another harrier already at roost.
Magical.

Sunset at Tal Chhapar ...

A large proportion of the harriers are Montagu's - a few males, but most females or juveniles.
The larger Eurasian Marsh Harriers are easily distinguishable in this swirling vortex, but I struggle with the Pallid Harriers. Only one male is clearly identifiable by its unmarked pale grey plumage.
The rare Hen Harrier (rare for Rajasthan that is) has also been reported from here.

Earlier in the day we had observed a Long-legged Buzzard from close quarters. This is a juvenile...

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged indeed in full stride ... the rufous capri pants swirling in the breeze !

The much smaller and widespread White-eyed Buzzard, in my experience, is surprisingly uncommon here .
Here is a juvenile, hence without the tell-tale white iris of the adult ...

White-eyed Buzzard

Photographs of the Common Buzzard have been appearing from here, including those of a dark morph, so we are really happy to find it perched obligingly in plain sight, but not allowing close approach. A lifer for me ...

Common Buzzard

Flapping its wings at perch to swat-off a pesky Black Drongo ...

To many birders, probably what is really unique about Tal Chhapar is the variety of falcons.
The list is superb - Laggar Falcon, Merlin, Red-necked Falcon, Common Kestrel, the rare Lesser Kestrel, and the diminutive Eurasian Hobby.
Here the hobby hunts right through the day as we have seen, though in my experience this species is rather crepuscular in other areas.

Eurasian Hobby

Larger numbers of Common Kestrel can be observed right through the day, hovering above the grasslands.

Common Kestrel, female ...

We were lucky to notch-up the rare Lesser Kestrel, sometimes observed on migration through here. The male was distinctive in  flight with its bluish-grey wing panel. My birding companion was even luckier to have a Lesser Kestrel come and perch almost on top of his head on a electricity pole towards the west of the park near the salt pans.

One of my favourite raptors is almost a certainty if you visit here.
 The Laggar Falcon.
This large falcon, the size of a Peregrine, loves to show-off its aerial prowess.
Actually a pair of them, that we have seen over other visits. They will suddenly appear out of nowhere. Powerful, narrow falcon wings scything through the air as they spar with the other raptors in the air. They love to harass the kestrels, while the harriers are contemptuously swept past.

Montagu's Harrier ...

Pallid Harrier ...

When this male Pallid Harrier, with its languid, yet buoyant, flight overflew us from close, we were quite sure of the ID from its underwing pattern. Yet, at perch it showed a contrastingly darker upper grey breast, compared to its white belly, confusingly like the Hen Harrier ??

The Tal Chhapar checklist of eagles is impressive.
My personal observations only include - Steppe, Imperial, Tawny, Short-toed Snake Eagle and Bonelli's.
But photographs have appeared recently of the White-tailed Eagle !
 This huge 'sea-eagle' or 'fishing-eagle' perches on the ground for hours next to the tiny water-bodies in the park. Remember, this is hundreds of kilometers from a large river or lake !

From what I know, all the species of vulture from India (except the Lammergeier), have been observed here. So tick marks for the Red-headed, Eurasian and Himalayan Griffon, White-backed, Long-billed, Egyptian and Cinereous Vultures.
Over the rubbish tip at Sujangarh nearby, we thought that the larger vultures were mainly Long-billed, but later analysis of some  record photos I took, suggest that this could be a Eurasian Griffon ...

The hawks are represented by the Eurasian Sparrowhawk and the Shikra.

The erstwhile rulers of the Rajputana State of Bikaner built this hunting lodge ( now mostly derelict) here overlooking the grasslands to hunt Black-buck and Chinkara in years gone by. Now it is a sanctuary and a raptor paradise....

And not only raptors, this special place also harbours other rarities.
Sociable Lapwing, Stoliczka's Bushchat, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Spotted Creeper among others.

Hope to see you again when we talk of those creatures next time ...

Bhainsrorgarh - Part 2

We are being very well fed-and-watered by our hosts Rajvir and Hemendra of Bhainsrorgarh, Rajasthan at a private location outside the forest.

 The picnic is a rare chance for the younger generation (represented today by 7 cousins) to experience a 'camp' meal. Everyone pitches in. Essential cooking ingredients have been brought from the Fort. This includes the mutton and flour for the 'battis'. The menfolk are in charge of the 'maas' which is cooked in a large handi over a open wood fire. The ladies are adept at creating 'katoris' from the tender leaves of the 'Flame of the forest' (Butea monosperma), woven into cup-like shape with pliant stems. At this time of the year the fresh leaves have a soft furry texture.

Soon the meat is simmering away and the rest of the prep is left to the staff. 

We drive a few miles into the forest to Lohariya-ka-talab. A covey of Jungle Bush-Quail cross the track  

between our vehicles. It is now late in the morning so our chances of seeing any game is slender. These forests once sported plentiful cheetal, sambhar, wild boar, sloth bear and leopard.

  

As we approach the lake through the surrounding forest, a pair of courting White-eyed Buzzards are dwarfed by a pair of Crested Serpent Eagles in flight. Another large Eagle makes cameo appearances through the densely-packed mature trees of Tendu, Arjun, Churail, Dhokra, Siris and others. This individual has not taken kindly to our intrusion. And we soon discover why. It appears to have built not one but two nests in a stately Arjun tree. We are careful to allow it some space. I manage a hurried record shot of this handsome creature.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

This is not a commonly encountered raptor in Rajasthan. One would possibly chance upon it in a mature forest - but several visits to Rajasthan's Sanctuaries has not thrown up even a single record for me over the years, so this is special.

The forest abutting the lake is green and vibrant, almost like a mirage in this harsh, sun-bleached rocky terrain. It is now almost noon and the heat is enervating. Yet the water and the leafy trees have attracted a multitude of birds. The forest rings with their calls and they are quite unaffected by our presence in their midst. 

Male Paradise Flycatchers, both adults (above - white) and juveniles (below - rufous) dodge and twist through the thick foliage. They are vying for the attentions of the few females in this part of the forest.

Trusting White-browed Fantail Flycatchers,Common Woodshrikes and Oriental White-eyes are mixed in with comparatively wary Golden Orioles.  White-bellied Drongos make graceful sallies after insects. I had recently seen web-posted pictures from a nearby forest of Chestnut-tailed Starlings so am not surprised to see a small group of them here, high up in the trees. Another unusual bird to find in Rajasthan.

 Now that the senses have tuned out the commoner birds like the Petronias, the different Mynas, Silverbills and others, I become more aware of a relatively friendly, yet unfamiliar flycatcher. 

This individual keeps peering at us shyly from close quarters, and I am able to get good views, but no bells are ringing ! So, the best is to take a few shots and see if one can ID it later ...

Spotted Flycatcher (... ID corrected later to Asian Brown Flycatcher)

This is a lifer for me.  The Spotted Flycatcher is usually sighted during Passage Migration in March and October - and most of the photographs are from Kutchh (Gujarat) ; so this is an unusual record to find one here in the peak of summer (21st May 2012).

This oasis at the parched edge of the forest has naturally drawn the kingfishers. 

Pied Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Happy has picked up the calls of Crested Tree Swift. He points out their distinctive flying profiles above, but I am only able to catch glimpses through the binoculars - a lifer for me, but dissatisfying since they don't actually perch today.

Oriental White-eye on Flame of the Forest

The lake is full of amphibians. Both times that thunder from a dust-storm rumbled in the distance, with an answering chorus of calls, scores of bullfrogs would suddenly appear on the surface.

And if you walked down to the lake's edge, the smaller frogs would jump anxiously at the last instant from almost underfoot and go skittering away into the water. 

The lake itself shrinks to a fraction of its size in the summer. The vegetation and feed in and around the water have drawn the usual suspects including River Terns, Egrets, Ibis ( White and Black), Storks ( Painted and Open-billed), and Lesser Whistling Ducks. Also a pair of Sarus Cranes - always a lovely sight.

We now have word from Camp that lunch is ready. So we move away from this enchanted forest, leaving the languorous langurs to their daydreams ...

A mongoose scurries away after a furtive drink of water. The lake and forest are left to their rightful denizens.

sahdevsingh2004@yahoo.co.in

Sambhar and the sea of pink

Our first sighting of the Lesser Flamingo from the main road.

Neither of us has a wide-angle lens, so this photo probably captures just about a fraction of the flock. Sambhar lake is literally a sea of pink.
 It is my first sighting of Lesser Flamingo in Rajasthan - though small numbers occasionally mixed in with Greater Flamingo do have an erratic distribution across our lakes and jheels in the monsoon and winter months.

We are in Sambhar, a non-descript town between Jaipur and Ajmer, better known for the record quantities of salt that is extracted from geometrical pans that have been carved out from a vast expanse of shallow brackish water. 

We estimate the Lesser Flamingo to be at least 20,000. There are also a smaller number of Greater Flamingo - probably 1,000.

The rectangular salt pans are criss-crossed by narrow railway lines.

Tiny locomotives once used to pull the wooden wagons laden with salt.

Blue-cheeked Bee Eater

A short distance from Sambhar, near the Railway Junction of Phulera, the recent rains have flooded several low-lying areas, creating shallow jheels and reedy ponds.

Greater Flamingo - juveniles

Interestingly some of the Greater Flamingo were dabbling like ducks ...

Three species of Terns were actively hunting and then resting on pebbly sand bars.

Gull- billed Terns

River Terns

Whiskered Terns were the third Tern species, distinctive by their size difference and plumage compared to the two larger terns above.

Waders were already plentiful. Mainly Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits as pictured below. Also Pied Avocets, Common Greenshanks, Redshanks, Green and Wood Sandpipers, (both) Stints, (both) Plovers. ...

Several islands and sandy banks had small numbers of Small Pranticole - standing about in the mid-day sun.

Nilgai, Common Coot and Eurasian Spoonbill

Ducks were represented by Gadwall, Shovellers and a few Spotbills.

One juvenile Eurasian Marsh Harrier was observed; as also a 'ringtail' flying uncharacteristically high - appeared to be Mantagu's Harrier, perhaps on passage.

Four Eurasian Curlew flew low overhead, but we only saw them when they called, and failed to get a photo as both had greasy sandwiches in hand then ! 

Amongst other birds - Crested Larks were plentiful.

Many thanks to Mr. Devendra Bhardwaj for this trip on 16th September 2012.