Great Indian Bustard

[Kaustuv Chatterjee]

In the gathering dusk walked one, one among 300...or 400? One whose days on this planet is perilously close to being numbered.

I cannot disclose where I shot this, for ethical reasons. This is a 50% crop, hence the loss in detail, but then an era of persecution and hunting for meat by humans, have left them extremely wary of our presence. I was lucky to come close enough to get this shot.

I hope forces conspire to allow it to prosper. Its habitat of open range / grassland, in competition with the ever increasing hordes of humans with their livestock and dogs pose a serious threat. Notification of its habitat as protected is not terribly effective as they tend to wander into grassland / farms, populated by humans. Here's wishing it life.

Shot at 420 mm, with the Nikon D90, Nikkor 300 mm f4 + 1.4TCE, ISO 800, 1/640s - F/5.6, +0.3EV

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice sighting of this rare bird. I had a sighting, but there too it was very far and it kept going away when we tried to approach it. I agree, so many species are heading towards extinction due to human greed and growing population. Was it the only bird sighting or were a few more? Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great to see this image. However what is the ethical reason for not disclosing the location?

There are many places where wildlife live outside protected areas. This species is found in grasslands. If the location is not recorded or not mentioned, tomorrow this grassland may get acquired for industries or housing projects etc and there would be no chance for us to raise our voice. In such situations, the only purpose of the image would be for spreading joy and nothing more.

Some new age birders mistakenly believe that poachers read the forums and track the species and spread this misinformation. However, poachers have way more knowledge than our birders. They depend on the knowledge of locals as well as some tribals. Birders count the species and move on. Locals can tell you the habits of the birds including when some birds migrate etc.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

Excellent capture.........

[Kaustuv Chatterjee]

Thanks Sabyasachi, Abhirup. The ethical reason here is not on account of poachers. Am well aware that they know far more than most birders (or even wildlife staff), and do not need to follow forums such as Indiawilds for poaching. Also Bustards are primarily hunted for food, more so in Pakistan than India. In India their major reason for decline is habitat destruction (range competition from humans and livestock and farming). There is another breed - that of the trophy photographer. We know of many cases where some people in order to obtain the 'shot', are insensitive to the limits of approach and the care that needs to be taken in photographing these rare endangered birds.

I know many of Indiawilds members do not fall into that category, but a few may (or more than a few). I had been taken to this particular location by the forest department staff and a close friend from WWF, and it was believed that 3 females and 1 male were resident in the area and there were eggs or young. We took the utmost care, as the wildlife dept has banned photography of the bustard in the area following some stupid and mad behavior of over excited and insensitive, ill informed photographers. That's why this photo is so heavily cropped. They had requested me not to disclose the name of the sanctuary as this 'ban' had been recently imposed (its a soft ban implemented at a local level and not a major directive of policy of the wildlife dept of the state in general yet). I had asked them how do they enforce the 'ban' as they would not be able to monitor tourists, and they told me through the guides who report. I had therefore not shared the location, as per their request and basis this context.

Regards

[Subhash Shrivastava]

Great to see a GIB, we can see them in flock only in dreams now. If this is out side of Kutch or DNP, it's a even greater news. As per my knowledge this year there have been only three GIBs south of Satpura, all in Maharashtra. AP drew blank as well as K'ntataka.

Kaustuv, i agree with you. I have also decided to do the same, if I am ever so lucky as to see a GIB on my own, I have been trying frantically the grasslands of Telangana and border district of K'antaka, and planning to extend it to Ballery. Hat's off to such dedicated FD staff.
Thanks for sharing the image and the news.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

No image is greater than the species. I know of some incidences in Rajasthan where photographers created nuisance and a ban on photography was imposed. Sadly photographers are doing more harm than good and that needs to be strictly dealt with. Photographers need to realise that these birds can be very vulnerable. I am sharing a link to an incident while photographing which had shaped my views on ethics in nature photography. http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/ethi...e-photography/

Subhash,
Do carry a GPS if possible. I hope you would find Great Indian Bustards. If we don't note the coordinates and document them, those areas may soon be gobbled up the illegal mining lobby. One of them (an influential person) has recently been out of jail.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Subhash Shrivastava]

Sabya sir, I am not trying to be melodramatic, but are you really hopeful that in 10 years time our country will not be devoid of most of the real Jungles. Sir, I am not. Each time I go out, I return depressed.

Recently, two happenings in my vicinity has shaken me, the Black Bucks of Bidar will be a history in less than 5 years (a FD watchman told this to me last year, but I was still laughing). All the grasslands where they are roaming will disappear in a years time under the juggernaut of development. Black buck is an endangered species but FD cannot buy a 1/2 km x 2 km of grasslands on its forest border for them to roam and procreate! The second one is the sanction of Hyd – Nandyal highway; there must be a old post in this forum regarding it. The speed with which it is getting done is overwhelming and looks like they have got the clearance to obliterate NSRT, believe me sir, this highway takes the longest path through NSRT exactly at its middle. The NSRT will be done away with. The tiger census in NSTR is another sham going for 10 years now; you may have access to the data and may judge it better. I can share my views and data, if needed.

Coming back to GIBs, sir. I have made 3 visits to Nannaj and the birds are going down at the rate of 50% year or year. Nobody is alarmed, except for alone warrior, Bhagawat. The whole GIB sanctuary is less than most of the grasslands that I visit in Vikarabad or Bidar, its about 4 football fields. The rate at which GIBs are disappearing year on year cannot only be attributed to their loss of habitat, there is a clear case of hunting them. I said this to one august learned person whom I met in Nannaj , I think he is a reputed researcher. He could just nod his head in agreement, helplessness written large in his face. Sir, one GIB was radio tagged last year, there was a lot of media hallgulla when it was done. What happened to that GIB, nobody can answer now. Why the place where the signal was lost has not been investigated. The reason I heard is that the radio tag would have just slipped off, ok then where is the radio tag. It’s almost certain that the GIB must have been hunted down.

That Reddy who is out might soon become one of our new Bhagya Vidhata :-( .

[Kaustuv Chatterjee]

Thanks for sharing that thought provoking incident in Corbett Sabyasachi. It is commendable indeed that you took the effort of digging out and presenting UK's approach to this, a guideline is sorely required on this. 2 years back in Katerniaghat, we came upon a grey headed fishing eagle who had just caught a katla fish. It was on the ground with the fish in its talons, preparing to eat. Seeing us, it froze (so did we), and flew away to a near branch, leaving the fish on the ground, in the middle of the forest track. We waited and inched closer to get a shot the eagle, which we did. And then we waited silently to see if it would come down to feed, so we could get some feeding shots from a close distance. In our eagerness to get the shot, we did not realise that wild creatures such as it, take long time to become comfortable in alien and potentially perceived hostile situations. They have far more patience than us, with the result that after half an hour, our muscles were cramped, from the motionless sitting down crouch, and we were getting restless, while it was still regarding us with a baleful eye, unmoving from its perch.

At that moment, we saw 2 cars coming down the forest track, and as they came closer, could make out with that typical glut of boorish UP tourists, talking away loudly. With dismay we realised that their tyre path was straight over the fish on the track. We prayed that they would see it and swerve, we gesticulated, but the moron driver grinned at us and drove right over the fish, squashing it.

I felt incredibly bad that we had potentially deprived the eagle of its meal. We waited for a while more to see if it comes down to make a meal of the squished fish. Eventually we gave and moved away with mixed feelings. I for one was not comfortable with our behavior, though my friends explained it away stating nothing goes waste and even if the eagle meal was foregone, it would become some other creature's breakfast. I couldn't shake away the feeling of guilt that I had caused an unnecessary disturbance and this was not right. The shot was not worth the eagle going hungry.

I empathise with Subash's angst. Katerniaghat had large tracts of empty forest, were one could not even spy birds, though it was thick luxuriant jungle all round, perfect habitat. Our friends from WWF told us its because of rampant poaching in connivance with the FD. Though tigers may have increased in certain parts of India, there are others, where what Subash indicated is going on at an accelerating pace. Dudhwa is one such example which is now thought to be a dying forest as all corridor connectivity is now cut off and its an 'island' forest, a death knell.

Regards