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BIRDING IN GARO HILLS
 It was almost midday when we could see the
thickly forested range at a close reach; the hillocks we were climbing were
steep and grassy with rolling stones; our trek path sometimes skipped
adventurously into a small patch and soon skirted out - a loud 5 noted
cheeping call from one of these patches made us stop and look around; lo
behold! There were longtailed broadbills around; one, two, four making
chirruping calls - cocking their cute little tails from their perches. Two
will sit shoulder to shoulder - soon one more will join them -there would
be a commotion; more numbers came to our view and the patch seemed to be
literally teeming with broadbills and nothing else. Not less than ten birds
were present at that site. It was a moment to cherish for lifetime.
 We were on an expedition to survey the birds
of the southern slopes of the Nokrek
range as a part of the IBA
programme of the BNHS
for Aaranyak.
We reached the Garo village, Darangre, on the banks of Darang river on
5/1/02 and stayed there till 8/1/02. Most of the area we covered
crisscrossed with innumerable jungle streams and rivulets - the major ones
being Darang, Jetra and Katija. Hence the habitat was basically riverine
ecosystem, lots of jhum lands with a few cultivated areas near the
villages. On the first day we covered the portions adjoining the Darang
river; on the next we tracked along the river to the Nokrek range - but
left out in between; on the third day we took another route via Jetradre
village and nearly reached the foothills of the Nokrek; and on the final
day we roamed around a few selected patches in Darangre itself. The trip
was marred with umpteen hurdles- silly to serious problems were encountered
in every step but the birds never let us down- every patch, every stream
had its own share of excitement– bulbuls were aplenty– if Redwhiskered
Bulbul dominated the jhum lands, it was the Ashy and Blackcrested Bulbuls
which congregated around the streams and natural forests- a few
Whitethroated Bulbuls were also seen though not in plenty- other bulbuls
noted were Mountain and Black Bulbuls. Orangebellied Leafbird was
ubiquitous - but not so common was the Goldfronted Leafbird - the bushes
sometimes suddenly exploded into wild laughter of the Whitecrested laughing
Thrush -but spotting them was an ordeal as we found out. The other Laughing
Thrush we found was the Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrush. Many a time we
heard the distant hoo-hoo calls of the elusive Hoolock Gibbon, but could
not manage to get a glimpse of it.
Good numbers of Drongos were also observed-
Spangled and Bronzed being the most common- Lesser and Greater
Racket-tailed being a little rare. It was our personal opinion that if one
starts spending time on Leaf Warblers, there is something wrong with the
birdlife around - since the situation was the contrary, we skipped most of
the warblers and hence the only Leaf Warblers we are quite sure of are
Greenish and Dusky - both quite confirmable since we knew their calls as
well. But two species of beautiful Spectacled Warblers (White and
Greycheeked) were noted quite common throughout - once we learn their calls
they may be seen in every other bush. Hornbills were what we were after -
Oriental Pied Hornbills were sighted in the interiors as well as near the
villages - but we could manage only the calls of the Great Pied Hornbill -
the Garo tribal seems to suggest that the Rufousnecked might also be
present in the Nokrek range - one has to look for this species. Once we
were puzzled by a loud croaking call in the hillocks and the Garo tribal
identified it (from Grimmett) to be the Peacock Pheasant - though we
reached very near the calls and one of us coarsely(!) imitated them there
did not seem to be any ‘birdy’ movement from that spot and the calls
continued emanating from the same place - hence we think it might be some
amphibian - but who knows the Garo may be right - he has got a good amount
of jungle knowledge – he identified the Mountain Imperial Pigeon from its
calls.
 Woodpeckers were not seen in plenty –
Greater Yellownape was the most common – Bay (?) Woodpecker (which we
earlier thought to be Rufous Woodpecker) being the next in line. But what
was a real treat was the diminutive Whitebrowed Piculet – almost silently
pecking on a twig -the drumming we could easily have missed but for our
luck; the bird looked as if someone has splayed colors on an elongated
table-tennis ball. We also saw the Greycrowned Pigmy Woodpecker making a
few (?) holes (it had made already three) and entered into one of
them.
Raptors certainly were few, Kestrel and
Crested Serpent Eagle were the only ones we could manage with certainty -
but we were surprised when a solitary Black Stork flew overhead in the
evening towards the Nokrek range.
Riverine patch was certainly rich - usual
birds were Olivebacked Pipit, Blackbacked Forktail and Plumbuous Redstart;
occasionally River Chat and Blue Whistling Thrush and once we saw the
Slatybacked Forktail also. We got a single sighting of the Crested
Kingfisher as it flew across the Dareng river. Other interesting birds were
Minivets - Ashy,
Scarlet and probably Longtailed (or Shortbilled); Yuhinas - Whitebellied,
which was quite common in the most of the hunting troupes and Striated –
six birds were found sailing over the canopy from treetop to treetop; their
white-tipped tail diagnostic even in flight. The Green Magpie was observed
a few times - mostly we see the white bordered tail as it gets flushed from
low branches of the trees. Redheaded Trogons were also observed - all
singletons. A few sightings of Puffthroated Babblers were also made;
churring, purring, 'sweech'ing and 'wesweech'ing through the undergrowth.
Oriental Turtle Doves were found near the habitation - sizable
congregations were noted feeding on the cultivated lands. Common Swifts
were seen flying over most of the time- flocks of 10-15 could be observed
from open areas. Interestingly, parakeets were conspicuous by their absence
- none were observed in the previous survey in the northern range
also.
 Once we were having trouble identifying a female Thrush
with streaks in the throat - luckily the male soon dropped by and we found
them to be a pair of Tickell's Thrush. Streaked Spiderhunter was seen once
while the Little was always around -many flowerpeckers were left
unidentified except for a male Scarletbacked. Maroon Oriole was seen a few
of times - sometimes in hunting flocks. Altogether
86 species were recorded in two full days and two half days – many
warblers and other hill birds left unidentified; the whole trip was very
rewarding as we got a great chance to get familiarized with the north east
hill birds; though the area seems fantastic, relentless coal mining is
eating up the hills. The business seems quite lucrative as every other
person in the village is working in these quarries. Another serious problem
is the shifting agriculture being practiced here - the whole of the natural
forest is threatened due to this problem. We need to chalk out the possible
course of action that can be taken for the conservation of this habitat.
Notes
The original trip report has first
appeared as a posting in the e-group Birds of North-East
India. It was
rewritten after a discussion in the e-groups. Aaranyak has received a small grant from
BNHS to conduct Ornithological survey at Nokrek National
Park. The first
survey conducted in September came up with 110 species in four days.
This is the second in the series. The sighting of Ashy Minivet is an
important record for North East India. The Grimmett's book does not show
any dots or crosses in the map for this region. One female was observed
from two perches near Dareng river (5/1/02) - there was no trace of
yellow or red anywhere on its body - later it flew on to an open branch
in bright sunlight giving us a good view of its features. Dr. Hillol
Jyoti Singha informed us that he had seen Ashy Minivet during the
earlier survey of the northern slopes of Norkrek. But, Mr.
Paul Thompson
cautioned that females of Ashy Minivets are liable to be confused with
Brownbacked Minivet (a recent split from Rosy Minivet) which is more
wide spread in the neighboring Bangladesh than Ashy Minivet.
Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar
Praveen J |
