Chakki Mor in Distt. Solan of HP
(India) is a favorite birding site for the Chandigarhians and also birders from
other parts of Punjab and Haryana. Located at about 39.4 Kms from Chandigarh in the lower Shivalik Range of hills, the
drive from Chandigarh is a pleasant one and it is even more enjoyable when the
weather is lovely. On any given Sunday, one could easily spot numerous birders
equipped with huge cameras and equipment to click pictures and exchanging with
each other their new finds. The place has a wide variety of Woodpeckers, Asian Flycatchers,
Starlings, Drongoes, Leothrixes, Thrushes, Doves, Barbets, Sunbirds, Bulbuls,
Shallows, Parakeets, Prinias, Tits, Cuckoos, Fantails, Jungle fowls, the
beautiful Kalij pheasants and what not. Each time, there is a new find for
every birder.
On Sunday, the 11th June 2017,
the weather was very pleasant with overnight light showers. As Arvind Syal , Manager Systems in the Computer
Department of Panjab University accompanied by Sanjeev K Verma, Under
Secretary, Govt of Haryana, Revenue and
Disaster Management picked me up at 4 45 am, all three of us were confident
that today would be a great birding experience.
However, when we reached our favorite
spot, it started drizzling but we were happy that soon the clouds cleared. We
did spot a blue-throated barbet, few bulbils, plum-headed parakeets,
white-headed laughing thrushes, a yellow napped woodpecker far away, a starling
here and there and some tits. Nothing new. All our hopes dwindled to find something
new and unique, a bird that we had not seen early.
Disappointed we headed further up the hills to
stop at a roadside Dhaba managed by a local named Ishwar along with his wife
and lovely daughter. They cook delicious stuffed Paranthas served with some
vegetable or pickles. We had pranthas. Me and Sanjeev took tea as well. Arvind
does not drink tea but does not mind coffee which of course was not available
at Ishwar’s Dhaba. We once again
reminded ourselves that next time, we carry with us some coffee sachets the
next time. Even time we do that and somehow,
we forget it. My apologies to Arvind. We
decided to call it a day and head towards our homes.
While returning back, we stopped
at still under construction guest house. We enquired if coffee was available
and to our delight it was. The coffee was served to us in the lawns in the lush
green lawns with a small seasonal rivulet flowing down below. The caretaker had
placed few chairs and a table in the lawns and while we were sipping our coffee,
Arvind’s keen eyes spotted a Crimson Sunbird perched on a branch of the tree at
the edge of the lawns. Not to miss it, Arvind focused his P900 Nikon camera to
take a clear shot. While doing so, he signaled us that there is bird down which
looks different. It was grey colored bird with a long yellow beak stealthily
searching for a prey in the puddle of muddy water near the stream. We slowly
moved to the edge and clicked our cameras. It appeared to be a pond egret but
the grey color of the bird puzzled us. We had not seen it earlier. I thought it
was small green heron. Later on it was confirmed it was striated heron
As per Wikipedia, “The striated heron (Butorides
striata) also known as mangrove
heron, little heron or green-backed heron,
is a small heron.
Striated herons are mostly non-migratory and
noted for some interesting behavioral traits. Their breeding habitat is small
wetlands in the Old World tropics from West Africa to
Japan and Australia, and in South America. Vagrants have been recorded on
oceanic islands, such as Chuuk and Yap in the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Marianas and Palau; the bird recorded on Yap on February
25, 1991, was from a continental Asian rather than from a Melanesian population,
while the origin of the bird seen on Palau on May 3, 2005 was not clear.”
Wikipedia further states that this
bird was long considered to be conspecific with
the closely related North American species, the green heron,
which is now usually separated as B. virescens, as well as
the lava heron of
the Galápagos Islands (now B.
sundevalli, but often included in B. striata, e.g. by BirdLife International; collectively they
were called "green-backed herons".
To sum up, Chakki Mod once again
did not disappoint us. Our journey shall continue to explore more………….
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