Savour this – the rare Lanceolated Warblers were seen after years in one of the reed beds in Baruipur (Patch 16). The same patch is home to the indomitable King Quails, which were first sighted in another patch in Baruipur, three summers ago for the first time, which was again a record in itself, the last record being in the 1960s. The amazement doesn’t end here. Move deeper and you might stumble into a pair of shy Chestnut-eared Buntings in a vacationing mode (patch 16). And if you tread cautiously you might even get the chance for an impromptu tete-a-tete with the ghost of the marshes – the male Pied Harrier. If you are enamoured by raptors, then look up—you might even find a pair of mighty Indian Spotted Eagles floating with the clouds just above you. Jostling for air-space might be a solitary pigeon-faced Oriental Honey Buzzard, a couple of Crested Serpent Eagles with their beautifully printed underwings, and even the indomitable Changeable Hawk Eagles. During winter, a few more marsh harriers might add to your company. Last winter, for instance, a couple of Peregrine Falcons had enthralled the birdwatchers with their presence, and stories of their speed were a trending topic for a good fortnight or so. Last but not least, you also have a resident Common Kestrel, a trio of Black-winged Kites, and a few Black Kites and Black-eared Kites to add to your spirits. Undoubtedly, a bonanza for raptor lovers. In fact, the uncluttered horizon might be just apt for stargazers at night and raptor lovers during the day.
Well, the marshes below are chock a block with surprises as well. The stunning Greater Painted Snipes are a regular every winter, when the vegetation thins giving them away despite their camouflage. But if one wants to find out the largest population of a particular species of birds in this part of the town, then the common snipes will vie for the numero uno slot. Only the Baya Weavers, Green Bee-eaters and Pied Starlings can give them a stiff competition. In fact, on days, one can really witness a grand spectacle of murmuration, just before sunset, when hundreds of Pied Starlings along with few other species of birds take to the air before settling down on shrubs and tall grasses on the reed bed. It is also the best time of the day to spot hundreds of pipits of varying hues, shapes and sizes with Olive-backed Pipits and Paddyfield Pipits tilting the scale in their favour. The grasses during the day are also frequented by the songsters – Bengal Bushlarks, Oriental Skylarks and the tiny munias such as the Red Munia (seen mostly in winter), and the regularly seen Tri-coloured, Scaly-breasted, White-rumped and Chestnut Munias.
Surprises spring up like Jungle Cats in Baruipur in regular intervals. And I am not referring to the lone vagrant mute swan that had graced one of the waterbodies in recent past generating footfall, grabbing column centimeters of printed news-space and stoking a debate about its wild origin or escapee status. The reclusive Baillon’s Crakes are a handful, to the extent that in undisturbed waterbodies, along the shorelines, amidst the reeds, you can see them foraging like poultry in a village courtyard. And if they are not enough, then you have multiple Ruddy-breasted Crakes to give you company; followed by the cautious Slaty-breasted Rails tip-toeing through the muck, and a couple of Brown-cheeked Rails thrown in as good company. Last year a Spotted Crake had made this place its winter home as well. Shorebirds do not end there. You have the Water Cock, Egrets and Herons of varying sizes and features, Wood Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers, and Common Sandpipers, Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Bronze-winged Jacanas, Common Coot, Common Moorhen, Grey-headed Swamphens and the list goes on. If you are lucky, you can catch a Purple Heron devouring a slithering water snake. You can have the ringside view of the entire feeding as it unfolds before you. There are quite a few waterbodies and in them you can find a few Gadwalls, Cotton Pygmy Geese, an occasional pair of Comb Ducks, Northern Pintails, Common Pochards, Cormorants, Darters and a sizeable population of Lesser-whistling Ducks. In the knee-deep waters you can also spot a few Black-winged Stilts, foraging. Very close to it on the banks you can also find a lone Woolly-necked Stork, or if you choose to look up you can even spot a flock of Black-headed Ibis crossing the sky. It doesn’t seem to be an exaggeration when happy birders add the epithet mini-Mangalajodi of Bengal to Baruipur. The numbers are always gargantuan in Odisha, but surprises have rich hues, beautiful wings and they do tag along interesting records in Baruipur. The devout warbler lovers consider this place a haven. Dusky, Paddyfield, Blyth’s Reed, Sykes’s, Booted, Black-browed Reed, Common Grasshopper, Pallas’s Grasshopper, Spotted Bush, Baikal Bush and the extremely rare Lanceolated Warblers have all been spotted here in neighbouring patches. And all these in the southern fringes of the city, barely kilometers away from the din and bustle of south Kolkata. It’s an avian world, just like the mythical Atlantis that was house to the fishes. However, there’s also the fear that looms large over this vast area. Like Atlantis what if this avian world ceases to exist in near future! What if the marshes are trampled under the wheels of urbanization! A murky thought indeed. Till then you have these feathered friends in different green zones waiting for you to behold and admire, learn and document, love and cherish.
Happy Birding in Baruipur
Dusky Warbler
Paddyfield Warbler
Baillon’s Crake
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Green Bee-eater
Plaintive Cuckoo Hepatic
Morph
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cistocola
Cinnamon Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Black Bittern
Spotted Owlet
Greater Painted Snipe
Common Snipe
Scaly-breasted Munia
Oriental Skylark
Bengal Bushlark
Paddyfield Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Indo-Chinese Roller
Pied Starling
Black Drongo
Black-winged Kite
Tri-coloured Munia
White-rumped Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Asian Openbill Stork
Common Snipe
Spotted/Baikal Bush
Warbler
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Black-browed Reed Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Paddyfield Warbler
Baillon’s Crake
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Slaty-breasted Rail
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Lesser Whistling Duck
Grey-headed Swamphen
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Water Cock
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Purple Heron
Green Bee-eater
Plaintive Cuckoo
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Cinnamon Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Black Bittern
Greater Painted Snipe
Common Snipe
Scaly-breasted Munia
Paddyfield Pipit
Richard’s Pipit
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Bronze-winged Jacana
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Pied St…
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Paddyfield Warbler
Baillon’s Crake
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Grey-headed Swamphen
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Spotted Dove
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Purple Heron
Green Bee-eater
Plaintive Cuckoo
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Yellow Bittern
Greater Painted Snipe
Common Snipe
Paddyfield Pipit
Richard’s Pipit
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Bronze-winged Jacana
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Pied Starling
Common Myna
Jungle Myna
Black Drongo
Black-winged Kite
Tricoloured Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Asian Openbill Stork
Golden Jackal
Jungle Cat
Black Drongo
Indian Roller
Green Bee- eater
Plaintive Cuckoo
Common Kestrel
Black Kite
Black-winged Kite
Eurasian Hoopoe
Zitting Cisticola
Plain Prinia
White-rumped Munia
Small Minivet (on the
fringes, in the Guava
orchard)
Indian Cormorant
Indo-Chinese Roller
Cattle Egret
Pond Heron
Green Bee-eater
Ashy Woodswallow
Grey-headed Lapwing
Eurasian Hoopoe
Yellow Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
White Wagtail
Brahminy Kite
Black-winged Kite
Black Kite
Common Kestrel
Spotted Dove
Common Snipe
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Paddyfield Pipit
Bengal Bushlark
Oriental Skylark
Scaly-breasted Munia
Common Coucal
Spotted Owlet (in the pipe)
Grey-headed Swamphen
White-breasted Waterhen
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Green Bee-eater
Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Eurasian Wryeneck
Plain Prinia
Zitting Cisticola
Baillon’s Crake
Spotted Crake
Brown-cheeked Rail
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Slaty-breasted Rail
Purple Heron
Grey Heron
Black Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Grey-headed Swamphen
White-breasted Waterhen
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Bronze-winged Jacana
Common Snipe
Greater-painted Snipe
Asian Openbill Stork
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Pond Heron
Watercock
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Green Bee-eater
Bluethroat
Paddyfield Warbler
Black-browed Reed Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Bata Weaver
Streaked Weaver
Little Cormorant
Indian Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Plaintive Cuckoo
Black Redstart
Chestnut-tailed Starling
Jungle Myna
Bengal Bushlark
Oriental Skylark
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
This is where the Mute
Swan had landed
Baillon’s Crake
Brown-cheeked Rail
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Slaty-breasted Rail
Purple Heron
Grey Heron
Black Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Grey-headed Swamphen
White-breasted Waterhen
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Bronze-winged Jacana
Common Snipe
Greater-painted Snipe
Asian Openbill Stork
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Pond Heron
Watercock
Red-wattled Lapwing
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Tri-coloured Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Chestnut Munia
Green Bee-eater
Bluethroat
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Spotted/Baikal Bush
Warbler
Paddyfield Warbler
Black-browed Reed Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Baya Weaver
Streaked …
Baillon’s Crake
Ruddy-breasted Crake
Purple Heron
Grey Heron
Black Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Grey-headed Swamphen
White-breasted Waterhen
Bronze-winged Jacana
Common Snipe
Greater-painted Snipe
Asian Openbill Stork
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Intermediate Egret
Pond Heron
Watercock
Red-wattled Lapwing
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Tri-coloured Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Chestnut Munia
Green Bee-eater
Bluethroat
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Rubythroat
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Baya Weaver
Streaked Weaver
Plaintive Cuckoo
Pied Harrier
Eastern/Western Marsh
Harrier
Pied Starling
Chestnut-tailed Starling
Jungle Myna
White Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail
Common Moorhen
Zitting Cisticola
Plain Prinia
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Common Grasshopper
Warbler
Pied Bushchat
Indian Spotted Eagle
Booted Eagle
Eastern/ Western Marsh
Harrier
Pied Harrier
Black-winged Kite
Black Kite
Black-eared Kite
Peregrine Falcon (in flight)
Lesser-whistling Ducks
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Common Snipe
Greater Painted Snipe
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Watercock
Northern Pintail
Knob-billed Duck
Gadwall
Grey-headed Swamphen
Indian Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Common Chiffchaff
Booted Warbler
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Common Grasshopper
Warbler
Lesser-whistling Ducks
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Common Snipe
Greater Painted Snipe
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Watercock
Grey-headed Swamphen
Indian Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Black Drongo
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Common Moorhen
Bronze-winged Jacana
Swallows
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Clamorous-reed Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Gadwall
Knob-billed Duck
Common Pochard
Lesser-whistling Ducks
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Common Snipe
Greater Painted Snipe
Red-wattled Lapwing
Watercock
Grey-headed Swamphen
Indian Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Oriental Darter
Black Drongo
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Bronze-winged Jacana
Swallows
Blue Rock Thrush
Black Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Purple Heron
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveller
Black-winged Stilt
King Quail
Oriental Pratincole
Siberian Stonechat
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Jungle Cat
Pied Harrier
Eastern/ Western Marsh
Harrier
Paddyfield Pipit
Bengal Bushlark
Oriental Skylark
Common Sandpiper
Indian Cormorant
Common Snipe
Scaly-breasted Munia
Tri-colour Munia
Chestnut Munia
Pied Starling
Black Drongo
Baya Weaver
Grey-headed Swamphen
White-breasted Waterhen
Zitting Cisticola
Plain Prinia
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Bronze-winged Jacana
Asian Openbill Stork
Indian Spotted Eagle
Booted Eagle
Eastern/ Western Marsh
Harrier
Pied Harrier
Black-winged Kite
Black Kite
Black-eared Kite
Peregrine Falcon (in flight)
Lanceolated Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
King Quail
Oriental Pratincole
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Common Grasshopper
Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Spotted/ Baikal Bush
Warbler
Purple Heron
Cattle Egret
Black Drongo
Chestnut-eared Bunting
Green Bee-eater
Bengal Bushlark
Oriental Skylark
Richard’s Pipit
Paddyfield Pipit
Blyth’s Pipit
Zitting Cisticola
Plain Prinia
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
King Quail
Oriental Pratincole
Siberian Stonechat
Red-wattled Lapwing
Grey-headed Lapwing
Jungle Cat
Pied Harrier
Eastern/ Western Marsh
Harrier
Bluethroat
Paddyfield Pipit
Bengal Bushlark
Oriental Skylark
Common Sandpiper
Pied Starling
Baikal/Spotted Bush
Warbler
Pallas’s Grasshopper
Warbler
Clamorous-reed Warbler
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Greater Painted Snipe
Red-wattled Lapwing
Watercock
Grey-headed Swamphen
Indian Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Oriental Darter
Black Drongo
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Common Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Bronze-winged Jacana
Black Bittern
Yellow Bittern
Cinnamon Bittern
Purple Heron
Intermediate Egret
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Sykes’s Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Lanceolated Warbler
Spotted/Baikal Bush
Warbler
King Quail
Jungle Cat
Grey-headed Lapwing
Red-wattled Lapwing
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Brown Boobook (call is
heard multiple times)
Spotted Owlet
Black-winged Kite
Black-hooded Oriole
Eurasian Wryneck
Indian Spotted Eagle
Booted Eagle
Crested Serpent Eagle
Asian Openbill Stork
Oriental Honey-buzzard
Oriental Pratincole