You could call them the eight passage deities of Kutch. Their blessings can be
sought only for a short period between the middle of August and them middle of
October, when they take a pit stop in the extreme west of India on their annual
migratory passage through Kutch, the westernmost district of Gujarat. You need
to get to Bhuj by train or air and then head on west and northwest towards the
Greater Rann and the Banni grasslands in these months to seek their darshan.
Mandar Khadilkar of Nature India, and our Kutch specialist birding guides,
Vikramsinh Sodha and Karthik Patel, were (figuratively) the "priests" who were
to do the rituals.
The long bright red tail of the Red-tailed Shrike shone like
a red beacon, distinctly different from the Red-backed Shrike: of course you
would have to differentiate them from their resident Bay-backed and Long-tailed
cousins. The Greater Whitethroat has to be carefully sorted out from the Lesser
one. European rollers, with their pale head and maroon back, were everywhere,
completely supplanting the Indian one at this time of the year. The Blue-cheeked
Bee-eater is easily distinguished from the smaller Green ones. The charismatic
Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin puffed its wings, cocked its tail and allowed us to
approach incredibly close: cellphone cameras were almost as useful as bazooka
lenses! It helped that the only flycatcher in this habitat at this time of the
year was the Spotted Flycatcher.
And of course the local residents and early
winter migrants were eye-pleasing fillers between the main deities. Can there be
a prettier sight than a Painted Sandgrouse couple cavorting oblivious to the
large cars nearby? Yes, if you’re looking at four endangered White-naped Tits in
the same frame or a pair of White-bellied Minivets with the male’s orange breast
glistening in the sunlight. Striolated and Gray-necked buntings, not easy to
find elsewhere, kept us constantly engaged. The white streaked tail of the
White-tailed iora (formerly Marshall's Iora) was a typical distinguishing
feature from it’s Common cousin. Warblers are generally a nightmare to
distinguish from each other: not so the lovely Orphean Warbler with its black
head contrasting with its pale throat. Twelve personal lifers for me on the
trip!
We checked out the nightlife with fond hopes of paying obeisance to the
last remaining passage deity on our list: the Eurasian Nightjar. We got a lovely
Sykes's nightjar, a winter migrant to Northwest India that had arrived unusually
early, and the common Savannah nightjar instead. Just as we disappointed upped
our torches and cameras and started the long drive home, a movement on the
telephone wire adjacent to the road revealed the distinctive Eurasian nightjar
with its white wing markings! A second sighting of the same bird down the road
was most relaxed as the bird allowed us detailed photographs. A sighting of the
Indian Nightjar as we entered our property rounded off the nightjar clan:
Vikramsinh said it was the first time in eleven years of birding in this habitat
that he had seen four nightjar species in one night!
So if you’re bored in the
summer or monsoon months and bemoaning the absence of the usual winter migrants
to our shores, you know where to head!
 |
| White-tailed (Marshall's) Iora |
 |
| Common Whitethroat |
 |
| Eurasian Wryneck |
 |
| European Nightjar |
 |
| European Roller |
 |
| Indian Nightjar |
 |
| Indian Silverbill |
 |
| Painted Sandgrouse female |
 |
| Painted Sandgrouse male |
 |
| Red-backed Shrike |
 |
| Red-tailed Shrike |
 |
| Rufous-fronted Prinia |
 |
| Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin |
 |
| Spotted Flycatcher |
 |
| Sykes's Nightjar |
 |
| White-bellied Minivet female and male |
 |
| White-naped Tit |
 |
| Four in a frame! |
 |
| Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse male |
 |
| Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse female |
 |
| Common Cuckoo |
