“Lagta hai voh aa gayi, camere chal rahe hain,” exclaimed our guide as our gypsy approached a waterbody where a tigress had been frequently observed with her three cubs. The next moment, he muttered in disappointment, “Nahi, abhi to chidiya wala kaam chal raha hai.”
Photo: Anish Andheria
Wildlife photographers had been thronging the waterhole like paparazzi outside Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios, their telephoto lenses steadied on bean bags, their cameras set to a seven-frames-per-second ‘burst’ mode, shutters ready to blink faster that the human eye. Everybody wanted a ‘mother with cubs’ photo. After all, this was Bandhavgarh, one of the best places in the world to watch tigresses raise their families.
While most photographers, their eyes glued to the viewfinders, awaited a hint of catwalk at the other end of the water, a few delighted in avian splendour; and for them, every moment brought excitement in a colour more vibrant than the previous one. Black-hooded Orioles and Indian Rollers flashed luminous yellows and brilliant blues as they took off from, and alighted on, the trees on the banks of the large waterhole. A pair of red junglefowl patrolled the banks, foraging for a mid-morning snack of grubs. The yellow-orange neck plumes of the rooster shimmered in the dappled light as it raised its head and crowed an incomplete ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’, which was returned with added vehemence by another dandy rooster on the opposite bank. Peacocks swaggered along, carrying their trains with such flair it would put the Cannes red carpet brigade to shame. When one of them approached the water and lowered its neck for a sip, the iridescent blues of its neck and breast feathers reflected in the water. As its beak touched the surface of the water, it appeared to be gazing at its own reflection. The last verses of Kahlil Gibran’s ‘On Beauty’ echoed in my head: Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Photos: Anish Andheria
Amid this avian kaleidoscope of colour, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of a bird dressed in ethereal white. A pair of white ribbons dancing in the air – that’s how my mind read the image as the bird hovered briefly, its long tail feathers fluttering like party streamers, before it dashed into the bamboo clump. This was the Indian Paradise Flycatcher, a bird I had seen on almost every visit to Matheran (my favourite weekend haunt for butterfly watching), but at this time and place, it was at its showy best.
Photo: Anish Andheria
Mesmerized by the bird’s angelic grace, I almost missed a natural history moment of a lifetime. The guide shook my arm and broke the spell, only to direct my eyes to more amazement. While a chital stag idly sipped at the water’s edge, a tiger cub had appeared over the mound behind it. Crouching, fore legs stretched flat, hind legs half-bent, it stalked the deer in single, calculated, silent paw-strides. When the cub was barely a leap-and-a-half away from its object of interest, the deer almost smelled it. Turning around, it raised its head to check, but couldn’t see the little stalker. Following its survival instincts, the deer slunk off into the undergrowth; and the cub’s gaze followed it with the intent of a seasoned predator.
Photo: Anish Andheria
Life, in all its wondrous forms, depends on water. In waiting for a glimpse of one life form, around a waterbody in a biodiverse forest, I was able to witness evolution’s most awe-inspiring carnival of colour and form – the things with wings.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Rizwan Mithawala is a Conservation Writer & Editor with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Disclaimer: The author is associated with Wildlife Conservation Trust. The views and opinions expressed in the article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Related Links
- Media
- GUARD DIARIES: Battling Forest Fires
- 22 amazing tiger facts – LetsTalkTigers
- In Praise of Wildflowers: Ephemeral Form, Timeless Beauty
- Livelihood
- World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
- Is Maharashtra creating man-eaters?