Sarus Crane - bird of elegance

Sarus Crane

Sarus Crane is tallest flying bird of World. It is non-migrating and also the only resident breeding crane of India. We are always fascinated about the Sarus. We often saw these birds in Thol Lake during our college days. But after started bird photography we first saw Sarus Crane near Devisar Lake, Bhuj. Even after trying many times we did not get success to click some good shots. On one afternoon at Thol Lake we were lucky enough to observe landing of almost 48 Sarus Crane in group of 2-4. Still we did not get good shots because they were landing far in the lake. While searching for White Stork at Pariyej finally we got jackpot….! There were so many Sarus Cranes in cut-down and water-filled paddy field. First word come out of our mouth is just big wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww….! We are in land of Sarus Cranes. We were even more delighted when our Sarus Crane count crosses the figure of 100. We know that large number of Sarus Cranes seen in Kheda district particular in Matar (મ।તર). But this is just highest count for us. There were also few Painted Storks and Common Cranes around this group. Once they replied to the call of flying Common Crane group from sky. They were busy in calling, foraging, playing and practicing display for next season. We spend almost 3 hours with them in harsh sunlight-there was lots of actions and so much to observe. They allow us to take as many as photographs we want to take. Most interesting thing was spectacular display performed by few pairs of Sarus Crane. Their dancing displays involves various behaviours such as jumping, bowing, running in short circles around the other, tossing some weed and wing-flapping. Displays show the birds in standing posture, with head thrown back and bill upwards, raises the wings over its back during the unison call, while positioned close to each-other. In any move they looked so elegant. There are no more words to express the amazing feeling we have.

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One of the features of a civilized man is that he has hobbies, serious hobbies. From time immemorial man has invented and developed various hobbies ranging from stamp collection to feather collection. Though man has been a social animal for a long time, the primeval instinct in his has not died. We yearn and long to be close to nature. There are a few hobbies that give us an opportunity to do so. One such hobby is bird-watching. It might seem simple to read the word and guess that it is very easy to watch the birds. But it is not what it seems. It needs a lot of dedication, determination and consistency to master ‘the art of bird-watching.’ It takes years of patience and perseverance to be a good birdwatcher. What you choose as your hobby is not as important as to what hobby chooses you. You have to be the chosen one. Dr. Pankaj Maheria, a Professor at GMERS Medical College, Valsad (South Gujarat) is one such Chosen One. Birds have chosen him as a medium between their worl

Pied Cuckoo

It is also known as Jacobin cuckoo or Pied crested cuckoo ( Clamator jacobinus ). It is a member of the cuckoo family. Pied cuckoo is a medium-sized, slim black and white cuckoo as its name indicate. The distinctive crest, white wing patch on the black wing and the pattern make it unmistakable even in flight. But what gave out its presence without even seeing it, is its ringing series of whistling call. They are very vocal during the breeding season. We generally observed these birds in pairs or in group of 3 to 4. They call from prominent perches and chase each other with low-level flight in slow wing-beats, mostly hunting near the ground level. We witnessed babblers, myna, and crows sometime trying to drive them away as the species is a brood parasite. Here in Gujarat Pied cuckoo locally known as the Chataka (Gujarati: ચાતક ). It has been said to be migrates between Africa and India. Pied cuckoo arrives in Gujarat in late summer, mostly in end of the May. Arrival of Pied cu

Escape into the wild

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