Sunday, December 25, 2016

A morning at the Vasai area of North Mumbai


Christmas  was celebrated with the Mumbai Birdwatchers Club (MBC) on an outing to the Vasai area of northern Mumbai. 
 
The site seems to be a part of a mega development project called Madhuvan township, but on the map appears to be the westernmost fringe of what is labelled as Tungareshwar WLS. 
To its south and west are open areas marked as salt pans (under litigation and hence sans ‘development’ we presume). The entry from the Vasai-Sativali highway is through the township (with permission obtained by our hosts)




The terrain is basically scrubland and reed beds adjoining some water bodies which hosted a number of birds thanks to copious rains previously in this season.
The route to the water body was a very wide and seemingly un-necessary concrete road. 
 



There were good sightings of the ubiquitous Siberian stone chats, tree pipits and ashycrowned sparrowlarks, long tailed shrike and a solitary amur falcon and shikra.

Siberian stonechat



Shikra


Long tailed shrike

Monstrous concrete mixers and bulldozers ominously stood among giant boards announcing upcoming apartment blocks, reminding us of the probable shortlivedness of this scrubland.  But today they stood silent as the garrulous flock of excited Mumbai birders looked over at the water bodies.


Bulldozers waiting to take over ?


Large flocks of glossy ibis could be seen interspersed with numerous asian open billed storks. Waders like marsh sandpipers, black winged stilts and black tailed godwits were in fair numbers and only mildly disturbed by the marsh harrier which would swoop down intermittently. A solitary common snipe and black headed ibis added variety to the birding feast.

Asian open billed stork

Cormorant in drying pose

Black tailed godwit on the right





There had been an announcement last week, of a Red breasted Merganser, which had been recorded and photographed for the first time in India. It is a common European duck, which had somehow lost its way into the subcontinent or had perhaps come looking for salvation to this Holy land. Nevertheless it was a lifer for nearly everyone present. Even Mr Sunjoy Monga, the famous naturalist, had dropped in to take a look.

Red breasted merganser


The duck was spotted, without much difficulty, and was quite busy feeding in the shallow marshy waters. Though not too spectacular in appearance, the sighting marked the end of a perfect morning of birding: our first outing in the city of Mumbai.

 

The Vasai Wetland





Travel tips:
1.  Vasai road station is on the western local train route. If one gets out from the east side and walks about 200 meters north, a large auto and bus station becomes visible. (Otherwise one is at the mercy of the one odd auto which stands at the mouth of the foot bridge)
2. Entry to the wetland area is from the Madhuvan heights crossing (Evershine bus stand – about 2.5 km from the station). Being a private property, entry permission is required.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Blooming dales of the Western Ghats: The Kaas plateau



Carpet of Eriocaulon sedgwickii and Utricularia purpurascens

Anyone who ever gazed up at the sky would agree that he universe is infinite.
At another level, however, it also exists on the infinitesimal scale. 
 
To appreciate this, we need to put our head down and try to reach that level. And the prettiest place to do that is the famous plateau of Kaas, part of the Western Ghats which have been declared as a UNESCO world natural heritage area.

 



 
Travelling on the Mumbai Pune expressway, one is amazed at how much greenery can sprout after the rains. The view may actually remind some Englishmen of the rolling meadows of their countryside.  It is as though nature decides to gives herself a fresh green coat of paint in celebration of the celestial festival of creation and germination. 



The Satara valley, at 2400 feet, is surrounded by tabletop mountains which look as though regular peaked mountains have been sliced by a gigantic geological knife.   Several of the mountaintops were converted into Forts in the 16th century. The one overlooking Satara town is the Ajinkyatara fort, once the pride of the Maratha kings, now host to a TV tower. 

Ajinkyatara Fort


One needs to head west of Satara town, past the fort onto a good but narrow tar road to reach the Kaas plateau. 
This rigde commands breathtaking views of lakes on both sides overlooked by tabletop mountains. Both sides of this road are covered with an unbelievable variety of grasses and colourful flowers. Unfortunately, the entire stretch has now been plotted and will, in the coming years, be covered with resorts. 
 

After about an hour’s drive from town, one reaches the designated plateau area, thankfully the property of the forest department. Though fencing has been done to prevent “tourists” from trodding all over the flowers, there is enough opportunity to explore the mindboggling miniflora taking root on the laterite rock. 
At 3600 feet, it can actually get nippy in the mornings.


We were lucky to have excellent weather with glorious mornings on both days with clouds playing hide and seek intermittently.

Carpets of Impatiens balsamina


While grass grows everywhere, there is a scientific reason as to why this particular plateau is so uniquely blessed. The entire plateau is made up of hard volcanic rock called laterite, which is highly porous and in fact looks like a sponge. These pores tend to retain moisture and even the slightest submillimetre layer of soil allows life to thrive. Large trees or even bushes are unable to get a toehold. 
The result is a seemingly unending carpet of flowering grasses which have unhindered access to sunshine and we humans have an unhindered view of the flowers!!

The Naughty Teachers

 
 
 
 
At some strange level it reminded me of the coral ecosystem. Shallow seas, plenty of sunshine bathing the reef polyps which support the most astonishingly colourful array of tiny fish, existing in a world of their own.
 
One is constantly reminded of the movie, Honey I shrunk the kids. One square inch of grass seems to contain an unbelievable variety of miniature flowers, some less than half a millimetre sized, each with their own microcosm and appropriately sized insect pollinators. 




To say that this place is a botanist’s paradise would be an understatement. Even for those of us who have a somewhat scientific temper and more than a passing interest in all things beautiful, Kaas is simply mindblowing. 
 
Asystasia dalzelliana - neelkanth
Aponogeton satarensis - Ytura


Out of the listed 1000 odd species, its’ quite possible to log more than a hundred in one trip. To assimilate all the beauty and information is the actual problem. Macrophotography is one way.
 
Add caption

Every species seems to have its unique story, either with a scientific basis of evolution and adaptation, or simply seeped in legend.  Either one, related so elegantly in the field by our guides, Adesh, Mandar and Sweedle, is what really brings science to life. How I wish botany was taught to me this way….


Begonia crenata male and female

Ceropegia jainii

Ceropegia vincifolia hirsuta

Commelina maculata - Spotted Dayflower

Seeing that most of the plants here have medicinal value makes one marvel at the genius of our forefathers who created Ayurveda. The story of Charaka being unable to find a single plant bereft of medicinal value, on being given this task by his master, was truly mesmerizing.
 

Exacum pumilum Jambhali chirayat

Impatiens dalzellii Yellow terda

Neanotis lancifolia Taraguchha

Pinda concanensis - Konkan Pinda

Senecio bombayensis - Sonki

Strobilanthes callosa Hill karvi


Utricularia purpurascens Sitas tears

Being amidst so many colourful flowers, one couldn’t but help notice that there was no pervasive fragrance at all. Stands to logic. If you have bright colours to attract pollinating insects, why waste energy on generating fragrance. And the only white flowers around, the Hebernaria, are pollinated by moths, which are anyway colourblind!! 


Habenaria rariflora

 
However one white flower, Nothapodytes nimmoniana , has uniquely chosen to smell like sewage. We learnt that the reason was that the pollinating insect is the same fly which enjoys spending time on lumps of cowdung!!
 
Fragrance


Smithia hirsuta - Kawla

Smithia

There was considerable debate whether the most eye catching Smithia flowers resembled Donald duck or Mickey mouse!!  Another ingenious way to make people more connected with Nature – giving them interesting nicknames which are fun to recall. The “Laloo’s ears” for Cyanotis tuberosa was simply priceless.
 
Cyanotis tuberosa - Sahyadri Dew-Grass




























 
The placid Kaas lake borders the Sahyadri tiger reserve and village on its far side and is an important source of water supply to Satara town below - the supply being entirely gravity driven.



The Chalkewadi plateau plays host numerous windmills towering over the countryside. The pristine beauty of the flower carpets and strangely flat topped hills is punctuated by what seems like urban ugliness. 



But when one considers what they represent; the promise of perpetual clean energy, one begins to accept these giant windmills standing surreally in the midst of a carpet of flowers. For isn’t it true that the windmills are standing tall and trying to extract as much energy from the wind, ultimately powered by the sunshine, much the same way that plants are extracting as much energy from the sunshine as possible. 
 
No wonder then that the karvy topli bushes are shaped the way that they are. The central shoots (each is an individual plant we were told) are the tallest, becoming shorter in the periphery, resembling WWII helmets sitting upside down on the hillsides. 

Toopli Karvi

This unique species, Strobilanthes sessilis or Karvi Topli belongs to a group of flowering plants which flower every 7to 8 years. And this year was the bloom year. Much like the Neelkurinji of Kerala which give the Nilgiri hills their name.


Thoseghar waterfall

The short stopover on the way back at the Thoseghar waterfalls was worthwhile for its tourist value. We did manage to get a good view of the green vine snake as also a very ornate ant nest.
 


Green vine snake


On the way back to Mumbai we got an ample glimpse of the famous weekend jam especially after the point where the Mahabaleshwar /Panchgani traffic also pours onto the NH4. 

Even so, we were glad that the weather held and we were able to thoroughly enjoy the unique and splendid floral spectacle that Mother Nature had rolled out before our eyes. Yet another reminder that every time you think that you have seen and experienced everything – all that you have done is just peeled another layer of the infinite…

Disclaimer: Every care was taken during the trip to avoid trampling on flowering grasses.


Stay: Hotel Suruban, Satara



Photography
Nikon P600 Closeup and Auto mode. During bright sunshine hours, it’s better to cast one’s own shadow and take a picture. Lying flat on the rock gives the best perspective. Mobile cameras seem to give amazing results!! 

Travelers: Dattakiran Joshi, Sangeeta Joshi and Sushma Indrajit


Travelers tips:


Since everything in life is a matter of perspective, don’t be surprised to hear some friends telling you that there is ‘nothing’ in Kaas.

The flowering does depend on the rainfall, but do not be misled by some locals telling you “this year there are no flowers”.

A large number of beautiful flowers are to be seen at spots outside of the actual plateau: Hence the need for an organized trip with ‘expert’ guides.

It is best to avoid weekends since revelers from Pune and Mumbai arrive in their thousands causing traffic jams on the narrow hill roads.

Since entry numbers are restricted, online booking is ideal and is quite inexpensive.

The “season” is short (mid Aug to mid Oct) but every ten days has a different coloured spectacle to offer.

The route from Mumbai on NH4 bypasses Pune city and Satara can be reached comfortably in six hours. This allows enough time for the afternoon viewing of the plateau. Most flowers bloom in the morning but some only in the evening, so both sessions are worthwhile.