Ramblings in the Darjeeling Terai: A Heronry in Naxalbari

 

 Naxalbari is the name that all Indians know. It is surprising really, because it is a small village in the Siliguri Subdivision of the Darjeeling District. It lies close to the Mecchi river and is just a hop, skip and jump away from Nepal. The population, Wikipedia informs me, was 1618 in 2011 when the last census was held. (We have dispensed with the census apparently together with many other things).

The reason why everybody knows this name is that this was the place that started the famous Naxalite movement which was to be the Revolutionary Movement that would turn India red. Now it seems risible, but for those who lived through those days, especially in West Bengal still remember the panic created by the CPI (ML) cadres who fought the police, killed indiscriminately in the name of eliminating class enemies and were finally eliminated themselves in a paroxysm of state terror which remains a nightmarish memory and finished off so many young, bright, if misguided young men and women.

Be that as it may, today Naxalbari shows little or no remnant of those days. It has blossomed into a bustling little township, with a crowded bus stand and bazaar very close to each other. There is a hospital, college and many schools and a railway station. There is a profusion of shops, totos, buses, cars all jostling for space in its narrow main street and in the afternoons, the streets are full of smart young students going home from school.

It is difficult to believe but in the midst of all this noise and bustle, there is mixed heronry. There are several trees in perhaps the most crowded portion of this community which are the only place in North Bengal where the Black-headed Ibis ( Threskiornis melanocephalus) nests. It is difficult to credit, but such is the case. It was almost a quarter of a century ago, in 1990, to be precise that several nature lovers from Siliguri, of whom Mr Animesh Bose was the most prominent, discovered this nesting site. Since then the birds have kept coming here without interruption and Mr Bose, together with several other bird lovers have kept watch over this unique spot.

Black Headed Ibis 

I first visited this place in 2022 in the company of Antara Paul. Ms Paul is an active member of an NGO which has been observing this site for many years and she has, in association with her colleagues, Saumik Paul and Debyojyoti Dey published a paper about this colony based on their careful observation over the past three years. She was kind enough to take some time off to show my wife and I the colony from the roof of a building that adjoins one of the trees that they occupy.

Intermediate Egret 

Since then, I have been to the site several times, twice to participate in the bird counts that HNAF (Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation), the Paschim Banga Bigyan Mancha and Airavat conduct each year. The setting is surreal. As you walk along the main street suddenly you are confronted with the calls of birds that are jostling for position atop just a few trees that are just meters away from the busy market. Not just the Black Headed Ibis, you have the Little Egret, the Intermediate Egret, the Black Crowned Night Heron, the Little Cormorant and an occasional Open-billed stork and Red-naped Ibis as well, though these last two do not nest here.

Black crowned Night Heron 

This week Avijan Saha of whom I have spoken earlier, and I visited the heronry. The main purpose was to do a bird count. We found that the birds were there, in fairly large numbers. We counted more than 410 birds in total, of which almost half were Black headed ibises. The number that has been counted by the HNAF team have been 465, 350 and 400 respectively in 2020,2021 and 2021. They have, of course counted not only the birds in the heronry, but also those foraging in nearby fields. Also, with larger number so observers, they have probably made a more complete count than we were able to do.

 At the moment, there are basically two locations in which they are nesting. One is a group of three trees, two of which are banyan and one peepal. These three trees form an almost continuous canopy. Close by there is a mango tree and two more, one banyan and one peepal.  

A second location is not more than a few hundred meters away. Here they occupy mainly three trees. One large tree is a peepal tree which has been overrun by a climbing creeper which we could not identify. This tree was also a favourite of the birds and large numbers were nesting here. Two more banyan trees and one more peepal tree also had several nesting birds.

Earlier, there was another location a little further away. Unfortunately, the tree on which the birds used to nest fell down during a storm and that site was lost.

The important thing is that the nesting sites are protected by local populations who are kind enough to allow bird watchers like us to the roofs of their buildings to get a better view of the birds. Also, local science workers have carried out campaigns over the years to sensitize the local population about the importance of preserving these sites. I am glad to say that one of the most prominent is a newly minted physician, Ritwik Biswas from the North Bengal Medical College.  The local population has supported these birds despite the fact that these birds can be a bit of a nuisance with the noise and waste that they generate.

These birds will be here for a few months more. In September or thereabouts they will leave and hopefully will be back next year. This wonder of nature will continue to fascinate us for many many more years.  

Ref: Pal, S., A. Paul & D. Dey (2023). A study on Black-headed Ibis at Naxalbari, foothills of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Bird-o-soar #200, In: Zoo’s Print 38(6): 17–19.

All pictures courtesy Avijan Saha