The Hindu Business Line : In the forest in the rain

WITH a trip to Chhattisgarh off, we decided on going to the Melghat Tiger Reserve. One has visited the reserve in spring, summer and winter but not during the rainy season. There were reports of rains over the reserve in June, though July and August are the best months with the rain gods deciding to stay on.

From Parathwada, we drove to Harisal and onwards to the guesthouse at Kolkas. In the late evening Monday light, the mountain ranges offered the comfort of a long presence over ages with the promise of living on forever; in the quiet, with the skylight fast fading, we were sure of the mountains being there the next day.

It was about 9 p.m. when Nishibhau saw a tree on the roadside festooned with fireflies and Kishor stopped the Maruti Gypsy to enjoy the scene. The fireflies were all over the tree blinking in turns; it looked more a relay race: The fireflies on the lower tier switched on their lights, which died away for those in the middle and top tiers to repeat and then came again the turn of the lower tier to flash their camera bulbs. The tree sparkled in short bursts and we stood on the forest path amazed.

"Wonder what messages are being conveyed," thought Nishibhau loudly and we left it at that to move on. Around 9.30 p.m. the Gypsy's headlamps caught a sloth bear walking down the edge of the road in its typical roly-poly manner. It came towards us, changed its mind, and turned round to make its way across a field; Kishor turned the Gypsy to light up the field when we noted a second bear in the field. After a time they walked off together.

It was past 11 in the night when we touched Kolkas, a favourite spot of Nishibhau, though for me it will always be Raipur. The guesthouse at Kolkas, situated at an elevation, has modern amenities. The land drops sharply from the guesthouse and the water hole at the bottom is a calling point for birds and animals. Wildlifers are usually relaxed in the night and are in the mood to retail forest tales.

About 15 days ago, Kishor Rithe with his friends was sitting around a lantern chatting in the lawns fronting the guesthouse when a full-grown gaur approached them in the dark. Probably, the gaur wanted to have a good look at the lighted lantern. Quietly the group stepped back and for a time stood still awaiting the gaur's next move. The powerful beast moved off and the group breathed easy.

We were not that lucky, though one has observed herds of gaur from about 30 feet in Tadoba during the day. The morning next day was cloudy but that did not stop the mynahs, red-vented bulbuls, warblers and squirrels from voicing their presence. This writer is superstitious and believes the day will be fine if he spots a squirrel, timing his chatter with a toss of his tail.

The browns of the summer were giving way to the greens of the rains. From Kolkas we drove to Kund, a sprawling meadow cleared of human habitation. On the way, Nishibhau and myself spotted a male common peafowl (peacock), with its decidedly showy train held erect, strutting in front of three females. No fashion magazine in the world, for men and women, can match the dance of the common peafowl (Pavo cristatus).

I have never seen a male with his attire in full flow and the sighting comes back in my dreams in Mumbai. After a couple of minutes, the male wound up his tail feathers to walk off with his three girlfriends. Probably, he was hurt over the loss of privacy. We drove and walked the day for quite some time before making our way back to Harisal where Nishibhau dropped off to attend some important work at Amravati.

From Harisal, Kishor and myself, drove to Raipur for a night stay and on the way came across many greyheaded mynahs (Sturnus malabaricus) and jungle bush quails (Perdicula asiatica). Between the two, one preferred the jungle bush quails, sighting groups of five to 10 at four points. Generally, they follow the leader, though one is not sure how the leader is chosen.

If the bird in the lead moves into cover, the rest follow, and in a minute the area is bereft of them. On the second day, we moved around Raipur with Sukh Lal and a crested hawk eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus), sitting on a teak tree, obliged us with a long darshan. Kishor knocked off a roll shooting the bird before it went in chase of a squirrel. This tough raptor, with its crest flying in the wind, is a favourite of mine and made my trip wholly satisfactory.

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