Day 5

I woke up at 5:15am. For some strange reason, I was still feeling a wee-bit groggy and let myself once again drift into sleep. After what seemed an eternity, I jumped out of bed thinking I must have slept past the time of the trek. I was sure the forest guys here, who didn't know me too well as yet, must be thinking that a city brat had arrived in their midst. I looked at the watch and was amazed! It was only 5:30am and those 15 minutes of extra sleep had removed every bit of grogginess from my brain!

Negi brought me some black tea, as there was no milk available. It was quite nice really but I still prefer my tea white. We left later for the trek here at 6:30am and headed out into the grassland in front of the rest house. One could see indications here of the never ending battle between the forest guys and the bush known as lantana. This plant is a huge problem as no animal eats any part of it and it also chokes a major portion of the jungle. One could see sections where these bushes lay pulled out by the roots.

The lantana bush is a major problem in the park as it is choking a major section of the forest floor

A little further on we crossed one of the two man-made waterholes in this grassland. The only animals around were the many frogs that dived for cover in a flurry of splashes as we got closer.

The track passing right in front of the Gairal huts comes under the jurisdiction of the Mohan beat

As we climbed down onto a riverbed and were making our way across it, we came across a set of pugmarks made the previous night. I was expecting the forest guys to stop and record them but was told that this area came under the beat from another outpost. This is something that I've been confused about since the previous census. Why would you put the area outside the doorway of one outpost under the control of another outpost located many kilometers away. Anyway, I felt the wildlife guys obviously must know best and satisfied myself with this explanation. At least for the time being!

Half an hour into our trek and we finally hit the main track that leads through the jungle here and comes out at the Kalagarh side. Almost instantly we all noticed a clear set of leopard pugmarks clearly imprinted on the dusty track and heading in the same direction as us. Joshiji, not the same person from Khinanauli, sat down to trace these marks. One of the other forest guys, Munna, and I decided to spend the time exploring around the next couple of bends to see if there were any marks that were worth making a plaster cast of. Around the very next bend itself, we received a pleasant surprise! The pugmarks of a tigress!These were coming from the opposite side and towards us. After having traced both these, we continued on our walk along the track. Both the pugmarks trails continued almost all the way on the track. The tigress was following a very amusing route along the track. Within any given hundred yards, she would cross from one side of the track to the other at least five times!

It was amazing to see tiger and leopard pugmarks on the same track

As Munna put it, she must have raided one of the liquor stores in Kalagarh the previous night!

The pretty large temple was totally dwarfed by the huge banyan tree

After almost another hour of walking, we came to an area where the track came alongside the park boundary wall. Across the wall was a village called Dhara. The village was a little distance away but just across the wall was a temple shaded by a massive banyan tree. The guru at the temple was known to Munna, who was from Dhara, and asked us to take a break to have some tea.

We accepted the offer and thanked him for his kindness. While waiting for the tea, I walked a little further along the upper edge of a kind of gorge cut through the mud by a stream that must flow there in the monsoon season. The side of the gorge was totally mud and probably twenty feet high. Then I noticed something absolutely fascinating! Along it's entire muddy length, it played home to hundreds of little holes from which flew out hundreds of a variety bee-eaters. It was a wonderful sight. Someone wanting to do any kind of research on these birds and their habits would find this location ideal. After a lovely cup of really sweet tea, we headed back home but via a different route.

The 20 foot high mud cliff was riddled with holes that were home to these bee-eaters

The controversial road

The first landmark we came to was a pretty wide and flat road. It was not tarred but was quite flat and well made. I asked the forest guys about this and was told that this was the controversial road whose progress had been halted by the Supreme Court of India as it was going to lead to the cutting off a huge number of trees. I heard around 6000 trees had already been cut on the other side of Kalagarh before the court had managed to put a halt to it.

On this side, it came to an abrupt end as we came to the park boundary wall. I was told that the project of building this wall had been discontinued due to lack of funds. The guru at the temple felt this was sad as the wall had largely reduced the interaction between the villagers, their cattle and the animals of the park.

On entering the park through an opening in the wall, I saw the road change into a genuine jungle track. I was horrified to think that this same track would become a busy state highway, if the construction was allowed to resume. I was particularly sad because I saw so many animals and so many varieties of birds, including the Great Himalayan Hornbill, along it's length that I was sure the road would have a terrible effect on the wildlife there.

I even saw a wonderful great Himalayan Hornbill from the track

the "border" track

I was told by Joshiji that there was another peculiarity about this track we were walking on. It was the border between two districts and also two states. On our right lay the state of Uttar Pradesh and the district of Bijnor. To our left was the new hill state of Uttaranchal and the district of Pauri Garhwal. I remembered that the sot below Sarapduli was the demarcating line between the districts of Pauri Garhwal and Nainital.

Around half an hour along this track, we came upon another mud cliff to our right that was similar to the one near the temple. This too was host to a number of bee-eater homes. I decided to try and get a little closer to get a few photographs. I moved very slowly so as to try and not disturb them out of their houses. I was hoping to get a shot of one of them looking out of a hole in the cliff.

Suddenly all of them flew out of their homes, chattering at the top of their voices, as if scared by some sudden movement. I was surprised because I hadn't made any. Then I saw the reason for their excitement. I had scared a large Jungle Cat out of it's cover from where it was probably planning to make a meal of one of the feathered individuals. It scaled the twenty foot cliff in a couple of leaps. I swung my camera up to get a hurried shot but I needn't have worried.

The surprise jungle cat sighting was a huge bonus

Amazingly, the cat stopped at the top and looked back at us, first from one side and then from the other. I clicked away and couldn't believe my luck. Most people say that a jungle cat sighting is rarer than that of a tiger. It was a lovely sighting and one I felt I would remember as one of the highlights of this trip.

For a reflex shot, the results came out pretty well framed!

Having taken some nice shots of the feline beauty, I turned around to join the others who had also watched the entire episode but from a little further away. Just as I was about to move back, I noticed some movement directly above my head. I slowly turned my face up and saw the bright yellow eyes of a serpent eagle that had turned it's head to look down at me. I could tell from the tension in it's muscles and wings that it was going to take flight soon and there was no point in slow movement. I swung the camera up and was just in time to catch the raptor as it took off on it's majestic flight. Happy with the little excursion, I returned to the others and continued with our search for pugmarks and tigers.

A little further on, where the gorge we were walking through crossed paths with another coming at right angles to it, we found a trail of fresh male tiger pugmarks. By fresh, here I mean made during the previous night and not some that could have been recorded earlier. Judging from the storm that had lasted most of the previous night, these marks could not have been more than 4-5 hours old.

I had in any case never really heard any indications in this area around Jhirna like alarm calls ever during the day. The predators in this area seemed to be very strictly nocturnal, unlike in the other sections of the park. Maybe it was due to the closeness to the villages across the boundary. I was only guessing but unlike the areas around Khinanauli, etc. , which I am more used to visiting and where one hears the alarm calls of deer during all times of the day and night, I am yet to hear one in this area between 10am and 5pm.

Another strange habit I noticed was in the way the Spotted deer gave the alarm calls in this area. I was more used to hearing and seeing one deer in a herd call out the alarm signal, maybe two. On many occasions in this area however, I noticed almost the entire herd start a chain of calls with many members taking part in warning the world. Another difference that caught the eye here was the mass overlapping of territories between tigers, leopards and even bears. I felt it could be because this was not the prime area of the park and only the less dominant individuals, who had been driven out by the stronger ones from more prey rich sections, roamed these parts. I leave it up to the experts to clear these mysteries.

We arrived back at the rest house at 12pm. I also met the forest ranger of the area, Mr. Tiwari, en route at the newly constructed Jhirna gate, who was supervising some furious activity along the main track and at the checkpost. There was a World Bank team visiting the area to check if the money being given for the development of the park was being put to it's proper use. After a really hearty meal cooked by Negi, I spent most of the afternoon making notes, relaxing and watching the hundreds of birds that have made the trees around Jhirna their home. This afternoon's entertainment was provided by a colony of excited parakeets, flying from branch to branch, their wings lit neon green by the sunlight passing through them. There was also a variety of other birds all of which seemed to get involved in the contagious excitement begun by the parakeets.

The afternoon's entertainers

mushrooms grew all over the place due to the damp conditions

In the evening Joshiji and I went to a dry stream called Kharar Sot. It was obvious here that this gorge, snaking it's way between two high hills, received very little sunshine. Even though there was no presence of any rainwater at the moment, there were numerous stagnant pools all along it's length. Fungus, algae, moss and mushrooms grew rampant in these musty surroundings. Joshiji was quite surprised we didn't come across any leopard pugmarks in this area.

During a small break on our way back, I asked Joshiji about what his first encounter with a tiger, while walking through the jungle, had been like. He smiled and sheepishly said he had seen the tiger from quite a distance but had taken no chances and quickly climbed a tree till the animal had disappeared. He laughed at the incident because he now had been through many occasions when a tiger had walked by only a few feet from them. He said that within a few encounters, he had come to realise that a tiger was too much of a gentleman to do anything, unless you did something stupid to aggravate it. Simpler said than done! I know because I've seen a tiger while on foot and believe me, there is no other feeling in the world that can make your heart thump louder.

We returned just in time to see the sun dip behind the hills we'd just been to. Almost instantly, alarm calls from frightened spotted deer began to ring out along the very track we'd just traversed. I climbed the watchtower at the rest house and peered through my binoculars. I even saw the calling spotted deer but had no luck with catching sight of the tiger. I came down and made Joshiji complete his promise of showing me yellow wattled lapwings which I had seen anywhere else in the park. After a successful excursion to the fields behind, we came back to some lovely tea. Tea with milk! Negi explained that there were some tourists that had arrived and had told him to make some tea for me too. One of them, Ambrish, came up to me and we had quite a lengthy conversation regarding wildlife in India.

We returned just in time to witness a marvelous sunset

He seemed like he knew his birds and proved my notion correct when he said he was planning to kick up things in the USA and come back here to follow his first love by organising and escorting birdwatcher groups to Corbett. So keep a look out for some great birder trips with him through wildlywise too.

After a while, I was joined by Joshiji and we got chatting over some refreshments. Slowly-slowly and one at a time, other members of the staff came and joined us until I think every one of the wildlife guys was pitching into the conversation with stories and opinions regarding the jungles they lived in. Joshiji came up with a remark that stuck in my mind as my learning from this trip. He said, "if you're a genius, you can think about how you can strike a balance for the entire universe between exploitation of nature and survival. If you're just plain intelligent, think on the same lines for just the Earth. Then even if you're really dumb, the least you can do is find the optimum balance for yourself!". Wow! That made great sense! Everyone reluctantly finally broke up the discussions and I had my dinner with Joshiji.

After dinner, I lay down to catch some well earned sleep. The night was just the opposite of the previous one. Not a single leaf moved anywhere in the jungle. There was absolutely no breeze and it was quite warm and humid. Luckily, the exercise of the entire days walking make these things seem insignificant and sleep comes quite easily. For those of you who haven't stayed in the beautiful rest houses in Corbett Park, the atmosphere is kept as close to natural as possible. This means no electricity, fans, electrical lights, etc. The only light I had, other than my torch, was a small flickering candle since the oil for the lamps had run out. There is only one complex, Dhikala, which has all these provisions but most true wildlife enthusiasts steer well clear of it and it's crowds. Anyway, fans or not, I was fast asleep.

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