BACK TO PIYALI : 12 FEBRUARY 2016 ::AT PIYALI RIVER / ISLAND, 24 PARGANAS (SOUTH)

 People close to me allege

that Kolkata perhaps does not suit me because I am travelling out so frequently. Partly true! But I do feel fortunate to be in Kolkata at least on one count :

there are several rich birding sites within a close striking distance from the City. Piyali Island in 24 Parganas (South) on the Piyali River near its confluence with the Matla River and hardly 70 kms from my residence near Gariahat is one such wonderful bird-land.

I first visited Piyali along with a few of my bird-loving friends in April last year mainly in search of the magnificent Paradise Flycatcher. While I did get to see a few of these beautiful birds along with several other species, I could not get a decent photo and it left me all the more thirsting for some better photos.  A second visit followed within three weeks in early May 2014 and this time around I came back really happy with some very satisfying photographs of the Paradise Flycatcher – both  male (white) and female (rufous).

During both these visits our guide was a young boy, Alam, barely in his teens and still a school student although he plays truant from school more often than not! Considering that this fatherless boy and his family can barely make do with the paltry income from a small grocery shop run by his mother, I for one could not find fault in him for missing school in his efforts to supplement the family income by way of tips from showing people birds around Piyali. Alam also has a boat of his own on which he takes mainly birders and sometimes stray tourists for rides on the Piyali River. Alam and I had kept in touch and when, a few days back he called me to say there was a large congregation of several species of migratory birds on the Piyali River,Sabyasachi Dasgupta, Rabindranath Das  and I decided to re-visit Piyali immediately.

When we reached Piyali around 8.30 AM, the weather around was rather bleak and very foggy with light conditions very poor for and worthwhile bird-photography. Nevertheless, we climbed on to Alam’s boat and set course on the river towards a HUGE gathering of birds thereon at some distance. Alam found much help from Krishna, my trusted lieutenant of many, many years, who proved to be equally adept in rowing a boat as he is always in driving a car! 

By about 10’30 the sun was burning really hot and although in between the fog had lifted for a while opening a short window for photography, the haze lifting from the river became a distinct disadvantage in capturing good images. We chose to continue for another half-hour or so before hitting land. 

In limited time we did see several species of migratory birds and all in large numbers – Eurasian Wigeons, Tufted Ducks ( in very large flocks ), Ferruginous Pochards, Gadwalls and Little Grebes. On the two banks of the river, there were Drongos, Common Sandpipers, Hoopoes, Green Bee-eaters, Orioles – both Black-headed and Golden – Coucals, Grey-headed Lapwings, Yellow Wagtails, Paddyfield Pipit,  Plaintive Cuckoo and most interestingly a Black-headed Cuckooshrike not to mention the Egrets, Purple Sunbirds and Pond Herons that were everywhere.

All in all, the short trip to Piyali was quite fulfilling and I am eagerly waiting for Summer to arrive when I will be back to Piyali once again in search of the majestic Paradise Flycatchers.

I have posted below some photographs from this trip to Piyali and hope my friends on Facebook will enjoy what they see.