Me Sahyadri November 2017

As the economic development has taken the center stage, the balance between the environmental sustenance and socio economic development will be under the scanner. As most experts with balanced views have proclaimed, Indian wildlife and ecological system sustenance will be under threat, unless precautions are taken with the help of appropriate research and long term national interests. As we encounter the economic development, many habitats which indirectly or directly help sustainable development will be damaged. The awareness to gauge the success by sustainable development and not by year to year growth is a distant dream any environmentalist will assume in current scenario.
Western ghats, or Sahyadri as we all call it as, is a treasure trove of spectacular landscapes, biodiversity, flora, fauna, some amazing geological wonders and man made monuments. With the increasing pressure from human encroachment, all these elements are under stress and in turn are under depletion. Western ghats should be left untouched by human beings, to protect their future generations from getting short of resources, such as water, energy and clean air. The important elements of western ghats, which need protection are highlighted in the new version of Photo journal, Me Sahyadri Magazine. The current issue has some photographs and information about the grassland hills of north western ghats in the rain shadow region east of Pune.

As the sun rises above the barren rocky hills after the cold starry night, the golden light spreads over the yellow grassland. The grass glitters with golden sparkle. The sun brings little warmth in early morning cold breeze. The birds on the dry grassland leave their roosting places in the acacia trees and the bushes. The migratory birds from the north and resident birds make a gala on the grassland in the winter. The migratory larks start making synchronised acrobatic movements in the flocks in the sky, sometimes showing their grey upperwings and sometimes their white underbodies.
The resident rufous tailed larks make beautiful light whistles adding the light melody to the wind melody. The pairs of chestnut bellied sandgrouse land from the sky and start walking fast picking the seeds from the soil under the grass. They soon are lost in the barren landscape thanks to their amazing plumage camouflaged with respect to the habitat. The acrobate lark species, the ashy crowned sparrow larks are seen basking in the morning sun on the rocks.
The bush chats are seen on the thorny aloe vera tips while the green bee eaters are busy catching the damselflies and bees in the mid air with intermittent perching on their favourite fence wires and acacia branches. As usual the drongos are doing their job of policing. The bajra and maize fields are invaded by the huge flocks of the migratory buntings. The frankolins are making their morning titir titir calls, while walking briskly over the mounds. The rock bush quails are busy in the foliage and the bushes and are hardly seen due to their amazing camouflage. The steppy eagles are patiently seating on the hill tops waiting for the air to get warmed up so that they can take their flights.
The Chinkara gazzels are seen cautiously feeding on the grass on the hills away from the human habitation. The devil eyed, black shouldered kites are seen hovering above the grassland looking for their food. The harriers are seen floating in the sky just few meters above the grassland, constantly looking for their food, with their heads down. While the nocturnal animals like wolfs and hyenas are now resting in their dens, suddenly one can see heard of grazing sheeps followed by their nomadic human masters. The colourful turbans, large moustaches and long bamboo stick follow these large sheep heards only to disappear beyond the horizon. After landing the courser birds are seen running on the grass before they start picking the beetles in the grass. By the time sun heats up the air, one can see the steppe eagles high up in the sky making rounds and rounds. While this is happening the humans are busy fencing the land plots, preparing for the economic boom they see in the future of this dry grassland thanks to the proposed new Air port.

Frankolins are the birds from Francolinus genus of the partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. Grey Frankolin is about 60 cm in size. There are five species of Frankolins, in the world and all these five species can be seen in India. These species consist of Black francolin (Francolinus francolinus), Painted francolin (Francolinus pictus), Chinese francolin (Francolinus pintadeanus), Grey francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus), and Swamp francolin (Francolinus gularis).
The grey francolin is found foraging on bare or low grass covered ground in scrub and dry open country up to 500 meter altitude above mean sea level. There are three subspecies of the greay frankolin. Palest of three subspecies, Francolinus pondicerianus interpositus is found in the North West India, Francolinus pondicerianus mecranensis and is found in South Pakistan, Baluchistan and Iran. Francolinus pondicerianus pondicerianus is found in South India. The Francolinus pondicerianus pondicerianus species seen in south India (shown in the photographs here) is barred throughout with the pale face and darker rufous throat. The plumage is rich brown and superciluin is darker as compared to other two subspecies. The male can have up to two spurs on the legs while females do not have spurs on the legs.
They make calls in the morning. These calls can be heard particular ly in mornings.. The birds nest on the ground in April to September period. These birds walk fast gracefully and are weak in flight and fly at about 2-4 meter height. They feed on seeds, grains, termites, beetles and other insects. The bird is commonly hunted for its meat and is used as pet for fighting sport, particularly in north India. As per IUCN red list classification, it is a “least concern” species.

The chestnut bellied sandgrouse (pterocles exustus) is pigeon sized bird seen in dry grassland, scrublands throughout India except north east India. The birds shuffle along the ground on its short legs. It is highly camouflaged bird. It is extremely difficult to spot the bird in dry grassland due to its amazing camouflage. This helps the bird in its protection from the predators. It is a ground bird. It is yellowish sandy brown cloured bird with pin tail. It has narrow black band across breast. It has brownsigh black belly. Female is streaked spotted and barred in black all over its body except its chin. It has black band across its breast. These birds feed on grass seeds. Like many other grassland birds it nests on ground.

Indian courser known scientifically as Cursorius coromandelicus is one of the three species of coursers found in India. It is a bird from Cursorius genus.The other coursers found in India are viz. the cream coloured courser from Cursorius genus and the rare and critically endangered nocturnal Jerdon’s courser from Rhinoptilus genus. The Indian courser is one of the enigmatic birds of Indian dry grasslands and arid region. These birds are often seen in small flocks. They nest in open in dry rocky grasslands. Coursers walk in the grass looking for the food. These birds walk a lot and are called as "dhaavik" in Marathi, meaning the runners. These birds run a short distance after landing. Their camouflage is very interesting and is called as obliterative coloration.(graduating tones, with colors which are same as the habitat) Their crown is rich rufous.The black strips pass through the eyes and the white strip pass above the eyes merging together at the neck behind. Their legs are long with beautiful silver white coloration. The bird is very elegant. Often the bird is seen in very small grassland strips in the midst of cultivated farms. As per IUCN red list classification the bird is “Least Concern” species. Unfortunately its habitat is being destroyed around the urban regions due to agricultural and industrial activities.

Chinkara is a slender bodied antelope, which lives in a small herd of 10-20 individuals. The animal is seen in rocky areas, thin forested areas, scrub covered hills. It is also seen in sand dunes in desert. Its food is grass and leaves. It takes its water from vegetation and dew, if water is not available. The population of Chinkara in India is affected due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction.

There are eight species of quails seen in India. Out of these about 6 species of quails can be seen in and around Western Ghats in Maharashtra. These species include coomon quail, rain quail, rock bush quail, Jungle bush quail, painted quail and blue breasted quail. Quails are highly secret birds and they roost under the thick bushes. These birds are seen in the groups and are ground dwelling birds. They are highly camouflaged with their surroundings and take quick flight when distrubed by the intruder from very close distance. Otherwise at the first sense of intruder these birds maintain still position and try to hide in the grass.