Search for Black Baza

This was my first visit to Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Thattekkad this season. But I was constantly in touch with the local guides there and was waiting for berries in the forest to get ripped, so that I can shoot my target, the Grey-headed Bulbul for which I was struggling for quite some time! Also, I wanted a good shot of Black Baza which I missed in the last season. I got a distant shot last time which was around 200 meters away and it was just a record shot…

I was planning to do three sessions, targeting these two species. The first session in the morning was interesting. Though I didn’t even see the the bulbul, I got good shots of the Malabar Trogon, Fairy Bluebird, White-bellied Woodpecker and the nine coloured beauty – Indian Pitta. I was accompanied by two of my friends which was really fun…

This time, because of less rain, the forest was dry and the berries were very less. Usually when the berries get ripped, bulbul used to come and eat it. But unfortunately even berries got dried! I felt the avian density has also come down noticeably…

In the second session in the evening, we concentrated only the Grey-headed Bulbul, but it was completely dry. My friends has left after the first session and I was alone as a photographer with my guide. We could spot the bird, but they didn’t give me a chance to click. Surprisingly the bird activity was really dull; we could hardly spot few species!

The third (next day morning) session we were planning to do in the public visiting area of the sanctuary, though the chance was very less. After a while we could able to spot them, but again I couldn’t click. 

We spent about an hour and half there, and slowly we were losing the bird calls and was almost impossible to track them anymore. I was really disappointed; I didn’t get a single shot even after chasing them for past three sessions. It was already 8.00 AM and decided to track Baza for the next couple of hours. 

The Black Baza is a comparatively medium sized raptor found in the forests of the Eastern Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia. They migrate to southern areas of India & Sri Lanka during winter season. They are often seen perched on the top branches of the tall trees rising above the forest canopy; so it wasn’t easy to get a good shot of them. I had spotted them in Thattekkad last couple of years during winter.

My guide Ajo suggested to explore another area which was around 6 kms away from the core area. When we reached there it was already 8.30 and I understood that it is not easy to track it; the forest was really thick with giant trees and thorny shrubs. It was really dark inside and even at 9.00 AM and I was getting very low shutter speed even at 3200 ISO. I was struggling to carry my tripod since it’s legs were getting stucked in every step.

We searched around 2 hours and I almost lost the hope. I told my guide that I wanted to leave by 11.00 since it was already 10.45. Ajo insisted me to search for another 15 minutes. It was really surprising, he found it within the next couple of minutes.  I took few shots and it flew off; again we chased and it was there in that area around 15 minutes. I could manage to click few shots with tripod and few handheld. After, it just flew to the top of the tree and we couldn’t track it again…

After 4.5 hrs of marathon search I got couple of decent shots. But again, it was with high ISO of 5000, shutter speed around 1/40 or 1/50 in almost no light – so the actual details were missing. Forget about eye-level; it wasn’t possible to get a proper angle in that thick forest. But the shots for which you struggle a lot, will be always special…

I should really thank Ajomon, my guide – a 23 year old charming guy. He was so enthusiastic to find and track it and I really admire his commitment to his job. I have seen guides who just do their job only for the sake. But he was so dedicated and energetic; I was finding difficulty to reach up to his speed in the field. In fact his passion and spotting skill made this happen; obviously the credit goes to him…

When we got out from the forest, we had a confusion in which direction we should move. Even Ajo as bit confused, though was a local guy. It was around 12.00 noon when we finally came out! I had few scars in my hand & neck and body was itching somewhere; who cares; I got what I wanted 🙂 

Seems like, I need to wait another year for Grey-headed Bulbul 🙁 And the journey continues 🙂