10th November 2017, ANET
Another long day outside.
I went birding early this morning with another researcher here. The road just outside ANET is narrow and largely quiet - there are a couple of farms and woody patches to one side and the ANET littoral property on the other. The simplest birding route is winding, leading straight up to beach. The last time I was at that beach during my recce visit in the monsoon, I was wading ankle-deep in sandy muck. This time the ground was firm and dry. We saw coucals, white-headed starlings, green imperial pigeons, lots of chestnut-headed bee eaters and a single collared kingfisher.
Akshay and I went to Wimberly Gunj [Wandoor to Goal Ghar by bus > Goal Ghar to Chatam Jetty > A ferry across the jetty to Bamboo Flat > A share-gypsy to Wimberly]. Aforementioned researcher called it Waverly Gunj and I can’t stop saying that in my head. Today we got a lucky lift all the way to Goal Ghar from Wandoor - very welcome since we missed the last Subhashini and we’d have had to wait for another half hour for the next one. The ferry to B-Flat (as it is very coolly referred to) was breezy and sunny, with terns flying by us. I could see the silvery-green fish skirting the rusty edges as we broooooomed along. It was nice to be back here for work after the joy ride to Mt. Herriot in April’17 with Tarun.
We got to the Forest Department to meet a Mr. Tilak who seemed perfectly nice and soft-spoken. I simply tagged along since I didn’t have anywhere specific to be. I made some logistics-related phone calls along the way. My accommodation, local transport and field assistant situation in Great Nic still seemed vague and far from in-place even after making half a dozen calls. Either way, I was heading over there soon enough and that was all I needed to keep me going for the moment.
We came back via Haddo (where the FD is), so I could fax my arrival and project details to the Deputy Forest Officer in Campbell Bay. When I spoke to A* about needing to buy a scooter here before heading to Nicobar, she promptly sat me in her swanky Govt of India car to scout the garages that her ‘man’ had contacts with. Sadly, no luck. Worked for a while from the Department and then left.
Akshay and I went to Milky Way, an ice cream place in Haddo that promises half hour of free internet. Unfortunately, the free internet was just 2% of a wifi bar. We soon headed back. Stopped at a Garacharma** tea kadai*** for a nice, stiff cup of chai and day-dreaming of the months to come before pushing ourselves into one of the last (crowded) Subhashinis headed homeward.
___________________________
*From yesterday’s post
**A midpoint bus stop on the way to Wandoor - essentially a strip of road that has a few tea stalls, mechanics and 3 privately run buses competing for commuters at any given point.
***A Tamil word for tiny corner shops
Another long day outside.
I went birding early this morning with another researcher here. The road just outside ANET is narrow and largely quiet - there are a couple of farms and woody patches to one side and the ANET littoral property on the other. The simplest birding route is winding, leading straight up to beach. The last time I was at that beach during my recce visit in the monsoon, I was wading ankle-deep in sandy muck. This time the ground was firm and dry. We saw coucals, white-headed starlings, green imperial pigeons, lots of chestnut-headed bee eaters and a single collared kingfisher.
Akshay and I went to Wimberly Gunj [Wandoor to Goal Ghar by bus > Goal Ghar to Chatam Jetty > A ferry across the jetty to Bamboo Flat > A share-gypsy to Wimberly]. Aforementioned researcher called it Waverly Gunj and I can’t stop saying that in my head. Today we got a lucky lift all the way to Goal Ghar from Wandoor - very welcome since we missed the last Subhashini and we’d have had to wait for another half hour for the next one. The ferry to B-Flat (as it is very coolly referred to) was breezy and sunny, with terns flying by us. I could see the silvery-green fish skirting the rusty edges as we broooooomed along. It was nice to be back here for work after the joy ride to Mt. Herriot in April’17 with Tarun.
We got to the Forest Department to meet a Mr. Tilak who seemed perfectly nice and soft-spoken. I simply tagged along since I didn’t have anywhere specific to be. I made some logistics-related phone calls along the way. My accommodation, local transport and field assistant situation in Great Nic still seemed vague and far from in-place even after making half a dozen calls. Either way, I was heading over there soon enough and that was all I needed to keep me going for the moment.
We came back via Haddo (where the FD is), so I could fax my arrival and project details to the Deputy Forest Officer in Campbell Bay. When I spoke to A* about needing to buy a scooter here before heading to Nicobar, she promptly sat me in her swanky Govt of India car to scout the garages that her ‘man’ had contacts with. Sadly, no luck. Worked for a while from the Department and then left.
Akshay and I went to Milky Way, an ice cream place in Haddo that promises half hour of free internet. Unfortunately, the free internet was just 2% of a wifi bar. We soon headed back. Stopped at a Garacharma** tea kadai*** for a nice, stiff cup of chai and day-dreaming of the months to come before pushing ourselves into one of the last (crowded) Subhashinis headed homeward.
___________________________
*From yesterday’s post
**A midpoint bus stop on the way to Wandoor - essentially a strip of road that has a few tea stalls, mechanics and 3 privately run buses competing for commuters at any given point.
***A Tamil word for tiny corner shops
No comments:
Post a Comment