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Sea Eagle of Bekal

// August 2nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Culture and Ecology, Eco Watch

Bekal is a green paradise rocked by the roaring waves during the Monsoon on the northern coast of Kerala.  The historic fort at Bekal was a natural red soiled mount that was refashioned into a fort in the middle ages.  It is a geo-politically strategic location at the edge of the Arabian Sea, some 15 km south of Kasaragod.

The Bekal fort was originally conceived and developed by the Mushika kings of the Ezhimala and the Kolathiris in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.  It became part of Bednur Naiks’ citadels in the west coast for some time.  Shivappa Naik rebuilt it and strengthened it.  Later it fell into the hands of Haider Ali, Tipu Sultan and the British after the fall of Mysore.  Now the site is with the Archeological Survey of India and has immense historical and ecological  importance.  The adjacent village is called Pallykara even today and it is also important to remember that Mushika dynasty was a Buddhist one originally.

In monsoon the place turns out to be an ethereal  landscape of green and blue.  The mosses and ferns that grow on the red stones of the walls and fortifications and the green grass that engulfs the whole hillock inside and outside the fort make it a cradle of soothing hues, fresh and throbbing with life and desire.  From the top of the watch tower at the centre of the fort you can have a panoramic view of the sea and the land.  The coastline is visible beyond expectations to both sides.

The place is also marked by increased bird activity.  Even at the peak of the monsoon we can see plenty of Brahmany Kites flying around the coast.  Some House Swifts have colonized the old walls of the ruined fort.  Plenty of Plain and Ashy Prinias  are also found in the thickets and bush within the fort.

But I was amazed by the sight of a solitary White-bellied Sea Eagle in late June here.  It was gently cruising along the coastline on a Sunday morning in the last week of June 2010.  I visited the site again today (Sunday, August 1, 2010).  This time it was  evening  just around 6.  I caught sight of this magnificent and graceful bird flying above the coastal waters.

It was a majestic sight to watch its gray upper parts and whitish underparts.  The white patch at the edge of the tail was also distinct.  I was doubly delighted to watch two more birds join the first one.  They were having a fight like scene with honking calls and swift movement in mid air.  I got a few distant shots and birds dispersed and vanished in seconds.

Anyway I was lucky to get a glimpse of this rare and threatened bird which once hovered all along our long coastline.  I remember people like Dr Jaffer Palot writing and talking about this bird and the decline in its population mainly due to increased human interventions and pollution in the coastal belt.  It is clear that they are struggling for their survival still out there.

Black-winged Stilts of Vypin Mangroves

// May 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Culture and Ecology

The lush green mangroves of Cochin, especially the green belt around the north coast at the mouth of the harbor and the lagoons and archipelago formations in the backwaters that run up to Mangalavanam have remained as the lungs and kidneys of this unique estuary and ecosystem that is also called the queen of Arabian Sea.

This green cover protected the land and its people for hundreds of years from tidal waves and Tsunamis.  The crabs, shrimps, lobsters and prawn provided the people with healthy delicacies.  The mangroves are the breeding grounds of fish and a range of marine life.

Even after large scale destruction done for reclamation and urbanization in the city suburbs the Mangroves of Vypin island that forms the northern coast of the estuary has been giving shelter and asylum to marine biodiversity and endangered species that were pushed to the very periphery by development.

Unfortunately the recent LNG and Petroleum tanks and terminals built at the heartland of the mangrove ecosystem in Vypin has destroyed the vegetation in a mass scale.

I visited the location with P S Devarajan, an independent activist from Vypin in mid May 2010.  Big roads and mud filled reclamations and huge tanks and buildings including gigantic compound walls are chocking this fragile habitat.

It is home to many varieties of mangroves and associated flora and fauna.  Devarajan who is born and brought up near this green paradise remembers his childhood expeditions and sojourns into the shaded mystery and bounty of the mangroves.

He narrates bird and animal encounters in the past.  We surveyed the backwaters near the mouth of the estuary on a country-boat provided by local children and found many species of fish and crustaceans.  We could also see a few otters that were plenty in the past according to the kids who lead us.

Apart from a few Egrets and Cormorants, birds were virtually absent in the mangrove relics.  As we were leaving the devastated landscape in disgust a flight of birds suddenly landed down out of the blue.  The long held back pinkish legs revealed their true identity.  It was a small flock of Black-winged Stilts.  They were desperately seeking some food in the ruins of the mangrove lagoons.