Top soil makes bricks

Top-soil in farmlands are coveted items. It takes a very long time for top-soil to form, and is almost entirely responsible for providing the foods humans eat across the globe.

Strange as it may sound, top-soil is increasingly being sold across relatively vast areas in north India by farmers to maker of bricks.

Tall chimneys scattered across the landscape give away locations of the kilns that are fueled by fire wood, also taken from the immediate surroundings.

A new chimney is being constructed and marks the location of a new
brick kiln in Barabanki district.

The removal of top soil leaves behind brown scars, and also walls of mud.

Barren grounds in Etah are used to dry tobacco leaves after
the top-soil has been sold to make bricks.

While the effect of such removal on agricultural productivity remains unknown, the walls certainly have great utility for wildlife. Foxes use them to den, and bee-eaters and bank mynas use them to nest.

Bank Mynas make their condominiums in a sheer wall created
by removal of top soil for making bricks in Mathura.

Strange and unpredictable are the ways in which "new" habitat becomes available for wildlife in this human-dominated landscape!

(Photograph information: Chimney in Barabanki district photographed 20 Nov 2008; barren ares in Etah district photographed 14 May 2010; nesting Bank Mynas in Mathura district photographed 25 Mar 2009.)

Its clean-up time!

Preen, dip, bathe, and scratch! These are the various ways in which birdies take good care of their precious feathers. Here are a few examples taken during clean-up time!

Preening is so very time-consuming! Here an Indian Skimmer (top) uses its unusual, spectacular beak to comb through feathers, and a Silverbill is busy at it while also showing off the preen gland (just above the tail) from where birds get an "oil" to keep their feathers ship-shape!


A bath can be a serene experience, like the Shikra in the water. Else it can be boisterous with water flying everwhere: for some Comb Ducks, one duck's bathwater is another's drink, apparently!

And finally, the soothing scratch! Here a Silverbill, a Black-necked Stork juvenile, and a Sarus Crane find out the real meaning of the phrase "for every itch, there is a scratch"!

(Photograph information: Skimmer - Etawah district, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill preening - lucknow, Nov 27, 2008; Shikra - Barabanki, Nov 23, 2008; Comb Duck - Etawah, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill scratch - Barabanki, Nov 25, 2008; Black-necked Stork - Mainpuri, Apr 7, 2009; Sarus Crane - Etawah, Feb 12, 2009. Thanks to Satish for the scratch-itch phrase!)

Cropland canids 2: The Indian Fox

The second-most common wild canid in Uttar Pradesh's (UP) croplands is the lovely Indian Fox, the commonest being the Jackal. My friend Abi Tamim who has studied foxes in south India tells me that they prefer grasslands and suchlike habitat there, though they do occur in small numbers in croplands. My sightings of foxes in UP have been very few to make any assessment of the population except that they appears to be widespread.

Unfortunately the Indian Fox faces a number of problems in UP - dogs chase them down, crows attack individuals that are foraging in areas without vegetation cover (middle photo), roadkilled foxes are unfortunately commonly encountered on most well-maintained roads (bottom photo). Despite all this, successful breeding appears to be widespread evidenced by the pups-of-the-year (top photo) Hardly the area you would think ideal for a "carnivore" - but there you are!

This is another lovely animal worthy of study in UP's crop-infested areas - how do they survive in this far-from-being-wild place? Fox sightings have been a real bonus and well worth getting up really early to get to transect points before dawn! All these photos have been taken at or before dawn.

Thanks are due to Abi for recognizing the pup-of-the-year (overall gangly appearance; black on tail not as developed as in adults) and for various discussions on this amazing species he has studied for several years.

(Photo details: Top - pup-of-the-year in Barabanki district, May 17, 2009; middle - adult male being chased by crow in Ghazipur district, Apr 23, 2009; bottom - adult male Fox roadkill in Sultanpur district, May 04, 2009)

Cropland canids 1: The Jackal

Two canids are commonly seen in Uttar Pradesh's croplands - the Jackal and the Fox - and the third, the Wolf, is rather rare. Here, the Jackal is captured in a common crop - wheat (top and middle photo), and in the not-so-common amaranth. Jackals in Uttar Pradesh are run down by dogs all the time - one ran into the side of my jeep when it was being chased by village dogs, picked itself up, and disappeared into the wheat. Roadkills due to traffic are common on roads - I will spare you gory pictures of one here, and show you one later of the Indian Fox.

The Jackal appears to be doing quite alright in the cropped areas of UP - how this can be given the growing number of dogs, the lack of natural habitat, and apparent low amount of food is a mystery worth exploring.

(Photo details: Top - Jackal beside ripening wheat in Aligarh district, Mar 26, 2009; middle - Jackal hiding from dogs in growing wheat in Etah district, Jan 12, 2009; bottom - Jackal in red gram fields in Barabanki district, Nov 21, 2008.)

Scavengers nouveau

Dead cattle in India are skinned and left out for vultures to pick clean - eating cow meat is strictly forbidden in the country. The large resident vultures in India are all but gone - victims apparently to a veterinary drug that remained in these cattle carcasses. Crows and dogs have taken over in their stead, alongside a small-sized vulture - the Scavenger or Egyptian Vulture (middle photo). Villagers admit that the dog population has increased significantly since the disappearance of the larger vultures, but no one has paid attention to the crows. Both are predators as well - crows are very efficient nest predators and packs of dogs take down anything they can including Sarus Cranes and Nilgais. The Egyptian Vultures is widespread with good breeding populations in Uttar Pradesh and there is no information how its population here is doing relative to years with good vulture populations. While crows and dogs also scavenged before the larger vultures declined, they had access to much lesser amounts of food due to the aggressive habits of the vultures that dissuaded other smaller scavengers from accessing too much meat.

Surely, it should be a concern that continued disposal of cattle carcasses may be affecting entire communities of birds and other wildlife on the farmstead!

(Photograph information: large-billed crow - Etah district, Jan 8, 2009; Egyptian Vulture - Barabanki district, Nov 23, 2008; crows and dogs - Rae Bareli district, Nov 29, 2008)

Sarus and Nilgai

Two species that are revered by farmers in Uttar Pradesh are the Nilgai (literal translation: "Blue Cow") and the Sarus Crane. Hunting of the Nilgai is strictly disallowed locally owing to the reference of a cow in its name. Currently, despite it being possibly the biggest crop pest, excellent populations of the large antelope proliferate all over Uttar Pradesh. The Sarus Crane is venerated for its life-long pair bond. Here , a Nilgai cow, her calf, a Sarus adult (right extreme) and a 7-8 month-old chick stare at me, disturbed from their feeding in a dried wetland in Barabanki district. (Photograph date: May 16, 2009)