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.)

Morning with the Sarus

Walking around in the flooded rice paddies during the monsoon can be magical. The Sarus make it more so. Here are two photographs that underline this statement.

The rains ensure that there is plenty of wet, grassy wetlands to forage in. This Sarus was part of a flock of 45 that landed in this wetland and surrounded us for a fantastic few minutes.

Real estate is serious business in the bird world. On a cloudy and otherwise dull morning, a pair of Sarus landed a few feet ahead of us and proceeded to unison call (photo above), gesture threateningly and finally succeeded in chasing away another pair that had landed in their territory.

(Photographs were taken in Etah district on 28 Aug and 29 Aug 2009 respectively.)

The sun, the moon, and the Sarus

Etah is one of the worst towns in Uttar Pradesh, but the district has excellent populations of Sarus Cranes and many other waterbirds. Roadside marshes, village ponds, perennial wetlands, and agriculture fields mesh and merge here to provide a variety of habitats.

I was fortunate to photograph Sarus Cranes in Etah with both the sunrise, and the setting moon. The former was easily possible since most areas I visited for the study in Etah had Sarus Cranes! The latter was a particularly happy and completely accidental occurence. Two Sarus Cranes and some storks were beginning to forage in a roadside marsh just as the moon was setting some time before the sun rose. We happened to pass by enroute to work, and here you are.

(Photo details: top: Apr 2, 2009; bottom: Jan 12, 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)

Myna hairdo

Mynas are neat birds – with lots of panache, attitude, and smarts. Not to mention hairdo!! This is a brief introduction to some of the styles you can see in the Myna world. The Pied Starling above has the touch-o'-white look; just a dash of old age on the side-burns.

This Common Myna (above) sports the just-been-shocked look.

Nothing like the wavy, wind-swept Harley look – preferred by the Brahminy Starling!

The Punk-and-Judy double-do sets these Bank Mynas apart; for couples only.

The mop-and-dandruff look – errrrrr….

And to end with this intricate centre-parted, backward-brushed, well-oiled, south-Indian, I-am-a-good-Myna look!
(Photographs taken in Sultanpur, Etah, Etawah and Farrukhabad districts between Dec 2008 and Apr 2009)