From the diaries

“From the diaries”

Featuring

Tanmay Haldar

Volume 1; Issue 1 2013

Pradeep's arm shot out and stopped me in my tracks.

He said "Spider". I pointed my torch straight ahead, and swayed the beam left and right expecting to see the silk strands converging towards a Giant Wood Spider. However I could not see anything dangling in my path. One quizzical glance in his direction revealed where his torch was pointing. Straight down on the road, the bright beam revealing the form of a huge Indian Violet Tarantula, one of the star attractions of Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary.

state of Murud-Janjira. Phansad is a unique representation of coastal protected area, as it is the only coastal protected area in Sahyadris range of Maharashtra.

Photo – Tanmay Haldar

Photo – Tanmay Haldar

Phansad Wild Life Sanctuary is a little known heaven for macro wild life photography enthusiasts, so close to Mumbai that it can be a perfect weekend destination, to get away from 'it all'. Located 140Km away from Mumbai just ahead of Kashid beach, Phansad is a wild life haven in the Murud and Roha Talukas of Raigad district in Maharashtra, India. It was founded in 1986 to preserve some of the Coastal Woodland ecosystem of the Western Ghats.

Spread over 6979 hectares of forest, the area was once part of the hunting reserves of the princely

The main attraction of the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary is the Giant Indian Squirrel, but given its shy disposition, catching a glimpse is not an easy prospect. However for macro photography lovers, this is a treasure trove as about 90 species of butterflies and moths are to be found here, besides other diverse insect life. We had started for Phansad at 6:00AM and reached by 8:00 Am after a leisurely drive, through Alibaug, with the Ocean on one side and lush greenery on the other. On reaching Phansad we were informed that owing to an health camp being undertaken, for the village, all the tent accommodation and forest rest house accommodations had been converted into makeshift dispensaries and none were available for tourists.

The nearest alternative was to go back 12 Kilometers to Kashid beach. As we were more keen

to stay as close to the forest as possible, we were a bit crestfallen. It is at this juncture that we met Pradeep.

After freshening up from our travel, and readying our photography equipment, we took the first of our trails in the forest. There are four main trails through the sanctuary that take in the main water holes, Gunyacha Maal, Chikhalgaan and Phansadgaan.

These are some of the best places to see the wild life. The Sacred Groves are located near Supegaon.

There are pockets of open grasslands locally called 'mals', that occur throughout the sanctuary. For our trail we were directed to go to Chikhalgaan by the forest officer who was on duty at the entrance.

We set out on the trail, observing every leaf and stopping and waiting for the butterflies. As it was already noon by the time we started Pradeep, was complaining that the butterflies will be less active, even then we could spot lots of butterflies, and could Identify about 5 different species, notable among them being the Monkeypuzzle, BlueMormon, and the Lunar moth. The trail led us through forest glades teeming with life. Spiders were a regular sight, some of them with kills. We also spotted a scorpion, and were lucky to get an image before it scuttled away below the rocks. It was time now to turn around, as the sanctuary closes its gates at 6:30PM, and night trails are not allowed. It is on our way back that we observed a drama in real life unfold.

Photo courtesy – Abhishek Bawkar

Pradeep Bagwe has been a resident of the village in the buffer area since his childhood, and knows the forest inside out. He works as a manager for one of the Alphonso orchards and helps standed tourists such as us by opening his own home and warm hospitality. As an extra, his familiarity with the forests makes him an invaluable guide. The simple village home stay and the great hospitality we received from Pradeep and his family deserve a chapter in its own right. His house is most conveniently located at walking distance from the sanctuary gates.

Photo courtesy – Tanmay Haldar

The sun was still up, in the Western sky, and we moved along at a slow deliberate pace trying to spot well camouflaged, small animals in the glade. I had my heart set upon getting some pictures of lizards. I

spotted one of them sunning itself in a patch of grass, a few yards away from me. As I inched closer, I spotted some slight movement in the grass to its right. The lizard stayed still. Curiosity got the better of me and I inched a little towards the left, and there I saw an extremely well camouflaged, Green Vine snake holding still, poised to strike at the lizard.

Before I could react, the snake had struck home. In a

swift movement of pure muscle, the snake had captured the lizard in its mouth. A mortal struggle ensued; slowly the life was drained out from the hapless lizard, which is in itself a formidable predator. After swallowing its meal whole, this snake, slowly slithered away into the glades, leaving us behind, spellbound by the Magic of Phansad WLS.

Photo – Tanmay Haldar

As the evening drew in we returned to Pradeep's home, and after a lovely Maharashtrian lunch, started packing as we had planned to leave on the next day morning back for Mumbai.

However we kept our photography equipment unpacked, as Pradeep, had told us that a night trail in the buffer area could be very promising. Pradeep arrived at the appointed time, with a huge 'Kisaan

torch', and a walking stick. He told us that we won’t be entering the protected area as it was not allowed, however he insisted that a simple walk on the road could still be rewarding. We walked out of the house and immediately had our first sighting of the night.

A huge Violet tarantula and that was just the beginning. We came to realize that there is an entire rich world of snakes, frogs and Geckos that come alive in the night. We spotted no fewer than four

species of frogs including the Bull frog, and the Skittering frog, and among snakes we spotted a couple of Russel's Vipers, Bamboo pit viper, Krait, Cat snake and a Wolf snake all around the highway leading up to the Sanctuary. This was a spectacular range of sightings given that this was made without even entering the sanctuary proper. We also sadly spotted a road kill involving a Krait. We came back with Pradeep elated on our sightings of the day, only to find that the house was in disarray, owing to the discovery of a Wolf snake within premises. Pradeep just arrived in time to calm his family and assure them that this was a non venomous snake. After assuring them he helped the snake back to safety and freedom.

Photo – Tanmay Haldar

The course of my life and travels have taken me to several forests in the country, however call it my luck, I have never ever been presented with so many sightings in such short time. After relishing the simple Maharashtrian dinner with Alphonso mango pickle, I started chatting with Pradeep.

I detected some uncertainty and a hint of sorrow, in his bearing, while talking about the forests. On probing deeper I realized that this was on account of the steel factory, planned just 4.7 Km from the sanctuary. I tried cheering him up with the prospect of his children not having to travel far for work in the future. I tried to convince him that the factory would bring with it developments of all kinds, and his weekly Mumbai visits in order to procure necessities may not be required. He agreed with all

of my observations as to how the quality of life could get better, but still in a silent way, he communicated his fears. He was worried that there will be no one interested in championing conservation, after the area acquires a commercial glow. To close our discussions he laughed and said, very few people care about a forest without tigers or elephants.

In the morning, after a very heavy breakfast, while on my way back to Mumbai, my thoughts drifted back to the eternal debate of development and conservation. Development usually wins with short sighted economics to prop its cause, and conservation usually loses out because a lot of people are not aware of such wild life heavens, and fewer actually care. It was then that Pradeep's parting words came back to me. He had requested me to share my experience and images. The future, we had agreed was not in our control. But if this place were to be affected, let its splendor be remembered.

Tanmay says “I am currently employed as a Business Analyst, with a leading private bank. My first digital camera, a Canon DSLR, was purchased two years back. Fascination with wild life was initiated early in school where I was a member of the WWF sponsored 'Quest Nature Club', since then I have never been far from Woodlands. However it is recently that I could mix both my passions for photography and conservation, thanks to the handholding by the DCP mileu. The formal and informal interactions with top professionals at DCP, have helped me grow as a photographer, and more importantly as a person. Eventually as a result of such interations, I have recieved certain recognition for my images from National Geographic Traveller, Canon India, and Smart Photography”

We are pleased to announce a brand new series of DCP Chronicle 'From the diaries'. This will be featuring trip reports and images from various lesser known wild places of India documented by one of the DCP Wildlife Photographers. Apart from being an interesting story to read, DCP will be maximizing the use of this content and images for building up a scientific database. The first in the series is from the diaries of Tanmay Haldar. If you think you can write, and have a rich experience to share with the world, please send us your trip reports to publications@drcaesarphotography.com to get featured here.

All rights reserved © Tanmay Haldar Published and circulated by DCP