Sarus Cranes at The Basai Wetland

This Saturday, the 7th of July was an eye-opener for me when I visited the Basai Wetland in the wee hours of the morning. The first thing that I noticed was Sarus Cranes strolling through piles of plastic garbage dumped in the area. The second thing was to observe with horror, a couple, wildlife photographers taking photographs while one of them was throwing stones at birds apparently to make the birds take wing so that one of them could take a flying shot. My take on this habit is that people who throw stones at nesting birds are highly irresponsible in nature, more so because the stone might hit a nest and break the eggs lying in the nest. Wildlife enthusiasts need to be responsible citizens who have the moral responsibility of preserving and protecting nature in all its forms. 

I was most lucky to take photographs of a pheasant tailed Jacana in its breeding plumage. While I was photographing a pair of Sarus Cranes, a bird landed just beyond me flashing a golden neck even as it moved around in the grass. My sensed were alerted and I switched attention towards this singularly distinct bird.

What drew my attention, however, was the ritual of grooming that the Sarus cranes went into. An entire fifteen minutes were devoted to a dry-cleaning ritual which was perhaps meant to extract fleas from their rich plumage. They did it all together!

The behaviour of these human beings drew my ire, no doubt, for I believe that every responsible human being has the duty of protecting nature and throwing stones at birds for the sake of a photograph is not done!

The Swatch Bharat Mission seems to have been ignored by this little boy who peed into the water with the least of worries! Also to be seen were people who made noise apparently to drive away the birds from their morning breakfast.

But then, good sense prevailed, and I got to see a couple of bee-eaters going through their morning rigmarole of cleaning themselves!

I was also able to spot a bird that seemed to me most similar to the Chat Bird one finds all over the country.

It is clear that the Basai Wetland continues to be an important ecological treasure trove for Gurgaon that we need to preserve. While the authorities continue to dither on its status, I hope that common sense prevails and the Government of Haryana declares it to be an important ecological zone.