It was rather misty and not a very good day for photographs nevertheless, I visited the Basai Wetland on Saturday and was mesmerised by the sight of Cormorants fishing in the waters of the Basai Wetland. The Cormorant would dive into the water and then come up in a different spot with a fish in its beak! OK, so this is not China where fishermen use Cormorants for fishing but then it is certainly an amazing sight no doubt to be able to witness such a sight.
Being a bit late I could not witness a Painted Stork fishing for Catfish, but then I was indeed able to see it attempt to swallow a huge catfish even while it was fending off a few crows that were quick to snatch away the fish. I am however doubtful if the crows could have handled so big a fish, let alone fly away with it!
The only spoilsport in this idyllic scenery were two men with sticks who were chasing away the birds! They just wouldn't allow the Cormorants to fish! Clearly, these men were trying to protect the banned African Magoor Catfish that they had been breeding in the Basai Wetland. I wonder how the authorities could have allowed the breeding of the catfish, which incidentally, has finished off indigenous species of fish in the wetland. I also wonder how the authorities could have allowed the sale of the Magoor Catfish which must have become toxic enough having lived in the sewage-contaminated water of the wetland.
Off they went the poor, hungry Cormorants, chased by hungrier greedy people who wanted to preserve the banned fish that they had bred the water of the Basai Wetland in the city of Gurugram. I wonder how the birds could have been such a threat to the fish.
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