Satchari National Park Naturewatch, Habiganj, January 2009

Dewdrops Shine: Satchari National Park
Habiganj, Bangladesh

23 Janaury 2009


It was a crazy idea! Well, how many would come out of home at 4:00 in the morning with the aim of seeing a jungle wake up?? Yes; we did the crazy thing! Actually for birders and wildlife enthusiasts, its not an unusual practice. Animals and birds are at their most active during the early part of the day. I got a similar experience from my visit to Lawachara National Park in 2008. So, the idea was actually not total guesswork. We had some experienced bird photographers with us, whose idea of going out very early didn’t surprise me too much. But it did put me in trouble in other places. I had to convince my family that it wasn’t actually a crazy idea after all. I still don’t know whether I was successful in my effort.

Since coming back from the great tour to Tanguar Haor, bird and wildlife began to attract me. And why not? This is the season to go out for such works. The weather is tolerable and lots of migratory birds are crowding various places. I had been to Lawachara and being very close to that place, Satchari National Park almost waived at me. I was thinking of an outing for the day, and Satchari came as the first choice. Its on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway and comes before Habiganj while we start from Dhaka. This small forest of some 243 hectares is also one-sixth of Lawachara, which is a small forest itself. But the real surprise of Satachari is its avifauna. It has 218 species of birds within such a small place. It’s a paradise for birdwatchers.

Collected some friends who were very enthusiastic about it. But I didn’t even know how to reach there. Desperately needed someone to guide us. And who better than the great Zamir Bhai!! I hadn’t been with too many birders in my life. But of those whom I’ve met, Zami Bhai was the craziest. He does exactly what is required of him to collect bird photos. His dedication cannot be doubted. He was on his toes to go and so was another crazy birder, Gazi Bhai. Those two had made many birding trips together. So, we three, Kamal, Arif and me, had a couple of great birders to accompany us! It would be a learning trip also.

As we planned; Zamir Bhai came down with his car and we came out of home sometime after 4:00AM. We took fuel and our main journey started by around 5:00AM. The main thing that worried us was fog. Just the day before, we saw perfect weather with excellent visibility. But coming out of home at those early hours was a real shock! Visibility was extremely bad and we began to count time. When we started our journey, we could hardly see anything ahead of us. Zamir Bhai is a good driver and he drove pretty slowly. We hardly had a sleep at night, yet, our eyes were glued to the windshield with concern! We had to do some guesswork regarding the right choice of road several times. And that choice wasn’t helped by the thick fog.

It didn’t really clear up that much until around 6:30AM when the sun began to smuggle some light through the thick curtain of mist. We finished our breakfast at a roadside restaurant (less than five-star quality) and began moving once more. My fingers were itching to click!! There were so many subjects flying past us and I was just looking! Well, we had a more important goal and that goal required continued driving. Zamir Bhai is an old visitor to Satchari. He even went there seven day in a row! He knew the forest like anything; but even he required some guide, as he hadn’t been to the place during the last one year. He called Palash, a local trained guide, over phone and told him to be ready. Palash was trained by Nishorgo, a USAID-funded project aimed at sustained conservation and development of our forest resources.


Welcome to Satchari!!........ Entrance to the one-hour trail.......

We reached Satchari by around 8:05AM. It was foggy. Though the surrounding area was full of tea gardens, we couldn’t see a thing. We arrived at the forest almost without a warning. It just arrived in front of us! Palash was already waiting for us there. We parked our car and started walking. Palash took time to show us the activity of the primates. This is the time when the primates are at their most active. We watched several primate families around the highway. The highway actually goes through the northern edge of the forest. Some of those primates were on the northern side of the highway although the main forest lies south of the highway. Palash showed us the Pig-tailed Mccauqe. In that low light condition in the trees, we could at best notice that there were some primates in the trees. It wasn’t that easy for us to identify their species. We also saw some Capped Langurs. They moved and made sounds. Zamir Bhai was remembering his infamous welcome from these animals during a previous visit, when they were being thrown various stuff from the trees. Anyway, we proceeded. We walked along the highway northward; searching for the trail that would take us deep into the jungle.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Misty morning at Satchari..........01

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature..........01

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Just like the witch-tree!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Bamboo chaos!!



Sound of dewdrop shower.........


It would be hard to describe the mystery surrounding those mist-covered threes. The road vanished into that ghostly haze and the trees barely announced their presence. It was a perfect setting for a thriller movie! We found our trail soon enough and entered the forest proper by around 8:45AM. Anticipating some mobile phone network problems, we finished our talk before we vanished into the forest. The entrance to the forest was full of leaning bamboo trees, almost creating a gate of nature. And there were birds composing the welcome tune! Couldn’t help recording the sound of that. We crossed one of the several wooden bridges there. These bridges are built across some narrow streams that were completely dry at that time. Needless to say, these streams are quite a handful during the rainy season. The appearance of Satchari wasn’t too different from that of Lawachara. My experience at Lawachara told me what to expect in a rain forest. Yet, I couldn’t hide my excitement. I continued to enjoy the beautiful tone of Nature and the mystery of the environment. The continuous sound of dewdrops on dead leaves amazed me most. I couldn’t help recording that beautiful music.



Laughingthrush sound.........


Our first find was a noisy bird in the bushes. The bird was making some really interesting noise, but we couldn’t see it. I was able to take a peek at the yellowish bird through very thick vegetation. Our birdwatchers identified the bird as a kind of Laughingthrush. We were able to record the sound of the bird, but failed to shoot a picture. This was one of those encounters that would be repeated many times throughout our hiking. This was the same experience I got at Lawachara. There too, we were able to hear many types of birds, but we could hardly see them. Vegetation here is very thick and the trees are so high that a bird sitting on top of a tree would be difficult to see even with good equipment.



Barking Deer sound............

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........02

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........01

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Ant-house!!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........03

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........04

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........05

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........06

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........07



By around 9:20AM, Palash alerted us to listen to Barking Deer. It certainly sounded like a dog! And that’s why its called Barking Deer. Our hiking took us past numerous spider webs. I hadn’t noticed that many spider webs at Lawachara. At Satchari, they were noticeably more in number than at Lawachara. We took our time painstakingly documenting the spiders in our way. The spider webs were also something to see. Dewdrops on those webs formed pearls in the air! They looked like latest designs from international design houses! Their beauty and complexity made me wonder how small we are in terms of making things. All our achievements go down the drain when Nature defeats us with these simple creations. And how dare we that we proceed to destroy the things that we can never make! That’s foolish arrogance!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........02

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........03...... this was the biggest spider web I had seen!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

They also dwell at Satchari...........

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Collective presence!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Not bigger than a waterdrop!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Big antennae........



On the way, I discovered the biggest spider web that I have seen in my life! It was hanging from a tree and didn’t have the spider on it. But it was huge! It was several feet in length. By around 10:20AM, we found a bit of an oasis! It wasn’t pleasant to see some clearings right in the middle of the forest though. We spent some time there recuperating. Also started a bit of competition to find as many species of insects as we could find. Zamir Bhai was always leading!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........04

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Believe me, its a spider and its alive!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Noisy dwellers of Satchari........01 (Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher)

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Noisy dwellers of Satchari........02 (ID please!!)

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Small but stylistic!


By 10:45AM, we were on the move once more. Soon, we found a particularly interesting spider. To the untrained eye, the spider might look like a dead one or even the prey itself! It had an uncanny ability to fool its victim or predator alike! We spent some time photographing that marvel. By around 11:30AM, we arrived at a place where we got convinced that we could get glimpses of quite a few birds. The birds were very busy, so we had a tough time shooting them even with our big lenses. We brought out our field guides to get some instant ID. And we got ID on at least three species.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Art of Nature.........08

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo........ have a look at its exotic tail....



We moved on when we thought we had disturbed them enough. Our voices probably also gave them enough scare. The hiking got a bit harder after that. We had to do a bit of climbing. It wasn’t too easy with all the heavy photographic equipment hanging from our shoulders and neck. But the hard work paid off by around 12:30PM. We spotted a single Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo. Its exclusive tail made it my catch of the day. It was hard shooting the bird, with all the undergrowth restricting my view. We also spotted 4/5 other species of birds there. Even Hill Myna was there, as spotted by Palash. But we failed to get a real glimpse of them. As usual, we could hear more than we could see.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

The crime scene!!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Evidence!!



One thing that I cannot help mentioning is that we’ve witnessed the same pathetic logging at Satchari. We heard people cutting down trees and saw numerous freshly-cut trees. I’m not whom to blame here. But simple blame game wouldn’t be able to save the rare species that call this place home. I’ve seen this at Lawachara and now, I’ve seen this here too. It breaks my heart and makes me wonder what we are about to leave for our next generations.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Who lives in there??


By around 1:00PM, we arrived at something like a cliff! When we climbed a pretty much vertical surface (almost 60 degrees) that had no support on it, we knew we would have to come down from there. So, when we arrived in front of an even steeper fall, the shock was just a wee bit lesser than absolute. Some of us wanted to go down. It must’ve been at least 40 feet at 70 degrees with no support whatsoever. Others objected. Palash suggested an alternative route, which took us through thick undergrowth and through yet another cliff, which was a wee bit easier to negotiate. We were constantly worried that someone might lose his footing and take all the others below with him. But fortunately, we were able to reach the flat trail once more. The trail that we had been negotiating, was a relatively new one. It still had stems of cut-down plants and its surface, wherever steep, didn’t have any support. And there was constant fear of losing grip.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........05

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........06

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

The giant!!........ This was the biggest spider we saw at Satchari of the day......

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Deadly, but colourful.......

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Evil mark left by humans........ Whoever is reading this, please help stop these nonsense activities.......

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spiderweb..........07

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Primates go about their activities.........01 (Capped Langur)

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Spreading wings........

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Colours of Satchari........



It was around 1:30PM and we were well on our way back. Palash’s tough detour saved us some time. Our aim was to leave the place as soon as possible. It was necessary for a quick return to Dhaka. We still went on shooting as we walked. By around 2:00PM, spotted some Capped Langurs on our way back. We also clicked yet more spiders. We got our biggest spider of the day. Don’t know the species, but it certainly was big, black and majestic. Other smaller ones also didn’t disappoint. Their colours and designs were truly wonderful. Nature is not just beautiful here, its intelligent and deadly too!

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Primates go about their activities.........02 (Rhesus Macaque)

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Primates go about their activities.........03 (Rhesus Macaques)

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Catching the sun........

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Face-to-face......... (Common Myna)

We reached the end of our hiking by around 2:40PM. Spotted some Rhesus Macaques in very much playful mood. We ended our day of shooting with them. By that time, we were pretty tired. Didn’t have a lot to eat whole day. Took some rest and boarded the car by around 3:15PM.

From Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

Tea gardens...... we completely missed them in the fog!


This was the when we began to realize what the mist kept from us. We raced through tea gardens and the vanishing layers in the horizon forced me to think that it might not have been a very bad idea to stop the car. But we had our priority once again. Reaching Dhaka within a reasonable time was first priority. We stopped by a roadside restaurant and a late lunch. It was refreshing. Generated enough energy to reach home safely. The return journey wasn’t as exciting as the journey in, but was enjoyable. With the kind of adventurers I had on that day as my biddies, it was never boring. It was hard work, but great fun. It was interesting as well as inspiring. It almost seemed liked a teaser for more visits there. And the sound of those dewdrops would push me until I pay another visit there.

P.S. This blog contains only some of the images from the tour. For more pictures, please visit the following link:
Satchari National Park, Habiganj, January 2009

For a collection of videos, please visit the follwoing link:
Satchari National Park Playlist

The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Searching through the Dreamscape
The Sundarbans, Satkhira, Bangladesh

13-17 November 2008

Two in a row!! If someone asked me whether a back-to-back journey to the Sundarbans was boring or not, I would tell him/her one thing, "you must be joking!!". I just came back from the Sundarbans on 25 October. Why did I take another journey there in less than 3 weeks of the first one? Simple; I wasn't satisfied. The place had too many things for me, and I could quench the thirst only for a few. The rest just continued to beckon at me, until I got the invitation for this tour. It took me just several hours to confirm my availability. I couldn't possibly miss that.

Last time we were 17 people from our Flickr group TTL. This time we were only eight. I was mostly with the pro's. Out of those eight, five were professional photographers, giving enough of a reason to consider this as a learning process too. Tushar Bhai was there, who accompanied us during the last journey as well. He's the reason behind making the journey to the same place one more; Satkhira. We avoided the typical Khulna route because of the chaos of too many people, and lack of focus. The Khulna route is for the tourists; on the other hand, the Satkhira route is for the adventurers.

Our guide was again Mr. Salahuddin Bappy, the experienced journalist from Satkhira. The route plan up to the Burigoalini Forest Range Office was the same; but the rest of the tour had a lot more variance from the earlier one. Zubair Bhai was the main organiser, the contact point. Tushar Bhai and his business partner Zulias Bhai was there; they're both professionals. Shantu Bhai in an established photojournalist and Mamun Bhai is in advertising media, specialising in graphic designing. Royel Bhai, a businessman, and Lozens Bhai, an artist, are like me; non-pro's. And Zubair Bhai is another established professional photographer, mainly in commercial photography. My sincere thanks to them for offering me to go with them.

Last time it was a weekend tour only. This time, I utilised my annual leave to spend some worthy time over there. At least, there would less to complaint about the available time. The plan was to start on the evening on the 13th (Thursday) and come back on the 17th morning (Monday). A lot of others missed the tour because of the extra day's requirement. We missed them too.

Anyway, the journey began as planned; no surprises. We started at around 8:50PM. By around 11:00PM, we were on board a ferry at Paturia. It was full-moon. And the river looked beautiful. There were big shoals forming right in the middle of the river, as the dry seasons loomed. Those shoals were glowing under the moon. Anyway, the journey just continued from Daulatdia on the other end. We actually reached Satkhira a little earlier than we had expected; by around 3:20AM. We were supposed to board another bus from the same service provider. That bus took us to Shyamnagar after an hour's journey. It was still dark. Bappy Bhai was supposed to pick us from there in a microbus. But until he could come, we took a little time off at Shyamnagar, inside the empty, idle bus. Once Bappy Bhai arrived, we squeezed into the microbus and started. Breakfast was waiting for us on the boat.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Through the veil of morning mist.........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Shyamnagar Palace lies in ruins..........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Shyamnagar Palace lies in ruins..........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Shyamnagar Palace lies in ruins..........03

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Life in the past.......01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Life in the past.......02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreaming from the past..........


At around 6:50AM, , we stopped at an unusual place. Finding an archaeological relic on the safari was the last thing in my mind; but thats what we got there. We stopped at Shyamnagar Palace (Shyamnagar Zamindar Bari). The building was made by a Zamindar named Haricharan Ray Chowdhury some 150 years back. Now it lies in complete ruin. There are people living within parts of those buildings too. We had a pretty short opportunity to have a look at those ruins and shoot some photos. But it was well worth the pause. Then we moved on.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Morning mirror..........


It wasn't too long before we stopped the car once again. We were leaving just too much beauty behind us. The morning mist on the paddy fields and shrimp farms were dreamy. Infant houses among the huge watery expanses of the shrimp farms, with their foggy backgrounds and perfect reflections on the water were hard to ignore. We were biting our teeth, and only sacrificed them for the sake of the overall journey. Still, by around 7:15AM, Zulias Bhai forced the car to stop. The reflections of those palm trees on the still water were too much to pass by unphotographed!

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing at Burigoalini.........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing at Burigoalini.........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing at Burigoalini.........03

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing at Burigoalini.........04

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing festival, well almost......


By around 7:45AM we were at the gateway to the Sundarbans, the Burigoalini Forest Range Office. We boarded the boat and our dreams slowly began to turn into reality. Lots of fishing were going on around us. We could also see innumerable small fishing boats in the distant background. It almost looked like a festive season as far as fishing is concerned. But to my knowledge, commercial fishing in the Sundarbans is not allowed. Those boats were most probably engaged in crab fishing.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Small Minivet, male........ at Kalagachia Forest Station.....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Old horse........ the wooden bridge behind the forest station at Kalagachia...

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

In symphony....... fishing boats on the River Kalagachia....


We left Burigoalini by around 9:00AM and reached Kalagachia Forest Station within 25 minutes. This is the place where we stayed the night last time. The place wasn't as green as it was while it was raining, but it still looked beautiful. We had our breakfast there on the boat and roamed around the nice woody areas behind the station. The mangroves looked great, even though they were unable to match their own beauty under rain. Birds were not too frequent this time round; even though we were able to hear quite a few of them.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Lonely journey......... boat on the Dobeki River......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Man-made contrasts..........01......... boat on the Dobeki River......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Man-made contrasts..........02........ on the Dobeki River......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Man-made contrasts..........03...... at Firingir Char......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Hardened faces..........01....... crab fishermen at Firingir Char

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Crab fishermen at Firingir Char.......


We left Kalagachia before 11:00AM; destination was a place called Firingir Char, where we were supposed to set foot among the mangroves. On the way, we stopped for a brief period at the Dobeki Forest Station. It was already around 1:20PM. But it wasn't until around 3:10PM when we reached Firingir Char. Everyone set foot among the mangroves, while I waited on the boat. I wasn't particularly fascinated by the thrill of the mud under my bare foot. While on the boat, I had a glimpse of the lives of the crab fishermen of the Sundarbans. These people stay away from home until their boat is filled up with crabs, which takes around 5/6 days. Each day yields around 35-45 crabs, which they sell to the market at Tk 20 per kg. Each kg yields only 10-12 crabs, making each crab worth less than Tk 2 on an average! For these 5/6 days, they live in their boat and stay away from their families. What a return at the end of such sacrifice! Moreover, there's the threat of pirates. If these fishermen fail to pay at least Tk 300, they are severely beaten up. This is a story to tell; a story to learn. You can see the hardship on their faces. This story alone was worth for me to stay on the boat.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Afternoon waves.......01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Afternoon waves.......02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishermen working with their nets at Notabeki Baon, on the Maamdo River.....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Sunset at Notabeki Baon, on the Maamdo River.....


We had a pretty late lunch that day. And at the end of the lunch, we reached another place, named Notabeki Baon, on the River Maamdo. It was around 4:30PM. We could see fishermen engaged in a very interesting practice. They were planting fishing nets in the mud. High tide would inundate the mud and thats then they would raise the nets. This should capture a lot of aquatic creatures along the coast. Its an age-old trick, but effective. I again watched everyone being ferried to the muds. They spent a while there, until the sun went down by around 5:15PM. The sunset was spectacular. An eventful Friday went by with all the hopes for the next day.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Relaxing during the sunset....... Notabeki Canal.....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Photographers at work.......01........Notabeki Canal.....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Photographers at work.......02........Notabeki Canal.....


We reached Notabeki Forest Station before 6:00PM. But we decided to stay on the boat. Facilities on the ground weren't too tempting, actually. We didn't mind spending the night on the boat. The boat had enough room for eight of us and under a moonlit night, it was almost too romantic! We still managed to catch some sleep; we were really tired.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dawn at Notabeki Station.......01......... Notabeki Canal.......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dawn at Notabeki Station.......02......... Notabeki Canal.......


The dawn on Saturday at Notabeki broke out with fantastic colours! It was hard for us to wake up at around 6:00AM, but was it worth the pain!! It was a spectacular sunrise. We clicked to our heart's content.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

"Golpata" plants at Ashashuni Canal........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Black-capped Kingfisher......... at Ashashuni Canal........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

"Golpata" plants at Ashashuni Canal........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Colours at Jalghata..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

The King of Jalghata........... White-bellied Sea Eagle.........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Nature's playhouse...... Terns flying in groups at Jalghata.....


The day's plan was finalised the night before. We were aiming for an exclusive place called Kalir Char. The place is quite far, but its unique nature should attract any adventurer. We started off by around 7:20AM. A long journey ensued. But it was in no way boring. We spotted some deer at a place called Dingimari, but they all flew noticing us. Some nice "golpata" plants were seen on the way at Ashashuni Canal. The real surprise waited for us near Jalghata. The trees were under high tide and there were many birds playing among those trees. It was spectacular. And the eagle commanding the trees was unmistakable. The huge white thing graced the trees like a king. The terns flying under those trees were paying homage to the eagle's kingship!

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Utter ignorance!!....... Terns showing their back!!

We paused for a while at Jalghata and again left for Kalir Char. Vast expanses of water had to be crossed to reach that remote place. The place lies around 2 hours' from the Bay of Bengal. Some terns were showing their back at us with utter ignorance! But we could not move on without taking some snaps of them.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Idle morning........ Sandpiper at Kalir Char......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Graceful in flight........ Brahminy Kite at Kalir Char....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Group flights......... Common Terns at Kalir Char.......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Whimbrels in flight......... at Kalir Char

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Landscape at Kalir Char.......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

"Modontak" (Lesser Adjutant Stork) in flight..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

For the control of the skies......... Brahminy Kite and "Modontak" flying over Kalir Char......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

A supersonic flypast........ Barn Swallow in flight........


It wasn't until 12:00 noon, when we were able to see the spectacular scenes on Kalir Char. Straightaway we knew that we had hit the jackpot! This place was teeming with life. The biodiversity here wasn't difficult to pick within the first few moments. Egrets and herons spotted the green grass along the canal. Sandpipers adorned the muddy canal banks. Terns and Whimbrels were wheezing past from this side to the other. Occasional "Modontak" (Lesser Adjutant Stork) was gracing the green grassland displaying their massive wings. A couple of Brahminy Kites were dominating the skies around that place, sitting only on the top of the tallest trees. And how could I forget to mention the Band Swallows? These tiny little things were darting along the canal east-west, every minute; restless. They were the hardest to capture in the camera, but I tried my best. A kite all on a sudden swooped on an egret on the other bank, just to claim his/her own territory. The sky wasn't actually in total control of the kites. A huge "Modontak" was dividing the skies above between him and a kite. The trees on land were full of birds of many kinds; but I had to leave them there as I had once more decided to remain on the boat.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Territorial Mud Skippers........ at Kalir Char......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Relaxed, but attentive....... deer at Kalir Char.....


The mud of the mangroves was as vibrant as I've seen during the previous visit. Mud Skippers and a myriad of crabs and snails brought the bland mud to life. The distant woods kept the biggest surprises. Spotted deers were relaxing among the trees and were paying a lot of attention to our movements. They remained until our team decided to land. Everyone went ashore even though Bappy Bhai was recommending a stay on the boat for at least half-an-hour more. He said that the deers would've come extremely close to the boat if we just kept quiet. But the patience of the photographers were pushed to the limit. They wanted to go ashore immediately. This pushed the deers further and further away. From then on, we could only see them from far away.

The rest of the day was spent at the canal, waiting for our friends to come back. Some of them came back rather late, deciding to ignore the advice of Bappy Bhai. Bappy Bhai was particularly concerned about their security. Kalir Char is notoriously known for its tigers. He was also concerned about the tide. Ebb tide would make it very difficult to get the boat out of the canal. A third worry was the boat's gearbox. The machine was giving trouble since last night. And there was a serious concern about the fitness of the boat.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

The day's proceeds....... Boatmen returning with "keora" fruits....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Footmarks......... the leaning sun at Kalir Char.........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Anchor aweigh!!....... Abdul Wahab casting anchor....... the boat got stuck in the mud!!

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Until the next tide......... waiting it out for the high tide.......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Last colours at Kalir Char........


Bappy Bhai wanted to get the boat out of the canal before 3:00PM. But when everyone boarded the boat, it was already 4:30PM. Water level dropped and there was mud all around. The boat got stuck. All tried with anchor and poles failed. Abdul Wahab, a staff of Bappy Bhai, even went as far as to push the boat from the back in chest high water and knee deep mud! It was still not working. We decided to wait until the next high tide, which was not supposed to start before couple of hours' time. We rather enjoyed the sunset, which was again quite spectacular.

Our engine started again by around 6:40PM. The moon was struggling to come out through the clouds. But we could experience a marvel that was totally unexpected. Pack of deers at night! We couldn't see anything in the dark, but once we focused our torchlights on the shore, we were surprised to see lights being bounced back! Those were the eyes of the deers. No one; many! They all turned into statues seeing our lights. We couldn't see anything other than the eyes on the far bank, but the bank near us was fantastic. We focused 4/5 torches at the same time and could see many deers roaming around with their eyes popping out! For a moment, they were stuck with awe. But soon they woke uk from their dreams and started to run. Some were making huge leaps. It was a brilliant sight! I could see a far-away eye moving upwards! It was flying! Bappy Bhai said that it was an owl.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

A moon-lit Dobeki Forest Station......


Our awe came to an end once we were out of the canal. We were on our way to Dobeki Forest Station. Thats where we were supposed to stay the night. It was a long journey. We couldn't reach there before 11:00PM. When we reached there, we could see the canal beside the pier completely inundated in high tide. We could see everything in bright moonlight. It was eerie, but romantic. We finished our dinner quickly and spent some time gossiping on the pier. The moonlit night was almost too romantic for an early bed. We were awake until the day's toil forced us to bed by around 1:00AM.

We had an early morning plan for Sunday. I woke Bappy Bhai up at around 5:10AM. I was surprised to find our boat out in the open. When we went to sleep, the boat was inside the narrow canal, among the trees. And now, in ebb tide, I found the boat some distance from the pier. Bappy Bhai and his staff positioned the boat there overnight to avoid any danger from wild animals.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dawn at Dobeki Station..... seen from the watch tower..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Brahminy Kite in flight........ Dobeki Station........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Breakfast!!...... a White-throated Kingfisher swallowing fish....... Dobeki Station........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Guarding the branches....... Eurasian Collared Dove...... Dobeki Station....


Anyway, we started off for the watch tower at the station. I could see none behind me, so, I followed the guard. Some others followed a bit later. It was dawn; around 6:00AM. I sat at the second floor of the tower with the guard. He told me exactly where I would be able to find deers if I was patient enough. But patience was a bit lacking among us; as a lot of talking and movement soon ensued. Such movement at the top floor of the tower could be seen and hear from far away. Langurs climbed a tree and came down. The guard told me that its the sign that the deers would be moving away from that direction. Usually deers always follow the langurs. They give each other warnings of impending danger from tigers. The langurs were making a lot of sound and they climbed other trees nearby, indicating that they were diverting the deers from the place where I wanted them to be. They come to the big pond beside the tower everyday to have a drink. These ponds are few sources of freshwater in this usually saline area.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Mother and child......... deer at Dobeki Station........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Too attentive....... deer at Dobeki Station........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Looking for a prey...... Dobeki Station...... [any help with ID??]

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

No breakfast yet........ Common Kingfisher......... Dobeki Station......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Shikra.......... Dobeki Station......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Bronzed Drongo....... Dobeki Station......


Most others left the scene soon enough. There were other bathing on the other end of the pond. I became pessimistic with all that chaos. The guard took off, but he still gave me assurance that I might still see something provided that I remained patient. And reward I did get. As light began to improve, so, improved my luck. A few deers came in the exact place where the guard pointed. Kingfishers were catching fishes and having a breakfast in the trees. Big birds of prey were awake. Brahminy Kites and Shikras were claiming their territories and gracefully flying near the tower. Doves and drongos were also jumping in the nearby trees.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Northern Pintails in flight....... Dobeki River......

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

The silense inside Dobeki Bharani........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Common Sandpier at work......... Dobeki Bharani........


I finally came down from the tower at around 8:45AM. I wasn't tired. We were yet to have our breakfast. With that arranged, we were supposed to move off once again. Bappy Bhai arranged a small motor boat for us, which would allow us to go inside a narrow canal. We started off by around 10:20AM. Destination was a nearby canal named Dobeki Bharani. A very narrow canal, which can't be entered in low tide. We changed boat and entered the canal. Bappy Bhai was reluctant to arrange such a tour from the start. But he had to give in to our persistence. He was always very very apprehensive about going inside such confined spaces. We figured out that a tiger swam across the canal not too far ago. There were fresh footmarks on either side of the canal. It looked scary! Bappy Bhai and other guards remained extremely vigilant and were not in favour of a very long ride. Water depth was declining rapidly. We had a hard time turning the boat 180 degrees. The canal was extremely narrow. We could see sandpipers working on the mud inside. Some "dhundal" trees were displaying their big fruits. We boarded the mother boat by around 11:00AM.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Great Egret at Badurjhuli Canal.......01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Great Egret at Badurjhuli Canal.......02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Great Egret at Badurjhuli Canal.......03

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Great Egret at Badurjhuli Canal.......04

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Black-capped Kingfisher at Badurjhuli Canal.......01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Black-capped Kingfisher at Badurjhuli Canal.......02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Young fisherman (or boy??)....... the Kholpetua River

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

All female team......... the Kholpetua River

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

The family........... the Kholpetua River


We were now on our way out of the Sundarbans. We had some more things to enjoy yet, but it would be during this outward journey. We saw Great Egrets and kingfishers in the Badurjhuli Canal. Saw many fishing boats too. We crossed Kalagachia Forest Station on the way; paused a little bit for getting refreshed. We were aiming to land at the fishing village of Gabura. It was around 1:20PM. The landscape of Gabura was unique. It was unlike anything I've seen so far. Long dikes encircled the village and lines of mangrove trees were guarding those dikes from the outside. We found it to be a pretty long strip of land over there, as we traveled to find a place to land.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

A green welcome........ entrance to Gabura Village.........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

All at a time!!........ fishing at Gabura Village........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

A typical fisherman's house.........


The moment we landed, we attracted a lot of onlookers. We could see a big pool of water directly linked to the river, where there were a lot of fishing going on. Almost too many fishermen were throwing their nets in the water. Great sight it was. I talked to some of the villagers over there. They told me that the village had 3,500 voters. They mostly do fishing and the main market for their produce is a place called Munshiganj, some 3km away.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Snakes for crabs??......... Mohammad Idris is a crab fisherman..... he buys these snake-like fishes from a nearby hatchery and dries them in the sun...... after one day's drying, these fishes turn into dried skeletons...... they are used as baits to catch crabs....

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Monira's home...... 3 month-old monira is yet to know her world..... right now, only living under the loving care of her family..... soon, she would learn to call this her home........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

colours..........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

colours..........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Home of the ancient mariner........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Children of Gabura........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreams behind bars........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Patterns of uniqueness.........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Fishing house..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Old school, new students..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Basking in the sun..........

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreamscape..............01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreamscape..............02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreamscape..............03

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreamscape..............04

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Dreamscape..............05


We walked fast, keeping in mind that we had a tight schedule ahead of us. But we could hardly miss the uniqueness of the place. Its true that attracting that much attention was not helping us too much, yet, it also wasn't difficult for us to find that every house over there was a photographic gold-mine! We walked and snapped. It was a hard walk in warm conditions, but never tiring. We boarded the boat once more from another point on the village by around 3:10PM. We were not at all happy that we had to complete the walk within such a short time. One can spend days over there, yet, feel unfulfilled. This was one of the best part of our whole tour.

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Sunset at Burigoalini Forest Range Station..........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Sunset at Burigoalini Forest Range Station..........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Evening mirror.........01

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Evening mirror.........02

From The Sundarbans, Satkhira, November 2008

Evening mirror.........03


We completed our late lunch and proceeded towards the last location in the Sundarbans, Burigoalini Forest Range Station, where the tour started. We left our boat and boarded a microbus by around 4:45PM. The sun was already producing captivating colours, so, couldn't help taking some shots. As we ran through the road, we could see the setting sun beckoning. Egrets were taking off from the green paddy fields against a setting sun. Perfect reflections of the houses on the water were almost too much. But we couldn't waste time on the road. We were after the same coconut trees that we had snapped on the inward journey. The earlier snaps were with the sun on the east, now its with the setting sun. When we reached the place by around 5:25PM, by which time the sky had lost most of its colours. The brilliant red glow was no longer there. But the reflections still stole our hearts.

We bade Bappy Bhai goodbye on the way and reached Shyamnagar. But we had bad news for us. We didn't have a bus for us for Satkhira. So, We had to take the same microbus to Satkhira to catch the bus for Dhaka.

It was already around 7:30PM when we reached Satkhira. We booked tickets for Dhaka on an 8:45 bus. Completed our dinner at a local restaurant and had some nice local tea made from fresh milk. The last part of the journey didn't have a lot to offer. We had some gossip on the way before the effects of the hard journey showed on our eyes. Don't know when I fell asleep. It was pretty early in the morning when we set foot in Dhaka. It was 3:30AM and a little too early in the morning to be of any convenice.

Looking back at the tour, I just wonder I saw so much, yet there was so much I missed. I would surely go there once again with the next opportune moment!

P.S.
Special thanks to Zamiruddin Faisal Bhai for the ID of the birds.
This blog page contains only a few images; please have a look at the whole gallery here to get a complete picture.