Once again I venture into the Yenkathala/Enkathala grasslands, home to as many as 191 bird species and numerous wildlife species. In winter these grasslands host some beautiful migrants - the Montagu’s & Pallid Harriers.
These migrant harriers fly from Russia and Eastern Asian countries traveling over 5,000 kilometers. The dry sub-humid type of grasslands are prevalent here and cover almost the entirety of peninsular India except the Nilgiris. These harriers favour the steppes, wet grassland, and agricultural areas breeding mainly in Eastern Europe. They breed in southern parts of eastern Europe, central Asia and Iran and they winter mainly in India and southeast Asia.
The Yenkathala grasslands have thorny bushes like the Khair, Mimosa, Ber, along with low trees like Axle Wood, & the Indian Redwood. Sehima (grass) which is more prevalent on gravel is about 27% of the cover and Dichanthium (grass) which flourishes on level soil is almost 80% of the coverage.
I make it a point to reach the grasslands and be in position either well before sunrise or mid afternoon. This time I was here around 4pm while the sun was still high. Usually the harriers start to come out just as the sun gets low on the horizon. I shoot through the evening till darkness falls. Or if I am here in the mornings then very early to about 10am beyond which the light gets too harsh.
The harriers are any of the several species of diurnal hawks. They characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. They are thought to have diversified with the expansion of grasslands about 6 to 8 million years ago.
The main threat in the breeding range is degradation and destruction of steppe grasslands by conversion to arable farming, burning of vegetation, intensive grazing of wet pastures, and clearance of shrubs and tall “weeds” (fires started by farmers and arsonists, as well as by dry thunderstorms).
On non-breeding grounds, the loss of grassland through burning, cutting and overgrazing is the principal problem; pesticides and other toxic chemicals are also thought to have an adverse effect on this species, although further research is required.
Another problem I noticed during my time here was the presence of car tracks all over the grasslands indicating that people have been driving in and over the grass itself. Most drivers - and this is my observation during my time here - drive recklessly over the grasslands with the intent of getting as close to the bird as possible to get “the photo”.
Unfortunately this flawed reasoning not only scares of the birds, which are already skittish, but also destroys the habitat - their main reason for being here. I have had people say that since others have done it before them and are still doing it, they too will do it irrespective of the cost to the bird and the habitat. A lot of times there are other mammals present too like mongoose and foxes which are also scared off by this reckless driving and wanton destruction.
If these grasslands are destroyed by such reckless trampling, these beautiful birds will no longer be seen, period!
The Pallid Harrier classified as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
