Stunning six in my Radar

With no resources and expertise to scientifically follow their migratory habits, I was about to confirm and conclude that they are done with their roosting and picking in Lhuentse. I could monitor and keep them in my radar only when they come to Opkina wetlands in Minjay – where it has all the crane needs for living. With Black-necked cranes last seen at Opkina on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, it was almost 36 days of their absence. This was unusual since in the past, they would come back almost after a week or so. From such long absence, I was with the notion that they’ve left the Dzongkhag.

I was proved completely wrong when one morning at 7:30 AM on Thursday, 27 January 2011, presence of a big group of the birds was reported. With a camera I rushed to the site to capture them on digital image that I was hardly able to catch my breath when I reach their feeding area. With careful not to disturb their breakfast, I approached carefully from behind the bushes. Like a sniper, I shot them several times, not with the bullets but by the clicks of the camera. I spent whole of my morning keeping close watch on their every move and as a result I was able to document many stunning images. I waited till they are done so that I can also capture their aerobatics images.    

From my own layman observation, the cranes are seen to make their picks at dawn and dusk only. As the sun appears, they disappear probably to escape the scorching heat. The terraces with bad drainage capacity are what they prefer to feed as is evident from the pictures presented here. When others are feeding, atleast one of them is not, rather he is scanning the surrounding keeping guard against any impending dangers ad interim.

The current lot consists of six with 2 juveniles and 4 matured birds. The juveniles are characterized by more dirty appearance. Unlike their parents, who wear clear distinctions between their black neck and tail with bright red crown, the younger ones have ashy-coloured feathers. Their feathers are yet to mature into pure black and pure white in their body parts. They are also comparatively smaller in size than their matured counterparts. They look to me more like an egret than the black-necked crane. However, assumption is restricted to my little or no knowledge of the cranes. It may come out to be a different species of the cranes since there are known to be 15 different species of cranes.  

It is also almost confirmed that it is the same group of birds who keep circling roosting and feeding in wetlands around atleast 4 gewogs under Lhuentse Dzongkhag. During my last visit to Dungkar, I’ve interacted with the local and the Gewog Adm to verify the birds. From how they’ve described the birds seen in their locality, it fits the latest group of cranes seen in Minjay.

With their first sighting at Opkina in Minjay recorded on Saturday, November 20, 2010, they are 68 days as of January 27, 2011 and they are seen still hovering around. They don’t see likely to move away rather with passing days, the number is increasing. This is a positive sign of the Dzongkhag being able to host more birds. This vindicates doubts about duration of their stay in the Dzongkhag.   

Cranes are considered as symbols of longevity, peace, friendship, love, happiness, martial fidelity and good luck in China, Korea and Japan. Nonetheless, recording of such large number of birds against their vulnerability is big encouragement for conservationist.