A date with flamingos
Kavita Kanan Chandra
The grey and murky mudflats along the crude jetty road of Sewri with rusty barge appear dull. However, as you look beyond, over the creek and spot the pretty pink plumage of thousands of flamingos, you cheer up.
Come November-December the flamingoes migrate from Gujarat to several water bodies in Mumbai but Sewri mudflats is the spot to see thousands of these gregarious wading birds. As monsoon heralds in June, they again fly back to the Rann of Kutch for breeding.
Known as Agni Pankha and Mrinal Kanth in ancient Indian literature, the flamingoes were the auspicious vehicles for Lord Indra and Goddess Gayatri. It finds mention in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and Kalidasa’s Shakuntala. Research has found that flamingos are ancient birds, more primitive form are from 50 million years ago. It is a blessing that flamingos are still around and we can spot them easily, even in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai.
The flamingos are flamboyantly coloured birds, thus making them a sight to behold. They look elegant as they gracefully swim towards the Sewri mudflats during low tide. A vast expanse of mangroves stretches in the background under the Mumbai skyline. The birds and mangroves complement each other for the flamingos get food and shelter under it while the bird’s excrement help in the growth of mangroves.
With a height of 1.5m to 2 m, the birds stand tall with long legs and the lean slender sinuous necks adding to their bewitching beauty. They have a wing span up to 100 cm (lesser flamingo) and up to 165 cm (greater flamingo).
When you stand at the jetty and watch the flocks of flamingos numbering thousands approaching you, they appear like waves of fluffy pink cotton wools.
Once in the shallow water during low tide, they dig their webbed feet into the mudflats. Curving their neck in ‘S’ shape in a distinctive downward bend and dunking their bills into the mud, the dainty beauties elegantly feed on crustaceans. The beta-carotene in them gives the flamingos the characteristic pink colour. But all flamingos are not vibrant pink. The baby flamingos are greyish and the various species of adult flamingos vary from pale to dark pink with even streaks of crimson in their plumage.
In addition to them, there are birds like stints, grey herons, black-headed ibis, sandpipers, plovers, egrets, gull, tern and kingfishers. They feed on a variety of marine invertebrates, crabs, shrimp, algae and small fish.
You can spend hours just spotting the variety of birds. As the Sewri mudflats see the largest group of Lesser Flamingos in a single spot in the entire state of Maharashtra, they become the cynosure of all eyes. Just watching the flamingoes feeding or flapping their wings for flight is a fascinating pastime. Even their march is well orchestrated as the flock of flamingos walk in a line like obedient school kids. The avid birdwatcher would vouch for their ballerina-like performance. When they are up in the sky they fly gracefully with their neck and head stretched and legs trailing behind in 'V' shape formation.
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the two-hour Flamingo Watch, which is organised by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
The proposed construction on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link might well change the migratory route of flamingos and they might well give Sewri a miss next year. Till then, savour this unhurried, unspoiled and unforgettable experience.
Fact file:
How to reach Sewri mudflats: Take a harbour line train to Sewri station and then walk down to the Sewri jetty. One can also drive down to Sewri.
What to take with you: Go there with a pair of binoculars, cap, camera and then wait patiently at any time between the high tide and low tide and the lovely feathered friends will not disappoint you.
The Flamingo Watch organized by the Bombay natural History Society (BNHS) 2017: Upcoming Flamingo watch (duration 2 hours) to be organised on February 19 and February 26. BNHS volunteers with binoculars assist bird-watchers in spotting flamingos and other birds and also talk about habitat conservation.
