A state that plays host to the tireless Amur Falcons on their long migratory journey
The poster of an incredible journey started us on our journey.
We were in Nagaland, visiting our good friend Chubatola Aier in the November of 2015. Chu was the Principal of C-Edge College showing us around a brand new college building that had emerged in the midst of the paddy fields surrounding it - a living proof of a passion for breaking through - and a rare privilege for us!
Chu stopped at a poster in the library. It showed the Amur falcons on their migratory route from south eastern Siberia and northern China to southern Africa. The longest migratory route in the world going up to 22,000 km with a three and half day non-stop flight across the Arabian Sea. The pace of her encyclopedic narrative suddenly dropped as she popped the question – Do you want to see the falcons?
The falcons visit Nagaland annually for two months of roosting and they were here at this time of the year, she said. From poster to real life – that in itself was a flight of the imagination long enough for us. An opportunity to watch these birds would only extend the boundaries of the extraordinary already unfolding on the trip.
Time got magically transformed in the next few hours.
3:00 pm – Off on a bumpy drive through the paddy fields in an Eeco car.
4:00 pm – We reached a clearing and jumped off the car trying to speed up the encounter. Some local guards lounging about near a makeshift shelter showed us typical Naga hospitality as we joined them in the open area bound by the synergy of anticipation as we began our wait.
4:30 pm – The sky turned spotty. Little circling dots started to come closer and closer as they dissolved over the silent trees.
5:00 pm – Swirls of dark clouds came down as the dots increased in number and the dance of the falcons began as they flew from left to right in an aerial ballet of spinning circles.
5:15 pm – We watched open mouthed as the migrants descended spotting every surrounding tree as they settled in for the evening. After all they were going to fly non-stop once the roosting season was over!
5:30 pm - We had just participated in the milestone of an epic journey and the ride home was a silent one of awe.
After the visit to Nagaland, and the amazing encounter with the Amur Falcons, we returned to Hyderabad leaving a small gift for the College to do some activity of their wish. The offer came from the College, “Why not institute an Award?” We quickly took it up, and now we have the Balakhrishnan Ramanathan Award for Subject Topper in Environmental Studies. We hope that this Award shall not only be an incentive for the students, but also a small contribution to environmental awareness so that our amazing Amur falcons too might continue to find their roosting place in Nagaland.
(Prepared for the Balakrishnan Ramanathan EVS Award, based on the visit to Nagaland, November 2015 by Indu and Kala Ramanathan, Singapore/Hyderabad)
