River Run

Birdwatching and Dolphin-spotting in Narora

- Sutirtha Lahiri

Buffeted by random sprays of water, I sat on the edge of the speedboat, trying to focus my binoculars on a pair of pied kingfishers on the riverbank. Behind the birds, tall grasses swayed gently in the breeze. A pair of ruddy shelducks flew past. Locally called surkhab, these migratory ducks are believed to pair for life, with an attachment so strong that if one dies, the other succumbs in grief. Shelducks are just one among hundreds of migratory birds that visit the flood plains of the River Ganga every winter.

We were in Narora, about 170 kilometres southeast of Delhi. It is much like any other small town on the banks of the Ganga—except for a few important differences. First, Narora is home to one of India’s nuclear power stations. Then, it is also one of the best places to see two of the country’s endangered animals: the Indian skimmer, and the Ganges river dolphin. The first was what had brought our group of 16 bird watchers here so early in the morning. But I was keen on seeing the second too. Completely blind, this amazing species of dolphin has evolved over millennia in the murky waters of this river to use ultrasound waves to echolocate, navigating and hunting prey by this method. The elusiveness and endangered status of India’s national aquatic animal had only made me more eager to see it.