Birds Of A Weather

Flocks of Indigenous and Migratory Birds Thrive in and Around the Banni Grasslands of Kutch Every Winter.

- Anjuman Deodhar

You’re going birding where?!” a well-meaning friend asked, incredulously. A regular visitor to Kutch on account of his textiles business, he seemed concerned about the state of my mental health. “There’s nothing there, buddy. It’s all arid land. Hardly any trees even!” he said. I smiled patiently. I was aware of the reputation Kutch had. And to be fair to him, it is arid. But he was wrong about the birds. Kutch lies on the migration route of many birds flying south for winter, including the stately common cranes that arrive here by the thousands. And they’re just one of hundreds of different species that follow suit.

LEAVES OF GRASS

At the heart of the Kutch birding experience is Banni, possibly the largest natural grassland on the Indian subcontinent. It is about 85 kilometres northwest of Bhuj and spread over about 3,000 square kilometres and hosts an incredible population of birds, reptiles, and mammals. Come monsoon, large swathes of land are inundated by saline water, which, although shallow, has been instrumental in influencing the flora and fauna of this region.

Human activities in the last few decades have also had a great impact on this ecosystem. These include damming of rivers that help drain the ingress of salt water, salt farming in pans, rampant livestock grazing, and the introduction of the notorious gando baval (mad babool). In the 1960s, the Gujarat government introduced this plant across 300 square kilometres of the region to minimise the impact of salt water ingress. Today, it covers more than 1,500 square kilometres of Banni, having displaced many indigenous grass species and reduced the groundwater levels.