Long wait for the elusive Smooth Coated Otter

From 11th March 2013 to 15th March 2013 

I have been documenting the presence of Otters in Goa as a part of the Small Mammals project undertaken by the Mhadei Research Centre. Otters are locally known as “Udh” in Goa. On this trip I have come to Elsewhere Eco Resort, Mandrem, Goa to photograph the Smooth Coated Otters.

Indian Otters have been scarcely studied. The Book of Indian Animals by S. H. Prater and A Field Guide to Indian Mammals by Vivek Menon provide some information about them. I also got some more inputs from Dipani Sutaria, Girish Punjabi and Vidya Athreya.

There are 2 species of Otters found in Goa namely the Smooth Coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) and the Small Clawed Otter (Amblonyx cinereus). While Small Clawed Otter is found along the forest streams of northern Western Ghats, the Smooth Coated Otter is found along the coast with Mangroves being its preferred habitat.

Reached Elsewhere Eco Resort on a hot Monday afternoon, Denzil and Barbra provided info about the property and their sightings. I was glad to know that there is significant amount of Small mammal, reptile and bird activity within the property. The Otter Creek along the property looked very promising habitat for the Smooth Coated Otters.

In addition to Otters, I was also interested in photo-documenting the Common Palm Civet and the Grey Mongoose that frequently roams around the property.

I had brief chat with Salu and the security guards about their sightings. Salu being the local resident had lots to share. There were some small mammal trails and scats at various locations within the property.

I had a tent ready along the Otter creek, an ideal location for an Otter sighting. As I scanned the property it seemed quite promising with some small mammal trails and scats. 

Spend the evening by the tent jetty waiting for Otters to arrive, but sighted none. As sun went down it was time for the Common Palm Civets to come out. I was setting up my equipment for the night shoot, just then Salu came to call me as the security guard had sighted a Palm Civet next to the main gate. We rushed in to the location; I was delighted to sight one up the coconut tree. It was hidden up the branches; we waited and watched it move from one coconut tree to another.

I spent the entire next day waiting for the Otters to arrive. While the wait for the elusive Otter still continued, I had a great time in the night with the Palm Civets. It was fantastic to observe them moving around from one tree to another.

On 13th, I was up early morning; sitting by my tent jetty and waiting for the Otters to arrive. Suddenly some action nearby caught my eye. Eurasian Kingfisher had caught a prawn and was in the process of eating it. Quickly, focused the camera on the Kingfisher and documented the action. 

Latter, I went up the creek along with Salu in the canoe to look for Otters. Salu was mentioning different areas where he had sighted Otters. Though the area seemed to be quite potential habitat for the Otters, but there were no Otter sightings as yet.

In the evening, I went to survey another area of the creek that passed through the village. Spoke to a fisherman there, gathered some more info about the Otter sightings. A particular stretch up there looked very promising, so decided to spend the next morning there.

Next morning, I went to the village area along the creek. Found a location to hide inside the mangroves, set the camera there and waited. To my surprise, on the other side of the creek I saw a Grey Mongoose walk by. It was wonderful to watch a Grey Mongoose in the mangroves.

The wait for the Otter continued....

On 15th March, I was scheduled to leave after a morning session and it was my last chance to get a glimpse of an Otter on this trip. As I spend time observing ripples in the Otter and hoping for the Otter to arrive suddenly there was a different action in the water, the Smooth Coated Otter had finally arrived. Within no time it was on the other side of the creek with a fish in its mouth.

After it had finished eating it dived into the water.

I could see it moving under water, it popped its head out couple of times before moving away.

These Otters move up and down the creek in search of food (mainly fish). As they drive away the fish, they are not liked by the local fishermen. With increasing human settlements in the area, the pressure on these species is enormous.

Arial view of the Otter creek with the sighting location (N15 39.610 E73 42.887) marked can be seen below.

Both the Smooth Coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) and the Small Clawed Otter (Amblonyx cinereus) are listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List and their population has been decreasing as years go by. As very few undisturbed patches of their habitat remain, habitat deterioration and habitat loss is the major threat. They are also poached for their skin and meat. There is an immediate need to protect these species and their habitat.

My special thanks to Denzil Sequeira, Barbra Dsilva, Nirmal Kulkarni, Mhadei Reasearch Center and the Goa Forest Department for their support.

Cormorants using their tail feathers to feel water

I was out to photograph birds along the coast of river Mula, my favorite hangout location. It was morning time and I could find couple of little cormorants out there. I kept observing them and simultaneously setting up my camera.

I began to look through the viewfinder to observe closely and take some pictures. It was observed that, when they are about land they fly very low touching their tail to the water surface.

It appeared to me that they use their tail feathers to get the feel of water to decide the exact position to land. Hence the trail made varies; short on some occasions while long otherwise. A short trail can be seen below.

Unfortunately, lost all my images from that session.

Images shared here are of Indian Cormorant captured in a different session. Have currently observed this among Indian and little cormorant, expect great cormorant as well to do the same, but yet to document it.  A long trail can be seen below.

Black Kite eating in flight

A fine Sunday morning and I was photographing birds at Sangamwadi, Pune. There were some Painted Storks, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Kingfishers and Black Kites.

I was shooting Eurasian kingfisher in it natural habitat. Something in the air drew my attention; it appeared like a black kite was flying with a catch. I quickly released my lens from the tripod and started tracking the action.

What I happen to observe did surprise me a bit as I was not aware about this behavior of the black kite. The black kite was eating in the flight. As the kite was flying 77m away, I had to crop my images to get a closer look to the action.

It was fascinating to watch it do that. Days later I observed another black kite eating in flight. On this occasion three other black kites and a  house crow were trying to steal the catch. Wasting no time this fellow started eating in flight, he was able to grab some pieces of fish. Finally after a bit of circling around and with continuous pressure from fellow challengers he dropped the  catch.

No sooner he dropped another black kite picked it up. It was a pleasure to watch the action.