Silly birds and Goal posts at Benrue
NEPED and FES ’ joint actions to build on the existing Community Initiatives on Conservation across the state had us at Benrue ( Peren, Nagaland ). Primary objective of the week was to interact on mapping of Community Conserved Areas(CCA) boundaries . Benrue, however, as the directory of Important Bird Areas (IBA) and experience of friends who had visited earlier suggested was a very special dot on the ornithological map of not only the state but also the region. But the time our week-long trip came to an end we had come across species ranging from the tiny Naga Wren Babbler ( Spelaeornis chocolatinus ) to the Grey Sibia ( Heterophasia gracilis ) ( the numbers in which we saw it made us wonder on its being rare and a trigger species for the IBA ); Black Eagle ( Ictinaetus malayensis ) looked down upon us as we walked the boundary while the Himalayan Griffon Vulture ( Gyps himalayensis ) came to have a closer look as we had tea and I understand I also saw the Yellow-t...