Making The Chance Count - Eurasian Whimbhrel

South Andaman

It had rained the night before in Shri Vijayapuram and the morning was still cloudy. It wasn’t the best recipe for photos of birds by a long shot but, we ambled along in our car none the less. We were hoping perhaps that the weather would change and sometimes, you just don’t know. Might as well pray for chance when it’s all arranged and paid for I guess. Well, that morning was one of the rare occasions that chance did pay off and I’d say more so cause the subject suited those crappy conditions perfectly. He was pretty much monochrome with little brown streaks that matched the mud he was around and contrasted well with the deep green of the wet grass. Add to that the still seas of that town as background and all in all we somehow ran into a keeper. Chance. Pure chance. So much of this hobby is such wonderful chance where you have to make your skill count.

I saw a white bird with brown streaks that resembled an Ibis albeit just for the long downward curved beak. It was much smaller and seemed a lot less glamorous. That was until I saw it at 600 mm and one look at those pitch black eyes on the white streaked feathers and I was hoping I’d be able to catch him looking my way surrounded by that grass and he did that.( Pic : 1 ). Soon he had me hoping that he’d turn his head just a little, and he did just that as well ( Pic : 2 ). He then had me wishing that he’d turn to a side so I’d catch the size of that monstrous face stabber he had on him. Guy did exactly that too as he was walking away ( Pic : 3 ). In fact, he gave me pretty much all the poses I was hoping for totally unhurried, relaxed and in multiples. Interestingly, our luck for the day changed after meeting him and the skies cleared soon after and we had a pretty good day of bird chasing after that. Guy turned out to be a charm cause with the Sun came all the other birds and everything that should’ve happened a couple of hours ago on sunrise.

Coming back to our lucky charm; these birds are waders and one of the most common of the “Curlews”. They breed in subartic Asia and Europe, as far south as Scotland. Their nests are bare scrapes on Artic or tundra moorland. They’re associated to the Curlews cause of the the genus name Numenius. Neos = New & mene = Moon, referring to the crescent shape of the bill. See, not all bird names are nonsensical and some do put in deep thought into their naming. There are 5 sub species of these guys and the ones in Asia and Europe usually have a white rump while their North American cousins have a rump that resembles the rest of the body. They are also famous for attacking humans who get too close to their bare nests. These guys are big fliers and make it all the way to New Zealand and their song’s a seven note whistle.

I loved this guy and was hoping to see more of them on the trip but luck wouldn’t have it. It’s those black eyes on white and that happy face. Well, they are supposed to be flock birds and I seriously hope the next time I see them; it’s in better weather and catch some interaction among individuals. Now that would be pretty interesting I think given the size of those face stabbers on them.