Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Grasslands; Fading Shades of Grey!

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“An eagle earns its honor from the storms it endures.” … Matshona Dhliwayo.

Matshona Dhliwayo is a Canadian based Philosopher, Entrepreneur, and author of books such as The Little Book of Inspiration, Creativity, The Book, 50 Lessons Every Wise Mother Teaches Her Son, 100 Lessons Every Great Man Wants You to Know, and Lalibela's Wise Man. No wonder he could link nature’s philosophy in management via example like above. And I found the quote perfect for the sharing of mine which involves eagles mainly. Off-late I am fascinated (some may say, gone mad) by the grasslands around Pune especially south-east outskirts i.e., vast stretch of the land between Pune-Solapur road & Pune-Satara road. As already shared, falling in to the natural rain shadow area these lands are natural grass lands which differs from the meadows which are often mistaken as grasslands. And its these grasslands (original types) where water sources are scarce, are mostly mix of hills & plateaus with shrubs & occasional big tree & that’s why many people (even the forest dept) don’t considers these lands as forests in the first place. As when we say the word “forest” the first thing comes to our minds is lots of greens, thickly wooded spread, colourful birds, creepers & a pleasant site overall. While the grasslands, barring late monsoon & a month post monsoon when the terrain is all green & flowering with wild flowers but soon the scene changes back to its normal, yellow, grey & black colour coat!

But don’t get mislead by the seeming dry & barrenness of these lands, as this grey-black cover is a perfect home for some unique & wonderful species which you won’t get to see in your defined forest. Grey Wolf, Hyenas & Indian Fox are the ruling hunters on the land then in the sky there are predators with the wings. These grasslands are home to probably maximum variety of “Birds of Prey”, right from Short Toed Snake Eagle to Harriers, Falcons, Owls & many such. Its because of the abundant food (which is getting vanish fast actually) in the form of rodents, squirrels & other small grass birds. Along with these the eagle gang can occasionally get away with a Chinkara Fawn or Sheep’s new born too & one eagle which can dare to lift this big prize is, Steppe Eagle, King of Skies in the grasslands.

The steppe eagle is large and impressive raptor and quite a large eagle. Total length can range from 60 to 89 cm (24 to 35 in) in fully-grown steppe eagles. Wingspan in full grown eagles of this species is very variable, with the smallest steppe eagles spanning as little as 165 to 174 cm (5 ft 5 in to 5 ft 9 in) while the largest ones can reportedly span up to 250 to 262 cm (8 ft 2 in to 8 ft 7 in). The steppe eagle is in many ways a peculiar species of eagle. It is a specialized predator of ground squirrels on the breeding ground, also taking other rather small mammals and other prey, doing so more often when ground squirrels are less consistently found. In rather treeless areas of the steppe habitats, these eagles tend to nest on a slightly rise, often on or near an outcrop, but may even the flat, wide-open ground, in a rather flat nest. They are the only eagle to nest primarily on the ground.

In my this it is first week of December & yet the seemingly endless grass has already started to turn yellow-gray though this time there had been rains till late November. And during this trip I stumble upon one patch of hills & some planes looking over farms below & here nearly hundred plus eagles were flying around, making the scene from some Disney movie where the hundreds of the dragons paint the sky with their flight! Only difference was these flyers most of them were grey-black feathered Steppe Eagles & no wonder with this “big daddy” prey bird around other hunting birds has taken back step. So delighted with this wonderful stuck jackpot I was as in not just in our Urban Jungles even in the main forests’ eagles are difficult to sight & click as they chose to sit on top of the tree but here, I could see the eagles sitting right on the ground, on shrubs, on rocks & flying at eye level! Unfortunately, this home of theirs is taking its last breaths, if we don’t act & come ahead to save it fast! As first, many of these grasslands are privately owned & second, these grasslands are not protected by any means, so from farming to stray dogs to digging the earth everything was going on. And all above three things means destruction of prey base of the steppe eagle i.e., rodents, squirrels & small grass birds! Only best thing was as its away from any main road so not much vehicular traffic was there which is one relief.

Such many spots (habitats) are taking their last breaths & today if we call them as habitat then tomorrow, they will be grave yards of hundreds of species like the Steppe Eagle which are solely dependent on the survival of these grasslands! What I wonder most is, why can’t the Govt as well NGO’s (small part to play may be) come forward and use these habitats for revenue generation via tourism as that’s one sure mean of making these habitats survive & so for the animals & birds here. Because just by declaring protected forest the forest doesn’t get protected, is what we have been witnessing all the time, right? What we need is if on one side we try to make locals aware & use these as means of earning then we need to make such spots known to the people who can spend to come here & enjoy the wilderness of the grasslands & this is not happening! We need to run a campaign amongst nearby cities (Pune-Mumbai) in this case as well among cities like Bengaluru & Hyderabad from where people as well photographers can come as they are like brand ambassadors of the wild life habitats & then common people also can come. Why can’t we urge the investors, tourism companies to start here, residing options (I meant at nearby places) as well properly guided tours balancing wild life & revenues, as its these tourist’s spendings which will help not just the locals but the wild life around here which is actually dying! With due respect to Mr.Dhilwayo, the eagles will survive biggest of the god’s made storms & will earn their honor but they won’t survive the man-made storms named encroachments, for sure!

On way back from my every such trip to these habitats (grasslands) if I am filled with a delightful mood of enjoying the wilderness, then on the other side, I carry the fear about dark-black future of the grasslands & unlike the black shade of the grasslands, this black color is not filled with life but only destruction & I remind myself about my duty to save them, & so it is, of every one of us, is all I can appeal!

You can check some more images of this magical place at the link below...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72177720295606533

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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