Lesser Floricans dance and Harriers roost in the kingdom of Wolfs in Velavadar
Do you wish to stand in the middle of a natural Dom of 3452 hectares of grass land and to see birds, animals and the nature in changing colours 24x7?
Do you wish to see the horizon around you in 360˚?
Do you wish to see the Sun is setting in the west and moon is rising in the east simultaneously on a full moon day evening?
Do you wish to see the sky full of stars with the clear picture of our galaxy, the milky way?
Do you wish to see the entire chain eco cycle starting from the chief predator wolf (32), to black buck (5000), blue bull(400-500), grass land, insects, birds (local, migratory, endangered), and reptiles?
Do you wish to see the Lesser Floricans' jumps like frogs and sweet sound trrrr?
Do you wish to see migratory birds Heriar's community roosting place?
It's Velavadar National Park, 190 kms from Ahmedabad and 25 kms from Bhavnagar.
We the human, feel proud of our brain power, but you will be amazed to see, how the birds and animals use their brains to survive and maintain the balance of eco system. One universal consciousness is performing drama with divided acts of many.
Black bucks are many here, moving in groups, playing and dancing. Sometimes, you may see the horn fights of males of two different groups. There is one white buck in the lot of these 5000. It might have lost the pigment by birth.
The beautiful Lesser Floricans come here in July every year for breeding. They make their pairs here. The female floricans in plain brown colour, are hardly visible as they have to rear the eggs and protect their chicks. They land some 50 metres away from the nest and walk towards the nest secretly under the grass cover so that the predators don't damage the eggs/chicks. The colourful males florican showcase their dance and make trrrr sound to attract the female florican, and also use it to divert attention of the predators from the nest. Once the chicks are ready to fly, they all leave the park in September-October before the arrival of the migratory birds Herriar of Kazakistan.
To stay away from the cold of Europe, approximately 3000 Harriers come here as tourists to enjoy the winter of Gujarat. They use Velavadar park as their community bed room for roosting. Day time they spend their time in surrounding farm lands but every evening they come to the park in a group, take so many rounds of flying up in the sky above the identified place and when find all okay, come down and rest for the night. They fly away every morning and return to the park for roosting every evening till they leave the area when winter ends.
192 species of birds are here.
Wolfs, the chief predator of the park, use their brain, killing the old and weak animals so that the youngs survive, generation continues, and their food chain survive for long. The population of wolfs has gone down over the years due to their killing by shepherds to save cattle cubs, resulted into blue bull population increase in the State. People would have saved wolfs instead of demanding killing of blue bull to save crops.
And the blue bulls, fully grown, looking very healthy and smart make flash from the grass and became food of the wilds. With the sacrifice of their lives, they are saving the wild animals and vultures in the state to maintain the eco system intact.
Developed by Maharaja of Bhavnagar, the sanctuary is now under the protection and development of forest department. It is to note that Maharaja Nirmal Sinhji was used to keep trained leopard (leopard can be trained) for hunting the deers.
In Jungle, the fittest survive and the weak & old have to go as part of food chain for others. It's a natural waste management to maintains the health and freshness of living beings here.
Come and enjoy your stay under the Nature Dom of Velavadar where sky is full of twinkling stars and nature is maintaining its freshness through the plays, dances and sounds of its creatures.
And they are eagerly waiting for your visit.
Do come.
Punamchand
Velavadar (16 July)
