Spring time on Shilonda trail ..

Spring is that time of the year when all trees are sprouting new leaves of myriad colours and flowers of all hues are blossoming all over. Birds are active with their array of melodious calls and whistles and nature dons a new look after the dull winter. This is a time when the forest is as beautiful as it is just after the rains.

This spring I chose the Shilonda trail in Borivli National Park in Mumbai, for a Sunday morning walk. I had with me a friend – Ketan – who was taking a nature trail for the first time. My novice nature loving friend did not fail to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere as we entered the forest on my bike from the Borivli gate. A minute ago the road that was full of honking vehicles, exhaust fumes and cement dust even at that early hour (7.30 am is early on a Sunday morning in Mumbai !), suddenly entered the verdant landscape of the Borivli jungle with all its refreshing charm.

We took the bike up to the junction of Shilonda trail and from there began our short, but sweet walk in the jungle. Call it beginner’s luck or mere coincidence, but this was one nature trail where bird life and other wild life was making its presence felt at every step almost.

No sooner had we taken a few steps, than we noticed a juvenile chital deer standing a mere 20 feet away from the forest path. Deer in this part of the park have become somewhat accustomed perhaps to the regular presence of wildlife watchers and people from the nearby tribal hamlet of Tumnhipada. So although they maintain their distance from humans, they do not run away. A moment later it lost its initial curiosity and it retreated a few steps to join a complete herd of deer, including a couple of males with majestic antlers. The spotted coat of these deer was looking beautiful, especially in the morning light.

As we walked, we noticed trees like Savar (silk cotton tree) and Pangara in blossom with their bright pink and vermillion coloured flowers, respectively. Ain – a tree used for building – had grown its star-edged brown rounded fruit and at various places the Ukshi plant growing with support of other trees, was also in full bloom. Some of the Savar had already shed much of their flowers and bright green new leaves were decorating the jungle scene. Some tree, which I could not identify, had maroon coloured new leaves that look simple awesome when seen at from below with the azure blue sky in the background.

Birds commonly found in the Borivli Park like drongo, red-vented bulbul, magpie robin and spotted dove were either visible or audible every now and then. As we walked further away from the tarred road that where we had left our bike, the earlier open jungle with stunted trees slowly got replaced with taller trees, but still mostly of the deciduous variety as mentioned earlier. Now and then an evergreen wild mango tree or palm tree brought some touch of dark green to this colourful, but largely leafless environment. Bamboo clumps were in abundance, but had died this year, since the flowering had taken place. Bamboo flowers after many years and when that happens, the trees die and again new ones sprout from the earth in the next monsoons.

Soon we reached a small artificial water hole near the forest trail. The forest department regularly refills such artificial water holes across the forest to quench the thirst of birds and animals. We sat quietly on the trail facing the water hole. Above us supported on a couple of trees, was an abandoned Machan that must have been used by the forest department in the previous summer for animal census. As we sat noiselessly in mostly camouflaging clothes, we were soon greeted by a male and female paradise flycatcher. The male bird is extremely majestic with its long flowing white tail. The female is beautiful in her own way with maroon coloured back. Soon a raven came flying down and disbursed the flycatchers.

Then we observed a crow pheasant (Bharadwaj) hoping silently from branch to branch of a nearby small tree. While we were engrossed in seeing this beautiful bird, we heard a loud shriek from the forest behind and before we could turn our heads towards that sound, a large grey hornbill flew high over our heads and disappeared in the forest. This was indeed a wonderful sighting. As we continued to sit near the water hole, we heard birds like large green barbet, cuckoo, coppersmith and babblers (Satbhai).

Then we decided to carry on for a while before turning back. As the trail slowly descended towards the bed of a small dry stream, we entered a belt of thick evergreen trees like Karanj and wild mango. The Karanj trees here are huge, but easy to climb up to the first fork. It is fun to climb up and sit like monkeys on the broad branches.

As we walked a bit further, we were skirting a low hill to our left and suddenly there was a loud cry from the side of the hill. Not more than 20 feet away, a sambar deer had given its loud alarm call and had startled us. And then it crashed away through the under growth towards the safety of the hill. This is the first time that I heard a sambar call. I could recognize it from the descriptions I have read in real life hunting stories of the famous British time hunter naturalist Kenneth Anderson.

This sambar was the icing on the cake. By now it was almost 10.30 and the tropical sun had begun to shine mercilessly, radiating heat all around despite the vegetation. So we decided to call it a day and retraced our steps back towards our bike. It was indeed a very pleasant and joyful spring morning, walking on the famed Shilonda trail of Borivli National Park.

--- Atul Sathe (© This content is under copyright. The author can be contacted on atulsathe@yahoo.com )