The year was 2021, and we, my partner, and I had just come out of our post-Covid quarantine. We moved into our little house, set among tea gardens and fragmented forest patches at the edge of the Ghats. It was a quiet spot that overlooked a broad valley. This is where we decided to spend our three weeks before we could go out and meet with the rest of the world. It felt like our lungs were perennially drained thanks to the effects of the virus and thanks to this; we only had our verandah as our visual connect with the outside world. We set up spotting scope binoculars here and even a temporary work table, just to be able to take in the views, catch glimpses of birds and other passing wildlife.
The first to greet us was a pair of Black Eagles. Since we were at the head of the valley, they soared below us, giving us some of our best ever views of these top aerial hunters. Later in the day, it was the turn of the Bonelli’s Eagles and their young one. We saw them move with grace from one end of the valley to the other and back. On their journey back, we noticed that there was a smaller bird that was dive-bombing the young Bonelli’s Eagle.
Locking in with our binoculars, we saw the distinct shape and colors of a Shaheen Falcon. She was determined to keep the eagles away and after many high-speed dive bombs; she managed to persuade the eagles to stay away from her cliff. After this episode, she rose high and landed on a protruding rock at the top of the cliff, her throne. Dried-up white droppings on the rock made it clear that it was her regular perch. We decided that day – Once we are able, we will get to the top of the cliff to get a closer look at her and her daily antiques.
We were finally ready to step out after two weeks of watching raptors, blackbirds, bush quails, black and orange flycatchers, bulbuls, and bluebirds, along with herds of sambar and gaur. This period of rest and the wildlife viewing that went with it, helped us regain our energies and confidence. Our first urge was to find our way to the Shaheen cliff. Little did we know at that point that this was going to become our daily nature trail, full of life, adventures, and – unexpected surprises!
It was about 40 minutes one way to the cliff in question. On our way up, we crossed fields of tea, wattle groves, lantana overgrowth, grasslands, and finally the rocks that led to the cliff. It always started with a pair of Southern Rock Agamas, after which we saw signs of elephants, sloth bears, sambar, gaur, and interestingly, regular scrape marking signs by leopards. The trail seemed to be the line of contention of two male cats.
We even found a large pad of the striped cat, hardened and imprinted on the ground, waiting for the rains to wash it away. We had heard alarm calls of deer quite often in the last two weeks, most of them from this trail. We reached the top, and as is the case always, it took us a while to get our bearings of the view and the structure of the cliff. We eventually found our way to a spot from where the Shaheen’s throne could be seen. It wasn’t long before we heard the familiar call echoing from the cliff below and within a flash, she was there.
The star bird that we spent two weeks watching through binoculars was now right in front of us, a few meters away. And strangely, she seemed fine with our presence. Seeing this bird from such close proximity, and looking at her on her plane, was an experience like no other. Sitting next to the Shaheen, we shared her view of her hunting grounds, albeit with a lot less clarity. We decided to walk towards her every afternoon, to go sit with her, and occasionally, her partner (or a random male) joined in too.
Every time we squatted at the edge of this cliff, we took in a whole new perspective of the landscape, the Shaheen’s view. And though we didn’t have her heightened visual senses, we had our binoculars. We started looking down at the canopy, the bare rocks, cliffs, and meadows, just like the Falcons did. And we were clearly not prepared in any way for the wilderness viewing that awaited us.
We started off with watching a leopard laying down on a rock halfway up the cliff – yet below us and the Shaheen. Both us and the raptor spent a long time looking at this fat cat who had just finished his meal. On other days there were elephants, bears, and even Nilgiri martens, trotting across a forest clearing. Watching Black Eagles, Short-toed Snake Eagles and Bonelli’s Eagles from above became a daily thing.
We were able to take in the valley and the wilderness through the eyes of this majestic falcon of the cliffs. Once we even saw a tiger rolling in a grassland patch across the valley. How incredible was all of this…to watch wildlife from such a perspective, and best of all, the subjects had no clue they were being watched, in many ways like the daily dance of the Shaheen and her prey.
On our road to recovery, we came across the dive-bombing Shaheen and her cliff, urging us to recover faster just to get close to her throne. And in doing so, we found this trail, an unassuming dirt path through degraded forests and fields. A trail we shared with incredible wildlife, ending at the Falcon’s throne. A trail that changed our perspective of this landscape, and of forests beyond. A trail we will walk for the rest of our lives.
