A Paris Peacock by the Chel River

The most beautiful approach to Kalimpong is not via the direct route from Siliguri via Sevoke and Teesta, but by a quaint winding hill road from Damdim to the newly emerging hillstation of Labha and the sleepy hamlet of Algarah which overlooks Kalimpong from the ridgetop to the NorthEast. We chose this backdoor access for getting to Kalimpong – our first stop enroute to North Sikkim.

Now one doesnt really need to go to Kalimpong to go to North Sikkim but a night halt is preferable because of the long journey from Binnaguri. Kalimpong is more conveniently placed than Gangtok which would require an extra day or more and require you to head much further East than you need. You get the same kind of atmosphere, much better scenic beauty enroute, a shorter trip, and for those interested in plants, many nurseries growing exotic plants. Gangtok has a charm and appeal of its own and is best visited separately, perhaps in combination with the border pass of Nathu La.

For that, one goes halfway towards Tiger bridge till Damdim,  and then you turn right or Northwards. You now leave behind the tea garden, betel-nut, fish-pond and jute type of atmosphere prevalent in the lowlands of the Siliguri corridor. Almost immediately, you pass through Gorubatthan and come to the scenic hamlet of Paparkheti. Paparkheti gives you that old world feeling one associates with sleepy forgotten hill stations. Now, the villages are of Gurkha and Lepcha people living in quaint bamboo houses on stilts. These houses are embellished by masses of wild and cultivated flowers in pots, small strips of garden and in their verandahs. You feel really good, and often the sweet smell of a honeysuckle is encountered as you slow down on a turn. The ubiquitous Tea gardens still co-exists but here they cling to dizzying slopes which have stands of cardamom that give them an exotic look. Far below, a river flows with old-fashioned Bailey bridges to take people to the other side. Wooden log huts now can be seen amidst colourful patches of garden. You cross the Chel river, (actually a fast-flowing rocky stream) by an RCC bridge next to a huge boulder used locally for rappelling. And now you are in fabulous butterfly country.

Just 500 metres ahead of the Chel river is a small grocery-cum-tea stall-cum-hardware store of the kind found in the hills. A year ago, I had stopped here for a cup of tea enroute to Rhenok.  It borders another mountain stream which is crossed by a small RCC bridge just adjacent to the store. The trees on both sides are very high here, the sun alighting the uppermost branches – high above butterflies can be seen flying about – I wonder what they are? A white which is leisurely opening and closing its wings in the shade turns out to be a Spot Puffin. On the roadside, Common Sailers pose still as statues with wings placed flat.

As I waited for the tea to be prepared, my eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blue and black butterfly flying high in the trees opposite. It was a Peacock, and my first thought was ‘Is this butterfly beautiful, or what?’.  Strong swift wingstrokes across the hillside brought it next to the stream flowing across the road, where it hovered with a rhythmic slow wingbeat and dipped  its large black proboscis into the water. For a few minutes, it kept weaving between the same puddles back and forth, permitting some photography.

The four Himalayan species of Papilio Peacocks are amongst the most colourful butterflies in India. The butterfly hypnotises you into just admiring its bues, greens and maroon-purple peacock-eyes. The mind struggles to understand the pattern of these shimmering colours which keep changing location as the butterfly moves. This is why I find it so difficult to recognise the exact species of Peacock butterfly on the wings. From the photographs I later identified it as a Paris Peacock.

On the wing, the butterfly gives different visual treat than it does as a specimen, in the hand or as a photograph. The forewings slide easily over the bright blue patch on its hindwings. The butterfly is instantly transformed into something relatively nondescript and you need to refocus to discern the creature once more. Should the butterfly halt a little longer, more details emerge for appreciation….the beautiful spatulate tails, the green glitter spangle on its wings, a thin green band on the upper forewing which tapers towards the apex. The tragedy with having such beautiful butterflies is, that you can never get enough of them – you see them too infrequently, and you dont get enough time with them when you do.

This place has other dainties too. I wander further away from the roadside towards an abandoned bridge site. A delicate blue damselfly perched on a nettle allows me to approach quite close to admire its beauty.

The rippling brook invites you by its musical babbling. Suddenly I saw a small white bird bobbing on one of the stones in midstream – it was a Forktail. Tantalisingly, it would allow me to approach close but fly off out of sight a few meters away further upstream. I could glimpse it through the fronds of fern, but by the time I laboured to get in view, it was off again.

A beautiful fat yellow moth is in front of me on an Ageratum bush. It allows me to pick it up and gently examine it. It has a beautiful red upper abdomen which is completely hidden by the wings. Its forelegs are partly red and partly black. It exudes a few yellow drops on my fingers as I place it back unharmed on the leaves. Later, I learn that the moth belongs to the Spilosoma genus of Arctiidae, the Tiger Moth family.

All good things must come to an end – its time to be off again with a memory of Peacocks – on to Labha, Algarah and Kalimpong.

A walk by the roadside

We had had a great trip in North Sikkim. I had enjoyed seeing remarkable mountainscapes, Rhododendrons, Primulas and a host of other wild flowers. We also saw some beautiful birds like snow pigeons, white-capped bush robin, blue flycatchers and the red billed chough! But I had’nt quite had my fill of butterflies. So, on 19 Apr 07, on the way back from Chungthang to Binnaguri, at the first opportunity I suggested that we halt the Gypsy and walk along the road for a kilometer or two.

The stretch that appealed to me was the deciduous forest between Mayang Chhu and Manul. Warm day, slight breeze, the buzz of insects. The mountainside had a Southern aspect and the Teesta was far below out of sight. Mr Nandan Kalbag (Papa or my father-in-law) was immediately engrossed in this botanical paradise.

Upslope was a collage of bamboo, creepers, grass, herbs, trees with moss- and fern-covered trunks, punctuated by a wide variety of bushes, between which wild palms and bananas peeped at us. Down slope, the sun shone on the treetops and branches. In the nooks of trees, white-flowered orchids grew. From time to time, Papa drew my attention to a ground orchid or a Birds Nest Fern Asplenium nedus Family Polypodiaceae (seen in the picture above). I saw a verditer flycatcher and a woodpecker. For background music, we had a symphony of birdcalls who, like the orchestra, preferred to remain out of sight. It was heavenly!

Just then,  I saw a beautiful butterfly with dark wings and yellow bands on it – I couldn’t get more than a glance at it , but I instinctly felt that it was a Chumbi Wall. I chased it but it kept getting further and further away and disappeared downhill.

The next butterfly I came across was a beautiful yellow lycaenid sitting with its wings closed on the shade-dappled road in a patch of sunlight. As I crept closer to photograph it, the peculiar mustard yellow colour and red border on its hindwing identified it as a Heliophorus spp, a Sapphire. Later on, I identified the butterfly from the image as a Purple Sapphire Heliophorus epicles, by the diffused red edging to its forewings, which is absent in other members of its genus in the region. The sapphires are beautiful Lycaenids commonly seen in Sikkim where five species occur (Haribal). I was fortunate to record the commonest during this trip – the Golden Sapphire and Purple Sapphire.

There was a very nice slope with lots of orchids. As we reached closer, we found that this was a small natural garden, lovingly made by human hands who planted some domestic flowers and bushes along with wild ground- and picked up some tree-orchids, (such as the Coelogyne corymbosa shown in the image opposite) and artistically arranged in between. The people of the North Bengal and Sikkim have a real love for plants and flowers. All along our journey, we saw neat well-kept homes adorned by large bunches of flowers planted on ledges, flowerpots and strips of garden. This really endeared them to us.

While inspecting this simple creative wonder, I suddenly noticed a very large maroon dry leaf on which a butterfly was perched facing downwards. It had an elaborate network of black and white markings. Its wings were damaged and part of the upper forewing was yellow and black. That it was a Nymphalid was certain. I hurriedly took a shot! Since it was enjoying the sunshine, I got a chance to open up Meena Haribal’s tome on Sikkimese butterflies. From the coloured plates, it was identified as a Himalayan Jester Symbrenthia hypselis. This was very exciting. Just this morning I had spotted the Common Jester Symbrenthia lilaea on a stinging nettle at Chungthang! Now I had spotted its other counterpart too! The Himalayan Jester made up for the bad behaviour of the suspected Chumbi Wall. He shifted up and down some dried grass stalks and allowed me to take a number of snaps.



As we moved onto a shadowy turn with a roadside stream and overhang, the fauna changed. Butterflies now flew high above our heads at treetop level. The kids started splashing in  a small roadside waterfall, while my wife and mother-in-law, Mrs Shobha Kalbag, gently strolled in our wake. The Gypsy was told to follow us when the kids were done enjoying.

Only common Large Cabbage Whites Pieris brassicae were seen fluttering weakly along the roadside berm. They would flutter onto a blossom or leaves of small herbs, preferably im the sun, andopen their wings. Slowly they would open and close them – a nice way to learn the UP and UN of this common Pierid! One Large Cabbage White had completely lost one hindwing, probably the result of some encounter with a bird. One wonders how long a butterfly with such badly damaged wings can survive!

As we turned the corner, something strange caught our attention – a large round muddy pot, about nine inches across,  fixed onto the trunk of the tree. It was an ants nest! There was a small stream of red and black ants about 8 to 10 mm long on the trunk! Social insects are so fascinating! All throughout North Sikkim we had been seeing many solitary bees, wasps – and now this. Most probably that of Crematogaster, whose nests are predated by Rufous Woodpeckers when feeding their brood.



The next butterfly was a very small light blue Lycaenid, with fine spotting, sitting in a roadside drain. From memory I could make out this kind of pattern represented a Hedgeblue – erstwhile Lycaenopsis, but which one? Later on, I identified it as a Common Hedge Blue Acytolepis puspa.  It allowed me a couple of snaps but angrily flew off when disturbed by a brown butterfly weaving from side to side.

The new butterfly was a satyrid. It sat down on the drain and changed position a couple of times. It was a very handsome Lethe of the Forrester subgroup. It had a short tail and a hint of red at its hindwing tornus – and beautiful rings of the WSF type. It allowed me two snaps before it flew across the road and sat on a culvert. I got a good closeup, but the butterfly’s exact identification eludes me, even today.

By now, more than an hour had passed, and the Gypsy landed up with the family. It was time to move on. I had my wish – I had seen some memorable butterflies!

Dark Clouded Yellows amongst the Rhododendrons

Lachung is characterised by the high mountains with snow covered slopes bordering both sides of this beautiful Himalayan valley. The snowclad summits give way to dwarf junipers, to bubbling streams amongst rockfalls, large snowbanks where the steepness ends and finally onto Rhododendron covered valleysides. The sun shines crisply, there is a brisk cold breeze and wild flowers of various kinds abound with alpine butterflies.

As you climb up from Lachung town, after three kilometers you come across the Dombang Mod. If you choose to accept this alluring invitation, you follow a winding path amongst large conifers and huge boulders on which are to be found ‘rock gardens’ and which ends in a miniature paradise. We turned resolutely from the inviting detour towards the main road for we were after the Big Fisshh…the Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary. My father-in-law Mr Nandan Kalbag, is a plant person – he loves plants, studies them, both wild and domesticated, and they reward him for his attention and affection with a living. And this is why I have chosen Lachung for our holiday – his first meeting with Rhododendrons.

You dont need to carry maps to reach Singba. The road from Lachung goes straight through. After Singba, it leads to the hotsprings, and then to the alpine meadow of Yumthang and terminates in a series of hair-pin bends at Shiv Mandir. Ahead of this, the status of the road is uncertain. There is a kutcha track which leads to the border outposts of the ITBP under the shadow of the majestic Paunhunri massif. Ahead of this is the Chumbi valley, which is part of Tibet and China.

An arch across the road indicates that you have reached the Singba Rhodo sanctuary. An inviting notice finds you stopping the vehicle to know more about the sanctuary, but sadly, it is the usual govt bureaucratese…Singba is a boulder ridden slope punctuated by wide fastflowing streams. In between the rocks are interspersed the Rhododendrons.

Rhododendrons come in glorious variety. At first glance, you notice nothing but the flower bunches which adorn the bushes and trees. The rich red colour seems to directly nourish the soul and it is difficult to draw your eyes away. After feasting awhile on this sight, you now begin to notice that amidst the red swathes, are  bunches of white, pink, mauve, yellow and purple flowers. You realise that the Rhodos are everywhere – trees, bushes, shrubs and herbs, all with oval dark green leaves of various shapes and size. The trees are well spaced apart, about fifteen feet high at the most. Sunshine and cool breeze wafts through.

We wander around, Papa looking at the flowers, Aashay and Aditi are thrilled at the snow banks which have come onto the road, and they begin throwing snowballs. Amita and Amma lounge by the Gypsy, content to drink in the sights and watch the antics of the children. I wander around to look at the butterflies.

Between the rhodos, small patches of moss-covered earth harbour rosettes of green leaves from which arise pale-green stalks tipped with beautiful purple globes of Primula denticulata. Here, these are the only flowers to be seen, asides from the reds. Butterflies zoom between them, sometimes basking on a rock or bough or sometimes sipping from these beautiful primulas. There are tortoiseshells, blues which never let me get close and an occassional large cabbage white. And the stars of this place – the Dark Clouded Yellows Colias croceus. You see them first as deep rich patches of yellow which flit from bloom to bloom.

The clouded yellows perch on the primula, show their open wings for awhile, and then fold them. They are wary, do not allow me close, and they are restless, the cold breeze causing them to relocate frequently. They have the quaint habit of high altitude butterflies of perching at an angle. You can see this in the third snap. I noticed this in Nandadevi with other butterflies – dark clouded yellows, tortoiseshells and snow apollos;  all of them did this – why? To get more sunlight? To avoid losing heat? To cater for the wind? It is one of those behavioural problems worthy of investigation.

During the time we were at Singba, the Primulas seemed to attract Dark Clouded Yellows only, the Tortoiseshells prefer to bask on rocks. The blues favoured thin small white flowers of an indistinct herb. The Rhododendrons seem to attract no butterflies at all! Singba is lovely, the Dark Clouded Yellows are lovely! But Pappa has photographed seven varieties of Rhododendron and we have to move on to Yumthang, if we are to be back in time to have lunch in Lachung.