Amila Prasanna Sumanapala
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Expedition Diaries 1.2: Andaman Islands Expedition 2017

5/20/2020

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Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located in a unique biogeographic position. They are located at the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal and more connected to Burma and Indonesian Archipelago thus the biodiversity in these islands shows a strong affinity to the Sundand of Southeast Asia. Also, as these are an island group separated from the continental mainlands, speciation has occurred abundantly resulting in numerous endemic forms within the islands. The 150 km long 10 degree channel (named such as 10 degree line of latitude lies across it) between the Andamans and Nicobar islands have also facilitated more geographical isolation leading to further speciation, producing endemism even within the two island groups. Saddle Peak is the highest peak in Andaman and Nicobar islands and that’s where we were heading on the fourth day of our expedition.
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​We had a rough evening on our day 3 (see Expedition Diaries 1.1). On our way back from the Kalpong Dam, we came across a heavy rainfall and were drenched by the time we reached our accommodation. However, that wasn’t enough to lower our motivation. Following morning, 18th August 2017, we left Diglipur again, heading towards the Saddle Peak Mountain which is located near the western coast of the North Andaman Island and is 732 m high.
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A rainy day in Diglipur
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Chai (tea) before we begin another journey
We checked few places on our way to the Saddle Peak for birds and dragonflies. We came across several roadkills of Andaman Keelbacks (Xenochropis tytleri). Considering the low level of motor traffic and the high encounter rate of road kills, it must be very common in the island. 
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The Saddle Peak trail starts at the forest edge, runs along the coast and turns inland starting the ascension towards the peak. We could only explore the foot hill area as clouds were gathering and lowered the number of dragonfly sightings. We observed several new additions to our ododnate list of the trip such as Pygmy Skimmer (Tetrathemys platyptera), Ramburi Red Parasol (Neurothemis ramburii) and Red Glider (Tramea transmarina). We also encountered a mixed-species bird flock with many Andaman endemics including Andaman Shama, Andaman Drongo, Andaman Bulbul. Bay Island Forest lizards were very common in the forest area. 
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A road kill of an Andaman Keelback
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Saddle Peak trail
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Bay Island Forest Lizard
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Birding near Mud Volcano
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Mortonagrion aborense
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Andaman Skimmer (Orthetrum andamanicum) at Saddle Peak. Image: Prosenjit Dawn
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Landscape of North Andamans. Paddy fields, forested home gardens and adjoining rainforest.
​While heading back, we came across a very interesting dragonfly. It was sitting on a fallen branch in a shady place. It was dark blue in colour with pale anal appendages. Prosenjit managed to get a photograph but the dragonfly flew away without giving us an opportunity to examine the details.  We were puzzled by this mysterious Skimmer thus we looked for it for sometime but could not find it again. Later we checked the available literature with no positive identity, leading us to the conclusion that it should be something new. Three years later, in May 2020, this mysterious species was taxonomically described by Matjaž Bedjanič, Vincent Kalkman and K. A. Subramanian as Orthetrum andamanicum (Andaman Skimmer). It was great knowing that we could have a glimpse of this species, unknown to science at that time, during our short expedition to the islands. 

Our main destination on the following day was the Mud Volcano located near Shyam Nagar. That was the northern most locality we visited during the trip. Though we didn’t encounter any new odonates during the visit, several new birds including Bar-bellied Cucukooshrike, White-bellied Woodswallow, Spot-breasted Woodpecker and Blue-eared Kingfisher were added to the list.
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It was our last day in North Andamans. We ended our field work early and headed back to the accommodation to prepare for the return trip. Though the regular rainfall during the days did not support our work, all of us enjoyed the experiences we encountered in North Andamans. It was a land of forests, a rich biodiversity and kind people. We experienced this couple of times. On two days during our explorations in rural areas, we couldn’t find any eateries and when we talked to the local people, they prepared meals and offered us with no hesitation. It was simply, a gesture of humanity. ​
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Some localities we visited shown in my iNaturalist observation map.
​​We left Diglipur in the evening of 19th August and reached Port Blair the following morning. After a rest, we went to the Chatham Jetty and took a ferry to reach the Mount Harriet National Park, the highest point in South Andamans (383 m). It was a short visit, but we recorded few more endemics including Andaman Green Pigeon and Andaman Wood Pigeon. 

​On the last day of our trip, we visited the Zoological Survey of India Port Blair office and met the ZSI scientist Dr. Tamal Mondal, a friend of Prosenjit, and he introduced us to his fellow scientist S. Rajeshkumar, who is working on the Odonata of the islands. We had a great discussion, shared our observations and learnt a lot from his experiences in the islands. He also showed us some amazing species he had encountered especially during his work in the Nicobar islands. After that, we visited few souvenir shops and head back to the hotel for final packing before we leave the islands. In the afternoon, amidst continuous rainfall, we reached the Port Blair airport and left the splendid Andaman Islands ending our eight day trip. 


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Souvenirs: statues of Jarawas
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​The main objective of the trip was to explore the odonates of Andamans in its changing landscapes. While doing so, we recorded 35 Odonata species in 23 different localities, despite the unfavorable weather conditions that prevailed throughout the expedition. These also included four species that were not documented from the Andamans prior to that. 11 new additions to my Odonata life list and 26 to my bird list were also recorded during the expedition. Few months later, after compiling all our observations and identifying what we observed during our explorations, we submitted a short manuscript on our findings to Agrion, the newsletter of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association.

Koparde, P., Dawn, P. and Sumanapala, A. (2018). Islands are calling: short expedition to the Andaman Islands reveals four new spatial records of Odonata and research gaps. Agrion: Newsletter of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association. Vol. 22(1): 37-41. Pdf. 
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Expedition Diaries 1.1: Andaman Islands Expedition 2017

5/12/2020

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It was back in late July 2017. I was having a chat with my friend Pankaj Koparde one evening and he mentioned that he is planning a trip to Andaman Islands the next month with our friend Prosenjit Dawn. My immediate reply was “can I join you?”

And so it happened. Three weeks later, I flew to Chennai to meet Pankaj at the Chennai airport and take a flight to Port Blair, Andamans. Things didn’t went exactly as it was planned as our flight got delayed by six hours. However, with all the delays, we landed at Port Blair airport in the rainy evening of 15th August 2017. Prosenjit had already reached directly from Kolkata. 

We found a small guesthouse and stayed for the night as we had a long journey the following day. Our main objective of the expedition was to survey the Andaman Odonata and explore its habitats, especially in the North Andaman Island. The capitol of Andaman and Nicobar Union Territory, Port Blair, is located in the South Andaman Island. The Middle Andaman Island, located north to the South Island is almost entirely a tribal reserve dedicated to the Jarawa tribe with several other settlements. The North Andaman Island, with few towns and villages scattered around still has a significant forest cover. The longest river in Andamans, the Kalpong River is also located in the North Andaman. That’s where we were heading.

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​We took a bus from Port Blair to Diglipur, North Andamans early morning on 16th. The almost 300 km journey took us the whole day. We had to cross two straits using ferries. While crossing these straits, I experienced rainforests continuing up to the sea shore and fringed with mangroves for the first time in my life, as no such rainforests patches are remaining in the coastal belt of Sri Lanka anymore. In the middle Andamans, all the vehicles were escorted by Police convoys as public are not allowed to get down or even stop the cars inside the Jarawa reserve. The Middle Andamans is almost completely covered in forest and while crossing the Jarawa reserve we passed many promising areas for some cool forest odonates.
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Once we reached Diglipur we had two important things to do. Finding our accommodation and hiring motor bikes for our explorations. We found the Titlee Guesthouse in a walking distance to Diglipur junction and it was our base for the duration we explored the North Andamans. 
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Pankaj and Prosenjit in front of our accommodation with the bikes
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A very interesting, yet unidentified slug
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The pond where I observed my first Andaman endemics
​The following day, we explored Diglipur. We started from Kalpong River next to the guesthouse and moved on to the surrounding areas. The river did not provide any interesting Odonata sightings. However, a large pond in a well vegetated home garden provided some interesting odonates. Among many regionally common species, our first Andaman endemics, Andaman Heliodor (Libellago andamanensis) and Andaman Red-striped Black Bambootail (Prodasineura verticalis andamanensis) were recorded there. Later that day, we visited the Aerial Bay, where the main jetty area of the island is located and River Kalpong flows to the Ocean.
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Andaman Heliodor (Libellago andamanensis)
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Andaman Red-striped Black Bambootail (Prodasineura verticalis andamanensis)
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Pseudagrion pilidorsum
The next day, we traveled southward from Diglipur along the Great Andaman trunk road and surveyed the streams we encountered.  On one such stream flowing next to a rural house, we came across a very interesting damselfly. Head, thorax and abdomen tip almost entirely red in colour and medium in size, it was something the three of us had never seen before. Super excited, we somehow managed to get a decent photograph and capture it for closer examination despite the heavy rainfall at the time. This was later identified as Pseudagrion pilidorsum, a South East Asian species not known from anywhere in Indian territories other than the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. At the same location I observed the endemics, Andaman Bronzebak (Dendrelaphis andamanensis) and Andaman Treepie (Dendrocitta bayleyii).

Later that day, we visited the Kalpong dam area. On our way there we encountered some clear-winged Libellago specimen, but could not reach close enough to photograph them. It was a rainy evening, thus did not yield anything novel on the odonata surveys. However, the endemic Bay Island Forest Lizard was observed in the forest. Only a couple of common odonates were observed at the Dam area. While heading back from the dam just after the sunset, we could observe Andaman Nightjars (Caprimulgus andamanicus) hunting on the road.
 
To be continued…
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The team at Kalpong Dam. Me, Pankaj and Prosenjit.
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