| SLIDESHOW | BLACK-NECKED CRANES |
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
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1. Window of Opportunity
The Bhutanese countryside wakes slowly outside our scalloped windows in Paro valley where most of our journeys begin. Paro has the country's only international airport and is one of the Bhutan's three main "cities." But even here, the country's agrarian heart is clearly visible. This view of the fertile rice paddies of Paro coincides with the golden post-harvest season. Crisp clear mornings, dazzling days and the sparkling Bhutanese country side are the norm as we journey east toward the gateway valley of Phobjikha to catch the arrival of Bhutan's rare and endangered Black-necked Cranes. We have always managed to time this journey well (for upcomg trip dates & itinerary see Celebrating Bhutan's Black-necked Cranes) but fluctuations in annual migratory patterns due to weather, climate, human interference and a host of other reasons beyond our control mean there is always a possibility we may miss this window of opportunity.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
2. Enter the Buddha
On our way east to see the Black-necked Cranes, the museums, markets and cultural importance of Bhutan's capital, Thimphu, makes it an obligatory stop. Also obligatory is the trip up the mountain to see the burnished Buddha Dordenma statue, which rises above the capital like Christ the Redeemer above Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, a visible landmark from nearly every distance in the valley. Rio's landmark is 125-feet tall while Thimphu's Buddha is 169-feet. The giant Buddha includes a kora at its base, a ritual circular path around the image that Buddhist faithfuls walk as part of their devotions at various points in the day. Of particular note is the fact that visitors can enter the giant Buddha through its gilded doors near the base. Inside, it becomes a full-scale temple where one can meditate and make religious offerings. Sitting in front of the Dordenma (a name that means "Seated on the Diamond Throne") we offer prayers that we have timed our arrival in central Bhutan for a successful viewing of the cranes.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
3. A Fortress of Faith
One of our many stops in the capital is the beautiful 17th century building which houses the offices of His Majesty the King of Bhutan and other important branches of government as well as Buddhist shrines, temples, and a fully functioning national monastery which has been open for centuries. Bhutan's constitution states that government must be grounded in the happiness of its people. In Bhutan, both government and happiness are thought to be inseparable from the tenets of Himalayan Buddhism, which expresses harmony between the spiritual and the practical through art, architecture and good governance. Seen in this light the building that protects the spiritual needs of the people while housing national entities that pursue progressive policies for a secure future—such as the Commission for Gross National Happiness, charged with balancing modernity with life-satisfaction for Bhutanese citizens—seems richly deserving of the title Tashichhodzong which, translated, means Fortress of Faith.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
4. A Double Rainbow
The road to Phobjikha, sometimes called "Valley of the Cranes" because of its significance as one of the main wintering grounds for the Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan, passes through the lush Black Mountain Range. During our drive, a sudden unseasonal shower rinses the countryside and blesses us with a double-rainbow which we take to be a lucky sign!
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
5. Praying for Cranes
While on the road, I have been calling our contacts at the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (which oversees Crane Conservation) as well as the on-site manager of the Crane Observatory in Phobjikha. The news is discouraging. There hasn't been a single crane sighting and no movement in the skies have been noted even though crane observers in the valley have been scanning the skies to distraction. So we get busy as soon as we arrive in the valley. While waiting for the cranes to arrive, we host an impromptu private Buddhist blessing for our guests, with special prayers thrown in for the cranes.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
6. A Celestial Hike
Day 3 in the valley and still no cranes. After a morning phone chat with my father who spent part of his youth here, I take his advice and launch a day hike to a hidden corner of Phobjikha where the views are spectacular. For some time in the late 1940s, my grandfather served as the Shaa Droom (more formally, Drungpa), a title given to the regional governor appointed by the king to administer Phobjikha and its subsidiary valleys. According to family lore, my father was carried on horseback numerous times in and out of the valley as child and, later, as a youth, hiked its many high passes and ridges with my grandfather on official tours and seasonal migrations. Descending from the 12,139-foot pass between Phobjikha and Drang Haa valley to the east—along a trail that my grandfather walked many times back in the day when roads were non-existent in Bhutan—the skies open up to a heavenly light. The valley’s celebrated "Birds of Heaven" still have not arrived but I think this view is pretty celestial on its own!
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
7. A Second Rainbow
The day ends with another spectacular rainbow which greets us on our return from the high pass between Phobjikha and Drang Haa valleys. The village of Kumbu where the house at the end of the rainbow is located, is a small and hidden community on the high slopes of the valley. The people here still practice an ancient religion that blends shamanistic Bon and the more mainstream Vajrayana Buddhism. A cousin who is from the area but currently in Australia reminds me on my social media feed that everyone here is either named Kumbu after the village, or Sigay, for Angay ("Grandmother") Sigay Gyem, an old Bon spirit who is the designated "protector" of the valley.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
8. Hope Fades
Day breaks over the sleepy valley outside my window without so much as a feather stirring the air below me. I know we have played our best hand by being here well into the first week of November—in previous years, early cranes arrived mid-October while the late arrivals came before the 1st of November—there is no sign of the much-anticipated Black-necked Cranes. I can't help feeling disappointed. Making a final call to the crane observatory, I'm told what I have already confirmed with my early morning scan of the skies. And yet I have a persistent, if rapidly fading, hope. So, after a quick discussion with the rest of my team we decide to delay our departure into the afternoon. A picnic lunch in the valley first, and we'll leave if the cranes haven't arrived.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
9. Arrival!
Sometime late morning, we are out for a final walk on the valley floor with the guests. Two things happen at once. I notice five or six tiny specks in the sky that make my heart leap. My phone begins to buzz without stopping. The cranes are here! Then the first familiar cries announcing their arrival as they glide past a stand of prayer flags in front of us, sweeping gracefully, wingspans wide. The guides are pointing at the sky, helping the delighted guests pinpoint the arriving cranes. Everyone is laughing giddily and taking pictures of incoming cranes. Then, with an audible whoosh of wings, they fly over us in what feels like a personalized blessing! I can only manage to get some blurry shots with my camera as they go by but I feel completely happy. By the end of lunchtime we count a total of 14 birds, adults and juveniles together, the first group of Black-necked Cranes to arrive in 2017, at the end of their epic annual migration over the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.
Slideshow: Waiting for Black-necked Cranes
Images from our recent journey to catch the annual arrival of Bhutan's elegant Black-necked Cranes. Scroll down to read caption details. For similar upcoming departures for 2018 & '19, please see On the Wings of a Prayer.
10. A Kind of Benediction
Later that evening I read my journal entry from the morning:
Good morning from the Gangtey valley, where the annual return of the rare and endangered Black Necked Cranes is awaited with bated breath. Nearby, the 17th Century Gangtey Monastery provides a calm reminder that time is a relative notion.
I dedicate the stillness of this morning to the sacred cranes who must make the arduous and heroic journey from the Tibetan Plateau and beyond, over the cold and jagged Himalayas, to grace the valley again with their familiar and reassuring presence through the harsh winter in this high region of the Bhutan Himalaya.
Before going to bed that night, I add:
And then, to our great good fortune, mere hours before we leave this blessed valley, after two auspicious rainbow sightings, Bhutan’s 'Birds Of Heaven' have arrived in the Gangtey-Phobjikha valley as they have for hundreds of years, bringing joy to locals and visitors alike.
I feel the blessings of their presence in my heart as a kind of benediction!"
***
Footnote: A total of 504 Black-necked cranes were recorded in Phobjikha valley by end 2017; According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world-wide population of mature BNCs worldwide is estimated at 6,600-6,800 (updated 2017) with continuing decline in the overall global population. Bhutan Himalaya supports crane conservation in the valley through visitor's fees and other contributions.
By Karma Dorji
An account, in words and images, of a November 2017 journey to Bhutan's Phobjikha valley, where the rare and elegant Black-necked Cranes are the season's much anticipated guests. Inspired? See dates and prices for our upcoming Black-necked Cranes journey On the Wings of a Prayer; for more on Black-necked Cranes in Bhutan read our feature article about the cranes.
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