The boat is quietly poled along, gondola style, through channels in a vast marsh on the edge of Lake Chilika, Orissa. My problem is deciding where to look; there is a painted stork to the right, two large white egrets to the left, ducks of various kinds paddling nearby and a large kingfisher casting a beady eye on the world from the bank.
A cloud of Caspian terns fly off in a swirl of flashing wings. They move in wide circles as if they are one and then, tuned to the same instructions, they settle on the marshes again. There is a sea eagle high in the sky. Maybe this is why they took fright.
The gondolier stands on the stern and doesn't say much but he knows the web of channels in the marsh intimately and knows when we need to move quietly and when to stop and watch. A white stork with impossibly long, skinny black legs and a yellow sabre-beak stands absolutely still. After a silver splash and movement so fast it's a blur it stands with a small fish wriggling in its beak.
Our guide, who can identify the 167 species of bird that inhabit this area and rattle off their scientific names, is the son of a reformed poacher. This young man, and his poling colleague, learned the habits of the birds and the nuances of the marshes by helping their fathers trap birds and gather eggs.
