In search of the platypus and other paradoxes: Pallas's Gull by rickshaw

The temperature was around 35'C this afternoon, but it was my last chance to do some birding in India and more to the point my last chance to see Pallas's gull, so I decided to join the mad dogs and go out in the midday sun.

In recent weeks Pallas's gulls had been reported at Puthuvypin beach, about 15km from the family home, so I decided to call on the services of the friendly auto rickshaw driver Deepan who is a favourite of the family because he is so reliable. From my point of view he's also good because he's a decent birder and carries a camera with him, and is quite happy to stay with me and even come for a walk and engage in some birding!

A journey in a rickshaw or any other vehicle in India is always an adventure. A typical drive might include driving down a relatively narrow road with vehicles coming the other way. Suddenly with the sound of a horn the driver attempts to overtake any other vehicle who he thinks is going too slow for whatever reason, seemingly oblivious to what is coming the other way. Just as he does this a vehicle coming in the opposite direction does the same, and then from nowhere a motorbike overtakes you. A car pulls out onto the road from the left, causing the vehicle you are overtaking to swerve into the middle towards you and a pedestrian decides that now is a good time to cross the road and just walks out. More motorbikes pull out from the right and unexpectedly another motorbike overtakes on the inside between you and the vehicle you are overtaking. Finally just as you think that against all of the odds you're going to make it, a bus coming the other way pulls out as well. Everybody is in a rush until they block your route and then they move at snail pace, nobody stops to wait for a safe moment to pull out, they just go for it, and zebra crossings..... it's actually a waste of time and money to paint a zebra crossing on the road, in fact they are probably amongst the most dangerous places to cross because they give the unsuspecting pedestrian a false sense of security. The number of times I saw desperate pedestrians on a zebra crossing, stranded in the middle of a busy road, and nobody stops for them. If you stop at best your liable to a be bombarded with horns from behind. Interestingly the horns aren't usually used in an aggressive way as they often are in the UK, they are used as they should be, to warn other road users that you are here. Trouble is, once the warning has been issued, then you're on your own, you had your chance to get out of the way. Dual carriageways are just as bad only different. A two lane carriageway might have three cars driving side by side, as well as five or six motorbikes and other motorbikes weaving in and out. More often than not the motorbike driver has a helmet on, but bizarrely his wife and young kids are on the back, often riding side saddle, with no helmets. Chaos is the only word for it, yet I didn't see a single accident while I was in India and to be honest it all seemed to flow quite nicely!

However, eventually we arrived safely at Puthuvypin beach. As usual Deepan took off his khaki rickshaw driver shirt and put on another t-shirt and we set off down the beach. There were gulls flying out at sea but a little distant and in any case the bright, late afternoon sunlight made viewing in that direction almost impossible. It was pretty obvious that I would have to be very lucky to see Pallas's gull here today, the beach itself whilst not very crowded was busy enough to take away much hope. Still, Deepan knew of a few shallow lagoons along the way which he said might be worth a look for waders, and so it proved, with at least 10 black-winged stilts, 15 wood sandpipers, 12 little ringed plover and 30 greenshank. Best of all I got two new species here in the shape of 20 Tibetan sand plover and a small flock of jungle myna's. But no Pallas's gull.

We still had 90 minutes of daylight left so in a last desperate effort I suggested that we should stop at nearby Vypin beach, near where the ferry from Fort Kochi docks. The scenes here were wonderful, with masses of Brahminy kites and egrets hanging around the Chinese nets, whilst out at sea a few brown-headed gulls went past as well as lots of lesser crested terns and a couple of gulls-billed terns. At least two Indian Ocean humpback dolphins kept breaching and it could all best be described as a tremendously evocative scene.

Pallas's Gulls © Ajayakumar N

Suddenly I saw them! Four huge gulls flying along the river towards the docks, their wing pattern and black heads clearly identifying them as Pallas's gull, the king of gulls. It was a breathtaking moment, finally I'd seen them. My camera was in my bag and I had absolutely no intention of wasting time trying to get it out, my only concern was watching the gulls. A couple of minutes later two more flew past and my camera was still in my bag. A couple of high fives with Deepan ensued before we set off back to the family home through the madness of Kochi. The end of a fabulous holiday.