Amila Prasanna Sumanapala
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...
Amila Prasanna Sumanapala
​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. ​

​​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.

​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.

​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.

Pankaj and Prosenjit in front of our accommodation with the bikes

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…

​With over a decade of field experience, I have gathered knowledge on certain animal groups. However, when it comes to other lesser known taxa, especially most of the invertebrates, we are still at an amateur level. With iNaturalist and its diverse user community, learning about at least some of these taxonomic groups became a possibility as there are many specialists and experienced naturalists in the community who provide identification help and guidance. These interactions lead me to find new naturalist friends and in depth discussions on certain taxonomic matters. Over the past year, iNaturalist has been a part of my life and a very enjoyable experience that I recommend to all my colleagues.