Deepak Rajanna

The Chambal river has a complicated reputation. For decades it was better known for its ravines — the preferred refuge of dacoits and outlaws — than for anything else. That notoriety turned out to be a gift to wildlife. The Chambal flows largely unimpeded, and on its sandy banks, in the furnace of a central Indian summer, the Indian Skimmer still breeds. One of the quieter privileges of my work with BNHS is being dropped into situations I'd have no business being in otherwise. Last month that meant a 60-kilometre boat ride with two of our researchers, monitoring Skimmer breeding colonies along the river's sandbanks. At each island they'd step out with clipboards, sweep the bank with practiced eyes — nests, eggs, fledglings, a quick count — make notes and move on. In temperatures nudging past 45°C, around 200 breeding pairs were doing exactly what they needed to do. The researchers, with the same focused urgency, were doing the same.