|
Suraj, Ramki and Swarna, and myself decided to spend four days birding and photographing at Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala and also cover the hill station of Munnar and Eravikulam National Park adjacent to Munnar. Preparations commenced three weeks in advance, and we had booked the Hornbill Camp of Eldhose fame for our stay at Thattekkad. While we were looking forward to the trip, we were informed that there is a shortage of water supply at the Hornbill camp and we would have to instead stay at the Forest Department's watchtower inside Thattekkad. Ramki and Swarna had planned to come directly to Thattekkad by train upto Aluva and then by bus, while I decided to go by train to Tirupur and from Tirupur with Suraj upto Thattekkad in his Qualis. The route from Tirupur to Thattekkad would be through the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and the beautiful hill station of Munnar, so it means birding on the way too upto Thattekkad. All set, I arrived at Tirupur on the 30th at 6.30AM. Suraj was there to pick me up and we started right away. In an hour we passed Udumalpet and entered the dry deciduous forests of Chinnar WLS. Due to the good monsoon season the forests were green and pleasant, in contrast to the dry brown scrub jungles that I had seen earlier in January when I visited Chinnar. The morning sun was shining brilliantly and casting the forest in great light when we were welcomed to Chinnar by a Crested Hawk Eagle perched on an electric tower. I guess there could not be a better start to the day. We spent sometime photographing the majestic raptor. Further ahead we sighted a female Paradise Flycatcher, plenty of Pied Buschats, Magpie Robins and the omni present Spotted Doves that flutter away from the road as our vehicle approaches. Past Chinnar as the road climbed to Maraiyoor and Munnar we sighted a herd of 5 to 6 elephants far down in the green jungles surrounding a great waterfall, the white surf coming up shining in the morning sun. A little ahead we were stunned by the beauty of a few Chestnut Headed Beeeaters as they alighted on dry twigs and displayed their various colours. A little past Maraiyoor we stopped to have a breakfast of cup noodles, only to see a lone Rufous Backed Shrike. As we approached Munnar we saw a Grey Jungle Fowl leisurely crossing the road and entering the tea plantations. At Munnar we visited the Wildlife Warden's office. We told him of our intentions to photograph tahrs at Eravikulam. He immediately sent a wireless message to Rajamalai informing them of our plans. He didn't talk much, and we left soon after. After Munnar it was a rather boring drive downhill to Thattekkad since it was hot by now and the traffic on the road was more frequent. A little before Kothamangalam we took a right turn towards Thattekkad. The road passed through plantations of rubber and pineapple. En route we sighted a Racquet Tailed Drongo. A little before Thattekkad the road has to cross the river Periyar. The bridge work is in progress and hence all vehicles wanting to cross the river will have to do so by way of a ferry - a combined platform of three smaller boats. It was spine chilling to watch the tempos and cars getting on and off the boat by way of a flimsy iron plate placed between the boat and the shore. Immediately after crossing Periyar is the Forest Department's checkpost and office, essentially the entrance to Thattekkad Sanctuary. After formal talks with the range officer in broken Malayalam, we went to the watchtower, a couple of kilometers from the checkpost. There we met up with Ramki and Swarna who had arrived a couple of hours earlier. It was late afternoon by now, and we had a sumptous lunch. The skies were overcast and light was very poor, the forests round the watchtower wearing a hushed silence with not a single bird sound. It became dark soon after and we had to retire for the night without any major birding. But Ramki and Swarna had had a small birding session earlier and they had spotted the famed Ceylon Frogmouth with the help of our guide Sudheesh. Sudheesh seemed to be a keen birder himself and took pains to spot elusive endemics and rare birds in the thick foliage. The second day morning he excitedly took us to a place very near to the watchtower and showed us a pair of Ceylon Frogmouths dozing, perched some 10 feet from the ground. Though they were deep inside the foliage and little light fell on them, we managed to capture some photographs. When we were finished with the frogmouths we walked on to the trail, and Ramki spotted a lone Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. What a cute little beauty it was! The morning birding session lasted for some four hours which yielded Dollar Bird, Fairy Blue Bird, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Lorikeets and many other rare to see birds found only in the Western Ghats. In the afternoon we had a puncture to repair. After dropping the tyre to a mechanic shop, we visiited a place called Urulanthanni, where there was a huge waterfalls. It occurred on the border of Thattekkad with Neriamangalam Reserved Forests. The third day morning we spent a lot of time stalking a pair of common kingfishers. We managed to crawl upto 5 feet from them without alerting them. The stalk took almost 30 minutes and we were covered with mud and sweat when the shoot finally got over with the kingfishers just moving over to another stump across a small stream. Leaving Thattekkad at 10AM we headed for Munnar. En route at Palamattom near the Birds Lagoon resort we did some shooting of Ashy Woodswallows, Treepies, an Orphean Warbler, Racquet Tailed Drongos, Black Hooded Orioles and Scaly Bellied Woodpeckers. At Munnar we checked in to Hotel Hill View. After lunch at the hotel we headed for Eravikulam. However the light was very bad and the sky was overcast with clouds and a spell of rain here and there. However we did some birdwatching inside Eravikulam National Park and saw the Grey Breasted Laughingthrush, White Eyes, Red Whiskered Bulbuls and an unidentified raptor. On the fourth day we left the hotel at 6AM and were at Eravikulam by 6.45AM, as light came on. We spent a lot of
time shooting Grey Breasted Laughingthrush in the morning light. We also saw a Brown Capped Pygmy Woodpecker,
Scarlet Minivets and Nilgiri Flycatchers. To add to it we also had a lot many of Nilgiri Pipits everywhere.
Past the second checkpost we spotted the Nilgiri Tahrs resting on a
rock cliff, and we crawled above them for some shooting.
Leaving Eravikulam by noon, we slowly drove down to Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Enroute we sighted a pair of Black Eagles carrying nest material. Ramki also identified the tree clump where we suspected them to be nesting. Inside Chinnar we feasted our eyes on Blue Faced Malkoha, White Browed Fantails, Hoopoe, Black Winged Kite, White Bellied Drongos, White Browed Bulbuls and Bee eaters. And we also had a great bout of luck when Suraj suddenly brought the Qualis to a halt and whispered Grizzled Giant Squirrel. Looking up we saw the GGS engrossed in feeding atop a tree. However before we could get any decent shots of him he sensed our presence and in a flash vanished into thin air. At the Chinnar checkpost we had some dosas that would serve as a late lunch. It was dusk as we slowly made our way out of Chinnar and headed towards Tirupur. However, there was still a lot of birding left in that low light when we came upon a beautiful Black Hooded Oriole, Blue Winged Leafbird and a few Purple Rumped Sunbirds. A little further and we bumped into a male and female Shikra a little distant apart, hunting in the dark for insects. It seemed that they were after the moths and dragonflies, and I never knew that Shikras would even go after insects in the dark. Inspite of the very low light, we managed to collect a few photographs of the Shikras. After that it was almost dark and we had made up our minds to call it a day when there came the piercing cry of a raptor above our head. Looking up, we saw the pair of Crested Hawk Eagles sitting atop a tree, one of them giving the piercing calls. Ramki did dare to shoot them in that low light too, while I just contended myself in watching that great pair. Past the Hawk Eagles we called it a day and Suraj stepped on the accelerator to head towards Tirupur and leave the Chinnar WLS behind us. But there needs to be a more fitting end to such a glorious trip, it seemed. Before we were out of the sanctuary, Suraj again came to a halt and said we have another eagle on the road side, but not a Hawk Eagle. Saying so he reversed a hundred meters, and Lo and Behold! There sat the great Crested Serpent Eagle, silently and majestically, just 10 feet away, staring deep into us. It stared at us for sometime, and then slowly and unhurriedly spread its great wings and disappeared into the night, as we sat watching, spellbound. And that was the end of one of our best birding and photographing trips ever. List of My Sightings:
Others:
|
As the sun grew hotter the Tahrs left the cliff and
slowly made for the road, where there was quite a number of tourists by now. We were done with our shooting of
the Tahrs by then, and just spent time watching them at close quarters, as they unmindful of the tourists ambled
by, browsing the grass and cooling at a stream.