December 15, 2017 by Badri

Trip Report: Shivaliks/Rajaji N.P.

Dates: 8-13 Dec ‘17

Camp: Bayali

Who: A

A and I spent five days at a tiny settlement called Bayali in the Shivaliks. Although it was a family outing, we did get considerable time to savour the wildlife in the area.

Colebrookea oppositifolia – the woodsman’s toilet paper

The mornings were bitterly cold and eschewing Gypsy drives through the forest, we chose instead to bird around the settlement. Evenings were spent driving down through the forest, towards the Vindhyavashini temple some fifteen or twenty kilometres away.

Wild mushroom, possibly Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi)

We set out one forenoon to a place called Kanda Khal – which is essentially a little cluster of shops lining the road – and took a path that plunges into the valley from here. A grueling climb up the opposite slope took us through some spectacular birding spots, to a sparse cluster of homesteads called Basaan and then to a slightly larger village called Kasaan, before descending via a circuitous route to meet the waiting Gypsy on the road. The trek lasted a few hours and took us past a grim scar on the hillside where in the July of 2006, two cloudbursts triggered landslides that destroyed a homestead, killing five people in the process.

“Bicchu ghas” – Common nettle – Urtica dioica. Frequently seen lining paths. A brush with this plant can cause considerable discomfort as the fine thorns inject histamines.

On another afternoon, we drove down to the Tal river valley and spent a while sighting goral on the surrounding slopes. We saw a small Accipiter here which we initially assumed to be a Eurasian sparrowhawk – but I’m not certain now after checking. We flushed a small flock of quail which promptly disappeared into the lantana before they could be identified.

“Tattoo fern”. Possibly Pteridium sp. Leaves a delightful white imprint on the skin.

Tattoo fern, possibly Pteridium sp. Leaves a delightful white print on the skin.

Birding

Great barbet at dawn

Commonly seen species included Great barbet (whose call was often heard), Lineated barbet, White-throated and White-browed fantail, Grey bushchat, a Tree-creeper (we didn’t know which), Grey-headed woodpecker, Himalayan flameback and Black-chinned babbler. There was a species of prinia (possibly) in gregarious flocks around Bayali, greenish brown in the upper parts, with a pale supercilium, white underparts, a prominent white throat and black barring on the underside of the tail. We were not able to conclusively ID this bird (non-breeding form of the Grey-breasted prinia?). We made the mistake of not noting the call – this would have made the task easier.

There were enormous flocks of Eurasian tree sparrow (or maybe Russet sparrow) in the lantana thickets. Vultures (& eagles on occasion) were seen overhead several times but we were unable to ID them. Plumbeous and White-capped water redstart were seen by the streams and rivers. In and around Kasaan were several flocks of Streaked laughingthrush. We spotted what appeared to be a Brown fish owl in flight once.

Streaked laughingthrush

We also saw Black-lored tit, Lemon-rumped warbler, Grey treepie, Blue whistling thrush, Mrs. Gould’s sunbird, Grey-hooded warbler and the spectacular Yellow-billed blue magpie.

More pedestrian species (if I dare call them that) included Oriented turtle dove, plenty of Indian treepie & bulbul (Himalayan, Red-whiskered and Red-vented in equal measure), Cinereous tit, Velvet-fronted nuthatch, Oriental white-eye, Indian robin, River lapwing, White and Yellow wagtail, Ashy-crowned sparrowlark, Long-tailed shrike, Coppersmith barbet, Plum-headed parakeet, Paddyfield pipit (I think), Greenish and Dusky warbler, Magpie robin, Tailorbird, White-throated kingfisher, Jungle owlet, Orange minivet, Red junglefowl (hens only, for some reason), peafowl, Black-hooded oriole, Jungle babbler and Asian pied starling.

Cinereous tit

Forest drives

The drives turned up some interesting experiences. We were on our way to the Vindhyavashini temple one evening when we stopped to look at a flameback (Himalayan I think). The woodpecker fled to a tree some distance away. All of a sudden, a shikra swooped in out of nowhere and barrelled straight for the flameback, which in turn squealed and dived for the undergrowth. This set off an excited chattering amongst the other avifauna around, which subsided once the shikra exited the scene as rapidly as it had entered it.

Orb weaver spider web

There’s a sharp turn to the left at one point, angled at almost ninety degrees. We were approaching this turn when the sharp, ascending notes of a Changeable hawk eagle shattered the stillness of the forest. We found the raptor feeding off a chital kill, on a branch some twenty feet up and not too far from the roadside. The kill appeared fresh and we bookmarked the tree for a dekko on the return journey.

Changeable hawk eagle scavenging off leopard’s kill at dusk

It was well after dark when we made our way back and we swerved the jeep at an angle and climbed the gentle embankment by the roadside to light up the branch broadside on. Sure enough, the owner of the kill was there, feeding greedily on the carcass. So sharp was his hunger that the leopard didn’t glance our way once. We watched for a while and then left him to his meal.

On crossing the Kaudia checkpost, the road winds through flat land for a few kilometres before it begins its ascent into the hills. The forest here is old growth Sal, with Rohini (Mallotus phillipinensis) and Hill glorybower (Clerodendrum infortunatum) among others in the understorey. A and I were being driven back along this road well after dark one evening when she caught fleeting sight of a large feline on the road ahead. Our driver Suraj caught sight of it a second later. With the Gypsy approaching, the cat nimbly stepped off the road and into the dense thickets. I had my eyes on the undergrowth on the far side and by the time I was alerted, all I could see were swaying branches with the cat out of sight. Suraj surmised that it was a leopard, but based on its size and behaviour, A felt she’d sighted her first wild tiger.

The Nandi stone!

October 3, 2016 by Badri

Trip report: Yercaud, Sep ’16

Dates: 30 Sep – 2 Oct ’16

Camp: Grange Resort

Grange is a picturesque resort surrounded by acres of coffee and pepper plantation. Accommodation is in cottages that have sit-outs with very pleasant views. The ambience was quiet and peaceful, the weather was superb and the walks through the estate were very satisfying.

This was an office outing, but I was looking forward to the birding. The birding was far from impressive though, with just around twenty species sighted.

img-20161002-wa0022

The best experience was from the sit-out itself. Greater and Lesser flamebacks were both very common, sometimes settling on trees very close by if we stayed still and quiet. A pair (each) of Greater racket-tailed drongo and Indian treepie were constantly seen close to the cottage, sometimes at close range. It didn’t occur to me to attempt a photograph and I realized this only when VV asked me later on.

The building areas were home to a large (and noisy) number of Red-whiskered bulbul. These were occasionally joined by flocks of Oriental white-eye. Greenish leaf warbler were everywhere, although more heard than seen. Velvet-fronted nuthatch was sighted a few times. A flock of Jungle babbler made an occasional appearance.

A Crested serpent eagle called once, and Jungle owlet a few times. The latter called from the same location over the two days but was too far off the track to be located. I heard a couple of bird calls which I could not ID.

I was listening for calls at night – Grey nightjar, Mottled wood owl, Indian scops owl or Spotted owlet, but the only things heard were insects – cicadas and katydids possibly.

This picturesque trail began virtually from the doorstep of my cottage (No. 15). We did birding walks along this trail morning and evening.

The walks yielded Rusty-tailed flycatcher, Greater coucal, White-cheeked barbet and Flowerpecker (Plain I think). One of my colleagues caught a fleeting glimpse of what sounded like the Painted bush quail from his description. I saw what I think was a Black-headed cuckooshrike. Our view was from below the bird, and while everything else tallied, the black on the neck and head was paler than you’d expect. One especially busy tree had a series of visitors – Ashy drongo, Golden-fronted leaf bird, Purple sunbird andOriental white-eye. A Magpie robin called once or twice, but was not seen.

We visited the National Orchidarium and Botanical Garden once hoping for some birding, but saw no birds. The orchid collection is impressive enough for those that fancy orchids I imagine. Most visitors seem to only notice the caged insectivorous pitcher plant though.

yercaud-sep-16-010

yercaud-sep-16-014

The Grange resort boasts of an incredible history, the estate having been established in 1820 by a certain M.D. Cockburn, who also introduced coffee in the Shevaroy hills. The original building, which incidentally also served as a summer residence of Robert Clive still stands, although it could do with some upkeep. We were very keen on checking out the interiors, but the resort staff told us that the owner’s relatives lived there and it should be available for visitors in a few months’ time.

Pic by Alex R.

September 8, 2016 by Badri

K. Gudi/BRT Tiger Reserve: Sep ’16

Dates: 2 – 5 Sep ’16

Camp: K. Gudi Wilderness Camp

Who: P

Glory Lilly (Gloriosa superba) by the roadside a short way from the camp

My kid P and I did three nights this time. The weather was cool with some spells of rain. Sightings were not particularly great as a result, but the forest was hauntingly beautiful, and straight out of a Grimm’s Fairy Tales movie set one particular morning, with a thick mist hanging over it.

Brown fish owl, early in the morning

Visibility was poor due to luxuriant growth of Eupatorium Ageratina adenophora, Lantana Lantana camara and Bracken Pteridium aquilinum. These three weeds dominated the ground cover and it is very likely that they have had a deleterious effect on the herbivore population over the years. And this possibly explains why the large herds of gaur that were once plentiful in BRT are nowhere to be seen today. Elephants have become scarce too. The only consolation is that there is not much Parthenium hysterophorus . The post-monsoon clearing of vegetation by the track will not happen for another month. The undergrowth was tall enough to completely hide a leopard or sloth bear, making sightings possible only if the animal was on the track itself. Due to this reason, Durgur road, which is usually unfailingly productive on the way out (in the evenings), drew a blank this time.

k-gudi-sep-16-926

Another insidious plant that I should have noticed earlier but somehow hadn’t was the hemiparasitic Mistletoe Loranthus sp. It infested a majority of the Axlewood Anogeissus latifolia trees, leaching nutrients and water. I heard that it had almost completely decimated the Indian gooseberry Phyllanthus emblica trees.

The darker leaves are from Mistletoe (Loranthus sp.), a hemi-parasite.

The birding was okayish, not too great. Grey wagtails had started to arrive a week back and were plentiful. I learnt to ID the vaguely squirrel-like call of the Orange-headed thrush. This call resonated frequently through the camp and the jungle as these birds were everywhere too. There is another call, a more frantic one, which is not quite as distinctive. I also got familiar with the Blue-bearded bee-eater’s call, given that a pair was constantly (and noisily) haunting the surroundings.

Orange-headed thrush outside tent No. 7

I also puzzled over a call that sounded like the Stork-billed kingfisher’s except that it had four continuous notes in place of the usual two (or three). Rahul, an avid birder from Bangalore who was visiting indicated that this was the winter call of the Stork-billed kingfisher. Rajesh, my good friend, spotter extraordinaire and favourite driver was puzzled; he said he hadn’t seen this bird around.

Jungle babblers behind the Gol Ghar. They are bold enough to hop right into the Gol Ghar looking for crumbs. Pic by P.

This is a very common weed I have not been able to ID yet.

Naturalist Basavanna has shifted from Bandipur to K. Gudi and accompanied us on our drives (Narayan did too, for the first two days). He taught us to ID the call of the Drongo cuckoo. We were waiting by Anni kere when what superficially sounded like the Indian cuckoo’s call started up (except that this is not the season for the Indian cuckoo to call). And except that this was three notes up and one down, unlike the sing-song pitch of the Indian cuckoo’s.

At the same place, we also heard a repeated, drawn-out, shikra-like call which we were stumped by until Basavanna identified it as the Brown fish owl’s chick’s call.

Jungle owlet. Pic by Rajesh.

Indian blackbird in the camp

On day three, Rajesh suggested that we take a walk down the road towards the government school after lunch instead of wasting time lounging around in the tent (as he put it). We walked for a short distance until junior got too nervous to go any further – he had been rattled by the earlier sloth bear and leopard sightings around the tent. We saw an Oriental honey buzzard, a Blackbird, Blue-bearded bee-eaters, and on the way back, a Tawny-bellied babbler that showed itself clearly for quite a while, although while constantly flitting around and preventing Rajesh from getting a photograph. We also had a reasonable Rufous babbler sighting in the jungle later on.

Radermachera xylocarpa outside tent No. 7. Commonly known as the Deer antler tree.

This was a trip full of tantalizingly close opportunities that never materialized. There were plenty of alarm calls, with none converting. On day 1, in the evening safari, we were drawn to Tiger Tank by persistent Muntjac alarm calls. The deer decamped, but a troop of langurs stationed there barked hysterically and persistently, accompanied by much leaping and branch shaking. They were clearly very excited. Rajesh, Basavanna and Narayan all craned their necks trying to get a fix on which side the langurs were focused on. Two opinions eventually emerged, one pointing away from the kere, and the other (Rajesh’s) pointing towards it. A quick discussion led to a consensus that the cat must have just crossed the road and passed in a direction away from the lake. And so off we went, looking for it elsewhere. Turned out that Rajesh’s suspicion was right. The tiger (which is what it was) was hidden right there, in the sea of Eupatorium between us and the lake. It emerged an hour and a half later and was seen and photographed by another group. Rajesh was especially disappointed that we had miscalculated.

The long weekend brought a lot of traffic to the temple, further impacting the sightings. Pic by P.

On day 3, in the evening safari, we ran into another loud and persistent series of calls. Somewhat midway between the barking deer’s and chital’s alarm call. Everyone promptly assumed it was one of these and an animated discussion ensued around where the cat possibly could be. We drove around a little trying to pinpoint direction. After a while, Rajesh smacked his forehead when he realized we were in fact listening to the Spot-bellied eagle owl’s call. Although he was equally excited at the prospect of locating the owl. We did try for a considerable time, but without success and the calls eventually died out.

P (9 years old) clicked this pic of Durga Parameshwari, the camp elephant

I also missed an Indian flying squirrel sighting on day 3 in the evening. The squirrel calls had started just after junior and I had left the gol ghar post dinner. The pair was then sighted, for a period of fifteen minutes, as it progressively glided its way from the trees near the FRH to the jungle beyond the Gol Ghar. The next day I asked Basavanna why he didn’t give me a call, and his reply was that he would definitely have, had he known that I was interested in watching flying squirrels.

Chappekkai. Entada rheedii possibly. I had not realized earlier that the pods were growing off a climber and not off tree itself.

Gaur with calf. Pic by Basavanna.

Junior and I also missed a dhole sighting on the drive back. We had driven down towards the temple on day 2 with Rajesh post breakfast, looking for a pack that frequented an area a little before the BR Hills settlement. (There was another pack frequenting the Navodaya checkpost side too that we also looked for in vain). We didn’t find the pack, and there was considerable disturbance from some tar-laying work that was underway. On my drive back to Bangalore on day 4, I did keep my eyes peeled while passing through the area, but saw nothing. Another guest who was in K. Gudi left around the same time and was a little behind me. He sighted the pack and Rajesh called me a little later, asking if I had too. He was surprised that I hadn’t – and the guest in question actually overtook me while we were having this conversation. We therefore couldn’t have been very far apart when he sighted the pack.

Monitor lizard near the Navodaya checkpost

However these disappointments were not without compensating sightings. On the last safari, Rajesh and I saw a something on the track ahead. It saw us too, and went bounding away a short distance before leaping into the lantana. I thought it was a leopard, but Rajesh with his infinitely better eyesight shouted ‘tiger!’ No one else in the jeep caught the sighting. Arriving at the point, Rajesh’s opinion was confirmed by the pungent smell of scent marking. Basavanna had earlier remarked that the smell of the tiger’s scent-marking was very similar to the fragrance of cooked Basmati rice. I could instantly see why he said so. In any case, my tiger sighting account at BRT TR was finally opened, after 16 years of visits.

I should mention here that I have seen Rajesh use his sense of smell while tracking cats on safari more than once. He catches whiffs of kills, scat or the cat itself and makes as much use of this information as he does of pug marks or alarm calls. On this trip, he took another clever little masterclass while tracking a herd of elephants. There was no apparent sign on the road, but he determined that a herd had just passed. When I asked him how he knew, he pointed out that the grass on the track was uprooted in places. Try as I might, I couldn’t make this out. As is my wont, I dismissed his theory. Presently, dung appeared. And then spoor. And then the herd itself, in Anni kere. That’s the kind of tracker Rajesh is.

k-gudi-sep-16-866

The highlight of the trip was a superb Slaty-legged crake sighting near Anni kere on day 1. I remembered that in August 2014 I had seen this bird, though indistinctly, in Anni kere. I asked Prasad about it as soon as I landed there, and he confirmed that sightings were happening every once a while. The bird stepped out on the track in front of the jeep and bathed in a puddle for a good five minutes, until it was disturbed by another jeep approaching on the opposite side. Very clear view. The light was bad though, as it was around 6 PM by then.

k-gudi-sep-16-040

k-gudi-sep-16-041

I also had a fleeting sighting of a tree shrew on the track.

k-gudi-sep-16-012

Birds

Black-hooded oriole
Brahminy kite
Bronzed drongo
Brown fish owl
Common tailorbird
Crested serpent eagle
Drongo cuckoo (calls)
Green beeeater
Hill myna
Indian treepie
Golden-fronted leaf bird
Greater flameback
Grey junglefowl
Grey wagtail
Indian blackbird
Indian scimitar babbler (calls)
Jungle babbler
Jungle myna
Jungle owlet
Lesser flameback
Long-tailed shrike
Magpie robin
Malabar parakeet
Mountain imperial pigeon
Orange-headed thrush
Orange minivet
Oriental honey buzzard
Pied bushchat
Plum-headed parakeet
Puff-throated babbler (calls)
Racket-tailed drongo
Red spurfowl
Red-vented bulbul
Red-whiskered bulbul
Rufous babbler
Rufous woodpecker
Small minivet
(Southern?) coucal
Spot-bellied eagle owl (calls)
Spotted dove
Streak-throated woodpecker
Tawny-bellied babbler
Tri-colored munia
Vernal hanging parrot
White-bellied drongo
White-browed bulbul
White-cheeked barbet
White-throated kingfisher

Mammals/Reptiles

Barking deer
Chital
Elephant
Gaur
Pond terrapin
Malabar giant squirrel
Monitor lizard
Ruddy mongoose
Sambar
Southern tree shrew
Striped-necked mongoose
Three-striped palm squirrel
Tiger
Tufted langur
Wild pig

k-gudi-sep-16-797

May 17, 2016 by Badri

Trip report: Valparai, Feb ’16

Trip Report: Valparai

Dates: 6-8 Feb 2016

Camp: Stanmore Bungalow

Stanmore Bungalow near Valparai is situated on the rim of a verdant bowl of tea plantation, the slopes falling away from beneath the bungalow to a stream at the bottom of the valley. This was an office team outing. PA and I stayed back an extra day to devote some time to the fauna.

The view from the wooden chalets is postcardish, and it was pleasant to sit on the sit-out listening to bird calls. An unseen CSE had taken to calling at intervals right through the day. We sighted one a few kilometers away on day 2 but were not sure it was the same bird. Junglefowl called frequently from the tea, cocks challenging each other. Indian scimitar babbler was heard frequently, and we did spot a couple when wandering down to the stream. While watching elephants by the stream at sunset, I heard what I believe were Rufous babblers roosting in a tree. The birds were not seen though. I remember that White-browed bulbul were also heard a few times. Early in the morning, the Malabar whistling thrush startled us awake by calling from the balcony, just a few feet away.

Seen around the campus were Asian fairy bluebird, Yellow-browed bulbul, Malabar whistling thrush, Purple sunbird, Orange-headed thrush, White-browed wagtail, Grey wagtail, a solitary kestrel, Greenish warbler, Red-whiskered bulbul, Tailorbird and Magpie robin. A couple of raptors were constantly seen circling over the stream, but we were unable to decisively ID them.

The Woodbriar group had a naturalist who was based at an estate called Puduthottam. We bumped into him while on a drive to see LTMs, and as we stood by the roadside talking, four stripe-necked mongoose crossed the road one behind the other a short distance away. We drove to Puduthottam after dark one evening, but saw only Black-naped hare, muntjac and sambar for all our trouble. The naturalist claimed he saw a leopard cat though; it scampered away before I could spot it, if that’s what it was. I’m not sure if PA got to see it.

Stanmore Bungalow was managed by a very friendly young man called Vivek Varma, who had a keen interest in wildlife. He came with us whenever he could tear himself away from work. A leopard was said to pass by the bungalow gate occasionally, and he’d instructed the watchman to wake us up if we got lucky. We saw plenty of porcupine and civet scat among the tea plants.

Nilgiri flowerpecker I think. We saw this little bird while photographing LTMs near the catchment area of the Sholayar dam.

Bandipur Apr 16 827

Unidentified. Warbler species possibly. This bird was foraging amongst dry leaf litter in the campus, and permitted a very close approach.

Bandipur Apr 16 938

Lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus

Bandipur Apr 16 769

We were returning from the drive to the Sholayar catchment when Vivek called to tell us an elephant herd was at the stream. Another herd had visited the stream the previous afternoon and we’d watched them from afar. This time, we drove down into the valley, parked some distance away and approached the herd on foot. Standing some hundred meters away, we watched the herd feeding and socializing until the light was fully gone. The experience was scintillating.

Bandipur Apr 16 896

Bandipur Apr 16 908

I was flummoxed initially at the sight of the squirrels in the campus, being unaware of the existence of this species – the Nilgiri palm squirrel Funambulus sublineatus. They were ubiquitous, noisy and exuberant.

Bandipur Apr 16 955

Bandipur Apr 16 963

Bandipur Apr 16 978

Bandipur Apr 16 983

This landscape is fertile ground for elephant-human conflict and sure enough, stories were aplenty about people killed by elephants. A couple of days before our visit, a solitary makhna had evidently killed the manager of an estate nearby as he bathed in a tank generally referred to as the ‘swimming pool’. We had been warned to watch for this makhna while out in the tea plantation. On the last day, Vivek and I had walked down to the stream early in the morning. A tractor driver passing on the dirt road warned us that he’d seen the elephant beside the track a short distance away. We saw the elephant ourselves shortly, sunning himself on a little island in the stream. Vivek was of the opinion that this particular animal was harmless and didn’t buy the story of the killing. I got a poor picture, given the terrible light.

Bandipur Apr 16 1001

December 20, 2015 by Badri

Trip Report: Sunderbans, Dec 2015

Dates: 16-19 Dec, 2015

Camp: Sunderban Jungle Camp on Bali Island

Who: VV, GK and my 8-year-old son P

A couple of near-miss-sightings of mama last time pushed us to try our luck again. And the prospect of winter birding.

Blue tiger

Getting to Sunderbans jungle camp involves a three hour drive along poor, narrow roads from Kolkata, to cover less than 100 kms to Godkhali. From here, the boat is boarded, and it winds its way up the Durgaduani channel and to the Gumdi river on the banks of which the camp is sited, on Bali island. On the way back, Animesh brought us around Bali island the long way, up the Bidya river, to look for waders.

The weather was strange. Day 1 was hot and sunny and we scrambled for whatever scanty shade was available on the upper deck. Day 2 was freezing cold, especially when the boat faced north – owing to the uttore batash – northern wind – that chilled us to the bone. Day 3 was equally cold but with persistent rain, forcing us to seek the shelter of the lower deck at least once. Day 4 was moderately cool with some sunshine. Someone joked that we’d experienced three seasons all in one trip.

The forest looked freshly washed and hauntingly beautiful after the rain

Animesh Manna was his usual competent, thorough self, and we got a boatman with unbelievable spotting skills this time – Mahadev.

Most days we got back early, by 5 or 5:30 PM, giving us a little daylight before the early sunset to wander around the embankment by the camp. A Taiga flycatcher was a regular habitue around the harvested rice paddies and fish ponds that chequer the countryside. Yellow-browed warblers were ubiquitous, here and in the forest. A brood of spotted owlets was resident.

Common kingfisher

We watched a pair of checkered keelbacks hunting among the reeds of one of the fish ponds. Animesh unearthed a little rat snake while looking for bitterns and we took some pictures.

Rat snake

While walking by another pond, GK and I startled a snake by nearly stepping on it, sending it darting away and into the water. Dark green in colour and over a couple of feet in length. Animesh was a short way away but surmised that it was either an Olive keelback (which is what I had thought) or a Smooth-scaled watersnake.

Mudskipper

Slug leaving a clay-pellet trail

On the last day, we did a little country-boat ride up one of the narrow channels nearby. The nearby village was hidden behind a wall of mangrove vegetation, giving us an idea of what a small-boat ride in the forest would feel like. Considering the stories one heard in the Sunderbans of tiger attacks, sitting low down in the water with the banks a couple of feet away on both sides brought home the vulnerability of crab fishermen who sneak into the forest channels. Our boatman was a chap who’d survived an incredible run-in with a tiger. This had happened just two months before our last visit and we’d met him then too. He was still recovering from the shock of the incident apparently.

The story went like this. This fellow, along with a couple of friends ventured into a channel across the Gumdi, in the forest. The trio spotted a tiger a short distance away and one of them panicked and slipped off the boat. The cat pounced on the man in a trice and disappeared with him into the mangroves. The third man collapsed in a state of panic but our friend brought the boat around and stepped into the jungle alone and on foot, armed with just his paddle. Running into the tiger he charged it with the paddle, and it dropped the dead man and disappeared. He then hauled the body back to the village. And gave up illegal crab fishing ever since.

One of the five “fingers” that radiate from the Sudanykhali watchtower. This tower was the one I meant in my last post when I mistakenly referred to the Sajnekhali watchtower producing great sightings.

In the forest we found a set of birds that were almost completely different from the ones we encountered the last time.

Lesser whistling ducks

Black-capped kingfisher were commonplace and their calls, reminiscent of the White-throated kingfisher’s were frequently heard.

Vacated nest of Purple-rumped sunbird showing the curtained hatch

Common sandpipers were found along the banks almost everywhere, and their whistling calls were a constant too.

Common sandpiper

Magpie robin, Yellow-browed warbler, Collared dove and tailorbird called incessantly. Dusky warbler called occasionally. Great and little egret, Jungle crow and Little heron were commonly seen.

Little heron

The collared kingfisher that was so common in May was missing this time, and we only saw a couple.

Collared kingfisher

Common redshank

Red junglefowl

Brown-winged kingfisher were seen far more frequently than the last time.

Brown-winged kingfisher

The Mangrove pitta, which was heard quite a bit around Sudhanykhali watchtower the last time was silent at this time of year. The dark morph CHE had not been seen for a while around Sudhanykhali.

Lesser sand plover and tiger pugmarks

Water monitor – we anchored the boat to have lunch in this lizard’s company, but he had other ideas and promptly disappeared

Animesh helped me improve on my ability to identify mangrove trees further.

Avicennia alba – Kalu bayan – with its black trunk and sharp, narrow leaves
Avicennia officinalis – Jath bayan – easiest of the genus to identify, with its smooth pale bark, rounded leaves and distinct branching structure

Avicennia officinalis showing profusion of aerial roots

Avicennia marina – Peara bayan – with its mango-like leaves and pale blotchy trunk very much like the guava tree’s
Ceriops tagal – Moth goran – with its dome-like shape and knee-roots

Knee roots of Ceriops tagal

Bruguiera gymnorrhiza – Kankra – with its buttress roots and distinct leaves

Red flowers of Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza)

Heritiera fomes – Sundari – with its Christmas-tree-like structure and branching pattern
Sonneratia apetala – Kewra – with its pencil roots
Xylocarpus granatum – Dhundul – with its melon-like fruit

Xylocarpus granatum fruit

Xylocarpus mekongensis – Passur – with its thick pneumatophores

Pneumatophores of Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis)

Jhamti goran Ceriops decandra, Garjan Rhozophora apiculate and Kholsi Aegiceras corniculatum are not too difficult to ID in general.

Garjan (Rhizophora apiculata) showing stilt roots

Kholsi (Aegiceras corniculatum)

GK carried home a Kankra Bruguiera gymnorrhiza sapling and a red water lily. The latter will probably survive, but it will be interesting to see how the mangrove tree copes in Chennai.

The lighter green patch is mistletoe – a hemiparasite

The issue with the Sunderbans is that while tiger sightings are rare, near-misses are not – and this always leaves a tantalizing window open for a repeat visit. We were at Sudhanykhali watchtower at 8:30 AM one morning and after we left, at 9:30 AM, a big male tiger walked right passed the watchtower and crossed the channel. It is this sort of thing that tempts us to return for yet another attempt.

Birds

Ashy woodswallow
Black-winged cuckooshrike
Brahminy kite
Brown-winged kingfisher
Black-capped kingfisher
Bronzed drongo
Brown shrike
Cinereous tit
Common iora
Common myna
Common redshank
Common sandpiper
Common tailorbird
Dusky warbler
Eurasian collared dove
Eurasian wigeon
Eurasian wryneck (VV only)
Gadwall
Great egret
Green bee-eater
Grey junglefowl
Grey wagtail
Indian spotted eagle
Indian treepie
Jungle babbler
Jungle crow
Lesser flameback
Lesser sand plover
Lesser whistling duck
Little egret
Little heron
Magpie robin
Night heron
Oriental white-eye
Osprey
Pied kingfisher
Pin-striped tit babbler (calls)
Pond heron
Purple-rumped sunbird
Rose-ringed parakeet
Shikra
Small minivet
Spotted dove
Spotted owlet
Taiga flycatcher
Terek sandpiper
Tickell’s blue flycatcher
Whimbrel
White-breasted waterhen
White-throated fantail
White-throated kingfisher
Yellow-browed warbler

Mammals

Chital
Rhesus macaque
Wild boar

Reptiles

Checkered keelback
Estuarine crocodile
Rat snake
Water monitor
Olive keelback?

October 11, 2015 by Badri

Trip report: Sunderbans National Park, May 2015

Trip Report: Sunderbans National Park

Dates: 1-May to 3-May, 2015

Camp: Sunderban Jungle Camp on Bali Island

Who: VV and KB

Given the time that has passed, I’ll dispense with text and try to capture as much of the experience as possible via the images I can find. It is quite possible that between my patchy notes and patchier memory some errors have crept in.

I should mention that we were guided by a young and very competent naturalist called Animesh Manna who knows his stuff. Mangrove tree identification is a tricky animal for the unseasoned, and Animesh was exceptionally patient in helping us get the hang of it. He is a gifted spotter too and knows his birds.

Pictures are below the descriptions.

Flora

Avicennia marina. “Peara Bayen”. So named because the trunk is reminiscent of the guava tree’s blotchy, peeling trunk. This tree was extremely common.

Rhizophora apiculata. “Garjan”. With its distinctive stilt roots.

Garjan pods

Bruguiera gymnorrhiza. “Kankra”. With its buttress roots.

Excoecaria agallocha. “Genwa”. Red-leaved at this time of the year. The roots are snake-like with bulbs at the base. The sap is reputed to cause blindness, and the leaves when dried and powdered serve as an effective fish poison.

Ceriops decandra. “Jhamti/Jale Garan”. Rounded leaves reaching up; broom-like roots. Ceriops tagal – “Math/Jat Garan” has buttressed roots I believe (although my notes describe them as dome shaped for some reason).

Suaeda maritima. “Giriya Sak”. A shrub.

Spiky roots of Kaura/Keora. Sonneratia spp.

Sonneratia apetala flowers.

Pneumatophores reach out for air to compensate for the anoxic mud beneath

Aerial roots of Avicennia alba. There are three species commonly seen. Avicennia alba, A. marina and A. officinalis. Of these, only A. alba has aerial roots.

“Dhundul”, Xylocarpus granatum

Fruit of Dhundul

Tiger palm. Phoenix palludosa. “Hental/Bogra”. Fairly plentiful.

Nypa fruticans. The Nypa palm. “Golpata”. Having seen pictures of large barges laboring under tons of fronds, it came as a surprise that this palm was sparingly seen. Turns out the large clusters are evidently all on the Bangladesh side.

Fruit of Heritiera fomes. The “Sundari”. The tree for which the place is named. Another big surprise. Much of this occurs on the Bangladesh side. The few isolated specimens seen along the banks were slender and sickly looking.

Aegiceras corniculatum. “Khalsi/Kholsi”. Typically seen leaning over the water’s edge. Bulk of the nectar that goes into making the famed honey that the Sunderbans produces is drawn from the flower of this tree.

Porteresia coarctata. “Dhani ghas”, Mangrove grass or Paddy grass.

Imperata cylindrical. Spear grass. I hope the identification was accurate.

Fauna

There was reasonable variety of avifauna. Collared kingfishers were commonly met with and their calls heard even more frequently. We saw the brown-winged kingfisher a few times. We heard the calls of the Mangrove pitta at the Sajnekhali watchtower many times, but didn’t catch sight of the bird. We thought we heard the Mangrove whistler once, but certainly did not see one. We also saw orange-breasted green pigeons at the same watchtower. The Pacific golden plover, Whimbrel and the Changeable hawk eagle (dark morph) were three other candidates on our list that we did get to see.

We were aware that chances of seeing either a tiger or a fishing cat were slim. Or the King cobra for that matter. We did want to see salties and saw just one individual. It would have been nice to see one of the dolphin species, but they are not easy to come by.

Large egret patrolling the shallows

Lesser adjutant stork.

Whimbrel takes flight.

Common kingfisher

Red fiddler crabs

Water monitors. We were eager to sight these creatures after reading about 9-foot long individuals gracing the place.

Salty! Poor shot of an Estuarine croc lying inert in the shade. These reptiles have the horrendous reputation of savaging people shrimping or crabbing in the shallows.

Mudskipper.

Others

This is the standard configuration of tourist boats in the Sunderbans. A viewing deck on top; Beds, toilet and a galley below. The structure perched at the stern is an additional loo, for the crew presumably.

The Sajnekhali watchtower, where so many spectacular sightings happen. We heard a tiger call while there, but saw nothing.

The canopy walk around the Dobanki watchtower, surrounded by a sea of Avicennia marina in the main.

A little shrine to Bon Bibi, the goddess of Sunderbans legend. Honey and crab collectors fervently believe in her promise to protect anyone who steps into her realm unarmed and pure-of-heart. A necessary reassurance in a land where you take your life in your hands each time you step into the forest.

The riversides along forest stretches that lie across habited areas are strung with rather flimsy-looking nylon nets, ostensibly to prevent tigers from swimming across. Apart from the tiger and the saltie, Black-tipped sharks are a danger to people in shallow waters – they evidently sneak up and bite a chunk of flesh off the calves, leaving the person bleeding dangerously before medical help can be reached.

Tiger crossover, sometime that morning. We found the spoor on both banks and waited awhile in vain.

Ship laden with flyash crossing the vast Panchmukhani confluence, headed for Khulna in Bangladesh

So that’s what a Patton tank looks like. Someone has a sense of humor.

Birds

Adjutant stork
Ashy woodswallow
Black bittern
Black-headed cuckooshrike
Black-hooded oriole
Black-naped monarch
Brahminy kite
Bronzed drongo
Brown shrike
Brown-winged kingfisher
Changeable hawk eagle (dark morph)
Chestnut-tailed starling
Collared kingfisher
Common iora
Common kingfisher
Common myna
Common sandpiper
Eurasian collared dove
Fulvous-breasted woodpecker
Greater coucal
Large cuckoo-shrike
Large egret
Lesser flameback (calls)
Lesser whistling duck
Lesser yellow-nape
Little cormorant
Little egret
Loten’s sunbird
Magpie robin
Mangrove pitta (calls)
Orange-breasted green pigeon
Oriental honey buzzard
Oriental white-eye
Pacific golden plover
Pied kingfisher
Pied myna
Pin-striped tit babbler (calls)
Pond heron
Purple-rumped sunbird
Red junglefowl
Red-whiskered bulbul
Rose-ringed parakeet
Scarlet-backed flowerpecker
Short-toed snake eagle
Small minivet
Spotted dove
Spotted owlet (calls)
Stork-billed kingfisher
Streak-throated woodpecker
Tailorbird
Whimbrel
White-breasted waterhen
White-throated kingfisher

Mammals

Chital
Rhesus macaque
Wild boar

Reptiles

Checkered keelback
Estuarine crocodile
Water monitor

January 30, 2015 by Badri

Trip Report: Ranthambore National Park, Jan ’15

Trip: Ranthambore National Park

Camp: Ranthambhore Regency

Dates: 23-26 Jan ‘15

Who: GiK, Drs R and M and kids V and P

We should have flown to Jaipur and driven from there to Sawai Madhopur (150 kms). Instead we flew to Delhi, reached there an hour later than scheduled, at about 9:30 PM, dealt with the pathetic airport taxi system to get to Hazrat Nizamuddin station, and took the 11:40 PM Haridwar-Mumbai Bandra Terminus SF Express that ended up leaving Delhi at 1:45 AM. We reached Sawai Madhopur at sometime past 6 AM, a full ninety minutes past schedule and rushed to catch the morning safari. And all this with two kids and a cold wave in attendance. Flying to Jaipur would have been the sensible thing to do, even if it meant some loss of daytime.

The zones

We spent four days in Ranthambore, doing seven safaris in all. Ranthambore has ten numbered tourist zones, with ten gypsies allowed into each zone at a time. On weekends, the FD allows a few more under pressure from VIPs. In fact the FD themselves possess safari-ready gypsies for ferrying their guests around. These gypsies have the triple advantages of no zone restrictions, no time restrictions and a ready information feed via radio.

Zones 1 to 5 are the sought-after ones, with zone 3 being the clear favourite at this time. It is evidently not easy to get the popular zones booked. Regency get an assortment of zones booked daily and ration them among their guests to ensure everyone gets a fair share of the more productive zones. And so we did three safaris in zone 3, two in zone 4 and one each in zones 2 and 6.

Entry to zones 2 and 3 is via the Jogi Mahal gate. The picturesque zone 3 route winds past the Padam talao (on the banks of which the famed Jogi Mahal is sited) and onto the vast Raj Bagh lake. The abandoned hunting lodge on the latter has produced some fine images of tigers on its balcony framed by its structure and shot from across the lake. Finding tigers in this structure is evidently a summer phenomenon.

Zone 2 is magnificent too, with the road winding by the towering Ranthambore fort and then past another long range of cliffs. However twice a month on chaturdashi days of the Hindu calendar, pilgrims troop through this zone barefoot to worship at a Ganesh temple somewhere. The resultant ruckus effectively puts paid to any decent sighting possibilities. That’s what happened to us on day 1 in the afternoon.

GiK and I thought zone 4 was the best of them all in terms of its beauty. At this time of year, it has several stunningly beautiful spots, especially large patches of bright, finely textured grass. A tiger on this grass in mellow morning light will make for a dream photograph. Zone 4 also has a large lake teeming with aquatic birds, muggers and sambar – Malik talao.

This zone is accessed via a gate placed to the left of the approach road some distance before the Jogi Mahal gate is reached.

The anicut in zone 4 in the morning mist:

In contrast with these three zones, zone 6 is a drab and dreary affair, with no impressive landscapes or features – just dusty tracks winding through unprepossessing, stunted jungle. To make matters worse, this zone is accessed after negotiating the sewer-lined, congested bazars of old Sawai Madhopur. If this route is bad in winter, I shudder to think what it’ll be in the heat of summer. But to be fair, we did sight a tiger in zone 6, and a magnificent male in his prime at that.

Tiger centricity

At the outset, our very competent naturalist Satish Upadyay suggested that we get the tiger sighting out of the way before turning our attention to birding. GiK, my kid P and I were in one Gypsy and we started with zone 3. We reached Rajbagh and struck luck. Three 10-month cubs gamboling in the grass, the litter of the tigress T-19 or Krishna. This tigress is Machli’s offspring and the reigning queen tigress of Ranthambore. We didn’t see the mother though, just the cubs. They were some 40-50 feet from the jeep, by the water and we watched them for twenty minutes or so before they headed back into taller khus grass where a sambar kill was hidden.

As often happens, this spectacular start was followed by muted follow-through, with plenty of alarm calls but no sightings fructifying until the evening of the next day. That was the afternoon safari of day 2, in zone 6. A passing Gypsy reported seeing a tiger cross a nallah and disappear into the jungle. Scouting around we finally came to a cluster of jeeps with the tiger barely visible some two hundred meters away. This was T-34 or Kumbha, a tiger with a colourful reputation for intimidating behavior. He was lying on his back with his paws in the air.

Ranthambore allows safaris in Gypsies and Canters. The latter contain five seats to a row and it mustn’t be great fun to be stuck in the middle. Anyway there were plenty of noisy tourists in attendance and the din disturbed the animal enough to make him roll over one side to the other occasionally and lift his head up to see what the racket was all about. This went on for about fifteen minutes after which he was disgusted enough to rise and stalk away. The horde then started up to chase him, but by the time the jam could be sorted out and the vehicles turned around, a good ten minutes was lost. Meanwhile the cat disappeared without a trace.

Satish had predicted a success rate of 30%. We did a little better than that, with three sightings in seven safaris. On day 3 in the evening safari, we had spent the evening chasing alarm calls in vain all over zone 4. Often being in the unenviable situation of having calls emanating from two different directions.

An interesting feature of tiger tracking in Ranthambore is that when alarm calls are heard, whether chital or langur, Satish listened to see if multiple individuals were calling. Calls by single individuals evidently lack credibility and were actually ignored a couple of times, even when persisting for a while. Satish also mentioned that while chital or sambar calls may sometimes mislead, the nilgai’s alarm call, if heard, is a certain indicator of the tiger’s presence.

Exit time was at 5:30 and we’d spent much of the evening rushing from one set of calls to another. While we were stopped in one of the meeting points for a quick bio break, a gypsy rolled in and the woman in it asked why all of us were hanging around there while there was a sighting in progress elsewhere. Satish and the driver jumped like they were bee-stung and we began a crazy, careening hurtle at mad speed towards the spot indicated. This was quite a distance away and we had just about half an hour to go before exit time, with the exit gate a long way off.

Reaching the place we found that it was hardly a kilometer’s distance from where we’d waited a while earlier listening to chital calls. Some jeeps had gone ahead from that point but had returned without having spotted the tiger. Given the late hour, all the vehicles there were FD Gypsies, with our Gypsy and a canter that arrived later being the only commercial tourist vehicles. The tiger was sprawled on the grass across a ravine amidst some very pretty scenery. This was T-6 or Romeo a fine six year old male. We had around five minutes to take a good look and finish clicking pictures before it was time to hurtle back towards the exit gate. The driver incidentally clocked 85 kmph on that crazy drive and we spent much of it in the air, holding on tight to keep us from bouncing right off the jeep. Admittedly illegal but incredible fun though.

Leopards are at least as numerous as tigers in Ranthambore but as is typical of tiger-infested areas, rarely show themselves.

Both chital and sambar were numerous and the long-drawn rutting calls of chital stags reverberated through the forests at this time of year, sometimes startling innocent tourists who mistook them for the agonized screams of some animal being done to death.

Upwardly mobile chital stag:

Sambar stags sparring:

Nilgai are also fairly numerous in places, and GiK and I got some pictures.

Nilgai doe and buck in the mist:

Nilgai buck:

We also saw the Chinkara or Indian Gazelle for the first time, a very satisfying experience. Mugger are commonly seen on all the lakes.

There were several palm squirrels in the forest. After a desultory glance at one of them, I concluded that they were of the three-striped variety. Dr. R later told me that we were probably looking at Five-striped palm squirrels. I resolved to look more carefully and get a picture if possible on the next outing, but this slipped my mind and I didn’t see any more squirrels.

Birding

Most remarkable are the Indian treepies. They are exceedingly common all through the forest, and are inured to tourists feeding them, although that is supposedly banned now. We did see some tourists feeding the birds at the rest points though. The birds however have lost their fear of people and freely perch on heads and hands. They are fearless enough to hop into the gypsies and onto the floor right around our feet, hunting for crumbs. Stop at any spot and in all likelihood, a couple materialized, heads cocked greedily, inspecting us closely for signs of anything edible.

Peafowl are numerous as you might expect, and the persistent, two-note calls of Grey francolins rent the air frequently.

Babblers, especially jungle babblers are numerous too and make it noisily evident. Large grey babblers are easily met with and I initially mistook them for jungle babblers until Dr. R pointed this out. Rose-ringed parakeets are another noisy, frequently encountered bird. We met spotted owlets around half a dozen times, so they are not uncommon here.

Long-tailed shrike:

Ranthambore 133

Hoopoe on a Dhok tree:

In the waters of the lakes were Ruddy shelducks, Wooly-necked storks, Grey herons, Common snipes, egrets, cormorants, darters, White ibis, Openbill storks, River terns, dozens of Common moorhen, plenty of Black-winged stilts, more White-breasted waterhen than I’ve cumulatively seen so far and intrepid Red-wattled lapwings that stalked right up to the jeeps hunting for insects dislodged by the tyres.

Wooly-necked stork:

Black-winged stilt:

Black-capped night heron:

We noted that barbets were strangely absent, although Dr. R’s naturalist pointed out that Coppersmith barbets did occur and were heard in the summer. Junglefowl are conspicuously absent.

Indian Scops owl:

On the drive from Sawai Madhopur to Jaipur (we took the more sensible route on the way back), we saw Bank mynas for the first time whilst stopping for chai.

Crested serpent eagle:

Flora

The landscape of Ranthambore is dominated by the tiny-leaved Dhok tree (Anogeissus pendula). This species comprises a good seventy or eighty percent of the forest’s tree-count and is therefore ubiquitous. Next in terms of frequency are Babul or the Gum Arabic tree (Acacia nilotica) and the Flame of the forest (Butea monosperma).

Acacia nilotica:

Stunted Khair trees (Acacia catechu) are also frequently encountered.

On rocky slopes, the striking-looking Karaya Gum tree (Sterculia Urens) is commonly seen.

Several fine specimens of banyan (Ficus bengalensis) are found throughout the park including the iconic one draping the entrance a little before the Jogi Mahal gate. An exceptionally large specimen occurs near the Jogi Mahal, but is out of bounds for tourists.

Indian date palms (Phoenix sylvestris) are frequently met with. Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) is also encountered occasionally. Adusa (Adhatoda vasica) occurs in clumps in many places. The leaves, flowers and bark of this shrub find medicinal uses chiefly in the treatment of asthma.

Large clumps of the cactus-like Euphorbia plant are also seen.

A very common shrub in the Dhok forests is Grewia flavescens. At least that’s what I think it is. Our naturalist Satish identified the plant as Chameni in Hindi. I struggled to locate the binomial name and after considerable search, am leaning towards Grewia flavescens. This Grewia species is reputed to be a frequent associate of the Dhok and is supposedly commonly found in Ranthambore. The plant we saw is certainly found all over the place.

The lakesides are lined with the aromatic Khus grass (Vetivaria zizznioides). Large patches of striking red Water velvet (Azolla pinnata) were found on the surfaces of some lakes. This is a species of tiny-leaved aquatic fern.

Birds:

Asian pied starling
Ashy-crowned sparrowlark
Bank myna
Long-tailed shrike
Black-capped night heron
Black drongo
Black-shouldered kite
Black-tailed godwit
Black-winged stilt
Blue rock dove
Bluethroat
Brown rock chat
Cinereous tit
Common iora
Common kingfisher
Common moorhen
Common snipe
Crested serpent eagle
Darter
Eurasian thick-knee
Greater cormorant
Greater coucal
Grey francolin
Grey heron
Grey wagtail
Hoopoe
Indian Scops owl
Indian vulture
Long-tailed shrike
Indian treepie
Jungle babbler
Large egret
Large grey babbler
Lesser flameback
Little brown dove
Little green heron
Magpie robin
Oriental honey buzzard
Osprey
Painted stork
Peafowl
Painted spurfowl
Pied kingfisher
Plain prinia
Red-breasted flycatcher
Red-wattled lapwing
River tern
Rose-ringed parakeet
Ruddy shelduck
Spotted dove
Stonechat
White-belloed drongo
White-breasted waterhen
White-browed fantail
White-browed wagtail
White ibis
White-throated kingfisher
White wagtail
Wooly-necked stork
Yellow-footed green pigeon

Mammals:

Chinkara
Chital
Common langur
Nilgai
Ruddy mongoose
Sambar
Tiger

Reptiles:

Marsh crocodile

January 5, 2015 by Badri

Kaziranga/Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Dec 2014

Trip: Kaziranga National Park/Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary

Camp: Wildgrass (Kaziranga)/FRH (Gibbon)

Dates: 29 Dec ’14 – 1 Jan ‘15

This is going to be a long post.

My son and I had visited Kaziranga in April 2013, along with my sister’s family. He was five then and we’d had some great sightings. This second visit was planned six months in advance, for just the two of us. As the date approached however the trip looked to be jinxed. First was SpiceJet’s wholesale disruptions (our Bangalore-Guwahati onward was with them). Alternate fares quickly climbed in excess of Rs. 43K. Thankfully services were restored a couple of days before our departure date (which was on Christmas day). And then there were the Bodo militant attacks killing 75 people that put Assam on the boil a couple of days before we left. We planned to visit friends in the Missamari cantt for a few days, in addition to doing Kaziranga. The route from the Guwahati airport to Missamari passed through one of the sites of the attack (Dhekiajuli) and a curfew was supposedly in effect. Further, it was 4:15 PM by the time we exited the airport and the early winter sunset was underway. Which meant four hours of driving mostly in the dark. In any case the drive passed off without incident.

Missamari

Missamari was cold and offered some little birding around the cantt. Brown shrikes and Red-vented bulbuls were aplenty, as were three species of myna – Common, Jungle and Asian pied, and spotted doves. Black-throated munias were also numerous and a pair of these had nested under the roof overhang of the house. I spotted a babbler-sized brown bird once that I couldn’t identify.

On the day before we left for Bangalore, a twittering something went sailing over the lawn, with a jerky uneven flight. Turned out to be a Brown shrike that had grabbed a munia chick from its nest. The chick screamed and struggled for all its tiny worth, and the shrike had trouble holding its course. It blundered over a hedge, landed on a pile of thorns some twenty five meters away, panicked at my approach and abandoned the chick wedged inside the thorny pile. The chick had sustained a bleeding injury around the mantle, but seemed alive enough. We extricated it and placed it on the lawn, from where it disappeared a short while later – spirited away either by its parents, or by the shrike.

The Itinerary

I had explored the possibility of managing three or four PAs with Ficus’s Ravi Kailash months in advance. Pakke, Orang and Nameri are all tantalizingly close to Missamari. As is Eaglenest. However considering that all these places entailed some degree of walking, and considering that my son is not a particularly accomplished walker, I had to limit the schedule to two nights in Kaziranga and a single night at Gibbon. Given this schedule, Ravi, considerate as ever, suggested that I dispense with Ficus’s assistance and book directly through Manju Barua of Wildgrass. This latter gentleman was enormously helpful and courteous, and patiently responded to my numerous emails promptly and in great detail. To begin with, he pointed out that I was visiting Kaziranga at the worst possible time as the week of 25^th Dec turns the park into a “circus”. And then Wildgrass was booked out and he put me on a waitlist, which eventually cleared.

And so my son and I ended up reaching Kaziranga by lunchtime on the 29^th, did the evening safari there, stayed overnight at Wildgrass, and left for Gibbon the next evening after completing both safaris on day 2. Overnighting at Gibbon, we finished with the apes before breakfast the next morning, rushing back in time to catch the evening safari at Kaziranga. The next morning, 1-Jan, was our last safari after which we departed for Missamari. So five safaris in all at Kaziranga, of which two each were in the Western and Central zones and the last one in Eastern.

Wildgrass

Although not as luxurious as the Iora resort, Wildgrass is probably the best place to stay at in Kaziranga. Manju Barua’s attitude being in no small measure a reason for this, the ambience accounting for the rest. He took care of everything for me very efficiently – accommodation, safaris, naturalist, my Missamari and Gibbon transfers and the Gibbon FRH booking. We enjoyed the place the last time too and this time was no different. If I must find something to crib about, it’ll only be the acoustics of the hardwood floors. These amplified sounds from the room above spectacularly and even if the occupant was tiptoeing in his socks, produced a din below resembling someone playing nine pins with propane cylinders. If you are a light sleeper, you want to ask for a room on the top floor. This little inconvenience aside, we had a spectacular time.

I didn’t get to do too much birding in the resort. I sighted Indian robin, a Magpie robin (I think), Black-hooded oriole, Baya weaver bird, Spotted dove, all the three mynas again and Red-vented bulbul. And heard the Blue whistling thrush. The resort grounds are the best place to spot the Hoary-bellied Himalayan squirrel and we sighted these as expected. And on the way in, we stopped to watch a Malayan giant squirrel that our driver Biju managed to spot in a forest patch around thirty klicks from Kaziranga. We also saw elephants, but these might have been domestic ones as they were not very far from human habitation.

Malayan giant squirrel:

Kaziranga

Safari 1, PM, Western Zone. The evening safaris were abbreviated ones, given the early sunset. We typically set off a little before 2 PM, with 15-20 minutes spent on the drive to the gate and another 15-20 minutes squandered in getting the entry tickets. Sometime before 3 PM is when we entered the park gates, giving us a maximum of two hours before the sun disappeared completely.

I had mentioned to Manju Barua that naturalist Tarun Gogoi had done a tremendous job with the spotting during our 2013 trip. He offered to book Tarun for us this time too. However the naturalist was held up with another group for the first safari, and so Biju Hazarika, the driver who’d picked us up from Missamari tripled up as safari driver, spotter and naturalist all rolled into one. And did a very creditable job of it.

A short while into the first safari, we ran into a fair-sized King cobra right by the track. We slammed to a stop after passing some twenty five feet past the reptile. Before I could get my lens to bear on it the snake raised its hood briefly before making itself scarce.

We made a brief stopover at the Donga beel viewing point. Rhino, buffalo, hog deer and swamp deer grazed on the far bank. We saw flocks of Yellow-footed green pigeons around this spot both the times we visited.

Elephant and rhino skulls at Donga beel:

We also ran into a pair of elephants in the elephant grass by the roadside later in the drive.

We opened the birding account with Asian openbill stork, Crested serpent eagle, Wooly-necked stork, Bar-headed goose, mallard, Red-breasted parakeet, Common stone chat, Black-necked stork and Lesser adjutant stork. We were to meet all these repeatedly on subsequent drives.

Common stonechat:

Rhino at dusk in the western zone:

Safari 2, AM, Central Zone. Hog deer, Swamp deer, rhino and buffalo were commonly seen on all safaris. As were enormous flocks of foraging Bar-headed geese, Greylag geese, mallards, Spot-billed ducks, pintails, Black-necked and Wooly-necked storks, egrets and Lesser adjutant storks in all beels. I’ll therefore avoid repetitive mention. To the birds list we added Barn swallow, Grey-headed canary flycatcher, Bronze-winged jacana, Purple heron, pintail, cormorants, White wagtail, Common snipe, Citrine wagtail, Asian pied starling, Ruddy shelduck and Pied kingfisher. And heard Puff-throated babbler, Lesser flameback and a Changeable hawk eagle.

Bar-headed geese are truly remarkable birds. Look them up online to learn why.

Greylag geese:

A barking deer turned up on the track. To the untrained eye or at least to my untrained eye, muntjac can be mistaken for the more commonly seen Hog deer, especially if the sighting is fleeting.

Hog deer stag & doe:

The road winds past the Kawoimari lake and the Diphlu river and is quite picturesque. On the lake, we saw an Indian roof turtle. A Grey-headed fish eagle sat silently surveying the river.

Indian roof turtle:

The road pauses at a viewpoint area where visitors can alight and use the malodorous bamboo toilets. A row of tufted ducks paddled in the water, along with the other usual suspects. A rhino grazed on the far bank, as did a small herd of buffaloes. We saw White (Rosy) pelicans in addition to the more commonly seen Spotbilled ones. As we moved on from the viewpoint area raising fine powdered dust that fouled everything, a Bengal monitor lizard was found basking beside the track, unmindful of the clouds of dust billowing onto it. A lone osprey quartered the skies. Indian treepies called.

Bengal monitor lizard:

Safari 3, PM, Western Zone. This was the safari we rushed back to catch, from Gibbon. The drive started propitiously with a Pallas fish eagle sighting. I was on the lookout for this species. The bird was evidently nesting there as we found it around the same place multiple times subsequently. A small troop of Rhesus macaques foraged nearby.

Tarun identified a small tree we saw repeatedly as jujube, Ziziphus jujuba – the berries of which are evidently pickled and served in the Wildgrass dining room.

He identified another commonly seen tree with large, ribbed leaves as Dillenia indica, the Elephant apple tree. The palm for the most common tree in Kaziranga however undoubtedly goes to the Red silk cotton, Bombax ceiba. It is abundant in the countryside as well.

Elephant apple tree, Dillenia indica:

At one spot, hog deer began calling in alarm in the grass. The calls were strident and we waited awhile. The sun was starting to set and great flocks of Green imperial pigeons flew past on their way to roost. A pair of Greater Indian hornbills swooshed past and the tiger was momentarily forgotten. Alexandrine parakeets squawked and flitted. Eventually giving up, we turned back. The light was fading fast and a little before the park exit, we came upon another set of alarm calls. The hog deer were calling and a herd of buffaloes hurriedly turned around to face the direction the tiger was evidently in. We could pinpoint the area the deer and buffalo were focused on, but the setting darkness and thick grass hid the cat only too well. Tarun caught a fleeting glimpse, but I could see nothing despite standing atop the Gypsy’s bars at a ten foot vantage point. The buffalo herd trooped out and the calls subsequently ceased.

Pintails at dusk:

Safari 4, PM, Central Zone. Mihi is a beel in the central zone with the Kothora watchtower overlooking its vastness. This place is sometimes referred to as tiger point owing to the frequency of sightings. Visitors can alight at the watchtower to watch the wildlife on the beel.

We spent the entire evening tethered to this spot by persistent alarm calls. The deer and a rhino were intently focused on a patch of tall grass to our right. Plenty of other jeeps came and went, but we stayed put. Tarun was determined to catch a tiger sighting after one too many near misses. Unfortunately for us hordes of noisy tourists made appearances. Tarun was worried they’d scare the feline away and that’s precisely what happened. The tiger made off in the opposite direction away from the beel, crossed the road some two hundred meters away, and disappeared into the grass.

Tarun was bitter about all the noise the tourists were making – he’d spent a good part of an hour with his eyes glued to his binocs atop the watch tower, watching for stripes. All for nothing.

Biju Hazarika watches hog deer calling in alarm on Mihi beel:

We went further up the track hoping the feline would return, but had to give up eventually. While waiting we found a couple of rhinos waiting to cross the track and positioned ourselves to catch the crossings, but noisy passing tourists scared those away as well. I now know what Manju Barua meant by the “circus”.

It was fully dark by now and that’s how we ended the last day of 2014. Would have been even better to end it with a tiger sighting that actually fructified but then we do not always get what we ask for.

The last sunset of 2014:

Safari 5, AM, Eastern Zone. I was anticipating a tourist-free forest, this being the 1^st of Jan. I had miscalculated however as hordes of people evidently consider it great fun to continue the festivities of the previous night in the forest on day one.

The Eastern zone is renowned for its birdlife more than large mammals. A Stork-billed kingfisher sat sentinel as we entered the park gate. Further up the track, a branch was heavy with Himalayan griffon vultures. We also sighted Black-hooded orioles, a Spotted eagle, Indian vultures, a Changeable hawk eagle, a Common kestrel, Indian treepies, Orange minivets, Red-breasted parakeets and Common teals. The track winds past the massive Sohola beel. A pair of Oriental pied hornbills flew from one tree to another, very close by and I hurriedly attempted a flight shot, having been caught unawares while handing junior the binocs to view a Pallas fish eagle sitting at a distance. The shot came out with one wing clipped.

A squirrel raced up a bole and leaped across to another. Tarun identified it as a Himalayan striped squirrel.

We saw a solitary brown fish owl that sat looking at us for a long while before flapping away on massive wings. A small herd of elephants posed for pictures further up the track. We then reached the terminus of the track at the Bramhaputra river.

On the way back I saw two lapwings I’ve never seen before – the Grey-headed and the Northern (Crested) lapwing. We saw the former multiple times.

Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

Gibbon is around 135 kilometers from Kaziranga and we left after the evening safari, to reach there by 9:30 PM or so. The FRH at Gibbon has two rooms. The ever-smiling cook produced barely tolerable meals on a woodfire stove in an alluringly warm but sooty kitchen behind. A railway gate occurs not very far away and passing trains sound their horns frantically to warn off crossing elephants. To the sleepers in the rooms, it sounds like the engines are passing on the other side of the wall.

We awoke early to the calls of Puff-throated babbler, Black-hooded oriole, and Blue whistling thrush. Gibbon comprises some 21 square kilometers of evergreen forest with paths running through it. A forest guard armed with a rusty, double-barreled gun of ancient vintage accompanied us. He said the weapon was intended to scare elephants away as he broke open the breech to load a pair of red cartridges. We left junior sleeping snugly back in the room, with Biju kindly consenting to wait on His Little Majesty.

Blue whistling thrush at dawn:

Gibbon is home to seven species of primates – the Western hoolock gibbon, Stump-tailed macaque, Northern pig-tailed macaque, Bengal slow loris, Capped langur, Assamese macaque and Rhesus macaque. We sighted three of these in the couple of hours we spent walking through the forest. The morning was crisp, cold and utterly lovely. The first mammal sighting was of a very lively Malayan giant squirrel. A small troop of Capped langurs presently appeared, crashing about the canopy, leaping tree to tree.

Capped langur:

We then sighted an Orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel. The sound of breaking branches warned us of the presence of elephants further up the path and we back-tracked, finding an alternate route to skirt around the animals. We had spent a good hour and a half now traipsing through Gibbon with no sign of the eponymous ape. I was thinking that we might have to return without having managed a single sighting.

A troop of Pig-tailed macaques turned up next, shortly followed by junior in the car driven out by Biju, all rested and refreshed.

Pig-tailed macaque:

A second guard finally spotted a Gibbon family on the canopy, and we spent some fifteen minutes watching a male, female and a sub-adult swinging and feeding high up in the canopy. Gibbon-watching is good treatment for people afflicted with cervical spondylitis.

Gibbons, male and female:

The Gibbon sanctuary is a spectacular birding site. It reminded me of Thattekad in many ways. Tarun was in his elements and we sighted orange-headed thrush, White-throated bulbul, Bronzed, Greater racket-tailed and Spangled drongos, Grey-bellied tesia, Grey-headed canary flycatcher, Black-crested bulbul and Maroon oriole. And heard the Asian barred owlet. The highlight however was watching a pair of Red-headed trogans for a good many minutes as they flitted around the canopy. Tarun was elated with this sighting. Back at the FRH and after breakfast, we listened to Lineated barbets calling loudly before packing up to rush back to Kaziranga in time for a hurried lunch and the evening safari.

Here are some pictures from my 2013 trip.

The list

Birds:

Alexandrine parakeet
Asian barred owlet (calls)
Asian openbill stork
Asian pied starling
Bar-headed goose
Barn swallow
Baya weaver bird
Bay-backed shrike
Black-crested bulbul
Black-hooded oriole
Black-necked stork
Black-throated munia
Blue whistling thrush
Bronzed drongo
Bronze-winged jacana
Brown fish owl
Brown shrike
Cattle egret
Changeable hawk eagle
Citrine wagtail
Common kestrel
Common myna
Common snipe
Common stonechat
Common teal
Cormorant (Greater?)
Crested serpent eagle
Darter
Greater Indian hornbill
Greater racket-tailed drongo
Green imperial pigeon
Common greenshank
Grey-bellied tesia
Grey-headed canary flycatcher
Grey-headed fish eagle
Grey-headed lapwing
Grey heron
Greylag goose
Himalayan griffon vulture
Indian robin
Indian roller
Indian treepie
Jungle myna
Large egret?
Lesser adjutant stork
Lesser flameback
Lineated barbet (calls)
Indian vulture
Magpie robin
Mallard
Maroon oriole
Northern/crested lapwing
Orange-headed thrush
Orange minivet
Oriental pied hornbill
Osprey
Pallas fish eagle
Pied kingfisher
Pintail
Pond heron
Puff-throated babbler (calls)
Purple heron
Red-breasted parakeet
Red-headed trogan
Red junglefowl
Red-vented bulbul
Rose-ringed parakeet
Ruddy shelduck
Spangled drongo
Spot-billed duck
Spot-billed pelican
Spotted dove
Spotted eagle
Stork-billed kingfisher
Tufted duck
White-browed wagtail
White ibis
White/Rosy pelican
White-throated bulbul (calls)
White-throated kingfisher
White wagtail
Wooly-necked stork
Yellow-footed green pigeon

Mammals:

Barking deer
Capped langur
Elephant
Eastern swamp deer
Great Indian one-horned rhino
Striped Himalayan squirrel
Hoary-bellied Himalayan squirrel
Hog deer
Hoolock gibbon
Malayan giant squirrel
Orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel
Pig-tailed macaque
Rhesus macaque
Wild buffalo

Reptiles:

Bengal monitor lizard
Indian roof turtle
King cobra

October 8, 2014 by Badri

Trip Report: KMTR, Oct ’14

Trip Report: Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)

Dates: 2-5 Oct 2014

Camp: Talayannai FRH, Mundanthurai Range Office FRH

Who: GK, VR

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley… [often go awry] – Robert Burns

Dog’s breakfast

GK and I had prepared for this trip for weeks. We had spent time compiling lists of endemic or significant species that we wanted to look for, and in checking on what areas and routes to cover (I’ve included the list of target species at the end of this post). However the trip didn’t quite pan out the way it was intended to.

The jinx began right from the word go. GK hatched this plan of saving a day by driving the 600-odd kilometers to KMTR overnight. Shortly after reaching the place, I realized that I’d left behind my binoculars, notebooks and torch back in Bangalore. My eyesight being what it is, I was unable to ID a bunch of birds that weren’t close enough. And then we weren’t able to get permission to visit places in the higher ranges – places like Sengaltheri, Upper Kodayar and Kakachi. We intended to seek accommodation at the Kuduraivetti or Kodamadi FRHs – these are sited in spectacular locations – but had to be content with being put up at the Talayannai and Mundanthurai RO FRHs located at the fringes of the reserve, and at low elevations. Even these are available only if requested by someone in the FD. A tough new Deputy Director has taken over for the past few months and she has pretty much closed off many areas that were hitherto accessible. We saw several instances of people flaunting various degrees of influence being stonewalled and refused permission. While this effectively hamstrung our trip, it was heartening to see a young officer (this is evidently her first posting) take an uncompromising stand on behalf of our forests and wildlife. May her tribe increase.

Day 1, Talayannai

After a sleepless night spent driving from Bangalore and Chennai, we reached the Talayannai Dormitory near the tiny town of Kalakkad after a short break in Tirunelveli. This is the very same place I’d been to with my sister’s family last year. A short distance inside the reserve lies a small check dam and the resultant waterfall is a popular spot with local tourists, most of whom land up with towels slung around their necks. And understandably so, as the heat of the second summer was oppressive. The FRH lies a short distance from this check dam. The day was squandered in trying to get permission to access the upper reaches of the forest. Fourteen kilometers from Talaiyannai is a place with a spectacular reputation – Sengaltheri. This place is now out of bounds for just about everyone, and we finally gave up all hope of getting access to it after day-long effort. There’s a large dormitory in Talayannai with bunk beds and that’s where we camped for the night.

View from Talayannai watch tower

Standing outside the dorm at about 4:30 in the evening, we saw a couple of dhole canter across the road. Grabbing my camera, GK and I hurried after them, but they’d moved on and we got no pictures. There was some birdlife around, but I couldn’t do much without my bins. All we saw was Sambar, bonnet macaques, tufted langurs, Indian giant squirrel, Indian treepie, peafowl, Small minivet, coucal, Magpie robin, White-cheeked barbet, Grey junglefowl and Blue-faced malkoha. And we heard hoopoe, Savanna nightjar and what evidently was the Mottled wood owl calling (the latter two after sundown, naturally). A Changeable hawk eagle called persistently all day; we eventually located it and sighted it a few times. A couple of species of scorpion were met with around the dorm.

Fattail scorpion

Dhole spoor set in concrete

Offroading interlude

VR (who is a cop himself) had stumbled across a police inspector in Tirunelveli while searching for KMTR leads online. Inspector SE has a staggering range of interests including trekking, parasailing, paragliding, snake rescue, cactus cultivation, gardening, philately and offroading. Prior to the trip, VR had contacted the inspector to see if we could get some local guiding help. Finding that I was missing the bins, we contacted inspector SE again and he was kind enough to offer to lend us his for the duration of the trip. We therefore dropped by the police station in the morning to pick up the bins, when the inspector asked us if we’d like to join him for a spot of offroading.

We then ended up spending time until a very late lunch being bounced over rocks, ditches and other tyre-shredding obstacles. In the searing heat. It was spectacular fun nonetheless.

We then picked up the borrowed bins and headed for the Mundanthurai Range Office via Ambasamudram and Papanasam, and the amiable ranger there agreed to put us up (in the ‘Panther cottage’) for two nights.

The Panther Cottage

Day 2, Karaiyar and Servalar dams

The Mundanthurai range office is sited about ten kilometers inside the reserve. The road forks from here with one prong leading to the Servalar dam about seven kilometers away, and the other to the Karaiyar dam, also about seven kilometers away. The reservoirs of these two dams are linked by a massive tunnel three kilometers long – to equalize water levels. About halfway to the Karaiyar dam is a road that branches off to the Sorimuthu Ayyannar temple; and this draws a considerable pilgrim crowd. We covered the Karaiyar and Servalar roads several times in the mornings and evenings, with no significant sightings. Junglefowl called in alarm at a couple of places, most likely triggered by our presence.

Nilgiri langur on the Karaiyar dam

Since driving on these roads is banned after dark, we took a public bus on impulse at about eight thirty in the evening, to Karaiyar and back. The driver spoke of leopard and sloth bear sightings almost on a daily basis on this stretch, but we had no such luck. GK spoke to some tribals employed as watchers and they recommended driving along the Servalar route early next morning to look for leopards. Again no luck. However we saw Jungle babbler, White-headed babbler, Common iora, Black eagle, White-bellied drongo, Tailor bird, Ruddy mongoose, Brahminy kite, Brown-headed barbet, Grey junglefowl, Tufted langur, nightjar (possibly Savanna) and peafowl (the latter being especially numerous all over the lower ranges). And heard Common hawk cuckoo and coucal. We also spotted a malkoha-like bird which I am unable to identify – it appeared dark with a white terminal band on its tail. In the waters of the Karaiyar dam was a swimming herd of buffaloes – I initially assumed they were domestic animals, but a tribal watcher later told GK they were wild – perhaps a feral herd. An Indian scops owl called persistently after dark around the FRH without us being able to spot it. Sambar belled once in alarm late in the evening.

Incidentally, we saw no chital, wild pig or gaur in the course of the whole trip. Just the occasional sambar. The scanty prey base probably explains KMTR’s low tiger density, at least in the areas we visited. However leopards are reputed to be met with commonly (langurs, macaques, peafowl and junglefowl abound in these forests). Elephants are small in number. Dr. Johnsingh attributes this to the scattered and sparse presence of their food plants, and to the mountainous terrain.

From the Servalar dam, there is a rough road which leads to the Kodamadi FRH, three klicks away. Again a highly restricted route that we couldn’t get permission for. This FRH nestles in another wild spot and has a great reputation.

View from the Servalar dam. The Kodamadi FRH is sited somewhere around the conical hill.

The ranger – Mr. I – became very friendly with us once he realized we were there with a serious wildlife interest and not as casual tourists. He chatted transparently and disarmingly about his profession, and about forests and their management.

Day 3, Kuduraivetti

On day three, we finally got permission to drive upto Kuduraivetti, thanks to Ranger I’s intercession. Access to this place is heavily controlled, with a quota of five vehicles permitted daily. And all visitors are required to exit by 6 PM, with no overnight stay allowed either in the FRHs or in the estates. After crossing the Manimuttar dam, we climbed steadily to reach tea country and a string of estates leased to the Bombay Burmah Trading Company. Manimuttar dam is crowded with bathing visitors, but hardly anyone is allowed beyond this. Beyond lie Manjolai estate – Manimuttar estate – Naalumooku estate -Oothu estate and finally Kuduraivetti, in sequence. The drive took a good three hours and we spent a few minutes at Kuduraivetti chatting with the watcher on duty before turning back.

Kuduraivetti FRH

From Naalumooku estate, a road branches off to Upper Kodayar and Kakachi – places we badly wanted to visit. But again, these were out of bounds. Two famed birds – the Broad-tailed grassbird and White-bellied shortwing are reputed to skulk around those areas. We kept an eye out for the Southern birdwing – our largest butterfly – having been told that it was a common sighting on this route, but it is not easy to spot butterflies whilst driving through winding hill roads.

Between the estates are stretches of lush evergreen forests. It is a beautiful drive. A brace of Painted spurfowl went scurrying off the road. Flamebacks and Asian fairy bluebirds called repeatedly without showing themselves. Ashy wood-swallows flocked on an electric wire. A solitary Racket-tailed drongo went sailing across the road. We also saw a solitary Green imperial pigeon. And small flock of Black-throated munias on the way back.A shikra was perched near the Manimuttar dam. The estates were alive with noisy Red-whiskered bulbuls and Tailor birds.

Tea estates and evergreen forests

Ashy wood-swallow taking off

Besides streams at elevation were great clusters of Ochlandra reedbrakes (Ochlandra travancorica) – an endemic we were looking for. And plenty of Messua ferrea – a plant common to the W Ghats and the Himalayas – however these were not in bloom. GK pointed out Fern trees – Filicium decipiens – which were plentiful in the forest.

Ochlandra travancorica, these reedbrakes are found in clusters by streams above 1,000 meters altitude, and constitute one of the few sources of food for elephants in KMTR

Messua ferrea, an example of flora common to the W. Ghats and the Himalayas

Canarium strictum, another example of flora common to the W. Ghats and the Himalayas

A stream in the forest. KMTR spawns fourteen rivers and is the primary source of water for surrounding districts

Day 4, Kadayam range

Ranger I had encouraged us to visit an orphanage and speech-and-hearing-impaired childrens’ home near the Kadayam range run by the Gandhigram Trust. He felt they were doing great work and needed all the encouragement they could get. Perhaps as a sort of inducement, he also promised to send us trekking up the Kadayam range with a watcher to guide us. And so there we went on the last day.

The Kadayam range begins from the Sivasailam dam and drab, hot countryside sparsely dotted with Indian palm and Prosopis juliflora abruptly transforms into lush evergreen forest.

Approach to the Kadayam range

A trek of four kilometers from here brings one to the Korakkanadar temple. The path up was choked with pilgrims visiting the temple. We rested for a while in a tiny FRH that nestles just above the temple.

The path carries on from this point for another thirty kilometers until it reaches another temple, but access is restricted owing to elephant and bear presence en route. And there is no FRH at the path’s terminus.

Mohammed Ismail the watcher who accompanied us then brought us back through another route, this a restricted and therefore blissfully undisturbed one. And a pretty route at that. Elephant droppings were occasionally seen but signs of sloth bear were everywhere – by way of dug and scraped ground.

I should add that after the strain of the day’s activities, we were fairly drained and the daunting 600 kilometer overnight drive back through steady rain and horrendous traffic is not something I’ll remember fondly. I was pretty much done in when I reached home at about three thirty in the morning, after successfully having avoided falling asleep at the wheel between Salem and Bangalore. (VR who is evidently incapable of exhaustion drove the Scorp until Salem, and then drove GK’s car all the way to Chennai through the night).

Common sand boa rescued by Inspector SE

The target list

Here’s the list GK and I created prior to this trip. AJT Johnsingh’s Field days was of great use in compiling this. Some of these are so rare that we didn’t have a prayer of a chance of actually encountering them, but we got them on the list anyway. In any case, considering that we were mostly confined to the foothills, this effort came to naught and we saw just a couple of these candidates.

Endemic

Ochlandra travancorica
Discoria wightii
Gluta travancorica
Bentinckia condapanna – endangered palm tree
Dasia subcaeruleum – Boulenger’s dasia, tree skink originally mistaken for Dasia haliana, a Sri Lankan endemic
Broad-tailed grassbird
White-bellied shortwing
Cochin forest cane-turtle
Anamalai gecko

Flora common to the W Ghats and the Himalayas

Bishchofia javanica – Bishop’s wood tree
Canarium strictum
Messua ferrea

Other significant flora and fauna

Podocarpus wallinchiana – only coniferous tree native to peninsular India
Paphiopedilum druryi – Asian lady slipper orchid, on the verge of extinction
Gnetum ula – endangered woody climber
Brachycorythis splendida – orchid also found in Africa
Southern birdwing
Oriental bay owl
Brown palm civet
Brown mongoose
Black narrow-mouthed frog – rediscovered after a hundred years in Kakachi
Calotes andamanensis – Andaman lizard
Indian kangaroo lizard

September 1, 2014 by Badri

Trip Report: Wild Valley Farm/Sathyamangalam TR

Trip Report: Wild Valley Farm, Germalam/Sathyamangalam TR

Dates: 30-31 Aug 2014

Camp: Wild Valley Farm, Germalam

GiK and I drove to the farm for a quick weekend trip. We had not sought prior permission, so driving through Sathyamangalam TR was not on the cards. We thought we’d spend some time around the farm, do some birding, and some walking through the surrounding forests. Moreover, GiK was just recovering from a fever.

View from the dining porch; the fencing in the distance demarcates the forest boundary. Bilbo in the foreground.

The weather was lovely. There was intermittent drizzling, but never lasting more than a few minutes each. Strangely, it was colder now in August than it was in October last when I was there. Germalam is evidently well known for its wind at this time of year, and wind there was. Gusty spells that swept screaming across the forest and farms.

I renewed my acquaintance with my canine pals on the farm – Bilbo the GSD/lab mix, his brother Rover. Spike the deceptively intimidating looking Dobermann. And Patch, one of the two Lhasa Apsos. The farm is worth visiting just for this reason alone. As also for relaxed conversations with Mr. Daniel, these can be extremely pleasant as well. The story of his life is a truly remarkable one.

Bilbo and Patch. “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs” – Gen Charles de Gaulle

Giving Spike a rub-down.

Reaching by the forenoon of Saturday, we pottered around the farm until lunch, and then went on the “short” trek. We crossed the stream that marks the boundary for a loop through the forest, Shankar the guide intently and ceaselessly scanning the route ahead for any sign of elephant. This area comprises stunted tree and scrub vegetation. Except by the streams, where towering riverine trees occur. Barring a solitary Asian paradise flycatcher and a herd of chital, we were the only souls around. Not counting a herd of cattle grazing in the forest that went crashing away in panic at the sight of us. The trail wound back and intercepted the same stream we crossed at some point and at this place was a Terminalia arjuna tree with very distinct (but old) leopard claw marks on it.

Since the trek was a short one, we were back on the farm in a couple of hours. We spent the time until dark tramping around the periphery of the farm, skirting the tiger reserve. On one side, the farm borders the main road, across which lies the reserve. There is a rocky outcrop on this edge that offers a sweeping vista of the landscape, all the way to the cloud-shrouded BR hills in the distance. Mr. Daniel talked of putting some sort of observation deck around this point, as the view is very pretty.

Dinner done, we tried driving on the road for a five kilometer stretch in the direction we hadn’t been on. The drive was a cropper, and all we did was roll through a few modest settlements on that side. And a very small stretch of deafeningly silent forest. The only fauna visible was tethered and ruminating cattle in these villages, bedded down for the night.

We spent the next morning hanging around the farm and with the dogs, taking in the Waldenesque charms of the place before it was time to leave. The best places on the farm to watch birds from are the dining area patio, and atop the work-in-progress roof of Mr. Daniel’s house.

Gooseberry

Sitting by the tent, we watched a pair of caterwauling grey cats flush a francolin from the shrubbery, sending it sailing over a rubble wall to safety. And a foraging pair of Scaly-breasted munias that came very close if we sat still. A little to our left was a pair of robins apparently nesting in a mud embankment, and a solitary Red-wattled lapwing. Bulbuls were all over the place, both red vented and whiskered varieties. Malabar parakeets were also numerous, rocketing overhead while screaming hysterically. As were spotted doves, with their soporific hooting. We crossed into the forest to sit on some rocks in the stream-bed along with Bilbo, savoring the lush silence. Mr. Daniel later told us that he discouraged the dogs from crossing the fence and that the ones that got into the habit of doing so never lasted more than a few months thanks to leopards. We should’ve shooed Bilbo back into the farm.

I should note that what wasn’t very Waldenesque about the trip was the food. It was delicious and I stuffed my face at every meal, making up for GiK’s tiny, fever-stricken appetite.

GiK tries his hand at silhouettes.

The list

Ashy-crowned sparrow lark
Ashy prinia
Asian paradise flycatcher
Baya weaver bird
Black drongo
Bushlark
Common hawk cuckoo
Common iora
Coppersmith barbet
Coucal (calls)
Grey francolin
Grey hornbill (calls) – Indian or Malabar I couldn’t see
House sparrow
Indian nightjar
Indian robin
Indian roller
Indian treepie (calls)
Little brown dove
Magpie robin
Malabar parakeet
Oriental white eye
Peafowl
Pied bushchat
Purple-rumped sunbird
Red-vented bulbul
Red-wattled lapwing
Red-whiskered bulbul
Scaly-breasted munia
Spotted dove
Tailor bird
Velvet fronted nuthatch
White-bellied drongo
White-browed wagtail
White-cheeked barbet
White-headed babbler
White-throated kingfisher

	Damien on Swifts & Swallows
	Abhijeet Dange on Winter Birding in the Himalaya…
	Ringola on Trip Report: Shivaliks/Rajaji…
	Joshua Leuner on Ficus auriculata – Eleph…
	Hisham Mubarak on Trip Report: Galibore, Nov…

Wilderness Notes

Wilderness travelogues, wildlife book reviews & more

Tag Archives: India

Trip Report: Shivaliks/Rajaji N.P.

Trip report: Yercaud, Sep ’16

K. Gudi/BRT Tiger Reserve: Sep ’16

Trip report: Valparai, Feb ’16

Trip Report: Sunderbans, Dec 2015

Trip report: Sunderbans National Park, May 2015

Trip Report: Ranthambore National Park, Jan ’15

Kaziranga/Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Dec 2014

Trip Report: KMTR, Oct ’14

Trip Report: Wild Valley Farm/Sathyamangalam TR