A rainy morning at Nanmangalam

One early morning last week, seeing clear skies, we decided to go to Nanmangalam reserve forest (which is about 20 km from my house). By the time we were halfway there, dark clouds started piling up all of a sudden from nowhere! We were in half a mind to turn back, we proceeded nonetheless.

Sun was peeping through the clouds on and off. We reached there, parked and started walking into the forest. We reached a large clearing which is one of my favourite birding spots in Nanmangalam and saw that part of it had become a small pond due to the rains over the past few weeks.

We saw several cormorants, little egrets and cattle egrets fly away from the water as we walked closer. The calls of Greater Coucals and Laughing doves were teasing us as we were trying to spot the birds.

Suddenly, this Shikra (picture on the right) majestically flew out of nowhere and perched on a tree closeby, giving chance for a couple of pics, before flying off again. We saw light fading quickly and noticed dark clouds covering up the sky. Before we could even think of what to do, it started pouring. Heavily.

Packing the camera in a polythene bags and stuffing them in to the camera bag, we started walking. But, there was no shelter as we were in the middle of the forest. After a 15 minutes walk, we reached the road and took shelter in a house there. The owner of that house was so friendly and was speaking to us for about half an hour.

The rains stopped, and we were tempted to go back into the forest. But, the dark clouds were still threatening.

But having come that far and having been drenched anyway, we thought we'll go back in to the forest. The rain seemed to have sent all the birds back to their nests and we couldn't find much activity, barring a few purple rumped sun-birds and ashy prinias. As the sun started to peep through the clouds again, couple of Green Bee-eaters came out to dry their wings and started preening, giving us more photo opportunities.

Another short spell of rain and spotting of a few of our regular favourite birds (Oriental Magpie Robins, Black drongos etc) later, we returned - with a few photos and some good bird sightings.

Birding in Yelagiri

While my previous post covered details about accomodation, sight-seeing and food in Yelagiri, this post is dedicated to Birding.

As I already mentioned in the previous post, Yelagiri is not fully commercialised. There's minimal pollution, not much human interference. Hence, birds can be spotted everywhere. Birds like Red-vented bulbuls, Red-whiskered bulbuls, drongos, munias are found almost everywhere - you don't have to specially go and look for them!

Here's a map showing birding places in Yelagiri. I've prepared this based on my 3 day birding trip. There may be several other places which I'd have missed. Also, I didn't go for the trek to Swamimalai, which is surely bound to be great for birding.

Here's a list of Birds that I spotted. I've also mentioned the place where I spotted them.

(YN = Yatri Nivas - the place where we stayed
NP = Nature Park)

Birds that I spotted commonly in Yelagiri:

1. Red vented bulbuls - Guauva trees in YN Garden. Eucalyptus forest area behind YN. Several in NP.

2. Red whiskered bulbuls - YN garden, NP

3. Rose Ringed Parakeets - Several of them on a tree near the bus-stop. Could spot them there at any time of the day.

4. Ashy Prinia - YN. Also in many scrub bushes along the road.

5. White Throated Kingfisher - Behind YN, On the way to Jalagamparai.


6. Common Tailorbirds - YN garden.

7. House Sparrow - behind YN.

8. Purple-rumped Sunbird (The pic below) - YN, NP and near the lake.

9. Pied Bushchats - YN. Several pied bushchat's spotted inside YN compound, behind the building, in the place where the kitchen wastes are dumped. I clicked several pics from the balcony itself as they weren't afraid to come close to the balcony.

10. Brahminy Starling - Road behind YN.


11. Green Bee Eater - behind YN and in the vacant land next to YN.

12. White-bellied Drongo - YN. Also, in several other places on the way to the lake.

13. Spotted Munia (Scaly Breasted Munia) - Near YN, NP, the main road, the road leading to the lake, Nilavoor park. They were everywhere. I could find ALWAYS a couple of Spotted munias in the creepers in the Nature Park's archway entrance.

Green Bee-eater, Spotted Munia and White-bellied Drongo.

14. Oriental Magpie Robin - YN and a few in bushes along the roads.

15. Indian Robin - YN and the road behind YN, Lake, Murugan Temple.

16. White Browed Wagtail - YN, Lake and NP.

White Browed Wagtail

17. Yellow Billed Babbler - Near the Murugan Temple

18. Laughing Dove - Near the Murugan Temple.

19. Common Iora - a few seen behind YN.

20. Black Drongo - YN and NP. Also, at several places along the road.

21. Baya Weaver Bird - Nilavoor

Apart from these, the calls of Common Hawk Cuckoo (Brain-fever bird) could be heard very often in YN and NP, though the bird was elusive as always!

(I've not mentioned the palm-swifts, common rock doves and pigeons that were commonly spotted.
One interesting thing is that there are hardly any crows in Yelagiri. I saw hardly one or two during my 3 days there)


Birds that were not common

1. Tickell's Flower Pecker (or Pale billed Flower Pecker) - In a kitchen-garden near YN.

2. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher - Several people have clicked pics of this bird at YMCA. I just caught a glimpse of it, before it flew away before I could click.

3. Rufous Treepie - in the Forest behind YN and Banyan Tree.

4. Coppersmith Barbet (or Crimson Throated Barbet) - Banyan Tree.

5. Lesser Golden Back woodpecker (Black-rumped Flameback) - Banyan Tree.

6. Yellow-crowned Woodpecker - This is special. I've not come across any listing of Yelagiri Birds which mentions Yellow Crowned woodpecker. I didn't expect to see one. But, couldn't get a clear photo. But, this collage of cropped images that I clicked is enough to identify the bird. The scaly back, the yellow crown and the red patch in the belly are prominent. Clicked at the Banyan Tree.

7. Jungle Myna - Forest behind YN.


8. Yellow Eyed Babbler (The pic on the left) - YN

9. Jungle Babbler - YMCA

10. Spotted Owlet - Don Bosco compound wall.

11. Indian Roller - On the way to Jalagamparai.


12. Greater Coucal - On the way to Jalagamparai.

13. Grey Wagtail - Spotted at Jalagamparai.

While I've talked about several places for birding, the banyan tree behind Yatri Nivas (refer map) was the one I loved for the surprises it was throwing. Every time I went there, I spotted some different species, which I didn't see anywhere else in Yelagiri. There could be a few other places which are good, but these were the places that I frequented.

To see more photos of Yelagiri birds, hop on to my Flickr photoset.

A trip to Yelagiri

When my dad made plans for us to go to Yelagiri, I was reluctant. Had been there with my colleagues for a workshop. "Not much to see there", I told him. Knowing my interest in birds, he tempted me saying it'll be great for birding. I was not convinced, as I searched on the web and could find not find much to say that it's a birding spot.

But, right from the time I got down from in front of the hotel (Yatri Nivas), I spotted birds everywhere and started clicking even before we even checked in! Before we move on, lets get all the basic info out of our way.

How to reach
From Chennai, we reached Jolarpet (the nearest railway station) by train. Jolarpet is closer to Bangalore, making it an ideal weekend getaway for people from Bangalore. From Jolarpet we took an auto-rickshaw to Yelagiri, for which we paid Rs 300. There are also regular buses which start from Thirupathur via Jolarpet. However, we're told that buses get fully crowded by the time they reach Jolarpet. On the way to the top, you'll cross 14 hairpin bends, each bend named after famous tamil kings and poets.


Accommodation

We stayed at Yatri Nivas which is a government owned hotel, but it is run by a private company as it has been leased out. I think the rates are fixed by the government, and hence the the tariffs in Yatri Nivas are the lowest you can get in Yelagiri (not considering dorms). We paid Rs 550 for a double room (The room had a TV and geyser) and they didn't even charge for an extra bed.

The place is decent. The rooms and the garden are very well maintained. The garden has various flowering plants and fruit-bearing trees (like Guava and Pomegranate) which attract a lot of birds. In fact, I spotted and clicked a lot of birds in and around Yatri Nivas.

Apart from Yatri Nivas, there are plenty of options for accommodation. There are tons and tons of hotels and resorts, but I was told that everything gets filled during weekends. So, if you're going on a weekend, make sure to call and book rooms, and send demand drafts if necessary.

Food
We tried only two places - Yatri Nivas (the place where we stayed) and Hotel Yelagiri (not far from Yatri Nivas). The quality is decent at both the places, and both are not over-priced. Apart from the hotels and resorts which serve food, there are several separate restaurants serving different cuisines.

If you are a strict vegetarian and you hate having food in a restaurant which serves both veg and non-veg, you'll have a tough time in Yelagiri. We enquired a lot, but everyone said the same thing - there are no pure-vegetarian restaurants there.

What to see?

There are 4 main villages - Punganoor, Athanavoor, Nilavoor and Mangalam.

If you can read tamil, do go through this sign board:


Nature Park: The summer-festival (Kodai-vizha) ground has been converted into a large beautifully landscaped garden, with a small artificial cascade. The place is superbly maintained and you can spend hours there just enjoying the beautiful plants and lovely birds. There's a musical fountain, which wasn't working when we went. But, I was told that regular shows do happen. It also has a children play area with swings, slides etc.
 
Punganoor Lake is a large man-made lake. You can walk around lake in the well laid-out pathway or enjoy a refreshing boat-ride. There's also a small park. You can take a walk around the lake and the park early in the morning or late afternoon/evening if you're interested in birding.

Murugan Temple
There's a small Murugan temple. After visiting the lake and boat house park, you leave from the back entrance of the park and walk about half a km to reach this temple. If you're to go through the main road after coming back through the front entrance of the park, it takes 3 km!

Nilavoor Lake
Another man-made lake, but this one is smaller. Boating is available. There's also a small park nearby, which again is well maintained. But, if you've seen Punganoor Lake, Boathouse and the Nature park, this is not worth it.
Right opposite the lake is a temple called Kadhava Naachiamman Temple, which opens only on Fridays. As it was not a Friday when we went, it was closed.


Jalagamparai
This is a small waterfall. There's a 6km trekking route to this place from Nilavoor. If you want to reach the place through road, you've to come all the way down from Yelagiri, reach Thirupathur and then drive to Jalagamparai. The total distance would be about 40km (including the descent from Yelagiri). There's a Murugan Temple. What's special about this temple is that the temple itself is shaped like a Shiva lingam.

Apart from this, there's Swami Malai temple, which can be reached by trekking. We didn't visit this temple.

As you might've figured there's very little to see at Yelagiri. To me Yelagiri is not a touristy location, but a calm, not-much-exploited getaway where you can enjoy nature. Maintenance of all the places - be it the lake, the gardens, the temple - is top notch, unlike most tourist places, which is what I absolutely loved about Yelagiri.

That covers the basics of Yelagiri tourism. To know about birding in Yelagiri, check out the next post.

Egrets fishing.

My previous visit to IIT Madras was really worth it - captured these beautiful little egrets fishing!

 

Leucistic Black Buck

Spotted this at IIT Madras a few weeks back. This is a leucistic Black buck, commonly mistaken for Albino.
Albino black bucks have pinkish eyes, but the eyes of this one are black. Leucism is a disorder which results in reduction of skin pigmentation. While albinism affects only melanin pigment, Leucism affects all pigments.

Common Kestrel

The best part about Chennai winters is that we get to see a lot of birds which we don't during the rest of the year. Several birds migrate to South India during winter from North India and even from other countries. Winter has begun and several migrant birds have already been reported this year (http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2609128.ece)

I got an opportunity to see and click the Common Kestrel at Theosophical Society today morning. There are several sub-species of Common Kestrels, spread over several countries. The one I spotted today, breeds in East Asia (Tibet, China, Korea, Japan and also in some parts of Himalayas). During winter months, they migrate to South India and other parts of South East Asia. 

When I set out today for birding, early in the morning, I saw several smaller and more common birds like Green Bee Eaters, Common Babblers, Pipits etc. But, the Common Kestrel was the special guest today.

From a distance I noticed this raptor perched majestically on a branch, but couldn't identify it immediately. On moving closer, I realised that this is a female Common Kestrel. The males have a much darker shade of brown and the striated patterns are not so prominent.

I kept clicking several photos as I kept moving towards it, fearing it may fly away any second. But, this one wasn't shy. For a couple of seconds, she stared right at me. I walked pretty close to her and clicked a few more pics before she flew away.

But, she hadn't flown away too far. Walking a few more feet, I found her again, this time giving a me clear view without being hidden by branches or leaves.

This was my first set of clear pics of any raptor, and was absolutely delighted!

Chennai's Green Lung - Semmozhi Poonga

After moving back to my hometown, Chennai, from Bangalore after my PG, one thing that I missed a lot was the greenery. There's a reason why Bangalore is referred to as the garden city. Lush green parks and gardens almost everywhere - I envied Bangalore for that! 

But, over the past 2-3 years, several new parks have been opened in Chennai, and the older parks have been renovated. Kudos also to the way the parks are being maintained. 

Of these new parks, Semmozhi poonga at the junction of Anna Salai and Cathedral Road, has to be the highlight! Though I had been there a few days after it was inaugurated, Harish (http://magixncurses.blogspot.com, @harishvsays) and I went there one fine evening 2 weeks back, for photography. And, we loved it!

The greenery starts right at the entrance, with a beautiful vertical garden forming the entry arch. Once inside, there's so much colour - flowers of various colours greet us amidst the greenery.  Spider lilies, balsams and several other exotic flowering plants adorn the garden. There are several species of cacti too.

As we further move into the beautifully landscaped garden, we come to a short cascade and a duck pond, with several geese and duck. They were not shy at all, and kept coming so close to the camera. We had to move a few steps back to be able to focus them!

As we were walking through the park, we kept hearing calls of parakeets, mynas and koels, which are very common. But, one call - a shrill trilling sound - made me jump in excitement. I identified the call immediately to be that of a Lesser Golden-back Woodpecker (or Black-rumped FlamebackWoodpecker). I've spotted these cute little birds at Theosophical Society and IIT Madras campus, but I didn't expect to see one here! So, we followed the sound and found not one, but four Lesser Golden-back woodpeckers. I couldn't get a decent shot of the bird, but Harish did.

As it started getting darker, we finished our walk in the park, enjoying the lovely bonsais (imported from China) and the superb fountains, which keep changing colours and patterns.

View more photos in my Flickr page and Harish's Flickr page.

If I've to pick one commendable aspect from things done during previous mayor M. Subramaniam's tenure, I'd pick the increase in greenery in Chennai. I hope the new mayor continues from where MS left off!

Spotted Owlets

Theosophical society campus in Adyar, Chennai is one of the best homes for birds. I guess it remains pure and uncorrupted as it is fully restricted - only 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evenings are designated as visiting hours for public - that too only for visiting the famous big Banyan Tree. Apart from this, special permissions for walking/photography/birding etc are granted only after much deliberation! In that sense, it has not become a tourist spot or a bird sanctuary.

Regular visitors will fondly narrate sightings of the very own spotted owlets of TS. A family of Spotted owlets had made their home in a hole in a dead tree trunk, at least a decade or two back, I've been told. And, their further generations continue to stay there. If you are lucky, you can spot them early in the mornings sitting in front of their home.

Or, if they are reluctant to get out from there, you can probably see them peeping from the hole like this ;) I was waiting for it to get out, but it took more than fifteen minutes for it to feel that it's safe and I wont harm them. Then, one owl flew out, followed by the next one.

Though it's easiest to spot them near their home, I've managed to spot them in the scrub forests inside the campus several times! Pretty hard to notice though, unless they move. The movement is what gives away the position ;)

I thought they were very shy and could see them only near their home or in the thick forest. But, once I managed to spot it right where all public visitors come to - the big banyan tree. There it was sitting calmly, right in front of the banyan. So, next time you go to visit the big banyan, keep a look out for birds there. Apart from this, I've seen other birds like woodpeckers, sunbirds at the big banyan.

Roll Roll Roller!

Over the past 4-5 months after getting my new DSLR and a Telephoto lens, I have visited a few Reserve forests and sanctuaries for birding and photography. But sometimes, I've got good bird photos closer home.

Recently, I visited my grandparents house in Vellore. I walked off to the river Palaru, which has been dry for more about 20 years, as all the water is trapped in dams in AP :( But, it is home to so many birds now (will write about them later).

As of now, lets focus on the Indian Roller.

The Indian Roller is a medium sized bird found in many parts of India. In tamil, it is called Panangaadai (பனங்காடை).

When I went to Palaru a few months back, I had discovered a big colony of Baya Weavers in an abandoned well. When I went near the well, a couple of blue coloured birds flew away from the well. Since it was dark, I couldn't identify the bird. But this time, I was lucky. 

I spotted one roller perched on a plant there. Kept following it and photographing for about an hour! It kept flying away as I approached the plant on which it was perched, but never flew far away. It was as though it was playing games with me, challenging me to come closer!

And, then.. came the next roller too. The roller is oh-so-beautiful in it's flight, displaying 3 different shades of blue (the photo on the blog header, of the Roller with wings spread out,  was captured by me during this time). More running and catching up with both of the Rollers for another hour and I was exhausted. Came back home, with so much happiness and some lovely photos :)

Welcome!

Emily Dickenson wrote:

Nature, the gentlest mother,

Impatient of no child,

The feeblest or the waywardest, --

Her admonition mild

(From "Mother Nature". Read the full poem here)

I turn to this gentlest mother, for relaxation. And, about this gentlest mother - the lovely trees, the splendid greenery, the chirping birds, the lovely animals, the cute little bugs -  I shall write here. And post photos for everyone to enjoy the awesomeness!