Flamingo watch - Annamalaicheri

In Feb, I'd gone to Pulicat sanctuary to spot Flamingos. But, came back disappointed. (http://naturepad.blogspot.in/2012/02/nelapattu-and-pulicat.html )

Only last week, did I come across photos of Flamingos from a place named Annamalai-cheri. I was surprised. I didn't want to let go of this opportunity! Since most of Pulicat sanctuary has dried up, Flamingos don't visit the sanctuary. They've found another place in Pulicat lake, which suits them. That place is near Annamalai-cheri village. So, the very next day, we planned a trip to Annamalai-cheri.

Annamalai-cheri is a small fishing village on the banks of Pulicat lake. To reach the place from Chennai, you drive on NH16, and take a right which leads to Ponneri (State Highway 56). Once you reach Ponneri, ask for direction to Annamalai-cheri. It's best to keep confirming the route from locals till you reach the place. Please note that this is not a proper tourist spot, but a small village. So, carry food and water while you are going there, as you won't get anything there.

Once you reach the village, you'll notice that names and mobile numbers of two people are written on many walls. The thing is, the villagers have nominated 2 boatmen (both teetotallers, I was told!) to take tourists in to the lake and return them safely to the shore. 

We reached the village by about 6.30 am. We called up this guy named Selvam (Mobile number: 0 89739 42455), who turned out to be a really nice guy, who even went to the extent of committing to waive off the charges for the boat ride, if we didn't spot any Flamingos!

We started the boat ride and spotted several cormorants, a few painted storks, little egrets, median egrets, Black headed ibises and Common terns. We also spotted Pacific Golden Plovers (both male and female), Sandpipers, which were first time sightings for us :)

The boatman said there was a forest like area on the other shore, where Flamingos may assemble. But, we didn't spot the flamingos during the first one hour of travel. We then saw a group of 5 flamingos fly from North to south. Then another group, then another. 

We changed our direction and within a few minutes, we saw small white dots really far off, in the lake. Selvam, the boatman identified them as Flamingos - incredible! I clicked a pic, then zoomed it and even then, I wasn't able to confirm! But, Selvam was confident and led us towards the flamingos. On our way, we came across a large group of Spot billed pelicans, and also admired the lovely skill of Pied Kingfisher, which hovers over water for sometime and darts down suddenly to catch the fish.

After sometime we reached a place where the water was too shallow that he had to shut off the engine and he couldn't even use the oar. He got down and pushed the boat for about half an hour! Then, we reached a point beyond which the water was too shallow to even push the boat. The depth was only 2-3 inches (not 2-3 feet, but 2-3 inches) and we could travel only by foot from that point.

Selvam told us that we were unlucky, as the Flamingos were in the center of the shallow portion that day, which meant we had to walk, which meant that Flamingos will be scared and we won't be able to get closer. He mentioned that, just the day before, the Flamingos were at the edge of the shallow part of the lake. And, hence he was able to take the tourists very close to the Flamingos, by boat. They don't get scared if you are on a boat, but are scared only when you are on foot!

We got down from the boat and walked. While walking, we noticed small sacs in water. Hundreds of them. Selvam told us that Prawns' eggs are enclosed in those sacs. Natural protection :) 

After sometime, we could see them very clearly. About 500 flamingos in one big group. Selvam told us that this is about only one-tenth the number of Flamingos which visited last year. As we kept walking towards the Flamingos, we noticed that the distance kept increasing - The flamingos were walking away from us and were moving faster than us, on seeing us! We increased our speed a bit (was tough while wading through water), and managed to get a few photos!

I got a bit greedy, and started to run so that I could get very close. And, all flamingos - every single one - took to the sky that instant! It was such a glorious sight.

I kept watching them longingly as they settled in another spot in the lake, quite far away from where we were standing. They had given us one "darshan" and we were grateful for that!

(More pics in my Google plus album: https://plus.google.com/photos/101762870962161822848/albums/5743521860471003729)

Nelapattu and Pulicat

Having read so much about flamingo spotting in Pulicat lake, I was so eager to catch a glimpse of Flamingos this season. The flamingos visit Pulicat between Dec and March every year.

So, we planned a trip - but it was much more than flamingos, as we added Nelapattu to our itenerary. Nelapattu is said to be the largest Pelicanry in South East Asia. Both Pulicat and Nelapattu are in Andhra Pradesh on either side of Sulurpet town. (see map below
A: Chennai, B: Sulurpet, C: Nelapattu, D: Sriharikota/Pulicat)

 
View Larger Map

As early mornings or late afternoons is ideal for flamingo spotting in Pulicat, our first stop was Nelapattu, with plans to go to Pulicat in post lunch. Nelapattu is about 90 km from Chennai. The closest town is Sulurpet.

We reached Nelapattu by about 9.30 am. Though Nelapattu is famous for Pelicans and other water birds, we spotted lots of other common and uncommon birds right from near the entrance. A couple of Grey Francolins were strutting along the road, and fled into the scrub bushes, with it's unmistakable 'kaa teeeeee ta' call, on seeing our car. While purchasing tickets, I noticed a Common Hawk-cuckoo (commonly knows as Brain-fever bird). This was a first time sighting of this bird, for me. I'd heard it's calls quite often - the call sounds like "Brain Fever", hence the name Brain fever bird - but was longing to see it. We walked along the pathway which leads to the lake, sighting a lot of birds like Purple sunbirds, Purple-rumped sunbirds, Green bee eaters, Blue tailed bee eaters, Bulbuls (Red-vented, Red whiskered and White browed) and Prinias.


Even before approaching the lake, we could see hundreds of Spot-billed Pelicans flying in the sky. Once we reached the view points on the lake, we saw Open bill storks, with their chicks. I learnt later from the Forest department guide there, that the chicks were about 45 days old.

There were some Open bill storks, which were just starting to build nests. It was wonderful watching them choose twigs and creepers from bushes to build their nests.

As we walked further, we spotted several more species of water birds - Little cormorants (a couple of trees just filled with Cormorants), a large group of White ibis, Spoonbills, scores of Northern pintails, Teals, Shovelers, Lesser Whistling ducks and Grebes.

Walking further down the path took us to the point from which we could see the birds which make Nelapattu famous - Pelicans. More than thousand of them. Everywhere. While I was absorbed in clicking photos of this spectacular sight, something else caught my attention. A couple of Greater coucals flew past us with. After that, focussed my attention towards the pelicans and the chicks again. The guide there told us that the chicks were more than 90 days old - they looked almost like adults!

The guide also told us that there were no Flamingos spotted this season, and even during the Flamingo festival, there were no Flamingos. We were dejected, but we wanted to try our luck anyways, and hence kept out plan to Pulicat intact.

On our way back to the exit, we found a watch tower, in the middle of the scrub forest. I climbed there, but it was past noon by then, and the birds must've taken shelter inside trees. Barring a couple of sunbirds and Red-whiskered bulbuls, we couldn't spot anything else. But, I'm sure this tower would be great for birding, early in the day.

We returned to Sulurpet, and finished our dinner in the a modest restaurant near the bus stand  - the only Vegetarian restaurant we could find. Then we proceeded towards Sriharikota.

The road to Sriharikota goes through Pulicat Bird sanctuary. There's water on both sides of the road, and we spotted a lot of birds here. We could get really close to the birds, as compared to other sanctuaries, as the birds sit perched very close to the road. Got very close shots of an Asian Open bill and a cormorant :)

As we drove down further towards Sriharikota, we gave up hope of spotting Flamingos. Enquiring with a few locals, a few of them confirmed that lots of Flamingos are usually spotted on either side of the road every year, but there were no Flamingos this year. The lake on both sides of the road is usually filled with water, but large parts of it was dry - we were told that this is the reason flamingos stayed away this year.

But, we spotted several other birds, which we hadn't spotted in Nelapattu - Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Purple herons, Median Egrets, Red-wattled Lapwings, and Lesser Ringed plovers. Watching the protective  coots and moorhens, taking their tiny chicks to safety was lovely. I also spotted a super-shy Shikra (male) and a Black shouldered kites while driving along this road.

We reached Sriharikota, and clicked pics in front of the model SLV rockets there, as public is allowed into the campus without permission. The return drive along the road was also very nice, as we spotted several more birds.

For more photos, visit my album.


(Update: A few other friends who went to Pulicat in Mid march spotted a few Flamingos. But, they had to hire a boat and go further inside, close to the sea to spot them.)

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.