The Thattekad Diaries

Thattekad, located 65 kilometers from Kochi, Kerala is a bird sanctuary which is home to over 300 species of birds. It is part of the Western Ghats belt. The Periyar river, a major water source for Kerala, flows through it. We spent three days there this summer. 

We were on our way to Thattekad from Kidangoor, Kerala. We passed by the traditional Kerala houses, some of them majestic in grandeur and some of them the small hut like tenements with hens and goats sharing the front yard. The majority of them had tiled roofs, typical of Kerala.

We stopped at a Karthikeyan Temple a few minutes after we left.

My vision was turned towards the heavens already, looking out for birds. There was a Champaka tree in the temple premises by the side of a wide river. The water was green, the trees around it were green, the moss of the side walls were green and the grass that seems to cover everything was green. All different shades of green. Kerala greenery is markedly tropic. Any little sunny gap that is not constantly treaded on, starts sprouting green. I hope it stays like that for ever. 

Coming back to the Champaka tree that I was straining at, it was in full bloom. There was the raucous call of the treepie emerging from it. While I went closer to see, a majestic Asian Paradise Flycatcher flew out from it. It was a rufous morph female. The surprises the tree had to offer were not done. We saw Red-whiskered Bulbuls and Purple-Rumped sunbirds. A White-browed Wagtail was shaking its tail in the nearby temple roof along with it's relative the forest wagtail. There were rhythmic dance beats coming from inside the old temple building, may be a Kathakali class was in progress, and the wagtails seemed to be keeping in step. I was soaking in the scenery when an Oriental Magpie Robin tweeted nearby and provided the proverbial icing on the cake.

In spite of all urban development that is happening, man can stay with the birds around if we maintain a clean water source and a few trees. And may be an environment of prayer helps :)

OUR FIRST LIFERS

Well, moving on, we piled our things into the Jungle Bird Homestay and stepped out as soon as we had the sugar sweet tea. We saw 3 Cotton Pygmy-Goose on the way side. We met Eldhose, our guide, at the gate of the sanctuary and he took us to a different part of Thattekad. Apparently, wild elephants are found inside the main sanctuary and it is completely off limits. Eldhose is a soft spoken guide, residing in Thattekad. He was birding since his seventh grade in the same area. His first binoculars was gifted to him to by Sir David Attenborough during the late nineties. So until then, he had been birding with no visual aids and this has made him an expert on bird calls. I was excited. This is an area I need to work on.

We were on our walk. A raptor flying overhead for a brief second before disappearing behind a tree was identified as Rufous-bellied Eagle; the first lifer for me this trip. There was a harsh noise coming from a tree hanging above a shed; we inspected this and saw a pair of Heart-spotted Woodpeckers! A Common Iora was heard but despite our best efforts to locate it, it remained out of sight. Eldhose located three roosting Brown Hawk-Owls on a tree. (We saw these three many times roosted in the same tree).

We were walking through Teak wood forests and we found the leaves at the top eaten so much by moth caterpillars, that the tree leaves looked like sieves. The whole ground was covered with small round black caterpillar droppings. And we would suddenly find a black caterpillar straight at out eye level, seemingly hanging in mid air. They were of course the ones that have slipped from the tall teak trees and caught in the spider webs on the way down. These caterpillars could be the sustenance of so many birds in the area.

Down below, the earth had been well tilled by earth worms. I could not believe the size of some of the mounds of wet earth left by the worm. They were almost three inches high, and I had to knock down a mound, see the worm to actually believe that this is left by good old common earth worms.

TORRENTS AND TRAILS

I did not worry much when a few drops of rain hit the ground in the afternoon. But soon, the little drizzle became a torrential rain. We were supposed to meet Eldhose at three, and when the rain stopped, we were ready. All of a sudden, the rain started again and we were forced to wait till 4 before we went out to bird. In the pause between the two downpours, we could see the winged ants emerging from the crevices of the tiled roofs of the next door house. Many of these were getting caught by deft Loten's and Purple-rumped Sunbirds. We could see a few Lesser Whistling Ducks flying about, unperturbed by the strength of the downpour. 

When we eventually started out on the walk, Eldhose took us outside the sanctuary. There was a bridge across the Periyar River outside, and we saw around 20 Whiskered Terns sitting on a wire.

On a bare tree on the other side of the river, we saw 3 Ashy Woodswallows, one eating a butterfly after disposing the wings. We went the other way, where there were some water bodies with lilies.We saw a Common Kingfisher, 2 White-browed Wagtails and a Darter on the branches of a tree in the water. The next water body had a surprise; a Stork-billed Kingfisher had got caught in a net and one of the forest officials had come to free it. When it was freed, it flew right past us. 

After walking a little more, we had reached our destination; the Salim Ali Bird Trail. As we walked down it, we saw many birds; Jungle Babblers, Hill Myna, Oriental Magpie Robins, White-cheeked Barbets. Even an Orange-headed Thrush darted across us. We reached a watchtower, but couldn't go to the forest beyond that because the area had become waterlogged. We turned back, to see Lesser Whistling Ducks, Asian Palm Swift, Indian Swiftlet, Greater Flameback and Common Tailorbird. 

We returned back and at around 6:30 PM, we went to one of the water bodies with Gireesh, the homestay's owner to look for the rare Great Eared Nightjar. We saw a Cinnamon Bittern and a Dollarbird, but no nightjar, probably because of the rain. 

 

THE WOODPECKERS AND OWLS OF THATTEKAD

The second day started early at 6:15 AM. We got into Eldhose's jeep at the gate and he drove us to a rocky area, where we saw four Red-wattled Lapwings, and a Mottled Wood Owl being mobbed by Drongos. One of the Lapwings had built a nest on the ground, and it had four eggs in it. The eggs were creamy-white with black speckles. One of the eggs had a red patch on it. We tried to see if the remaining eggs had the same patch, but it was not there on the exposed surface. We definitely did not want to risk touching the eggs. Some boys playing in the area seemed to have noticed the nest before us and had surrounded it with rocks and pebbles. 

Large group of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters was our next good sighting. We reached a forest trail and we started birding there. Hawk-cuckoos called incessantly, their raucous calls filling the air. We saw Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Crested Treeswift, even 4 Rufous Woodpeckers! A solitary bird on a dead tree was Jungle Owlet, and a bird on a faraway tree was a Streak-throated Woodpecker.We saw Pompadour Green Pigeons, and soon, we reached a water body where we saw 2 Striated Herons flying past. 

Eldhose told us that David Attenborough's Life of Birds had been shot here, and they looked for Rufous Woodpeckers' nests to film. Eldhose helped them, and Attenborough rewarded him with his first binoculars.

We saw our only Shikra of the trip on the way back.

THE FEEDING STATION

Eldhose has a feeding arrangement for the birds, and we returned to the area of the lapwing nest in time for it. Grated coconut, jaggery, rice and bananas were put out, and the birds just came. 

22 Grey Junglefowl,  mainly female, appeared hesitantly at first and confidently as domestic fowls soon.

Black-throated Munia sat in an orderly line on a bamboo pole and pecked rapidly at Ragi seeds.

 Rufous Treepie, White-cheeked Barbet and Jungle Babblers went for the fruits. The treepies, in fact, were in such a rush that they knocked down the feeder.

Spotted Doves and grey jungle fowls ate the rice. I do not know if human interference is a good thing in this aspect; however I am happy that in the dry season of summer the birds are able to support themselves and thrive - as evinced in the feeding grounds.

After clicking plenty of photos, we left back to the homestay.

THE PHANTOM OF THATTEKAD

The birding of the day was far from over. My best was yet to come. We left again at 3:00 to a forest 14 km away, hoping to see the Ceylon Frogmouth, which I describe as 'The Phantom Of Thattekad' due to its elusiveness and camouflage, even if spotted at close range. Eldhose parked the jeep at the entrance.

At first, no luck was on our side; Eldhose tried a dozen different roosts without luck. We saw Grey-headed Bulbuls, but no luck with the Frogmouth. When I was pretty much giving up hope,  Eldhose tried a new roost, and we were successful, with a male and female. Even with the bird right in front of us, we lost sight of it sometimes. The male was grey, the female was a slightly warmer brown, which makes them look exactly like dead leaves in a tree. It was a bird which I had never thought I would see in daylight, and there it was at a height I could reach, motionless, unblinking, trying it's best to make itself blend. The sighting will stay with me for long. Thank you, Eldhose sir!

On the walk back to the jeep, we saw a dung beetle trying to roll up some fresh cow droppings. It sensed our move and immediately flipped over and acted dead. In a patience competition, we miserably failed, the dung beetle continuing its act, while we had to move on. 

Eldhose was explaining to us about the importance of the Ficus in the ecological balance of the forest. It seems that most trees in the forest bear fruit only during the right season for that species. At the same time, the Ficus (fig) tree can be found with fruits at odd seasons too. One year in July, the next year in October, then maybe even as late as February. So, when birds need a source of food when most trees are bare, they can always rely on the Ficus The Ficus is immune to lightning strikes, amazingly! 

 IDAMALAYAR

In a last attempt to get the remaining target species, Wynaad Laughingthrush and Great Hornbill, we decided to try Idamalayar Reserve Forest. On the way, we crossed Bhoothanthankettu, said to have been built by ghosts (Bhoothathan). There, we saw a single Asian Openbill, River Tern, and around 200 Brown-backed Needletails.  We tried a patch of forest nearby before going to Idamalayar, and got Green Imperial Pigeon, Dollarbird, and plenty of Racket-tailed Drongos. Idamalayar gave us White Rumped Needletail, a lifer for me. We heard Malabar Whistling Thrush, Rufous Babbler and Malabar Grey Hornbill. The nesting season of the Hornbills were on, and Eldhose said sightings are better around December. 

We were stopped by news of wild noisy elephants at the turn of the road. My mom started out towards the jeep as soon as she heard, displaying the same behavior to her offspring as the jungle animals do. Trying to herd us away from potential danger :) She was taking no chances even with an expert guide beside us.

We went the rest of the sight seeing on jeep. We got a clear sighting of oriental Honey Buzzard. A family of Emerald Doves decided to block our way, pecking away peacefully in the middle of the road. We were only too delighted to stop and watch. 

At 6:30, we tried for Great Eared Nightjar, but ended up with Jerdon's Nightjar instead. We returned to the homestay, tired. 

The next morning, my dad and I went to bird on the same trail as on the first day. We were welcomed by a noisy group; a Malabar Giant Squirrel, along with a few Hill Mynas. We didn't see too many species; we saw Common Kingfisher, Indian Cuckoo, and the last lifer of the trip; Orange-breasted Green Pigeon. 

It had been some incredible birding at Thattekad over the past 2 days; we had seen 113 species, 25 of them being lifers for me. I hope to return back there some day.

You can see the complete bird list at 

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14067663

                                                              

   

Birding in Lakedew Lake

BIRDING IN LAKEDEW LAKE

(April 2nd 2013)   

I live in a community called Lakedew Residency, and there is a lake in its center. So, it's only natural that we get to see flocks of Great Cormorants and Little Egrets flying above us in the evenings. However, it was around 5:00 PM, and a storm was fast approaching. The skies were gloomy and overcast, and before the rain actually beat down on us, we wanted to bird. So me, along with my sister, mom and dad, went to the lake side. There was an influx in numbers of birds, all the birds were eager to get a few tasty morsels before they went to shelter in the rain.

There were plenty of white patches on the other side of the lake.The  Eurasian Coots were numerous and generally stayed close to the hyacinth; my sister counted thirty-one. Then, it dawned upon us that the white patches were actually Little Egrets! There were a few Great Egrets along with the sixty-three Little Egrets. Kites; both Black and Brahminy, swooped around the lake.

There were eight different-looking kites, a sort of border line between both species. Then, after an examination of the species with binoculars, I realized that they were Black Kite-Brahminy Kite hybrids. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good picture. The numerous Black Kites had hybridized with the Brahminy Kites to form individuals with generally a Black Kite's colour, but with patches of the cinnamon brown of a Brahminy on the mantle, and a pale throat, like the Brahminy.

As we observed he hybrids, three huge birds flew in. They flew right past us, and landed near a patch of vegetation. I realized that these were Painted Storks; an amazing sighting for this lake! There were three of them, and they probed around with their bills in the mud, looking for underwater food hidden under the mud. They were quite far away, and using the camera, we were only able to get a pretty grainy picture.

We noticed that a Black Kite-Brahminy Kite hybrid and perched itself atop a tree on the other side of the lake, so my dad and I went in the car to photograph it. There is a running track on that side, where a fisherman lives along with a pack of dogs. As soon as we entered, the dog ran up to my dad, and peed on his pant. But going to the other side was in vain; the kite had already flown off and was gone. Near a fruiting Singapore Cherry tree, we got a glimpse of four Purple-Rumped Sunbirds chirping. On the way, we saw an Indian Golden Oriole chasing another. The rain was beginning, and we got home just in time.

The rain poured down in torrents; our roof even started to leak! No birds were sighted, of course, but the rain was nice to see; providing a large amount of relief from the oppressive summer heat. Truly a good day in Lakedew Residency, a day where 20 different species were sighted. This is my list:

1. Purple-rumped Sunbird (4)
2. Rock Pigeon (4)
3. Jungle Myna (2)
4. Rosy Starling (Rosy Pastor) (15)
5. Indian Golden Oriole (2)
6. Eurasian Coot (31)
7. Purple Swamphen (7)                                                                                                              NOTE: Breeding season for Swamphen, we observed males fighting for nesting territory
8.  Black Kite (23)
9. Brahminy Kite (14)
10. Black Kite-Brahminy Kite hybrid (8)
11. Indian Pond-Heron (5)
12. Cattle Egret (1)
13. Little Egret (63)
14. Great Egret (7)
15. Purple Heron (2)
16. Gray Heron (1)
17. Little Cormorant (1)
18. Great Cormorant (8)
19. Painted Stork (3)
20. Little Grebe (Dabchick) (16)

We saw these birds on 2nd April 2013.

Bangalore Bird Race 2013

Having signed myself up for the Bangalore Bird Race, which was set to take place on the 20th of January 2013, I prepared by reading about the birds of Bangalore and bought new binoculars after the old ones got lost. Bangalore Bird Race is a day-long event where birders from all over Bangalore travel within a 50 km radius of the city in order to see who can see the most number of bird species. This year, seven of the thirty-six teams participating decided to go birding together, and my team, Team Ibis, was one of them. This was our plan:
1) Madiwala Lake- Look out for Bluethroats and Spot-billed Pelicans
2) Bannerghatta National Park- Check for Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers and Larks
3) ThippaGondanahalli Lake- Look for Asian Openbills and others
4) Ramanagaram- Look for Long-billed Vultures, and Peregrine Falcons

All the teams met at Bannerghatta Road at around 5:15 in the morning. Since the sun wasn't still up, so we had to drop the plan to bird at Madiwala Lake. We proceeded on to Bannerghatta National Park. We were in the parking area near the pond when we started. Birds were numerous. We saw Pied Bushchat, Red-wattled Lapwing, White-breasted Kingfisher, Red Avadavat, and Rose-ringed Parakeet amongst others. As we proceeded into the scrubland, towards a Flame-of-the-Forest tree, we saw a huge flock of Rosy Starlings and three Eurasian Hoopoes. The Flame-of-the-Forest tree was a 'bird magnet'. We then proceeded  to the main Bannerghatta Zoo area to look for flycatchers. We saw a Black-naped Oriole inside the zoo, and saw a male Asian Paradise Flycatcher flitting from a post to a fence and back over and over again. Then we went to what Deepa Mohan, one of the birders along with us called 'Flycatcher Avenue'. I spotted a well-hidden Verditer Flycatcher and our team saw an Asian Brown Flyatcher and a White-browed Bulbul in the foliage. A single tree provided Tickell's Blue-flycatcher and Black-hooded, Black-naped, and Eurasian Golden Orioles. We then stopped for breakfast at a dosa camp. After that, we drove down to Thippagondanahalli Lake, popularly known as TG Halli Lake, where we observed Little Ringed Plover, a huge colony of Indian Shags and a lot of Asian Openbills. We tried for the difficult Small Pratincole near a few rocks near the lake, but we were unsuccessful. We drove to Ramanagaram and, with great difficulty, we located a juvenile Long-billed Vulture on a small ledge. We saw some people just climbing up the rock face for fun and we tried to stop them, but they did not heed our warning. We hoped nothing would happen to the juvenile vulture, as the Long-billed Vulture is a critically endangered species, and very rare. We had hoped to also see Peregrine Falcons and Indian Eagle-Owls, both resident in the area, but these weren't sighted. I had an exam the next day, so we couldn't make it to the awards ceremony, but my teammates told me that we finished 4th, 5th or 6th, with 112 species. Truly a tiring but rewarding day.
(Bangalore Bird Race on Jan 20, 2013)

Birding in Chennai

CHENNAI BIRDING

   It was my cousin's first birthday, and they lived in Chennai, so, we went there to celebrate his birthday. Over there, we decided to go to the Muttukadu Backwaters, an inlet of water where, when we visited last time, had given us over 20 Caspian Terns, Great Crested Terns, Little, Gull-billed, and a wide variety of other terns. This time, the driver, from Chennai Taxi, took us through a route double the length, where we skipped going past Pallikaranai Wetlands, where we saw plenty of Purple Herons (not to mention a Crab-plover) last time. We stopped a marsh on the way, and that was a good place to stop. We saw around 15 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, lots of Great and Median Egrets, and to our surprise, Curlew and Terek Sandpipers! It was another 1/2 hour before we reached Muttukadu. Over there, in the boating area, we saw Heuglin's, Pallas's, Yellow-legged, Brown-headed and Black-headed Gulls, Caspian, Little, Gull-billed, Common, Lesser Crested and White-winged Terns, Painted Storks, Great Egrets and Spot-billed Pelicans amongst others. In the fishing area, there were hundreds of waders, which we identified to be a variety of different species; Common Greenshanks, Spotted and Common Redshanks, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlins, just to name a few. On the way back, we took the regular path back through Pallikaranai, and saw a large variety of waders there as well. Some of the species we were able to identify were all lifers for me; Broad-billed Sandpiper, Swinhoe's, Common, Jack and Pintail Snipes, and others. We went back after totally seeing 67 different species that day. This is the list:

1. Pied Kingfisher
2. Indian Roller
3. Black Kite
4. Jungle Crow
5. House Crow
6. Rock Pigeon
7. Common Myna
8. Common Kingfisher
9. White-breasted Kingfisher
10. Asian Palm Swift
11. Common Coot
12. Purple Swamphen
13. Pintail Snipe
14. Common Snipe
15. Jack Snipe
16. Swinhoe's Snipe
17. Black-tailed Godwit
18. Whimbrel
19. Eurasian Curlew
20. Spotted Redshank
21. Common Redshank
22. Common Greenshank
23. Marsh Sandpiper
24. Terek Sandpiper
25. Wood Sandpiper
26. Green Sandpiper
27. Common Sandpiper
28. Little Stint
29. Temminck's Stint
30. Dunlin
31. Curlew Sandpiper
32. Broad-billed Sandpiper
33. Ruff
34. Eurasian Oystercatcher
35. Black-winged Stilt
36. Pheasant-tailed Jacana
37. Pacific Golden Plover
38. Grey Plover
39. Common Ringed Plover
40. Little Ringed Plover
41. Kentish Plover
42. Greater Sand-Plover
43. Lesser Sand-Plover
44. Red-wattled Lapwing
45. Yellow-legged Gull
46. Heuglin's Gull
47. Pallas's Gull
48. Black-headed Gull
49. Brown-headed Gull
50. Gull-billed Tern
51. Caspian Tern
52. Lesser Crested Tern
53. Greater Crested Tern
54. Common Tern
55. Little Tern
56. White-winged Tern
57. Little Grebe
58. Little Cormorant
59. Indian Cormorant
60. Great Cormorant
61. Western Reef-Egret
62. Great Egret
63. Grey Heron
64. Purple Heron
65. Eurasian Spoonbill
66. Spot-billed Pelican
67. Painted Stork

My dad's camera wasn't working, so here are a few pictures of the birds we saw (not our pictures!)

Painted Stork


Curlew Sandpiper


Common Redshank

(Trip on 26th Jan 2013)

Sholas And Shortwings; A Birding Trip Report by Krishna Girish

SHOLAS AND SHORTWINGS

 It seemed weird the day when my sister came up to my mom and started complaining that she had never seen a zebra, lion, tiger, or giraffe in her life. This was out of the blue; we had just gone to Mysore Zoo a few years ago, and I remember her enthrallment when she saw the giraffes there. Since Bannerghatta, Bangalore's local zoo, didn't have giraffes, we decided to go to Mysore Zoo. Anyway, it was the Dasara vacations, and there was a solid week left. I gave a suggestion that we go to Wayanad in Kerala from Mysore, driving all the way!

The entire family agreed, and so, the itinerary was made. We were to start driving at 9:00 AM and go to Mysore, then go through Bandipur forests into Kerala, to a town called Thalapuzha, and then to a resort called 'FringeFord'. And so, we began, taking stops to stretch at various places. Our hotel in Mysore, 'Ginger', was reached and we stayed there. A tiring day was spent at the zoo, which had various crowd-pullers like giraffes, lions, tigers, and yes, you guessed it, zebras, much to the delight of Medha. We went to sleep in 'Ginger' and then woke up the next morning. We picked up our stuff, packed them in the car, and bid adieu to our room at Ginger. My dad had maps printed, and following that, we were on our way. Bandipur was the biggest excitement at the beginning of the trip but turned out to be the biggest disappointment. We reached there at the peak of the afternoon and so, all the birds had gone into hiding. We drove through. Kerala was at its usual; tall coconut trees and houses with earthen tiles. I observed the names of each town we passed through, and I found some weird names (these are translated from Malayalam);

Kooduthummal:Too much sneezing
Pannamaram: (actually Panamaram) Bad Tree
Talapoya: If your head goes
Meenangadi: Fish Market

In addition to these, we also saw a bus called Daliya, which was a dish my mother makes!
Thalapuzha was a small town; we went to a Bharat Petroleum Bunk on its outskirts and were soon met by Shabbir, the owner of FringeFord, who led us to his house and told us that we couldn't take our car there; we had to leave our car in his house and we would go 10 more kilometres to FringeFord. We readily agreed; little did we know what was in store for us. Shabbir's car was a big one; it accommodated all our luggage and most importantly, us. The seemingly little 10 kilometre road to FringeFord was, undoubtedly, the worst I've ever had in my life. The road was INCREDIBLY BUMPY; and we were tossed about like crazy. The scenery was the only actual compensation for the 'road that never should be traveled'. We caught our first sights of FringeFord only when we had around a kilometre-and-a-half left to go; tiled roofs; and a dense cover of trees covering the mountains around it like a carpet of green, with an occasional flash of red leaves coming into view. FringeFord didn't have much; two rooms for visitors, a kitchen, an open dining hall, an office, a hammock, and a house for the guide to sleep. Even more surprisingly, only four people organized the entire place; a cook, Muthuswamy, who had worked for 45 years as one, Shabbir, the owner, Shaji, the experienced guide, and a helper who put the food on the table and called us to eat. It was relaxing for my sister, who spent most of her time there in the hammock. It was me who encountered the first danger of the few days we were spending there. I was lying barefoot in the hammock when I looked down at my shoe and saw a tiny wriggling thing. "Look!" I called, "There's a worm in my shoe!" The guide, Shaji came and told me that was no worm but a leech!!! He took a salt stick and knocked off the leech to the ground, killing it. The evening was productive and we went birding for the first time. The route we came seemed much better on foot than by car. The birding was good, and we saw species like the elusive Emerald Dove, Vernal Hanging-parrots, Malabar (blue-winged) Parakeets (endemic), Malabar Grey Hornbill, the incredibly hard-to-find Indian Pitta which appeared only for a second, and the noisy Black Bulbul, amongst others. Without going out of Fringeford, evening birding was superb, Shaji and me seeing species like the Large and Malabar (black-headed) Cuckooshrike, Greenish Warbler, Forest, Yellow, Grey and White-browed Wagtails, Yellow-throated Bulbuls, and Jerdon's and Gold-fronted Leafbirds. Brown Shrikes were fairly common. My dad birded with Shaji and me, having no work to attend to as there was no mobile coverage. We noticed a small bluish bird with a rufous belly hopping around in cardamom plants, its call nothing like Shaji had heard in a long time. When we returned to FringeFord, we consulted the all-knowing 'Book of Birds of South India', me having left my Birds of Indian Subcontinent Field Guide back at home, and as Shaji flipped through the pages, he mimicked the call he had heard, just to be sure. Then, he finally opened a page and said, "It's this one." I gasped. A Nilgiri Blue Robin!

The Nilgiri Blue Robin, Myiomela major, initially, along with the White-bellied Blue Robin, was called the White-bellied Shortwing. Both the Blue Robins are endemic to the Shola forests of the Western Ghats and are, according to the IUCN Red Lists, are classified under ENDANGERED.
Quoting Wikipedia,
The Nilgiri Blue Robin (Myiomela major) refers to a kind of bird endemic to the Shola forests of the higher hills of southern India, mainly north of the Palghat Gap. Both the White-bellied Blue Robin and this species were once treated as sub-species of a single species (Brachypteryx major) and in 2005 were elevated again to full species by Pamela C. Rasmussen, a treatment that is followed by a few lists. The genus placement remains uncertain. This small bird is found on the forest floor and undergrowth of dense forest patches sheltered in the valleys of montane grassland, a restricted and threatened habitat. It requires an altitude of above 1200m.

Dark-fronted Babblers were numerous. As I went to sleep at 8:00 PM in pitch darkness, I thought about how many birds I'd have to update to my life list. It would definitely be more than ten, enough to see 200 in India alone. My eyelids dropped, and I was awake at 6:00 AM the next morning. FringeFord had come alive with raucous calls of Black Drongo, Black Bulbuls and White-cheeked Barbets. Paddyfield Warblers chirped in the branches of the lone mango tree in Fringeford.

Shaji told us that we were to go on an 8-km jungle trek to a waterfall. Shaji had showed me the last night pictures of his previous treks to the waterfall. He had seen Blue-capped Rock-thrushes, Mountain Imperial-Pigeons, and many others. I wanted to see all those, and so, agreed to come. My sister also came with my mom and dad. Hill Mynas were seen at the beginning of the trip. As we progressed, the air became slightly thinner but the vegetation did the opposite. Brown Shrikes, Little Spiderhunters, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Asian Brown and the uncommon Rusty-tailed and Brown-breated Flycatchers were just some of the birds seen. A large wild Gaur was also seen for a brief second. Upon nearing the waterfall, a tall tree gave us a huge surprise, a Malabar Trogon sat on a branch, showing us its red stomach. Nilgiri Flycatchers were found in large numbers along with a few Verditer Flycatchers as we got near the waterfall. The waterfall was big, very big. Medha found a black and yellow frog on a rock as we neared the waterfall, and Shaji, holding it in his hand, observed it carefully and finally declared that this was a new species, not known to science. He took plenty of pictures, then let it free near the waterfall. As we proceeded on the journey back, two Black-and-Orange Flycatchers, a Black-throated Munia, and an Eurasian Golden Oriole were part of the crowd of birds seen. The Mountain Imperial-Pigeon decided to stay hidden and one of the birds I wanted to see was not seen on the waterfall trek. As we reached back, a Crested Goshawk patrolled the skies. That evening, when I was lying tired in the hammock, a Mountain Imperial-Pigeon flew across the skies far. I was thrilled, but the evening had one last surprise to come. An investigation of a chirping noise from a bush resulted in the sighting of another endemic of the region; a Broad-tailed Grassbird! Junglefowls called to send the sun down, and I thought I was done; the next morning was the morning of our departure.

A lie in the easy chair the next morning resulted in the close-up of a Malabar Parakeet and another endemic; the Malabar Barbet! A Common Flameback pair also sat on another tree.
The time to go made us all sad. For me, it meant no more endemic birds; for my father, it meant back to building a house; for my mother, it meant no more relaxing, and for my sister who had the gift of prophecy, it was another bumpy ride! Medha was right; the road was as bad as it was three days ago. We went back to Shabbir's house and went into our car. While coming back, we went through Nagarhole, the other route back to Bangalore. Nagarhole was a super place; we saw plenty of Chital deer and three elephants, all wild. There were two female elephants and one male 'tusker'. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and a Black-rumped Flameback were seen in unison in this forest. Large Grey Babblers and Jungle Prinias were also seen. We had a VERY late lunch; at 3:00 PM at Kamat Lokruchi in Ramnagaram. We touched down in Bangalore, tired but happy, and went back home, reminiscing about the few incredible days that had just passed.

(We went to Wayanad on 29 and 30 September 2012)