Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Kerala I

Well, Thattekad was off and on my list for almost 2 years now, the distance and having no company had put this off quite often. Winter is probably the best time to be there and specifically the months of December to February when the weather is pleasant the bird life is active with lot of migrants visiting here.


Planned it on a weekend in January only me and Amit made this sudden rush to the place just to have a feel of the place and its quite sure I will be again visiting for a longer period here sooner than later.


Thattekad is famous for its bird sanctuary named after the 'master' or the 'legendary ornithologist' Dr Salim Ali and is also called as the Thattekad bird sanctuary in the Kothamangalam taluk under Ernakulam district on the north bank of river Periyar. Dr Salim Ali has described this place as "the richest bird habitat on peninsular India" and true to his words, this small sanctuary of 25sq km hosts more than 250 species of birds (resident and migrants)!

How to reach ->
Air - Take a flight to Kochi International Airport, from there 2 hours drive to Thattekad bird sanctuary.
Rail - Aluva is the nearest station about 48kms away. Local buses available from here.
Bus (this is how we traveled) - Bangalore to Muvatupuzha by KSRTC Volvo bus that goes to Kottayam(we alighted at Perumbavoor just before Muvatupuzha).
Perumbavoor - Kothamangalam by local bus that is about 15kms away.
Kothamangalam - Thattekad by local bus about 13kms away.
From Perumbavoor, it took us about 90 minutes to reach Thattekad.
Local bus transport operates efficient services to Thattekad from Ernakulam, Perumbavoor, Kothamangalam and Aluwa.
Road (from Bangalore) - about 550kms - Bangalore-Salem-Coimbatore-Kanjikode (Salem-Ernakulam highway)-Thalikode-Amballoor-Chalakudy-Perumbavoor-Kothamangalam-Thattekad.


Stay - We stayed at Jungle bird homestay run by Gireesh, he and his mom Sudha are excellent guides.
Gireesh - 09847034520, Sudha - 09947506188
junglebirdhomestay@yahoo.com
Facilities were sufficient and served basic Kerala food, so don't expect any fashion foods out here.


K V Eldhose - said as one of the best guides from this region, but with his increasing popularity, lot of people who go with him have been inconvenienced.
http://www.earthfoot.org/guides/eldhose.htm

The Hornbill camp - http://www.thehornbillcamp.com/


A 3 storied watch tower inside the sanctuary has 2 beds, a kitchen and a toilet, contact The Assistant Wildlife Warden, Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Njayapilli P.O. , Kothamangalam, Kerala Phone 0485 588302 (not sure of the number though)

Lodges available at Kothamangalam and the PWD rest house near Bhoothanthakettu dam.

Birds Lagoon -  http://www.birdslagoon.in/PHP/Tariff&Booking.php

Food - No food available here, you need to make out of what ever is available at the sole shop at the sanctuary entrance. Its better and recommended to stay in a homestay who would take care of the food and lodging.

Best time to visit - Avoid monsoons because of zillion leeches and because some part of the sanctuary would be flooded with water. Light is also an issue as the canopy is thick. October to March would be good, specifically January to February end.

Timings - The sanctuary is open b/w 6am to 6pm, lot of other interesting spots to visit other than the sanctuary for bird watching.

Entry fee - Nominal entry fee charged at the sanctuary and camera's too. Guide fees separate (around 500 for one session that lasts for 3-4 hours). Sanu is a good guide here.

Photo courtesy - Amit Krishna

Look out for the Part II with loads of photos soon... :)

Butterflies Part II

Some more butterflies in part II of the series...

Common dart butterfly

The Common Dart (Potanthus pseudomaesa) is commonly known as the Indian Dart or Pseudomaesa Dart, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It’s abundant in the hills and jungles and in fairly wet regions. A fast and powerful flier, it settles frequently on flowers and leaves.

Three spot grass yellow butterfly

Three-spot grass yellow (Eurema blanda) is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, i.e., the Yellows and Whites found in India. A butterfly of lowland forests and resembles the common grass yellow.

Chocolate pansy butterfly

The Chocolate pansy (Junonia iphita) is also known as the Chocolate soldier is a butterfly found in Asia. Individuals maintain a territory and are usually found close to the ground level and often bask in the sun.

Fulvous pied flat butterfly

Fulvous pied flat (Pseudocoladenia dan) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. An inhabitant of moist, cool and dense jungles, it visits flowers, bird droppings frequently and water rarely. It’s fond of basking in the sun on the upper surface of leaves close to the ground. With extremely rapid flight, it makes long lasting aerial sorties occasionally in shady clearings.

Part I here...

Honey Valley Estate, Kodagu

Got to know about this retreat from the always helpful Aravind, Sankara and Amit. Called up Suresh of Honey Valley Estate, Coorg and after a long discussion booked the 2 thatched huts for the weekend for 3 of us as Raja was not in and me, Guru and Nag were supposed to go.

Honey valley estate is located near Kabbinakad junction in the heart of Kodagu(Coorg) district, about 250kms from Bangalore. Finally Guru also dropped out and out went the idea of biking to this place, finally we traveled by the ever dependable KSRTC services. Karnataka Sarige express buses ply directly from Bangalore to Kabbinakad junction and Virajpet is the nearest point if you prefer to travel the Airavata way and from there lot of private buses travel on these routes.

(Shot by Nag who says has no interest in shooting but lifts my camera stealthily and fires a couple of shots...)
Generally thatched huts are not let out to the general visitors as they are very basic, rustic and would not suit people looking for comfort, but we managed to convince Suresh that we would be fine and we enjoyed staying in the hut. You don't need an AC when the chill wind blows from all 4 sides right :)

As we traveled by bus, either we had to hire a jeep or walk up the distance till the homestay from Kabbinakad junction and no guesses for what we opted for! Landed prior to 6am at Kabbinakad junction and the weather still being gloom, cloudy and dark. Rested at the post office till traces of light appeared and then started the uphill early morning walk towards our destination.

Concrete roads are laid till the parking lot from where only 4*4 vehicles traverse for the rest couple of kms. As we ascended slowly taking our time, we were treated to some wonderful valley views and vistas with the sun trying to break cover from the clouds and in constant companion of the chirping birds.

As you proceed ahead, we first get to see the Chingaara property, a little more luxurious than the Honey valley estate property that is managed by Suresh Chengappa's son. Past this and uphill further, we finally reached the homestay, a little tired but worth the effort nevertheless. Stunning vistas awaited us and we loved the locale no end, absolutely wild, in midst of thick estates and hills surrounding you closer to the Tadiandamol peak (Kakkabbe, the place where we started for Tadiandamol was hardly couple of kms away from Kabbinakad junction).

We had plans to wander out to visit a couple of waterfalls nearby as we are so well known, our laziness played a domineering role and so it ended that for the time we were there, we went nowhere except for a small hike behind the property :)

Well, there are lot of trails in and around the property and they have documented it and made a small handbook of it, great! But, as it should be, whatever books you carry, you should follow your instincts to not get lost and if lost too, use back your instincts to get back and that's what most of the casual travelers won't do. The trails are smaller and bigger taking hours to a complete day and it sure is a wonderful experience in itself.

Food served at Honey valley is more of a general cuisine rather than a Coorgi delight, We discussed about this with Suresh and he had a valid point in saying people prefer it this way and the lot of foreigners to who visit this place. The home made jam and honey were a real treat as were the locally prepared chocolates.

Leeches were omnipresent everywhere and probably for the first time not one bit me and all thanks to the Ruggers socks that I wore. Just recovering from an bad foot infection, I didn't want to take any chances and so was well stocked and it worked. Poor Nag bore all the brunt of few bites he got all over and some in places you can't believe :)

Birding was sparse and limited with the cloudy weather not helping, but still a few walks and patient waiting yielded a few results, I would need to visit here only for bird watching sometime soon. The sunbirds were all over the place, so as the wagtail, wagging nonchalantly. The Parakeets were a real treat hovering all around with their tweet tweets and so did I got a glimpse of Asian Fairy bluebird couple in the open, but at a distance.

We thought we had just come in and it was already time to move, we left the place with an absolute no liking to go back... it happens to us always :) We took more than a couple of hours to reach the main road buttering all the way slowly downhill. What I meant is watching those lovely little butterflies and trying to capture them whenever I could. If you are behind butterflies, an hours journey will easily take more than a couple and we had planned ample time for that. Nag was patient enough accompanying me and that's the bonding in our group (however wrong our thoughts may be, they never let me down in the field, blessed to have such pals!).

We took the local bus to Virajpet and after the dinner at the local eatery (till now I have not been able to figure out a good veggie eating place in Virajpet :() boarded the Airavata Volvo towards Bangalore. Rode back home from the SMTC bus stand (KSRTC Mysore road bus terminal) on Nag's bike that we had parked there and thus ended our eventful Kodagu visit.

Butterflies are added to my new list of interests and they never cease to amaze me. Being the size of my thumb and how gorgeous they are created, those intricate patterns, looks like a designer crafted their wings. There are separate posts showcasing these butterflies and that portfolio is rapidly expanding. Few of them that I have succeeded in identifying are:-
Blue Tiger
Grey Pansy
Common Hedge Blue
Gladeye Bush Brown
Common Dart
Three Spot Grass Yellow
Chocolate Pansy
Fulvous Pied Flat
Blue Mormon
...and wish I had the patience to see more!


Bird check list:-
Cattle Egret
House Crow
Jungle Crow
Greated Coucal
Jungle Mynah
Hill Mynah
White Cheeked Barbet
Coppersmith Barbet
Purple Rumped Sunbird
Crimson Backed Sunbird
Grey Wagtail
Black Drongo
Ashy Drongo
Racquet Tailed Drongo
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Plum Headed Parakeet
Malabar Parakeet
Vernal Hanging Parrot
Malabar Grey Hornbill
Orange Minivet
Laughing Dove
Spotted Dove
Oriental White Eye
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Red Vented Bulbul
Yellow Browed Bulbul
Eurasian Blackbird
Asian Fairy Bluebird

Info:-
Honey Valley Estate - http://honeyvalleyindia.in/AboutUs.html
Chingaara - http://www.chingaara.com/aboutus.html
Contact - Suresh Chengappa
Phone - 08272 238339 / 200325

Waterfalls In Karnataka III

Part 3 from the series...


V. Apsarakonda falls (Uttara Kannada district)

Apsarakonda falls is located in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka and about roughly 6kms from Honnavara town and about 28kms from the temple town of Murudeshwar on the Konkan coast. The water falling from a height of 10 meters has formed a small waterfall. A high hill, a fine view of the sea and the sunset from the hill and a huge natural cave are the attractions of the place. It’s a visual treat of the sun going down the Arabian sea on a clear day from the viewpoint on the hillock.

Reach: Roughly 6kms from Honnavara town, 28kms from Murudeshwar and 435kms from Bangalore. Murudeshwar, Gokarna, Idagunji are other tourist locales nearby.

Bangalore-Tumkur-Shimoga-Sagar-Jog-Honnavar-Apsarakonda

June to October is a good time when the water levels are high but be prepared for unrelenting and continuous rains.




VI. Unchalli falls ( Uttara Kannada district)

Unchalli falls (Lushington falls) is created by a 116 metres drop in the Aghanashini river located in the Siddapur taluk, Uttara Kannada distict in Karnataka. Its named after JD Lushington, a distict collector of the British empire after he discovered this in 1845. The nearest village is called Heggarne, 5kms away and the last 2kms to be covered on foot. The river here takes a deep plunge to create this spectacular, picturesque falls. This falls is also known as Keppa Joga because of the deafening sound it makes. There are view points constructed to view but the dense surrounding make it difficult to get a complete view of the falls. Rainbows and mist are a common occurrence because of the height from which the river takes a leap and lands with a deafening roar sending up water droplets that eventually shower back again.

Reach: 25kms from Sirsi, 35kms from Siddapur and 425 kms from Bangalore.

Bangalore-Tumkur-Sirsi-Heggarne-Unchalli falls

Best time would be end of monsoons and winter.




should continue further right... :)

Waterfalls in Karnataka II

Part 2 of the series...


III. Magajalli falls (Hassan district)

Magajalli falls is a roadside waterfall nestled in the Western ghats near the town of Sakleshpur in Karnataka. It’s calm, serene, undisturbed and easy to miss unless you have a local person with you and a visit is often added to the package to the numerous homestays present here.

Reach: 250kms from Bangalore, 130kms from Mangalore, 150kms from Mysore

Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Hanbal-Magajhalli

Monsoon and Winter seasons are a good time to visit.


IV. Shivanasamudra falls (Mandya district)

Shivanasamudra falls is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri and is the location of the first Hydro-electric Power station in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902 and is a segmented waterfall. Segmented waterfalls occur where the water flow is broken into two or more channels before dropping over a cliff, resulting in multiple side by side waterfalls (Gaganachukki and Bharachukki). It has an average width of 849 m and a height of 90 m.

Reach: 70kms from Mysore and 139kms from Bangalore. Somnathpura, Talakkad, and Srirangapattinam are other tourist locales nearby.

Bangalore-Maddur-Malavalli-Sattegala-Bluff

Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Sattegala-Bluff

June to October is an excellent time but the weather is moderate throughout the year.


will be continued... :)

Point & Shoot and DSLR cameras

When I got my DSLR camera, I often encountered these questions & comments...

! What is the difference b/w the DSLR and the Point & Shoot (P&S) camera you had?
! What was the need to spend so much now?
! How much is the zoom and megapixel on your DSLR? Its so heavy?

Ironically these and many other such questions and comments are commonly heard that initially I found it difficult to answer and later I learnt to ignore them completely.


Here I intend to highlight few differences b/w the P&S and the DSLR cameras.

• P&S have got fixed lenses, small bodies. DSLR's use a range of interchangeable lenses for different needs.
• Speed - P&S cameras are awfully slower and varying in focussing and saving images to the memory card takes a lot of time. DSLR's are super quick and their focussing is fast and accurate.
• Generally images on P&S cameras are shot in JPEG format which is the final output whereas DSLR images can be shot on RAW format that can be edited and processed which in turn gives a better control on the final image.
• DSLR's perform better in low light conditions using ISO speeds and avoiding flash.
• DSLR's use a mirror that allows you to see exactly the replica of the image you are about to shoot through the view finder. P&S nowadays are equipped with LCD screens that are better than the viewfinders.
• P&S use smaller image sensors while DSLR's have much larger sized sensors that result in better image quality overall.
• Restricted and complicated manual modes on P&S. DSLR are designed to be used in Manual mode that give the user control on all the aspects of photography.
• DSLR's are versatile in many areas, especially depth of field (DOF); a DSLR can give you depth of field that puts everything from forground to background in focus through to nice blurry backgrounds.
• A P&S camera can captures 1 frames/sec while a DSLR captures 3 frames/sec to 12 frames/sec that makes a lot of difference.
• P&S cameras come cheap and light whereas the DSLR's are heavy and expensive.

Now the prosumer cameras that are intermediate b/w the P&S and DSLR's are a rage in the market that have more features and technicall superior to the P&S and which are a good option for those who intend to upgrade to an DSLR!