Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary birding

Just about a distance of 100 odd kms from Bengaluru is the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. To be precise, it's a pretty huge area that falls under the sanctuary limits but the roads around that lead to and some places on the way offer excellent birding opportunities.

Cauvery river forms a natural boundary between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and closer to Bengaluru, just on its rural area periphery is the Cauvery river and the other side is part of Tamil Nadu. So, naturally the forests around the river basin are rich in flora and fauna and this green belt in a way connects to the Western Ghats (some dry patches cut them though) region if you closely look at the maps in a way which is wonderful continuous corridor we have for the wildlife considering the 'development first' scenario we are in!

Muttathi, Sangama, Mekedatu are the touristy spots on the banks of the river where hordes of people visit and unfortunately where many lose their lives too... sad, but true. Picknicker's paradise, drunkards heaven, family outings, couple's getaway are some of the adjectives that can be used to describe these places. Jungle lodges (www.junglelodges.com) has two excellent properties at Galibore and Bheemeshwari in the surrounding areas of these touristy places.

Birding on the way to i) Dodda Alahalli to Sangama ii) Sangama to Galibore JLR property iii) Halaguru to Bheemeshwari JLR property is good and would yield some wonderful sightings if the observation is keen and sharp.

Below, I'm sharing a few images from multiple trips done to this place and many a times I just would prefer to see and enjoy rather than using the camera :)

(Ashy Prinia)

(Green Imperial Pigeon)

(Indian Silverbill raiding a Baya Weaver's nest)

(a passage migrant - European Bee-eater)

(Brown Fish Owl)

(Baya Weaver - male in all its glory)

(A specialty of this region - Grizzled Giant Squirrel)

(a closer look at the grizzled fluffy wonder)

(Elephantscape - can you spot them?)

Just for the numbers sake, we sighted/heard over 110 species in about 2-3 trips to the region and 8 mammal species including Elephants, Jackals, Giant Squirrels etc.

Points to remember:-
> Wander around in these regions in a group and not alone (there have been some mugging incidents unfortunately and camera's are a real attraction for muggers.
> Carry adequate water and some food (Kanakapura is your best bet else Sangama has good hotels availability for those going towards Galibore. No good options towards Bheemeshwari.
> Do not get off your vehicle inside the sanctuary limits or park your vehicle causing disruption towards traffic.
> Do not litter and leave no trace.
> Carpooling is a better option.
> Do not get into the waters at Sangama / Mekedatu as there are strong under currents and many lives have been lost there.
> Stay safe and happy birding :)

Uganiyam, Melagiri - KANS activity

With nothing to do on a weekend in September, I casually called up Deepa (http://deponti.livejournal.com/) who is the head and the organizer in the group for any activity or walks happening, she informed that we could go to Uganiyam for KANS activity and I readily agreed. I was not aware much about the place or the activity we would be doing until we met the other members of the Kenneth Anderson group on that day morning.

(forest track in the Uganiyam range...)

I had volunteered earlier with KANS for the mammal survey in the Hosur forest division a couple of years ago and have been a fan of Kenneth Anderson and monitoring the activities of the group closely. My cupboard hosts the Kenneth Anderson's books that gives you goosebumps while reading, riveting and involving I should say.

(patterns created by the caterpillars/moths)

The activity was about data collection from the preset camera traps at specified locations in the Uganiyam forests in the Melagiri range that’s along the Cauvery river near the temple of Dabaguli that is infamously famous for the annual “Dabaguli jathra” that happens. From the last few years, members of KANS (Kenneth Anderson Nature Society) camp near the Dabaguli temple area during the mela and ensure the forests are not raided and kept clean by collecting the litter, great job being done!

The reserve forest area we went to is about 130 odd km from Bangalore that is in the Tamil Nadu state and across the shore is the forests that belong to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in the Karnataka state. APC’s are located prominently opposite to each other so that patrolling can be done effectively and in co-ordination. The entire Melagiri range is an important elephant corridor and hosts a variety of wildlife (as seen from the camera traps) and also rich in all forms of life. Myself and Deepa went along with the regular KANS members Karthik, George, Prem and Ashish who are doing a tremendous job regularly.

(Luna moth, I had a hard time to figure out the head and the lower part)

The activity involved visiting the traps laid, downloading data from them and relocating them if required and we did this across 4 different locations in the Uganiyam range. Checks of the data collected revealed presence of wild boars, lots of spotted deers, sambar deers, langurs, elephants, leopard and “cattle”. Good amount of promising wildlife but the “cattle” infestation is a problem and yet no signs of the big cat (tiger) so far, but hope remains!

(beautiful colors...)

Deepa, as usual was behind all forms of life and now to see, she has made an amazing collection from the outing and I was also behind those lovely butterflies in their migration period as we could see hordes of them all around. The area was full of birdlife too that started on the way and the richness in the Uganiyam range was fantastic.

(Red-tailed skink)

Sighting of the herd of elephants led by a huge alpha female, otters in the Cauvery river, a juvenile white bellied sea-eagle and the butterfly congregation was the treat for the hard work put in for the day. It was also humbling to see the vast, rich evergreen forests divided by the river Cauvery that flows with grace all along without any human disturbance or talks about border issues; truly the forests and the rivers have no borders or boundaries. Karnataka state on one hand has been more proactive in declaring the area as a wildlife sanctuary while the Tamil Nadu part of the forests is still a reserve area; tremendous efforts are put in by the KANS team to preserve these rich, contiguous forest areas that supports amazing wildlife.

Thanks to George (for that wonderful ride in his jeep), Karthik (I had met him earlier too), Prem, Ashish and Deepa Mohan (for taking me along). Will be back soon!

(Camera trap being opened, picture courtesy Deepa Mohan)

Kenneth Anderson Nature Society can be found here:

KANS - http://kans.org.in/

Yahoo groups - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kennethanderson/

KANS Facebook group - 

Deepa’s write up - http://deponti.livejournal.com/936683.html

Deepa’s FB album of Uganiyam - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151075004538878.448835.587058877&type=3

Another album - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151073011533878.448395.587058877&type=3

(Acacia flower)

KANS needs the service of volunteers, donors for their activities, interested people can contact them directly. Save the forests!

Chunchi falls - Sangama - Mekedaatu

It was almost fifteen days since we had been on our last adventure (@ Maidenahalli), we were again searching for some getaway place nearer and finally we decided on Chunchi falls near Sangama for a short visit. I had good vague memories of Chunchi falls which I had visitied on a office trip somewhere in 2003! (the splendid falls was etched in my memory which made us decide on the venue this time).

10th august 2008: As strict as I am ever, never mind the "aah not again" chores from my regular group of Raja, Guru and myself, we left bangalore by razor sharp 6:30 am on a dull saturday morning towards kanakapura, with the regular fuel filling exercise at talghatpura IOC pump and with a small tea break there. Guru had another reason to be tired because of the severity of the toothache he had added with fever (poor chap! he struggled for almost the entire morning, still put up a brave face), we breezed past kanakapura and stopped at a small village enroute for the much needed breakfast. Still we had quite a slow drive with neither my eyes nor the body willing for the drive but being forced to till we had breakfast. The breakfast was pretty good added with a good cup of hot tea propped us up. Just before 15 to 20 kms before sangama is a huge arch to the left which is the deviation to Chunchi falls and a board is also put up notifying the same. Another 5-6 kms through this road landed us at the edge of a cliff from where a little bit of walking is required to reach the falls. There was a old man there issuing tickets and collecting parking fees and we were the first ones there as it was quite early in the day. We spotted a watchtower to the left in the opposite direction of the falls and we walked up there first to get a view of the valley through the fields making our own path. The view from the watchtower was good with a cool breeze blowing over. Spent a lot of time lazing at the tower and after an hour of idling time decided to trek up to the falls. From there no definite path was visible, we started walking on the banks of the river Arkavathi, on the boulders, b/w the shrubs literally wherever we could place our feet firmly. We were able to hear the sound of water falling from quite a distance and was like solving a puzzle to reach the falls. Well when we reached there, we could see the silver drops of water falling graciously from the top, in two stages or rather because the water flow was very less so much that the inner rocks and the parch green was clearly visible. Overall we were dissappointed having see the same falls in full flow last time and later when we got to the place where we had parked the car, got to know that the water is diverted to a power plant and is released to the falls only on few days. Still putting the dissappointment behind we enjoyed the mini trek and the bumpy walk.

As we were back much earlier than expected, we decided to head towards Sangama and if possible Mekedaatu. Even the water flow at sangama was moderate but the crowds were more as also the plastics and the drinks. Incidentally I have been to sangama around 3-4 times but never ventured out to Mekedaatu. This time however as none of us had been there, we started our walk crossing the river towards Mekedaatu. No difficulty is crossing the river as the water level was only upto knee height and at the other end of the bank there are 2 buses which ferry people to Mekedaatu and back to the river bank for 12 rs per person. We heard its about 4-5 kms away and decided to walk rightaway upto Mekedaatu. Empty stomachs, hot sun and a dry muddy road made it tiresome and we took more than a hour to reach there and the distance was 6kms. Many groups who had started walking behind us in b/w changed their minds and had boarded the bus, but we kept on moving as we had decided to walk irrespective of how far it ever would be! On reaching

there we could spot hoardes of people there almost covering every inch of space available. Here the main attractions are the rock formations and the force of water flow. On one of the boulders we could see hardly any people and rightaway decided that would be our territory, as we tried reaching there realized the difficulty and the reason for no people swarming there :).

Mekedaatu instantly impressed me on my first time visit itself - the gushing water, the amazing cut in the

rocks & boulders, the scenery, the lush green surroundings and heard its abundant in wildlife too. Sitting on the edge of the rocks and peeping down to see the water is itself an experience that cant be described with the water sprinkling onto the face and sometimes scary too (one small slip and you are gone for ever!). We spent as much time as we could watching the rivers flow in such force and carving out various shapes in the rocks which dare to stop their flow and later we chose the easier option and came back by the bus till sangama. Played for very less time in the water (i'm scared of drowning in the water from previous experiences!) and started searching for food as our stomachs started crying. There is only one dhaba kind of a hotel where we had some food (but expensive) to appease our grumbling stomachs. All the while one thought was running through the mind of a few display boards which we had seen. The boards are actually "Warning messages" put up by the friends and families of the victims who were washed away in the waters at Sangama and to warn people of the dangers (Swimming, swirls/whirlpools, crocodiles) but people care a damn and regularly the victim count is increasing (hope the government does something!). Mid evening and the crowd had considerably reduced and the rain gods made their presence felt with heavy lashings and finally we decided to head back to the dry, safe confines of our homes. Heard there is an old guesthouse there at Sangama (plans for utilizing that has already started in my mind)!

Overall a nice, good, not so clean, crowded still space for everybody, adventurous, beautiful place and a worthwile trip very closer to our namma bengaluru.

Route: Around 90 kms from bangalore on Kanakapura road on the way to Sangama / Mekedaatu. About 16kms before 'Sangama' you have to take a left turn to the Yeleguri village to go to the Chunchi waterfall. The waterfall is about 6km away from the deviation.

Tips: Play safe in water as the currents are very strong. Don't litter. Avoid plastics / liquor. Dont leave traces of your visit. Preferred to carry own food and water.

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!