Thattekad birds II

Read the earlier post here

Photo courtesy - Amit Krishna

With a unplanned trip, called Gireesh and he reluctantly agreed as we were only 2 of us, next was the hectic task of booking tickets - all that I could manage was the last 2 seats in the 7pm KSRTC Volvo Multi Axle bus to Muvatupuzha (enroute Kottayam) from Bangalore and the return journey too in the last 2 seats of an similar service. I generally rely mostly on KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) services as they are efficient, time keeping and generally good (the bus being filled to capacity is another testimony for their efficient and reliable services).

It was a smooth transit from Perumbavoor to Kothamangalam to Thattekad in the local privates buses, the only hindrance being the Malayalam language, still could manage with the people speaking broken English :) Gireesh's home stay is right inside the sanctuary gates with a couple of more houses around and is in an excellent location. As we landed, Gireesh was out with a group on the morning trail and we met his wife and later his mom who told us the guide would be available in the next hour or so.

Sanu was our guide for the morning session, and it was almost around 9am when we started off, a little late for early morning birding. The roosting Brown Hawk Owls were our first captives for the day and we saw them almost the entire day perched in the same place dozing peacefully. The lake just beside the main road is another spot for Kingfishers and the common water birds like the Darter, Coots, Moorhens and a few migrants if you are lucky. As we entered the trail inside the sanctuary, there was absolute silence with fewer calls here and there just like 'a lull before the storm' and then the frenzy started everywhere. The canopy is high and thick and the birds perch far away and its no easy sighting them forget capturing them, its a tough task and many a times I had to back out owing to neck pain. Chestnut winged Cuckoo, White bellied Treepie, Drongo Cuckoo, Brown breasted flycatcher and a whole lot of Woodpecker were all lifers for me ( in the sense seeing them for the first time ) and to top it up, the Malabar Trogon made a brief appearance and so did the treepies', drongo's, sunbirds, oriole's and a hell lot more...

In an hour or so, we had sighted so many species and most of them first time for Amit and few of them for me too and we were enjoying every bit of the fun. Back at the homestay after an eventful morning session, we met Manisha Shah and Falguna Shah from the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad who were here for birding too and we would be going out in the same group in the later part of the day for those elusive Frogmouths.

For the evening session, we both along with Manisha and Falguna and a 3 'phoreners' were taken by Gireesh to the nearby Bhoothatankettu and Idamalayar dam region for some more birding activity. Gireesh knows nook and corner of the region and various roosting spots of many birds like the Frogmouth or different Owls and he is so accurate in sighting them and he knows their behavior too.. incredible to say the least! 

As the Frogmouths were missing from their usual spots, we went to a nearby small stream somewhere in the middle of thick jungle terrain and waited for the frenzy that was about to begin. The birds come to the stream to quench their thirst and have a bath and you can sit at a distance and silently observe all the fun that unfolds, you loose track of the time spent when doing this. White bellied Treepie's, Orange thrush, Rusty tailed flycatcher, White bellied blue flycatcher, Indian blue robin and many others paid a quick visit and entertained us, another good session and got to see some new species again. 

Sun goes down too fast and it was quite dark at 6pm and finally Gireesh searched out a lone Srilankan Frogmouth perched on a dead branch about to start for the day. With absolutely no light, we had to use the torch carried by Gireesh to sight and capture the elusive beauty. Frogmouths are so very difficult to identify even if you are standing right next to them as their camouflage is so very brilliant. They choose to roost on dead branches and their body color matches the surroundings and they are very still and that makes it all the more difficult to see them. 

This was the only individual we got to see and we were pretty excited about this sighting. After dinner, Gireesh drove us around for some nocturnal sighting of the Owls and Frogmouths, but all that we saw was the Jerdon's Nightjar right on the middle of the track, another first time sighting for me!

Next day, woke up to Gireesh's call at 6am (we were so damn tired of the long journey from home and all the walking and running for the entire day), we headed out to a nearby hillock passing through some rubber plantations and climbing up to get an wonderful view of the sun rising in all its glory. Elephant dung was all around and leopard scats too and that itself was quite exciting news early in the day. 

Here, another kind of frenzy started with the Malabar Grey Hornbills flying in from all over the place, I presume we saw nothing less than 50 individuals flying all around, it was a mela out there with many trees fruiting and these hornbills basking in the golden sunlight. Oriole's were all around and so were the many kinds of bulbuls, sunbirds, barbets, bluebirds, minivets and many others, it was a feast for the sore eyes.

The Black Baza was missing and so were the raptors except the honey buzzard that posed for us coming in from nowhere. All of a sudden the surroundings were reverberating with the alarm calls of a frantic barking deer very close in the dense thickets in the valley region beyond the hillock we were standing and in all probability it should be an leopard considering the fact that we saw their scats on the cliff we were standing on. The calls were so near and so loud, I'm sure he would have seen us and avoided coming into direct view of us, unluckily though! Back at the homestay, after breakfast we headed out to an secluded place for some quite birding and were not lucky to sight anything great in the afternoon sun.

After lunch and some rest and a small walk through the trails, Gireesh took us on the final ride to some nearby places to possibly sight some Owls and drongo cuckoos' instead we returned sighting the Whiskered tern, pygmy woodpecker, stork billed kingfisher and few more species. Falguna and Manisha dropped us till Kothamangalam and it was an uneventful journey back home from there.

Ideally 3 days is some good time to spend here and that is precisely my plan for my next visit to Thattekad and a re-visit to Gireesh's place. A wonderful birding trip to say the least and will surely not disappoint the birder in you :)

Checklist:-

1. Ashy Drongo

2. Ashy Wood swallow

3. Asian Brown Flycatcher

4. Asian Drongo Cuckoo

5. Asian Fairy bluebird

6. Asian Paradise flycatcher

7. Black Drongo

8. Black headed Cuckoo shrike

9. Black hooded Oriole

10. Black naped Oriole

11. Blue throated flycatcher

12. Brown Hawk Owl

13. Brown capped Pygmy Woodpecker

14. Cattle Egret

15. Chestnut tailed Starling

16. Chestnut winged Cuckoo

17. Common Flame backed Woodpecker

18. Common Iora

19. Common Kingfisher

20. Common Koel

21. Common Myna

22. Crested Treeswift

23. Crimson fronted Barbet

24. Darter / Snake bird

25. Eurasian Golden Oriole

26. Golden fronted Leafbird

27. Great Tit

28. Greater Flame backed Woodpecker

29. Greater Racket tailed Drongo

30. Green Bee eater

31. Grey Wagtail

32. Grey headed Bulbul

33. Heart spotted Woodpecker

34. Hill Myna

35. Indian Pond Heron

36. Jerdon's Nightjar

37. Jungle Babbler

38. Jungle Myna

39. Lesser Yellow naped Woodpecker

40. Little Cormorant

41. Loten's sunbird

42. Malabar Grey Hornbill

43. Malabar Parakeet

44. Malabar Trogon

45. Orange headed Thrush

46. Oriental Honey Buzzard

47. Oriental Magpie Robin

48. Plain flowerpecker

49. Plum-headed Parakeet

50. Pompadour Green Pigeon

51. Purple rumped sunbird

52. Purple Sunbird

53. Red Wattled Lapwing

54. Red vented Bulbul

55. Red whiskered Bulbul

56. Ruby throated BulBul

57. Rufous Treepie

58. Rufous Woodpecker

59. Rusty tailed Flycatcher

60. Scarlet Minivet

61. Spotted necked Dove

62. Sri Lankan Frogmouth

63. Stork billed Kingfisher

64. Whiskered Tern

65. White bellied blue flycatcher

66. White bellied Treepie

67. White cheeked Barbet

68. White throated Kingfisher

69. Yellow browed bulbul

You can see Amit's blog here!

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

Butterfiles from Kodagu (Coorg) I

Butterflies were all around the place we visited (I still do remember seeing lot of them on our last trek to Tadiandamol here, couple of years back). Then it was just a fascination seeing so many of them around and with glorious colors and patterns and I was just into photography then.


Now and after the NTP, I love butterflies for many reasons, they are super active with loads of energy, always busy moving around, leave a mark in a short span of time, colorful and are pleasing on the eyes and you are kept active once you start chasing them because of all the running you have to do :D


Check out a few of them listed below, will add more details about each of them as I find time and more than a couple of posts to be composed are waiting due to lack of time :)


Gray Pansy Butterfly
The Gray Pansy (Junonia atlites) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. The least common pansy in India, found at low elevations in regions of heavy rainfall. It’s frequently seen in paddy fields, seldom in jungles and never in dry areas. Visits flowers of various plants.

Blue Tiger Butterfly
The Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace) is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the Crows and Tigers, that is, the Danaid group of the Brush-footed butterflies’ family. The butterfly larva generally feed on plants of Family Asclepiadaceae (milkweeds, rattle pods, etc..). This species migrates extensively during the Monsoons in southern India.

Gladeye Bushbrown Butterfly
The Gladeye Bushbrown (Mycalesis patnia) is a satyrid butterfly found in southern India and Sri Lanka. A common butterfly in the tropical and subtropical evergreen forests and the bamboo forests. Files close to the gourd and the weakest flier of the genus. Visits fallen berries, fruits and sugary sap.

Common Hedge Blue Butterfly
The Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa) is a small butterfly that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family. The Common Hedge Blue is usually found flying along brightly sunlit footpaths along forest tracks. It flies in an erratic manner and males are usually observed feeding on damp patches on the forest floor. Males are a shining blue above and this can be noticed when the butterfly is in flight.

Rottikallu homestay - A place to be in!

September 5-7 2009 Rottikallu homestay It all started when one of the mails from my sister in the month of April had a .ppt attachment on a group’s experience @ Rottikallu. That’s it! I was dumbfounded by the scenic beauty and instantly I knew we had to be there. Soon called up my mates and everyone were convinced of my opinion. As it was 
summer and the Bandipur trip coming up, Rottikallu was postponed till 
September (when we thought rains would have considerably reduced… but…)!

Come September, bookings were made after much cajoling for a night there and another night at a closer by homestay. Harsha is the contact person from Bangalore while Vijay takes care of the proceedings at Rottikallu. Rottikallu is located just about 7kms from Sakleshpur town amidst the beautiful, charismatic dense Western Ghats whose beauty is endless. More information can be sought here @ http://www.rottikallu.com./

With 3 days on hand, we started off on Saturday morning with the intention to check in @ Rottikallu by 11am. Due to an unplanned, delayed stop @ Hassan, we reached the homestay by 12:30pm. Rains had accompanied us all through the journey with no signs of let off. The journey through the Western Ghats is itself magical be it during rains or after, you can’t help but get the feeling of being in heaven. The cottages were comfortable and spacious for 4 of us. After a nice heavy lunch we got engaged in some sports and water activities playing football in the volleyball court, rugby in complete slush, swing across the river all this and more in the rains. What a blast we had! Dripping wet and running around like kids falling, tackling and playing in the slush. (if our parents were there, we would have been 
definitely reprimanded for getting dirty being grownups ;)).

Quite tough was the Rope walking and the Tarjon swings. The swings are such that from the bank you place yourself on the log, hold the rope and swoosh! You swing to and fro above the stream. If you lose momentum you are stuck above the stream hanging on to a rope! A couple of falls here and there and being completely wet in the rains made me go back to dry up while the boys continued their jumps and swings in the stream. Leeches were all around but 
now they don’t excite or fear us as earlier (We are used to donating blood more often nowadays to them)! Drying up, covering up the camera I saw the boys moving with the tubes for tube rafting. I rushed to the wooden bridge 
across the stream to catch them in action.

A big stream passes right through the homestay that is a natural advantage for them and they utilize the same for water sports and tube rafting is one such activity. You are placed in a tube and let go from point A in the stream, you move forward with the current of water wading through the chilly water and rocks, avoiding the branches and rough banks till you reach B from where you are rescued! If no rescuer is available then its tata bye bye! After all enjoyment till dusk (the rains were still reluctant to leave), it was time for some fun around the in house campfire and few gulps... and after a heavy dinner, stars were visible everywhere we saw :)

Day 2: After a quick breakfast, we were ready for the trek to the nearer "Saalu Gudda" and the "Haalu Kola" peaks and the waterfall. We carried along raincoats, hats and umbrella as we were sure it would rain! Four of us, Vijay and a group of six others went on the trek that was about 8kms both ways covered. No signs of sun, overcast weather and mist all around, the weather was just wonderful to start off... As we climbed higher and higher, we could see only peaks all coloured green covered with a blanked of white clouds all around till your eyesight can stretch. After more than a hour of moderate trekking (this route was chosen because of the rains else we intended to do the 18kms Rottikallu peak trek!) we reached the peak and as the rains were holding still, the weather was picture perfect and all of our eyes gorged on the beautiful views of the valley that was very pleasing to our eyes. Soon, just as we thought, the rain gods could not hold further and for the next 10 minutes it rained cats and dogs till we were drenched to the last piece of cloth... OMG! still we were enjoying every bit of it, the weather, the scenery, cold, chillness, wet bodies... the magic of western ghats is itself such, you need to be there to "feel" it. All of us huddled at one place till the rains stopped, after a lashing downpour, the rains subsided allowing us to descent. The return back was through an alternate route after visiting an waterfall amidst the dense ghats. The water was cold.. damn cold and not all of us dipped in! Ice cold shower in the rains! We were just not willing to, while others took a dip. Rains stayed on almost till the end and finally we reached the homestay after a wonderful memorable trek!

After lunch we chose the option of staying for the night at a nearby homestay as we wanted desperately to do some birding! From there we reached our next destination Mr. Latish's house near Hanubala, a tiny hamlet on the way to Sakleshpura. We went around for a quick walk through the huge estate of the hosts. Guru had to leave and so helped him board a bus back home. Rains were still relenting to leave, the next morning we woke up to sights of heavy drizzle; still not wanting to stay indoors we wend around for a long walk amidst the fields and the estate area. Birding activity was still very measely. Back at the home and as we still had time for lunch, as the sun was slightly visible now, the field was very inviting and we could not resist but go out again, this time just in the vicinity of the home itself. Finally got to do some birding at last...

Hear Spotted Woodpecker, Black Lored Yellow Tit, Green Pigeons, Golden Flamebacked Woodpecker, Racket Tailed Drongo, Blue Winged Parakeet, Minivets, Treepie, White Cheeked Barbet, Striped Squirrel, White Munia, Water Snake, Spotted Dove, Babblers and lots of butterflies.

--> Paddy Pied Skimmer (a.k.a Black Velvet wing) <--

After lunch, we checked out straight to Bangalore (the rains had stopped now!!!). Wow! Wonderful adventure this was @ Rottikallu... Wish to be here again soon... Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!