PERIYAR DIARY

After a long gap of nearly one and half of years I went to my home, periyar Tiger reserve. after going there i found that people who truly love us will never leave us and forget us. it was an amazing feeling to be welcomed by people who know me there.I was there for the “ PERIYAR INHERITANCE” book launch but I had sometime to go into the field for few hours. I reached periyar expecting rains but it was completely dry. First few days I just wandered in the rainforest without camera. A cloudy day, little bit of drizzle, great hornbills flying above like a jet, barbets calling, suddenly a surprised barking deer flees away after seeing me. It was completely silent but in periyar each centimeter of land with be teaming with some activity if u observe keenly. From termites to tigers periyar supports very rich wildlife. Haven for butterflies, birds and plants. I just felt completely relieved from weeks long work. The book launch went very well. Dr. anish Andheria gave an awe inspiring talk on periyar and western ghats. It was attended by people from varying interest and the nature club members along with us.

Srilankan frogmouth ( Batrachostumus moniliger )

Next day I trekked with my camera. The morning was dull and hazy. Bird activity was normal. Racket tailed drongos flying in front of us and lands in a trees chasing small minivets and common rose finches. A white bellied treepie was busy feeding on a coral tree. A little above a brown pygmy woodpecker was keenly concentrating on pecking and chiseling the bark looking for insects and tiger signs were quite promising. Anish explained me about analyzing scats and signs left by a tiger. It was amazing to know about everything. A few hour walk with him threw light into garbology and analyzing nature’s sign language.

Wynaad laughingthrush ( Garrulax delesserti )



Ramnath chandrasekhar :)

After a few kilometers walk, rajan sighted a pair of srilankan frogmouth. This is my first sighting of this elusive spirit of the rainforest. I tried to photograph this pair which was close to 12 feet but shutter speeds dropped to 1/3s and lower. But to my luck, sun just opened up for few seconds and it lit just the female bird through the canopy. Made some quick shots and continued trekking. On our way back we had a very good opportunity of a close encounter with the Wynaad laughingthrush, a rare endemic bird of western ghats. I managed to get some pics in the low light but it became just a record shots. Periyar never forgets to reveals it beauty to me I guess. Everytime I go there I find something special. I decided to spend 20 days in may just in periyar to explore the core areas completely on foot. My last two days in periyar I was completely sick with temperatures soaring at 105 degress and a severe septic ulcer but everything just vanishes when I was trekking in periyar. Next few days I took complete rest in my native before getting back to work in Chennai. Waiting to get back to periyar again.

BIRDS SPOTTED:

1)white bellied blue flycatcher
2)white bellied treepie
3)Srilankan frogmouth
4)Hill myna
5)Malabar grey hornbill
6) great Indian hornbill
7)Jungle babbler
8)Wynaad laughingthrush
9)White cheeked barbet
10)small minivet
11)common rosefinch
12)Brown pygmy woodpecker
13)scarlet minivet
15)Racket tailed drongo
16)Bronzed drongo
17)Malabar whistling thrush
18)Yellow browed bulbul
19)Crimson fronted barbet
20)Grey junglefowl
21)Stork billed kingfisher
22)pied kingfisher

cheers,

ram

current mood: energetic