Western Ghats: the hillstation of Valparai

The past three days I spent birding the Valaparai area of the Western Ghats with Relton. Valparai has by far some of the best birding that I've experience in the ghats. The elevation is higher than in Topslip (3000m versus 2000m) which provides more moisture and cooler temperatures that in turn support more of the evergreen community. There are a whole host of birds that call this evergreen habitat home, among them some extremely local endemic species. It was these birds that we were primarily targeting during our time in Valparai, and we were fortunate enough to observe the very uncommon White-bellied Shortwing at close range. This is one of the rarest birds that I've seen in my life as their limited habitat is being fragmented and cleared for plantations of tea and coffee. They are listed as globally vulnerable by Birdlife International with an estimated global population between 10,000 and 20,000 birds. This was only the second occasion that Relton had ever seen one while not mistnetting, so I count myself as extremely fortunate to have seen one!

During our time there, endemics such as the Black-and-orange Flycatcher, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, White-bellied Shortwing, and some difficult species like Scaly Thrush, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, and Orange-headed Thrush were all seen well and were all new for me. I also saw many other flycatchers and specialties that I had seen last year, but that are globally quite uncommon; Nilgiri Flycatcher, Indian Swiftlet, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Whistling Thrush (photo below), and a good raptor in the form of a Common Buzzard (ubiquitous though it may be in the UK and throughout much of northern Eurasia, it’s a rare winter visitor this far south). I also got a nice photo shot with a pair of Greater Flamebacks (left)...unbelievably cooperative!
We spent our two nights in Valparai driving roads through the more rural parts of the area in between coffee and tea plantations and isolated patches of the remnant native evergreen forest looking for owls. It was literally in the 11th hour on our second night that we finally saw our first nocturnal bird, an Oriental Scops Owl, perched on top of a small cement post by a grassy ditch. We saw a nice variety of mammals including Sambar Deer, Barking Deer, Porcupine, Giant Flying Squirrel, Black-naped Hare, and Bandicoot Rat (enormous!).
On our way back down the famous 40 hairpin turn into the lowlands we stopped when we heard birds and located several nice mixed flocks. Most of the species were the same ones we had recorded at higher elevation, but this was the only time we recorded Black-lored Tit, a brightly colored and crested relative to the chickadees and titmouse of North America. We also had the good fortune of simultaneously arriving at the same large snag as a Crested Serpent Eagle, a widespread bird in the hills and mountains of India, but this bird would have definitely flushed if it had already been present and we had then pulled up and stopped. It was extremely cooperative despite the passing buses and trucks that were politely letting us know that they were present by the incessant use of their horns (opening photo).

A glimpse into the life of a Tamil 3rd year Zoology student…

Today I woke up at 3:30AM and gathered two days worth of clothes and my equipment and headed out the door of the Relton’s to meet the zoology students and the 25 passenger bus that was going to be taking us all up to the Western Ghats. We had gathered in the bus by 4AM and departed on time and the students were all very excited about going. I could understand this; trips like this aren’t the norm at Indian colleges so this was a treat for all the students involved. After about 15 minutes of unabated excitement and talking, I began to wonder when they would all quiet down and try to get back to sleep, like I had been attempting to do… Luckily, I had thought ahead and had fully recharged my iPod the night before, and I escaped into the familiarity of some of my favorite playlists. I was almost asleep when I was jarred awake by the sudden blaring of the radio. The boys had apparently convinced the driver that this was the ideal time to listen to the latest Tamil pop songs and to even sing along on some of the apparently more popular songs… Now I’m very open-minded about music, and honestly like almost every type of genre to some degree or other with the notable exception of heavy metal (my brother has even gotten me to like a couple of Hindi songs). This music I absolutely have no love for, and my best attempt at a description would have to be a three-way cross between bad rap (ie no skill whatsoever), low-grade pop music, and the third element being what I can only relate to the Islamic call to prayer (that type of wailing sound). It was about as sleep-inducing as…actually I can’t think of a single thing that approaches the antithesis of rest as this was… Anyway, luckily my brother had given me new ear-buds for my iPod for Christmas and they actually fit into the ear better and act almost like earplugs. This, coupled with me turning up the volume on my iPod to the point that it was actually hurting me ears enabled me to tune out some (not all…) of the racket that was the bus for the next 6 hours it took us to reach Topslip.

The birding was decent, but the constraints on birding there are high. You are not allowed to walk any of the trails without a local forest-service guide accompanying you. There actually is a fairly high danger of being mauled by a Gaur (Water Buffalo), a smaller chance of being bitten by a venomous snake, and a miniscule chance that a Tiger may attack you. So yeah, good reasons for having a guide accompany you, but rather annoying when I can’t get into the habitat that is home to so many endemic birds. I did manage to see quite a few birds during the trip, including 11 new species for me (lifers). Not bad, considering I was with a group of very loud Tamil Zoology students who were on (believe it or not) their first ever trip into the jungle to look for wildlife… The best birds of the trip were definitely the nocturnal species that I saw while we were out at night with spotlights driving around looking for mammals. A Spot-bellied Eagle Owl was by far the highlight. This species is rare and not nearly as active at dawn and dusk as many of the other owl species. Relton said that he has seen a grand total of two in his 20+ years of birding, so I definitely feel extremely fortunate to have seen this species. Other nocturnal species I added included the Brown Fish Owl, Jungle Owlet, and Indian Nightjar. The other species I want to mention was the Brown-backed Needletail, an enormous swift that is literally the size of a nighthawk that I saw twice as it swooped in low over the canopy. I’ve seen the White-rumped Needletail before which is about the same size as most of the swallows and swifts, but this species was so huge that I was very impressed by it. I wasn’t able to get many photos of birds up in the Ghats due to the light conditions or the speed in which the birds were gone… Relton had loaned me his brand new Sony Cyber-Shot camera that is quite nice (and has a very respectable 12x optical zoom) for the weekend and I was excited to try it out on some of the birds up in the Ghats. I managed to get photos of a few interesting species as well as a nice shot of a male Indian Peafowl that was perched on a post near the Kerala border (photo above). The only endemic bird I managed a shot of was a Malabar Parakeet that was feeding a young bird in the top of some Bamboo (photo on right). Very striking birds, the black beak on the young birds is diagnostic for separating it from the similar Plum-headed and Rose-ringed Parakeets. We also saw a Grey-headed Fish Eagle at a reservoir up at elevation in Kerala (photo on left). This species is extremely local in the Western Ghats and there are probably just a few pairs that are present in the entire mountain range (they are more common in NE India and they range into SE Asia as well).

I also enjoyed bumping into a few Australians and a group of five Polish birders who had just arrived in the Ghats. It was fun for me to talk birds with some hardcore people and give them a few suggestions for their next few days.

By the way, India beat Australia in Cricket at Canberra for the first time in twenty-some years on Sunday! I was watching the game with Relton, Daisy, and Alan (their son) and their excitement rubbed off on me a little! Australia is the reigning world champion in cricket, so an enormous upset…

All for now, I’ll leave you with a view of the reservoir (that the previously mentioned fish eagle was at) in Kerala at dawn on Tuesday…oh yeah it was nice and cool up in the mountains too!

Two rarities; a weather event and my first crake!

So this morning started normally but it wasn’t long after I’d arrived out at Karaivetti that I noticed that the clouds in the distance looked rather ominous. Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later the wind picked up and I experience my first rain here in India. I was under the impression that we were entering the dry season here…but rarely a squall will spring up and provide a brief respite from the ever climbing temps here. Luckily I was still by the covered observation tower (where I start my count) when the rain began. I shared the shelter of the observation tower with a couple of local fisherman who were also looking to stay dry. During my slightly longer than normal wait in the tower I was pleased to see a Cinnamon Bittern pop up out of the reeds and fly a short distance to a rice paddy before disappearing from sight again (here is a view of that reedbed from the tower during the rain). There are three species of bittern here; Yellow, Cinnamon, and Black and the view I had is about the only way you ever see them. With enough time spent here I should see Black Bittern eventually (the only one I have yet to see here). After a second rain shower had passed I thought it was safe to continue along the dike to my next stop…wrong! About halfway between the two points another squall sprung up and I got pelted with rain until I reached the relative shelter of a few acacia trees at my next stop. I waited out the rain here and noticed that much of the dry habitat that I had been finding things like Ashy-crowned Sparrow Larks in had transformed into mud. Several of the typical shorebirds were present like Wood Sandpiper and Red-wattled Lapwing. As I was watching a small group of “peeps” (birders nickname for a group of small, similar-looking shorebirds) fly in and briefly land before spooking as a Pallid Harrier flew overhead. I didn’t have a chance to get my scope on them, but they showed all the characteristics of Little Stints and this is by far the most common (and expected) peep found at this inland location. A little further along the dike I saw several species of bushlarks in a loose flock. In this group were many of the ubiquitous Singing Bushlark, 2 Indian Bushlarks, as well as a single Rufous-winged Bushlark! The Rufous-winged Bushlark is a new species for Karaivetti although it is one that Relton told me to keep an eye out for as it should be in the area. Continuing along I paused at my last stop by this lake and noticed that the receding water had left much of the area as very nice looking mudflats. There were already shorebirds utilizing this habitat and among them was a lone Kentish Plover. Just yesterday I was mentioning that both Little Stint and Kentish Plover should be found shortly as the habitat becomes more suitable for them. I didn’t realize how soon I would fulfill that prediction! Several Black-headed Ibis also foraged in the mud and shallows (photo on left). As I was photographing the ibis I heard a White-breasted Waterhen (a type of large rail here) calling from the opposite side of a small channel that enters the lake. This is a fairly common bird here, but it is really shy and I’ve yet to get close enough to one to get a decent photo… I moved myself down the dike and trained my scope on the spot I thought the bird would appear from the vegetation and prefocused my scope and camera on the spot. As I’m looking through the camera I see a small rail land on the bank right where I was expecting the waterhen to appear! This is even better because there is only one small rail that has been recorded here (Ruddy-breasted Crake) and it is rare here! As I’m taking photos of this bird I know that it isn’t a Ruddy-breasted Crake because it is far too light colored. The bird is quite small (Sora sized) and has an all yellow-green beak much like a Sora. I know that my best bet for identifying this bird is going to be through the photos that I’m taking. Sure enough, three photos is all I managed before the White-breasted Waterhen that I knew was close popped out and chased the smaller rail away. The Waterhen of course promptly disappeared before I could get a shot of it, but I was more preoccupied with identifying the small rail now. As soon as I got the guide open I knew it was one of two, either Baillon’s Crake or Little Crake. I initially misidentified it as a Little Crake but once I got the photos up on my laptop and was able to look up how to separate the two species in the reference volume of Birds of India that Relton loaned to me, I was able to see that the all green beak made it a Baillon’s Crake. According to the range maps (which are far from accurate on many species - so to be taken with a grain of salt) there are no records of this species from the province of Tamil Nadu. It is only regularly found in the far northwestern part of India although its distribution across the rest of India isn’t well known. The probable reasons for why its wintering range is not well known are twofold; the lack of coverage by birdwatchers (they are few and far between in this country) and even in areas that receive some coverage, it’s inconspicuous and secretive by nature making detection even by birders low. Here is the range map that I took a digital of…x’s represent rare records.
So, in summary, it is definitely a very noteworthy record, but if indeed it is the first provincial record for Tamil Nadu (which is possible), that doesn’t have quite the same punch that first state record’s have in America where coverage has been extensive for decades… Nonetheless it was my first crake species and definitely made my day more exciting!
The rain today actually cleared up the sky and for the first time since my arrival I was able to see the foothills of the Western Ghats in the distance today (photo). I will be spending this weekend up in the ghats on my days off! This is the other lake I survey on the way back to Pullambadi (where the Glossy Ibis were yesterday).
I’m actually posting this from the Relton’s blazing internet (all things relative of course) in Trichy. I’m using the opportunity of this internet and unimpeded power supply to not only get caught up with my blog (photos from yesterday) but also to search for my airline tickets to Bangkok as I now know I will be flying out of Trichy in early March. As I was leaving the school, the hostel boys (boys that actually live at the school so they are able to focus more on their studies) asked me if I was leaving for America. I laughed and told them that they couldn’t get rid of me that easily and that I’d be back Tuesday night. Alright sorry this post was dominated by birds…I got excited about the crake!