This is the third of five blogs covering a Tansa, South Andaman and South India trip with Nick Preston and Paul Noakes. It has been enhanced with some of Paul's excellent photos. We'd had a successful few days on South Andaman with Jijo Mathews, who would be with us for the rest of the trip, and were about to fly to Chennai and Cochi.
Friday 20 January. A travel day, sitting in airports and on
planes. Go First Port Blair-Chennai 10:55-13:10 then Akasa Air Chennai-Kochi
17:00-18:00 seeing 2 Open-billed Storks
and an Indian Roller as we taxied out onto the runway. Learning that morning from the BBC News website that David Crosby had died (aged 81) had me playing his songs for much of the day. With Cowboy Movie, two versions of Almost Cut My Hair and Wooden Ships the only ones on my phone it became a bit repetitive, but in a nice laid-back hippy sort of way. At Chennai we were met by our driver with a 9 seater minibus. Rather unnecessary and not ideal for a quick departure with only one exit door for those not driving although plenty of room for the driver to sleep in might have been a contributing factor. Despite my reservations nothing lasting was missed because we couldn't evacuate fast enough although it did feel a bit pretentious a minibus arriving somewhere and just the three of us disembarking. We arrived at Birds
Murmur Camp at Thattekkad at 20:30. The camp was situated on the south bank of the Pooyamkutty River with forest on the opposite bank. We were told that rogue elephants in the area had put forests out of bounds after dark - not what we wanted to hear with two tricky owls being our main targets at Thattekkad. An electric fence along the bank on our side of the river, which was 100m wide at this point, emphasized the potential danger from elephants as did a load of firecrackers going off soon after our arrival, fortunately something that I only heard again once during our stay.
Saturday 21 January. We left camp at 06:50 and arrived at the
Thattekkad forest reserve at 07:15. We initially climbed up a rocky hill at Urulanthanni
reserve with forest around and watched birds coming into the nearby trees. In quick succession the following
were new birds for me – Flame-throated Bulbusl, Malabar and White-cheeked Barbets, Malabar Starling, 4 Grey-fronted Green Pigeons and a Malabar Grey Hornbill. We then walked
forest trails until 13:10 seeing 3 Malabar
Trogons, 3 White-bellied Blue
Flycatchers, 2 Orange-headed Ground
Thrushes, 6 White-bellied Treepies
and roosting Sri Lanka Bay Owl and Frogmouths. We returned to Birds
Murmur Camp for lunch and a look around which provided me with countable views
of Nilgiri Flowerpecker. We left the
camp at 15:50 for the 10 minute drive to the Trogon Country area and
birded the nearby woodland and marshes. The highlight was a pair of Red Spurfowl as we were walking back,
having earlier had an identifiable view of a female Crimson-backed Sunbird. At dusk we tried a section of riverbank
hoping to entice an owl or two across from the forested side. Oriental Scops and Indian
Eagle Owls called back but remained on their side of the river while 2 Great Eared Nightjars flew up and down over the river recalling Hen Harriers.
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| Nick and Jijo at the Uurulanthanni viewpoint |
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| Southern Hill Myna at Uurulanthanni |
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| Flame-throated Bulbul at Uurulanthanni |
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Gold-fronted Leafbird at Uurulanthanni (photo: Paul Noakes)
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Green Warbler at Uurulanthanni
 | Green Warbler at Uurulanthanni (photo: Paul Noakes)
 | Rusty-tailed Flycatcher at Urulanthanni (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| female Grey-fronted Green Pigeon at Uurulanthanni |
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female Grey-fronted Green Pigeon (photos: Paul Noakes)
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| male Grey-fronted Green Pigeon |
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| male Grey-fronted Green Pigeon (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Grey-fronted Green Pigeon with Malabar Barbet |
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| a rather smart barbet |
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| White-cheeked Barbet at Uurulanthanni |
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| Malabar Grey Hornbills at Uurulanthanni |
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| Fairy Bluebird at Uurulanthani |
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Sri Lanka Bay Owl roosting in the forest near the viewpoint, a rather wet individual found by one of Jijo's 'helpers'
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| Malabar Giant Squirrels at Thattekkad |
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| Yellow-throated Bulbul at Thattekkad |
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| Sri Lanka Frogmouths at Thattekkad |
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Sri Lanka Frogmouths at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| female Malabar Trogon at Thattekkad |
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| female Malabar Trogon at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| male Malabar Trogon at Thattekkad |
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Sri Lanka Bay Owl at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| White-bellied Blue Flycatcher at Thattekkad |
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White-bellied Blue Flycatcher at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Brown-breasted Flycatcher at Thattekkad |
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| Brown-breasted Flycatcher at Thattekkad (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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Fork-tailed Drongo Cuckoo at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Nilgiri Flowerpecker at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Large-billed Leaf Warbler (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| White-bellied Treepie at Thattekkad |
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| Green Bee-eater at Birds Murmur Camp |
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| Blue-tailed Bee-eater at Birds Murmur Camp |
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| lagoon off the Periyar River near Trogon County |
Sunday 22 January. We left camp at 06:45 and drove to Thattekkad
Bird Sanctuary to meet Jijo just before 07:00. We spent the morning on a wide
forest trail, at one stage waiting for an elephant – invisible in forest except
with a thermal camera – to move away. Highlights were a mainly hidden
displaying Grey Junglefowl revealing
its more important bits, a roosting pair of Sri Lanka Frogmouths just off
trail, Black-backed Kingfisher and White-bellied Woodpecker. I missed identifiable
views of Grey-headed Bulbul on the
way out but fortunately had reasonable although brief views on our return. We
were back at camp at 12:15 for lunch, a shower and sort out and left at 15:15,
picking up Jijo near his house. Afternoon highlights were a pair of roosting Mottled Owls and a plate of banana
fritters his mum had made. I can honestly say they were the most enjoyable food
I’d so far eaten in Kerala. We continued to the Trogon County area
seeing a pair of Grey Junglefowl walking
away through the fairly open woodland before trying some night birding. Paul
thermalled an Indian Pitta as the
light went. It called once but I only saw a dull, unmoving shape. Jijo taped
in a Jerdon’s Nightjar but owls were
even less successful than previously with none seen or heard despite trying
several places for Oriental Scops and Indian Eagle. We returned to camp at 19:50
and dinner, which Nick was rapturous about, failed to eclipse Banana fritters as
far as I was concerned.
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| White-bellied Treepie at Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary |
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| White-bellied Treepie at Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| White-bellied Woodpecker at Thattekkad |
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White-bellied Woodpecker at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher along the main trail at Thattekkad Forest Reserve
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| a.k.a. Black-backed Kingfisher - not a very appropriate name when it is seen well |
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Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher at Thattekkad (photos: Paul Noakes)
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Orange-headed Ground Thrush from the main trail at Thattekkad Forest Reserve
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| Orange-headed Ground Thrush at Thattekkad (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Sri Lanka Frogmouths just off the main trail at Thattekkad Forest Reserve |
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Sri Lanka Frogmouths at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Oriental Darter at Thattekkad |
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| Mottled Owl near Jijo's house |
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| Mottled Owl near Jijo's house (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| it's mate was nearby |
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| Indian Golden Oriole near Trogon County |
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| Night Herons at Trogon County |
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| Jerdon's Nightjar near Trogon County |
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| Jerdon's Nightjar near Trogon County (photos: Paul Noakes) |
Monday 23 January. We left camp at 06:45 and drove to Thattekkad
Bird Sanctuary to meet Jijo just before 07:00. We spent the morning on the
Salim Ali trail, to 12:15 by which time it was very hot. Highlights were an Oriental Scops Owl, Stork-billed Kingfisher, 2 Heart-spotted Woodpeckers, Indian Pitta and 2 Orange-headed Ground Thrushes. Also of note a rather brief view of
my fist Indian Blackbird, Jungle Owlet, Black-hooded, Black-naped
and Indian Golden Orioles and 2 Grey-headed Bulbuls. We were back at Bird Murmur Camp at 12:30, had
another lunch I wasn’t looking forward to (for me the usual uninspiring fare),
a bit of admin and general lazing around before heading out at 15:30. We went to an area of degraded secondary
forest and smallholdings with one fairly large cleared area. We saw a male Grey Junglefowl with at least 5 females
in attendance in a forest patch opposite a small holding, a superb male white
morph Indian Paradise Flycatcher
with an amazingly long tail and another Orange-headed
Ground Thrush but night birding failed to elicit any response from a hoped
for Spot-bellied Eagle Owl (perhaps we’d used our day’s ration of owl good
fortune on the morning’s Scops) with a fast flyby Jerdon’s Nightjar was little compensation. We were back at camp at
19:45. While Nick and I were finishing
our evening meal (I was in a minority in thinking it slightly better than
usual) Paul went down to the river to play Spot-bellied Eagle Owl recordings.
The forest was 100m across the river but Jijo had suggested it might be worth
trying. I was keeping Nick company while he finished his desert when he heard
Paul shout. We found him on the riverbank torching a large owl in the top of
one of the tallest trees opposite us. It looked very interesting and I rushed
back to our cabin to collect Nick’s telescope and grab another torch. Even
through the scope it was hard to make out much detail but it flew into an
adjacent tree where, at a better angle and with benefit of one of the camp
guy’s spotlight, it revealed itself to be the hoped for Spot-bellied Eagle Owl. Paul had been playing recordings with no
response but decided to ‘thermal’ the trees on the far side of the river. He
detected a heat source which he then located as the owl by torchlight. Pretty
impressive we thought.
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| Malabar Grey Hornbill on the Salim Ali trail at Thattekkad |
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Malabar Grey Hornbill on the Salim Ali trail (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Grey-headed Bulbul on the Salim Ali trail |
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Grey-headed Bulbul on the Salim Ali trail (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Stork-billed Kingfisher from the Salim Ali trail |
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(photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Ashy Drongo on the Salim Ali trail |
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| Black-headed Cuckoo-Shrike on the Salim Ali trail |
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it was too good at keeping its head out of my camera's view
 | even Paul struggled with this one (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Jungle Owlet on the Salim Ali trail |
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| Indian Pitta just off the Salim Ali trail |
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| pittas are just so good |
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Black-hooded Oriole on the Salim Ali trail (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Plum-headed Parakeet and Malabar Starling on the Salim Ali trail |
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Malabar Starlings on the Salim Ali trail (photo: Paul Noakes)
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rufous morph Oriental Scops Owl on the Salim Ali Trail (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Green Bee-eater at Birds Murmur Camp |
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| Grey Junglefowl at Thattekkad |
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male and female
 | female Grey Junglefowl at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| the rather spectacular male came out onto the front yard of an isolated house |
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male Grey Junglefowl at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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stunning male Indian Paradise Flycatcher at Thattekkad - what a tail
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Indian Paradise Flycatcher at Thattekkad (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Thick-billed Warbler at Thattekkad |
Tuesday
24 January.
We arrived at Urulanthanni at 08:10, delayed somewhat by an abortive attempt to
track down 2 Malabar Pied Hornbills that flew over the road and across the
river on the way. Some compensation was a fruiting tree full of Malabar Grey
Hornbills, 40-50 in total. It was much quieter on the hill we’d visited on our
first morning, doubtless not helped by our later arrival, and we moved on to
the next where a distant Malabar Wood
Shrike was seen, rather briefly for me. Walking along the road after a
breakfast stop we saw a female Malabar
Trogon on telephone wires and a couple of Common Goldenbacks but otherwise it was hard going. We had just
left in the van soon after 12:00 when Jijo received a call from one of his
spotters. We quickly turned around and headed back 500m to a pull in we’d
earlier walked past twice. Jijo led us along a narrow trail by the river and
there, hardly more than 2m above the ground and in full view was an immaculate
Sri Lanka Bay Owl. It was even in halfway decent light and occasionally swayed
slightly from side to side while glaring at us. Absolutely amazing and the best
bird so far this trip. We were back at Birds Murmur Camp after 13:00 and I
downloaded 400 Bay Owl photos, along with a few others, wrote up some notes and
did some washing either side of lunch. We were due to go out again at 15:30 but
an approaching thunder storm arrived first with very heavy rain. We postponed
and it eased off before kicking off again with a couple of close lightning
strikes. Jijo arrived on his bike during a brief lull but more to discuss plans
for the next day than with any real expectation that we could go out again.
While chatting to Jijo on our veranda 2 Great
Eared Nightjars braved the rain and flew over.
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