The vultures at Kanha

During our 2007 summer trip to Kanha, we saw these four vultures on the sal trees, as they sat and waited patiently for the tiger to leave its kill in the dry grassland below.

Through our binoculars, we could see the vultures very clearly, but our cameras were not powerful enough to get a better shot.  (Those little black specks in the photo on the left!)

We had heard how vultures have become a rare sight in India, and so we were all the more excited by our sighting.  There they sat looking like the Jungle Book crew, and I would not have been surprised if they had broken into a "So what are we going to do now?" conversation!

Our jeep was filled with greenhorns, and when we returned to the dorm to share our sighting, there was much disbelief, as other senior members were quite sure we had seen some storks and mistaken them for the vulture!  Our picture was not conclusive, but the profile - not a stork surely.  Our "honour" was restored when the Kanha guide who came with us confirmed to them that yes, they were vultures!

Sadly, we were the only ones on that trip to have spotted these birds.
These vultures could be extinct within a decade, because of the diclofenac... not a happy thought.

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

How absolutely depressing.....

We did see a few vultures in Kanha, you know. Sorry for this weak defense.

And the dogs in the cities are growing by the month... Istanbul had a dog problem in the seventies and eighties, it appears.... But they seem to have gotten rid of that problem (I wonder how?), since we didn't see a single stray dog when we went this year.

Corvus splendens - the splendid crow!

We - Indians I mean - have always held the crow in high esteem, and it seems that the Westerners' are now developing a new found admiration for these birds they consider a nuisance.

Take a look.

The only thing is that intelligent crows are likely to see through Joshua Klein's attempts to train them dont you think?

Another one is initiated...

... in to the pleasures of birding in Madras.

Vaishna Roy visited the Guindy National Park, Nanmangalam
and Pallikaranai.

Read her report below:

Outlooktraveller.com

Charlie finds a feeding black kite in Bangalore

It takes guts…a feeding Black Kite

Some gory and fascinating pictures of a black kite in Bangalore's Nandi Hills.

A bit of a ramble from Madras, but what the heck?!

Asian Openbills at Nelpattu

Lining a bund enroute to Nelappatu

I had written about the Pelicans at Nelapattu earlier, but had ignored the OBS, or Asian openbills for some reason... i was obviously more excited by the pelicans than the OBS.

I remember that early December morning when we saw these OBS sitting on a bund, looking rather morose and meditative.  They reminded me of old fishermen sitting by the pier, each lost in their thoughts and memories but drawing on the comfort of each other's silent company!

Around the corner in the fields, we had a closer encounter with these birds.  They were more busy than their bund counterparts, actively looking for snails - that's what they are fond of - in the marshy soil.  

The bills dont quite close, and it is obviously an adaptation to help their feeding.  Like  a set of pliers, the gap helps them to clamp on to their prey maybe?

The grey plumage of their upper body indicates that they are in non-breeding mode.  Those feather become whiter during breeding.

On reaching Nelapattu, we saw them nesting there, along with the pelicans.  They are rather prolific it appears, and they are classified as "birds of least concern" - not endangered by any means!

I hope that status doesn't change for these long-legged, serious birds!

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

Indian conservationists strive to convince politicians of a small bird’s existence

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

 AP Forest Dept picture

The article is about the Jerdon's Courser, a small, brown wader that comes out in the night, is very, very  rarely seen and every Indian birdwatcher of repute and age has a story to tell about trying to see one or having seen one!

Considered extinct for a while, then "rediscovered" in 2003,  by Bharat Bhushan, who is an MNS and BNHS member,  the little bird's cause has been taken up by the BNHS - kudos to them - who seem to have successfully changed the course of the planned Telegu-Ganga canal, to avoid this bird's territory.

The paragraph from the article which I like best is this -

With many troublesome conservationists—and righteous judges—India has guarded its magnificent wildlife perhaps surprisingly well. Though poor, densely populated and home to many threatened species, it has lost only a handful of animals in recent decades: for example, the Asiatic cheetah, Javanese rhinoceros and Sikkim stag. And it has lost only two species of bird: the pink-headed duck and Himalayan mountain quail. Like the Jerdon’s courser, the forest owlet was also ruled extinct before it was rediscovered. A fish, the Ladakh snow trout, may have similarly have re-emerged from the abyss.

This gives India a better record in conservation than many countries. Yet its wildlife is nonetheless in dreadful jeopardy: from a poor and fast-growing population, eating into India’s remaining forests and marshes; and also, increasingly, from infrastructure projects, fuelled by strong economic growth. The IUCN now groups India with China, Brazil and Indonesia, as countries with the highest number of species facing extinction. Many will no doubt slip more quietly into that long night than the Jerdon’s courser.

A pat on the back for all the hardworking  environmentalists?  

Listen to the call of the courser

The Pulicat Flamingoes

The Pulicat dance troupe!

Yes, there are flamingoes, thousands of them, just north of Madras, and I am quite ashamed to say that I saw them in a New York zoo before seeing them at Pulicat.  I have lived for more than twenty years in this city, blissfully unaware that these lovely birds lived and bred in our backyard.

Strange looking birds.  Light pink, long graceful legs, huge flocks, a sinuous movement as they walk across the shallow waters, so ballerina-like.  But that beak...... there's nothing graceful about it, according to me anyway.  Its large and bulky, and seems to be just added on, like one of those Photoshopped oddities!

They are useful to them, though, the beaks I mean.  Since they feed on saltwater shrimp and such like and use their beaks to filter-feed.  They will be in the "pink" of health the more shrimp they eat.  That's what they get the beta-carotene from, which keeps them pink!  So if you think the ones in the zoo are always pinker, you're probably right - they get more pink food in their diet.

Dec 2007.  We took a boat from SHAR road to get a closer look, but the closer we got, the faster they edged away from us, making sure that we couldn't get any closer.  At first they walked away, in a slow deliberate fashion, then some nervous ones spread their wings. At one point, they decided enough was enough and took to the skies, and what a lovely sight it was!

My husband clicked away, and came up with these lovely pictures.  It was a dull day with the sun well hidden, the water a bleak grey, but dont these birds really stand out in the dullness?

(You can click on any of these pictures to get a full-page view.)

Dont come any Closer!
OK, we're off!My mother opined that a flying flamingo is much more beautiful than a walking one, and I have to agree.  Where are those colours of dark pink and black when they just stand? Their long necks and legs form a lovely line in the sky, and even their beaks kind of fit in, giving a curve to their silhouettes!

An early flier is high up in the sky.  Take a look at the beauty of the airborne trio in the right foreground
The flying flamingoes bump into a flock of duck

Balaji by some coincidence seems to have also visited the flamingoes in December, though he and his friends were lucky with a  bright, sunny day.  There are some lovely pictures on his blog as well!

My son filmed the flamingoes on our handycam, and if you are willing to take a look at some footage that shakes and kind of goes off in all sorts of directions, see the video below!  You will also get an idea of what lots of flamingoes means really.  The whirr you hear is the sound of the strong wind that day, and if you have sharp ears you will also pick up the calls of the flamingoes.  They make quite a racket - well there are a lot of them.

Why do I like to go and see these and other birds in their habitat I wonder.  My brother (as a typical older brother), thinks I am a touch insane.  Why dont you just go to a zoo, or better still watch them on Nat Geo or Discovery, he grumbles.  

Is it the uncertainty of not knowing what I am likely to see?  Or the joy at seeing them free and unrestricted?

Another visit to SHAR road  and Annamalaicheri is overdue I think...  What say?  I should also write about Annamalaicheri, that fishing village on Pulicat, from where we took many a sortie and even had a Delhi birder traipse across the flatlands holding the hands of one of the fishermen, much to the latter's delight I'm sure, since the birder in question was a lovely lady!!

Mamandur revisited

Not by me, unfortunately, but by other lucky MNS members, who went off to the Bungalow on the hill.

The Bungalow (thankfully) looks in good shape, though a dorm seems to have also been added. The rate seems to be Rs 500 per head per bead for "fooding and lodging"!

In these days of vanishing forests, good to hear that the forest still continues to exist and flourish.  Mamandur is not a mammal/cat kind of place, but more a birding and nice-quiet-place-to-enjoy-nature type place.  From all accounts that continues to be the best description.

 The undisturbed huge anthills

 Iora I think

Rat snake!

This group seems to have had several snake encounters, which we didn't!  This rat snake was in a stagnant pool of water in the dry riverbed, and was after frogs.

Here's Sripad's description:

Then for a second I thought I had seen a head come out of the water I looked through my camera got a shot and immediately zoomed in to have a look, it was a Rat Snake!!! There was a Rat Snake in the small pond filled with Toads……after I alerted everyone about my find we waited for everyone to give their comments the snake by this time interrupted by our load voices and ugly faces went into the water and came out only after a ten minute wait. When we waited for the snake to come out the second time we watched the ecosystem around the pond there were Damsel flies and butterflies sucking up minerals from the wet soil around. As we waited for the snake to show its head we watched the pond for entertainment and we got to see nice toads with lots of character.
When we thought the snake won't show up again the snake resurfaced and as though watching an alien from another planet all of us watched the snake with awe and me being a great fan of the snake clicked away like crazy. I did manage to get a few nice shots of the snake.

Damsel butterflies

Angel and Sunshine in Delaware

Angel
Sunshine
Chitra - you know the one who went to Orang - well, she's flown the coop - left her "responsibilities" in Chennai and gone like a migrant winter bird, to Delaware.

No, I'm not envious of her vamoosing like this, and no I'm not drooling at the banana muffins and buttered croissants!!

She is leading a rather interesting life right now, staying with an aunt and uncle who are part of the Tristate Bird Rescue.They look after rescued birds and seem to have several in their own home. Here is a description in Chitra's words:

Its warm in the 70s/80s and you'd think the windows will be open to let in the warmth and breeze, but no, we are couped up in the closed a/coned atmosphere as neither the birds nor the orchids can stand the outside temps! We humans don't count!
There are two parrots, one cockatoo and one parakeet, all flighted and allowed to come out of their cages during the day. Angel, the African grey, can talk, whistle and sing. He is the only one that recognises me, and whistles cheekily when ever he sees me and allows me to feed him. Beaker, the cockatoo and Sunshine the Sengal parrot have so far repulsed all my efforts to befriend them and have gone so far as to bite my fingers!
There is an old age home (a bay window with a net) where a number of old and decrepit finches live along with a bourke's parakeet, and one budgie. Yesterday Angel decided to hang upside down on the net, frightened one poor doddering old finch which escaped from the cage and flew into the kitchen. It took me and my brother the better part of 15 minutes to catch it, but not before we crawled under tables, between legs.... etc! There are two white doves and three more parakeets down in the basement.

Then, the other day they had to bird sit some chimney swifts..... They fell through the chimney (well where else did I expect chimney swifts to be?!), and were thus orphaned.

They have to be fed mealworms every hour. My aunt and I had our first feeding session about 15 minutes back. I think it would be easier to eat the mealworms ourselves even though they are such gross creatures than feed a bunch of stubborn swallows. Unlike their names some of them absolutely refused to open their mouths and here we were holding juicy worms to their mouths and making cajoling sounds.
But the smallest of disturbance to their tranquil clinging and they set up a chorus of (difficult to describe) cries - a bit like the cicadas going of in the Nilgiris - only much closer and ringng in your ears.
I think I am going to dream of mealworms tonight.
They are terrribly soft and cuddly now though they have very sharp claws /nails (I don't think they are called talons!) Swifts can only cling.. swallows can perch too. One jumped out of the basket yesterday and tried to cling to my kurta, didn't get a hold and started to slide down when I caught it. It dug all 8 nails into my palm and wouldn't let go. Had a hard time putting it back into the box.

... More updates as they come.

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