Twisting terns at Kelambakkam

Skandan and Mr Shivakumar have photographed and reported the several terns that they have been sighting in the backwaters of Kelambakkam to the south of Madras.

And then there was the matter of gulls - brown-headed and black-headed - also reported. And Ruddy Turnstone. And Curlews.

So off we went today morning in Sheila's car armed with driving instructions and precise directions on which bund to walk on, etc etc.

It was a most rewarding morning - many gulls and terns I was seeing for the first time, plus of course the usual greenshank to madden us, before we id it.

• Little terns
• River tern
• Whiskered tern in bleeding plumage, which I thought was a black-bellied tern
• Sandwich tern and/or gull-billed tern?
• Caspian tern

These we saw just off the road, as they went about the business of catching their breakfast with single-minded focus. I found it quite confusing to figure out which was which, and did that yellow beak have a black-tip, is the black cap "rakish", was that a yellow-tipped black beak, and so many more permutations and combinations!

Off the road, down by the broken bridge, walking along the bunds, and we saw the gulls. Brown-headed and black-headed in a mixed bunch....they were a huge flock in the distance, and without Chitra's spotting scope, and Preston's idying guidance, "look for the white mirrors on the wings", I would not have spotted them.

And there was a Eurasian Curlew too!
A few more visits needed.

The maddening world of wader identification

Madras is blessed with a lot of water bodies big and small, brackish and fresh. Any self-respecting birder in the city has to know their waders.

Now, if you are as bad as me at this, you will benefit from this "Waders 101" or "Waders for Dummies"!

There's a young man in MNS by the name of Gnanaskandan, (aka GK aka Skandan!), who has patiently put these pictures and the idying tips together. The original pictures can be found on Facebook here.

He has also designed a google map on Birding places around Chennai, which is definitely worth a look-see.

Shanks

1) Common Greenshank (Top) - Grey above - Foreneck & underparts white with Streakes - Greenish legs - Long , stout bill slightly Curved upwards - Prefers : Freshwater & Saltwater wetlands

2) Common Redshank (Bottom) - Variable brown to Grey above - Grey breast - Orange Red at base of bill - Orange Red legs - Prefers : Fresh & coastal waters

Red Shank - Prefers shallow fresh & Coastal waters

2 Species:

1) Spotted Redshank (Pic 1) - Has longer,slightly down curved Red bill., very conspicuous white supercillium (line above the eyes) and less streaks in neck & ear-coverts - Widespred winter visitor - Taken @ Pulicat

2) Common Redshank (Pic 2) - Has shorter bill compared to Spotted Redshank., lacks the white supercillium and more streaks down the neck - slightly smaller than Spotted Redshank - very timid and gives out an alarm call in flight - Taken @ Pulicat

Sandpipers - Size : Bigger than a Little Riged Plover - Prefers Freshwater & Costal wetlands and sandbanks

1) Common Sandpiper (Top left) - Distinct White Shoulder line - White Supercillium extends till nape(Not extending after eyes in Green Sandpiper) - Constantly bobs its head - Greenish yellow legs

2) Green Sandpiper (Top right) - Distinct White Supercillium not extending after eyes(extends till nape in Common Sandpiper) - Dark wings compared to Wood Sandpiper - Greenish Yellow legs

3) Wood Sandpiper (Bottom left) - Heavily Spotted Upperparts - Dark Yelllow legs - Prominent white supercillium

4) Marsh Sandpiper (Botton Right) - Fine Stilt like bill - Foreneck and underparts more whitish compared to other sandpipers - Greenish Yellow legs

Stints - Size : Slightly smaller than a Little Ringed Plover - Prefers shallow fresh & Coastal waters

1) Temminck's Stint (Pic 1) - Yellow legs - Lacks Supercillium - Complete grey Breast band - Uniform grey wing pattern - Widespred winter visitor - Taken at Pulicat

2) Little Stint (Pic 2) - Dark legs - Prominent White Supercillium - Rufous to Grey streaks in neck & breast - Black to Rufous wing pattern - Widespred winter visitor - Taken at Pulicat

I am off to Kelambakkam this weekend, and lets hope my wader idying improves from the abysmal level it is currently at!

The Pallikaranai fire - TOI reports

PRECIOUS WETLAND IN NO MAN’S ZONE
No Inquiry Into Pallikaranai Blaze As Agencies Pass Buck
Julie Mariappan | TNN

Chennai: It is more than three days since a mysterious fire ravaged several patches of the Pallikaranai marsh but no government agency seems to be taking responsibility to initiate an inquiry into the cause. Several birds are reported to have died in the fire.
While the Kancheepuram forest office says the fire broke out on a few grounds of land belonging to the Corporation of Chennai, the latter says it has little knowledge about how to maintain the area. “The area is not yet notified under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882. It is still owned by the local body. Our staff took pains to douse the flames. The fire and rescue services personnel could do nothing due to the characteristics of the wetland,” Kancheepuram district forest officer P Jayabalan said.
Almost 20 cases had been filed before the Madras high court, laying claim to the lands already notified on the southern side of the marsh. Only eight were disposed of and the forest department is still waging a battle. “It is likely that the patches were set afire by outsiders in a bid to grab the land,” sources said. The forest department is yet to take air samples from the area for testing, due to the confusion over the jurisdiction.
Corporation commissioner D Karthikeyan said that the land was being maintained by the forest department, though informally, based on a decision taken at a higher level. “The title of the ownership is still vested with the corporation,” he said, adding that the civic agency didn’t have the expertise to take care of the wetland. Saturday’s fire is a reminder that immediate steps have to be taken to protect the wetland.
One of the last remaining natural wetlands in south India, the Pallikaranai marsh sprawled over more than 8,000 hectares till 30 years ago.
Today, indiscriminate dumping of solid waste and the discharge of sewage combined with construction of high-rise structures and laying of roads in the surrounding areas have seen the marsh reduced to 800 hectares.
A recent study by Anna University revealed that a large quantity of metallic sedimentation from the corporation dumpyard in nearby Perungudi had been deposited in the marshland, affecting the biodiversity. The forest department was able to build an 870-metre-long boundary wall on the Sholinganallur side only recently.
Forest ranger Ramadoss said plans to set up a flood bund and provide walkways with necessary drainage facilities on the eastern, southern and western boundaries were awaiting the government’s nod. While the bunds will stretch for about 9.5 km, the walkway will be 2 m wide, a blessing for fitness freaks,
ornithologists
and patrolling staff. “The formation of a green belt and an earthern bund, without disturbing the marsh, is a good idea. Or else birds like waders and ducks will not roost in the wetland,” said KVRK Thirunaranan, founder of The Nature Trust.

Marshland yet to be notified as reserve forest
Julie Mariappan | TNN

Chennai: An ambitious plan to notify 150 hectares of the Pallikaranai marsh as a reserve forest area, announced over a year ago by the DMK-led government, is yet to see the light of day. The ecologically sensitive wetland, adjoining the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road, remains with the Corporation of Chennai.
The forest department is said to have taken up the issue with the civic body. “It is a significant site to ensure the contiguity of habitat and bio-diversity in the marsh. Desilting and cleaning operations and monitoring can be conducted at the site,” said Jayashree Vencatesan of Care Earth, a non-government organisation.
A 317-hectare area was notified as a reserve forest area in April 2007, under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882, thanks to sustained efforts of nature lovers, environmentalists, activists and volunteers. It was brought under a separate range in Chengalpet Forest Division at Kancheepuram with headquarters at Pallikaranai. The forest department is still chasing revenue officials to demarcate the notified site.
Care Earth, along with City Connect, in a recent report recommended an “adaptive management plan,” including establishment of a coordinating agency to enable multistakeholder engagement, for the conservation of the marsh. One of the key elements was to prepare a detailed strategy, including ground demarcation, soil and water assessment, ecological profiling, habitat zonation, sedimentation studies, biodiversity assessments.
The Pallikaranai marsh supports over 100 birds species, five of them in the endangered list for Indian birds, and a number of fish and amphibians making it a potential candidate for inclusion as a site under Ramsar Convention, of which India is a signatory. “It is a legally bound mechanism to protect marshlands. The Pallikaranai marsh is certainly qualified for inclusion,” said V Srinivasan of the Save Pallikaranai Marshland Forum. The Wular lake in Jammu and Kashmir and the Chilika lake in Orissa are among such sites in the country.
Care Earth managing trustee RJ Ranjit Daniels said: “The rise in number of species is a sign the marsh is improving. It could also be due to the deterioration of other wetlands near Chennai.” The White-Spotted Garden Skink was recently spotted in the marsh, the first time in the state, as was the Russell’s Viper, the largest and the most widespread of Asian vipers. Fish such as the Dwarf Gourami and Chromide, bred and traded worldwide for aquaria, occur naturally in Pallikaranai. Also, Windowpane Oyster, Mud Crab, Mullet, Half Beak and Green Chromide are some of the estuarine fauna present in the marsh.
****************
MNS members have documented so much avian life at Pallikaranai. Some of the recent ones:

Rosy Starling
Spot-billed ducks

Grey-headed lapwing

Pied cuckoo
Ruff

Green shank

Black-winged stilts

Avocets

Purple swamp hen

The hornbills that I did not see

The hornbills eluded us on our January trip to Parambikulam. According to this article, in The Hindu, Hornbills are now nesting at karian shola. However, if we go now, we wont be allowed into the shola itself, the article says, and since I enjoyed those forests so much, its ok that we didnt see the hornbills, in retrospect!

After cleaning up the traditional nests in January, hornbills have, since February, started nesting eggs in tree cavities deep inside the jungles in Karian Shola near Top Slip in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR).

The chicks are expected to hatch out by the end of May or June.

While there is sustained focus on conservation of tigers and protection of herbivores that serve as a prey base for the carnivores, the multiplying of hornbills is also happening within the ATR.

Two species of hornbills found in this part of Western Ghats are Great Pied Hornbill (Buceros Bicornis) and Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus).

“We have spotted close to 25 nests in the thick forests of Karian Shola,” Range Officer of Ulandy– Top Slip range S. Thangaraj Panneerselvam said.

Shy bird

Since the hornbill is a very shy bird, forest officials have denied trekking permission for tourists and access to Karian Shola even for naturalists.

“We do not want the nesting or the feeding of the female bird by the male bird to be disturbed. There is instruction to this effect from Field Director of ATR H. Basavaraju,” the Range Officer said.

Any disturbance will result in the male bird keeping away from the nest and this may cause the death of the female and the chicks as it is the male that brings them food.

Traditional nests

When it comes to nesting, the hornbills occupy only the traditional nests, which are typical hollows in tall trees in rainforests.

The same hollow is the nest year after year. It is abandoned only if the trees fall or any form of severe disturbance.

If barks grow and cover the nests used last year, look for another nesting place. The one with a narrow opening is taken over by the Malabar Grey Hornbill, which is smaller than the Great Pied Hornbill.

The nests are cleaned after surveillance for nearly a day to ascertain the presence of predators. It is done in January and nesting begins in February. The incubation period is 90 days.

Creates a quilt

Once the female bird gets into the nest, it sheds its feathers to create a quilt and on nesting the eggs, it covers the cavity with a paste made of its excrement and mud.

Hornbills normally hatch one or two eggs. To ward off ant threat to the eggs, it will keep its beak at the opening.

It is a rare sight to spot the male feeding the nesting female. The male passes food to the female through the slit that allows space only for the beak to pass.

The male bird will keep feeding the female with ficus fruits. A fortnight after hatching the eggs, the female will come out breaking the covering made of excrement and mud.

The chicks then cover the cavity and bring down the size of the opening. Male and female Hornbills then feed them with food such as snakes and lizards.

No open flying

Subsequently, for three or four days, the male and female hornbills will engage themselves in teaching flying to the chicks. The hornbills will never allow the chicks to fly in the open owing to the threat from black eagles, hawk eagles, black owl and hawk owl.

Despite such protective delivery and post-natal care, the survival rate of the hornbills is hardly 10 per cent to 15 per cent. However, of late, the population is healthy in the ATR areas.

Karian Shola was proving to be one of the best breeding sites for the hornbills, Mr. Panneerselvam said.


Forest officials have denied trekking permission for tourists
The incubation period is 90 days

Tree-spotting!

Are these cherry blossoms in Chennai?!

The afternoon sky was ablaze with the light hue of pink and the road below strewn with these flowers, as they dropped, light as rain, twirling as they came down.

And you thought Madras has no flowers?

The pinkish white flowers of the Tabebuia roseo-alba

Seen on St Mary's Road, Raja Annamalai Puram

Remembering Japan

March 16th, 2007

We were there. Happier times.

Lake Kawaguchiko, at the base of Mt Fuji
The retro bus that took us on a tour of the five lakes
The volcanic mountains around
Lake Saiko, (I think)
Varied Tit (Cyanistes varius) at the ticket counter

The Lava forests. (Aokigahara). Grows on the lava outflow. A little creepy, easy to get lost
Lake Sai?
Common Coot in Kawaguchiko
Shinto shrine archway at the edge of the lake
Fugaku lava caves. Fossils and ice inside. Also very cold.

Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. These pictures reminded me of how vulnerable they are to the elements.

A Calote on the tree

The brainfever bird

I received this lovely portfolio from Mr Ramanan, and had to put it here, for posterity.

The brainfever bird, heard so commonly, elusive to sight.

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius) - Photo by Mr Ramanan

Like the Asian Koel, it is also a brood parasite, and also has a maddening, repetitive call, heard in the monsoons. They lay their eggs in babbler nests.

The story goes that during the hot summers and just as the monsoons set in, the call of these birds used to drive some of the colonial Brits to madness, as they battled delirium and malaria, and the bird's incessant calling!

Freedom fighters of a sort?!

Sub-adult - Photo by Mr Ramanan
The same sub-adult with a caterpillar - their favourite food. Photo by Mr Ramanan

According to Wikipedia,

Common Hawk-Cuckoos feed mainly on insects and are specialised feeders that can handle hairy caterpillars. Caterpillar guts often contain toxins and like many cuckoos they remove the guts by pressing the caterpillar and rubbing it on a branch before swallowing it. The hairs are swallowed with the caterpillar and are separated in the stomach and regurgitated as a pellet.

Sunday activity

New Beach Road, Thiruvanmyur was the sight of a Nizhal combo plan - tree walk plus free-the-tree (FTC) activity!

We were thirty of us who assembled at 7 am on a Sunday morning (a feat in itself I thought!) at the eastern end of the road that runs east-west, perpendicular to the Thiruvanmyur beach. Its a road that I walk on regularly, but I had assumed there were some five varieties of trees. Can you imagine we identified 23?!! I was quite ashamed with my previous lack-of-"awareness" about the road.

There were a lot of children and soon they were more interested in the FTC than in the "know-your-trees" walk. So, it became that the moms were asking questions about the trees while the men and children busied themselves with claw hammers, stools and pliers! It is illegal to put up boards on the trees, and as citizens we are well within our rights to remove them. Also, they harm the trees, and do have an affect on their health in the long run. After all, isn't the bark a protective skin for the tree? Everytime a nail is driven into the bark, we are creating a wound. Once we removed the nails, we applied some turmeric paste to these "wounds", and hope that is sufficient for the bark to heal.

At the end of an hour we had removed all the boards (save one, which was beyond our reach), and thanks to Arti and her aunt we were all treated to yelaneer for our efforts! It was Arti who mooted the idea in the first place, so hats off to her. Things we could do to follow up:

• Plant some more trees close to the eastern end. We need to identify trees like sea grapes, Punnai, Pongam, which will withstand the salty air.
• Talk to our councillor about removing some of the concrete that is choking the base of the trees
• Ensure that the trees remain board-free.

It was very nice to walk in the evening and see the trees all free of boards!

Here's a complete list of trees:

Common Name- English Common Name - Tamil Scientific Name

1 Sea grapes Kadaldrakshai Cocoloba uvifera

2 Alexandrian Laurel Punnai புன்னை Calophyllum inophyllum

3 Peacock Flower Tree Mayilkonrai மயில் கொன்றை Caesalpinia pulcherima

4 Neem Veppam Azadirachta indica

5 Indian Cork Tree Maramalli மரமல்லி Millingtonia hortensis

6 Trumpet tree Tabebuia roseo-alba

7 Portia tree Poo Arasam Thespesia Populnea

8 Indian Beech Pungan புங்கன் Pongamia pinnata

9 Temple tree/ Frangipani Plumeria rubra acutifolia

10 Siamese Cassia Manjal Konrai மஞ்சள் கொன்றை Cassia siamea

11 Indian Almond Nattuvadumai நாட்டுவதுமை Terminalia catappa

12 Gulmohar Neruppu konrai Delonix regia

13 Subabul Leucaena leucocephala

14 Teak Tekku maram தேக்கு மரம் Tectona grandis

15 Copper pod tree Peltophorum pterocarpum

16 Jamun Naval நாவல் Syzygium cumini

17 Indian Bulletwood Tree Magizham மகிழம்பூ Mimusops elengi

18 Mast Tree/ False Ashoka Nettilingam நெட்டிலிங்கம் Polyalthia longifolia

19 Indian Ash Odhiya maram Lannea coromandelica

20 Oleander Thevetia peruviana

21 Mango Mangifera indica

22 African Tulip Tree Patadi Spathodea campanulata

23 Scarlet Cordia Cordia sebestena