The reptiles at Kalyani dam and other reptilian moments

21st October 2023

Sekar and I joined our fellow MNS friends for a weekend driving trip to Talakona in AP, as part of the MNS' 45th year celebrations.  We were car pooling and driving.  A 5am start, and a halt at PS4 Tiruvallur for breakfast, and we were on our way, when there was a decision to go to Kalyani dam, close to Tirupati.

Bhuvanya and family were in the front car and sending directions and locations. Forest Office permissions are needed to go to the dam.  We reached the dam around 1030 in the morning, passing through a large Police Training College at Rangampet.  I loved the boards - Mess, squats area, Dining, Garden, Hand Stands....there was an interesting array of fitness and training apparatus!

Through the rear of the Academy, and into the area around the dam.  members who had come a decade ago remarked that there was no Academy at that time.

The dam is built across the Swarnamukhi river and is one the main sources of water for the town of Tirupathi.

It was warm and sunny, as we ambled across the bridge listening to bird calls and watching the stone formations all around..

The reservoir was not full.  Little Cormorants skimmed low over the waters.  

Members who had been here a decade ago mentioned that there were many accessible trails all around.  now it felt like these were all closed.  Sudhakar reminisced - "Kalyani Dam is the entry to 'Pulibonu' There is an old well near which Kenneth Anderson camped when he went on search of a man eater  and the  entrance to the thickly forested Shyamala valley. There used to be a  rest house with beautiful views situated on a hillock overlooking the reservoir.  You needed a Jeep to drive to the well. There is a  lovely camping spot near Nacharamma Cheruvu by the side of a lake surrounded by wooded hillocks."

We walked along the dam - listening to white browed bulbuls gurgling, and drongos calling.  

Every one was suddenly peering at the wall.  And this was the reason!

Granite Half-toed Gecko (Hemidactylus graniticolus) - Yuvan announced.  The poor thing seemed frozen in fright, and seemed not to want to go into the crack, which would be the first thing we thought it would do, given a group of curious MNSers peering from a distance - some through binoculars and others through their long lenses.

Finally, it kind of gingerly crept in, right at the edge, just out of reach.

We discovered the reason - in the crevice was a much larger Bengal Monitor!  What gorgeous markings on the body! They could prey on the gecko, which would explain its reluctance to go into the crevice.  We moved away, to "not cramp its style", and the two continued to co-habit the crevice, until we left. 

We wandered back to our vehicles, only for Sunil to discover he had a flat tyre.  Some of us moved ahead to the Police Academy gate - only to discover a chameleon!

Aaditya took this nice picture of the Indian chameleon in full glory.

On to Talakona, then!

Oct 23rd - and Padmaja spotted movements amidst the rocks at the base of the watchtower.  What camouflage -  this (I think) rock agama!  

We were just coming down after some fabulous views of the Seshachalam hills (that requires a separate post), a sighting of a Short-Toed Snake Eagle, and the most amusing incident of young Harshid doubting and dubious that "Older" Sekar could have a mother.  Doubts were only cleared after a phone call to the said mother were made.   Bhuvanya's consternation was even more amusing. 

The snake among the bushes

And then there was the time when I, (yes I) saw a snake in the undergrowth and no one else did.  I was meandering along the path behind the men's dormitory along with the others, when something rustled in the leaves to my left - I expected a skink or an agama, and stopped to stare.  Instead I saw this long slithering body of a snake, brown and green with markings on it, now gliding soundlessly.  Since snakes do not have ears, I decided to shout -Snake!! Sekar, Bhuvanya, Tara and Sunil came hurrying back to where I was.

And now ensued a moment of comic, lost in translation and excitement type conversation

They - Where?
Me - Among the leaves!

They - There are leaves everywhere!

Me - See the stick going perpendicular

They - there are many sticks

Me - That one!!

They - Is it moving?

Me - No - Its super still...frozen.  Look there is the head.  (I try to show them via my phone camera, but not luck)

Sekar - OK I see it.  its brown with markings.

Me - Thinking Phew - finally one person sees it!

Sunil - Yeah I see the tail

In flash its gone...without a sound without disturbing a leaf.

I come back and check with Yuvan.  We play 20 questions - 

Yuvan - rat snake?

Me - No!  it had markings.

Yuvan - Well did you see the face, and did it have stripes?  (He's gesticulating around his own face, and to me it looks like he's asking whether it had a moustache or beard.)

Yuvan - Round pupils?  

Me - (Crossly) I dont know!  I was busy trying to make these others see the snake.

Yuvan - how long was it?

Me - about 3 feet long

Sunil - What?  Half a foot and Bronzed - says he who saw only half a foot near the tail.

Sekar (being a good husband) probably two feet I would say

Yuvan - hmmm..Cobra?

me - No!! I didn't have a hood

Yuvan - (Rolling his eyes) It does that only when threatened. (grumbling and looking to Vijay to save him) - One is saying bronzed and another is saying brown and green.  One is saying long, other is saying short....

Me - (Protesting) but it's not Cobra colour!  it was more like Russel viper markings without a Viper face - the face was plain.

Vijay (helpfully) - Checkered Keelback probably - near the river?

Yuvan agrees quickly, wanting to the end the conversation, me thinks..

The id remains undecided, until I return and look up the Snake book and the internet.

Checkered keel back Indeed!  Fowlea piscator

And now I know where Yuvan's questioning was heading - Stripes on the face, round pupils...

And I should have said "Checkered pattern"....

Next time.

PS - There was another Bark Gecko I saw one night on a tree (Thanks To Hrishu and his torch wanderings).  It is so well camouflaged - that I can't find it in my pictures now.

Watch out for those geckos!

 

Saltwater crocodiles - My Sundarban encounters with these deadly aquatic predators

On our recent visit to the Sundarbans, we saw several of these large crocodiles basking in the sun, including some baby ones.  I marvelled at these creatures - so still and yet so deadly.  Nice to see from a respectful distance, I thought, and much nicer seeing them like this than in the Crocodile Bank, all one on top of the other.  

This article from Roundglass Sustain describes it so well.  Names that are familiar to me now, and carry a meaning and memory - Sajnekhali sanctuary, Dobanki camp.

Saltwater Crocodile: Dragons of the Sundarbans Swamps

18 Aug 2022

By Radhika Raj

Basking in the sun, the saltwater crocodile is a study in stillness but once it enters the brackish waters of the Sundarbans, it is the top aquatic predator

When the diesel-powered engine of our rickety, wooden bhotbhoti boat revs up in the Sundarbans, its loud, hammering “bhot-bhot-BHOT” sound echoes through the silent mangrove forest. As we ride noisily along sea-green channels, a chital spots us from a distance and scurries into the mangrove thickets. A lesser adjutant stork on the sandy shores takes flight in alarm. But one creature remains unperturbed by our presence — the enormous saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).

Photo by Sekar of the first baby we spotted, that seemed to look at us with curiosity.

 

Quickly into the water when we got too close....

...bubbles and a snout.

This description from Radhika says it the best - "We spot our first one within a few hours of entering Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area within the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. It’s a slow December (in our case January) morning and the tide is low. The waters have receded to reveal wet, glistening shores with spike-like pneumatophores jutting out of the sand. On an exposed bank, a large saltwater crocodile is sprawled — caked in mud, and still as a statue. Despite our motorboat’s ample warning, it doesn’t bat an eyelid. I observe its armour-like scaly skin, the bony ridges on its jagged back, and massive tail. With two rows of triangular spikes the tail is used to propel the creature out of the water. Its jaw is shut tight, but pointy yellow teeth jut out, making it look like it’s grinning, or perhaps, mocking us."

 “It’s smiling at you,” laughs Ramkrishna Mondal, my guide. We spot several more saltwater crocodiles — all suspiciously still.  (Our guides were  Prosun, Manoj Mondal and Bavutosh.)

The saltwater crocodile is a skilled aquatic predator. Its eyes are adapted to see underwater, and it has excellent night vision so the nocturnal reptile can hunt at night. The channels of the Sundarbans harbour a healthy population of the estuarine or saltwater crocodiles which thrive in this unique ecosystem.

The top aquatic predator

The saltwater crocodile is the largest and heaviest living reptile in the world. Males can grow up to 20 feet and weigh over 1,000 kg. The largest one recorded in India, in Bhitarkanika National Park, Odisha, was 22-feet long. Its skull is displayed in the national park’s museum. Anecdotal information places the largest known saltwater crocodile from India in the Sundarbans. In his book, The Last of the Ruling Reptiles: Alligators, Crocodiles, and Their Kin, WT Neill writes about a “Bengal Giant” — a saltwater crocodile he saw towards the end of British rule, which he claimed was at least 30-feet-long.

The species is distinguished from its cousins — gharials, muggers, caimans — by its high tolerance for salinity. Unlike other freshwater species, the saltwater crocodile thrives along brackish mangrove channels (though it is also known to inhabit freshwater habitats) and can swim far out to sea. In the Sundarbans, it is the top aquatic predator, beating serious contenders such as the river shark, king cobra, python and semi-aquatic Bengal tiger. Saltwater crocodiles are not picky eaters and will feed on anything they can get their jaws on — fish, birds, buffaloes, wild boar, rhesus macaques, deer, crabs, even snakes. In water, it can even overpower a swimming tiger. In 2011, an instance of a tiger killed by an estuarine crocodile was reported at Dobanki camp of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. “Some forest officials who saw them fight claim that it was the most ferocious battle in the history of the park,” says Mondal. But these crocodiles don’t pick a fight unless absolutely necessary, he adds. They are ambush predators and mostly lie low. They often lurk on the river’s edges, with only nose and eyes, located atop the skull, above the surface. When an unsuspecting prey stops by, the crocodile explodes out of the water, grabs and snaps its neck, drags and drowns it, before eating it. Though a crocodile has strong jaws, it cannot chew well. Instead, it violently rotates its body in the water with the prey firmly in its mouth, dismembering it. The infamous “death roll” is now a popular television trope on sensational wildlife shows. About thirty minutes later, I see another saltwater crocodile basking by the exposed, umbrella-shaped stilt roots of a garjan — oblivious to the squeals and furious clicking from neighbouring tourist boats.

Creature of the tide

Later, over a phone call, expert wildlife biologist BC Choudhury explains why we saw so many crocodiles that day. Crocodiles are cold blooded reptiles that thermoregulate by sunning themselves. Adults need to maintain a stable body temperature in the preferred range of 30–32 degrees C. In the summers, crocodiles bask in the morning and evening — retreating to the water when the sun is sharp. But in winter, they bask from morning until the sun sets, warming their bodies as much as they can, Choudhury expands.

However, in a forest that is swallowed by tides twice a day, they wait for that ideal combination of low tide and great sunlight, and make the most of it. We had been lucky to catch them on such a perfect day. No wonder they were everywhere. “The life of a saltwater crocodile, and everything that lives in the Sundarbans, is ruled by the tide,” Choudhury reminds me. In 2012, he conducted the first and only survey on saltwater crocodiles in that habitat, with a schedule that depended heavily on the tides, and the tiger. It is impossible to travel through the Sundarbans after sunset, when a tiger may use the cover of the night to attack. The researchers identified that the mudflats are exposed for six hours a day in January, since that’s when the crocodiles spend the maximum time basking on the shores.

Of gods and myths

Back on the boat, a mighty saltwater crocodile has caught our attention. As we approach the panchmukhani mohona, a confluence of five channels, we see yet another one, basking on a sandbar. It’s the largest I’ve seen yet — a dominant male, says Mondal, easily 17-18 feet-long. “Meet Kalu Khan,” he says pointing at its left, front foot which is missing a toe. “It is so big, that local guides named it after the demi-god Kalu Rai. He lost his toe several years ago,” he adds.

Travelling through the Sundarbans I notice a deep, intertwined relationship that local cultures share with the wilderness. Mondal tells me how most fishermen and honey collectors who venture into the forest, pray to Kalu Rai, the crocodile god, to keep them safe from the crocodile. The forest is watched over by Bonbibi, a goddess they believe protects locals from the Sundarbans tigers that are known to kill humans who venture into protected areas. I remember seeing the shrine next to the Sanjnekhali Forest Office Complex, with a statue of Bonbibi mounting a tiger, and a small statue of Dukhe, a young child sitting on a saltwater crocodile. As we watch Kalu Khan, Mondal tells me Bonbibi’s story. During a ferocious battle, Bonbibi rescues a young child named Dukhe from the clutches of Dakkhin Rai, a demon in the form of a tiger. She then sends him home safely on the back of her pet crocodile, Seko. “Is Seko worshipped too?” I ask Mondal. “No, only feared. Apart from the tiger, the saltwater crocodile is also known to kill fishermen,” he says. “Remember, dang-bagh, jol-e kumir,” he adds. (Tiger on land, crocodile in water.)

Human-crocodile conflict

Few protected areas in the country seem to have the intense human-animal conflict evident in the Sundarbans. According to official figures, the Sundarbans tiger has claimed 12 lives in 2019 alone, but locals say the numbers are much higher. The lives claimed by the saltwater crocodile come a close second, followed by deaths by the river shark. According to data released by the forest department, between 1999 and 2009, at least 29 people were attacked by crocodiles. Studies reveal that most cases occurred in areas where tiger prawns are farmed, an occupation led by women and children. Women with saris tucked into their waists wade through water and pull nets on the edges of the rivers, and have fallen victim to crocodiles. Yet, human-crocodile conflict receives little attention from authorities compared to tiger attacks that make for big news. “We have a tiger-centric mindset. The saltwater crocodile remains in its shadow. Fewer conservation efforts focus on the wellbeing of this species, and little is done to mitigate human-crocodile conflict. Both humans and animals suffer,” says Choudhury.

********

As we glided through the waters in our boat, taking in the kingfishers and crocodiles and the beautiful mangroves, I pondered on how the crocodile is probably deadlier than the tiger now, for the people of Sundarbans, as I read that there are more croc deaths than tiger killings in the Sundarbans these days.  

About 35 crocodiles were released into these waters in '22, adding to the 55 in '21!  While these predators restore the ecological balance in the Sundarbans, I wondered if the people of the area were consulted/considered?  Asked to leave?  Provided alternate employments to prawn seed fishing?  There seem to be no easy answers.  On the one hand, is the poaching and habitat loss which caused their numbers to decline in the early 21st century, and on the other are the people of the region, among the poorest and most dispossessed in the country - who are now as good as tiger/crocodile food.  Caught between the tiger and the crocodile and trapped by poverty, there are untold stories of neglect in the Sundarbans.  It seems migration is the only answer?  Many deaths are unreported by the families themselves, as the members may have been involved in fishing or wood gathering that is not allowed, and is therefore illegal.

And then, crocs enter the village ponds too, it seems!

Studies have been done on incidence.  Human–crocodile conflict in the Indian Sundarban: an analysis of spatio-temporal incidences in relation to people's livelihood.

Can you see the tip of our boat in the foreground on the left?  I dont think we were meant to be so close.  Sanjiv found himself almost eyeballing this Saltie through his telephoto lens!

This is a most chilling and horrific recounting of a crocodile death from Dr Annu Jalais' book Forest of Tigers.

“Sweat and Blood: 

The Smell of Tiger Prawn

Once, while we were sitting on the bund with some women prawn seed collectors, Arati began telling me about how a young woman called Kalpana had met her death the previous year. Kalpana collected prawn seed to meet the needs of her small family. She went out each morning at the break of dawn with Arati, Shobita and Nonibala, her three friends, and pulled the net for four to five hours along the riverbanks of her village, Annpur. On the morning of her death she had pulled the net for three hours before being caught by a crocodile. As the crocodile caught her thigh and dragged her into the deeper waters of the river, Kalpana  screamed out in terror and started beating the animal with her net. Her three friends ran to help her. One of them jumped in after her, trying to retrieve her from the murky waters, while the others shouted for help. What follows is keeping as close to Nonibala’s narrative as possible. Kalpana’s frantic gesticulations, cries and loud splashes as she fought with the crocodile pierced through the heavy white mist. After what seemed a horrendously long time they were replaced by the cracking of her net or bones or both. Nonibala was standing there in frozen torpor and then she swooned. When she sat up and desperately scanned the river for signs of life all she saw were bubbles and ripples disappearing into the stilling beige-brown surface of the river. She then noticed the trail of a slowly dulling bright red moving away from her while a soft cloying wetness, the limp end of a sari, washed itself around her legs. It felt as if a sudden soundless shard stabbed her through the heart, leaving her immobilised and speechless, as she realised her friend had been dragged away to the river’s depths by a crocodile. 

The islanders of Annpur came rushing to the riverbank immediately. The news spread fast. This was the fourth person in the locale to meet her death through these water monsters. Some other women had survived losing a limb to sharks. In fear, and to respect the dead woman’s memory, the collectors stopped work the following days.”

Excerpt From Forest of Tigers: People, Politics and Environment in the Sundarbans 

Nature walking

 7th July 2022

WhatsApp conversation with G3.

She:  need to see you.
Me:  Am at mum's,  come anytime.
She: ok.  Tomorrow morning?

Me:  Sure!  

She: 545am?

Me:  Whaaat?  No no...Finish your walk and come, no hurry.

She:  LOL!  Ok 6am - for you.  Come, lets explore estuary!  Send address, will pick you.

Me:  (Pleading) - 630pl?

She - Che(with her trademark duck)  - ok 615! 

 8th July 2022

She sends a reminder at 545 that she's coming shortly.  I am saying wait, I have to have coffee, wear shoes....

Thank you G3, for hustling me into the walk, which I thoroughly enjoyed, along with the giggles over God Knows what!

A herd of buffaloes crossed by lazily, reminding us of Yama and a fancy dress competition where G3's classmate came as Yama, astride a buffalo, if you please.  (yes she brought along the buffalo's owner too!)

The scrub was full of bird call.  Ashy Prinias loudly called from atop the highest branches and flicked their tails.  White-browed bulbuls gurgled incessantly within the scrub.  A couple of green beeeaters hawked.  A Francolin's call pierced he air.  A drongo swooped as it caught the dragonflies that hovered.  In the distance I heard the call of the Laughing Dove, even as there was a screechy flypast of parakeets.  Now neither of us had binoculars, and we only had cellphones.  So we enjoyed the sounds and sights and wondered if that brown bird was a Jerdon's bush lark and was that a Jacobin's cuckoo?  A group of ladies were binocularing into the bushes - peering at what they hoped was a pair of Ioras - but no luck.

We wandered onto the sand.  The tide was receding and we walked and explored the shells among the plastic waste thrown back by the sea.

I found a clean patch of sand, water and shells!  Photograph-worthy indeed.  It was a lovely cloudy day, with a beautiful breeze blowing across.

Among the bonnet shells, clams, bivalves and tower shells was this unusual one - the shell of an Ark clam, I was told later.

Arca zebra - Rohith opined.  What beautiful colours!  Wiki says this is called Turkey Wing clam, after the colouring which resembles the wings of a turkey.  Hmm really?

The insides of it.  I loved the hinge of the mollusc that still opened and shut.  The shell housed a filter feeding, hermaphrodite shallow water mollusc, now long gone.  Dead.

https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Arca-zebra.html

"Diagnostic features: Shell rectangular, elongate (twice as long as wide), equivalve. Sculpture of about 20 to 30 irregular radial ribs, and fine concentric threads that cross-ribs and interspaces. Byssal gap present opposite to hinge, moderately narrow. Hinge long. Colour: creamy white, streaked with reddish to dark brown wavy bands. Periostracum brown and dense on fresh shells, covering colour pattern almost completely "

Seemed to fit perfectly for this shell.  The only problem with this id is that the mollusc is found of the eastern coast of the Americas.  Hmmm

As we walked through the TS, we argued whether a bush was the idlypoo ixora or not.  The estuary side was all cleared up - but the only water birds we saw in large numbers were little egrets.

A Brown land crab fixed us with a stare - the only one that didn't scurry into its hole.  He must be an outlier, a leader I thought to myself. Large fellow.

We admired the cacti, putting out flowers, the lotus pond with the full lotus lifecycle - bud, bloom, unfertilised seed case and fertilised - all gyaan picked up from G3, our Green Goddess Walking Encyclopaedia!

The mighty baobab was flowering and fruiting.  What an amazing tree it is.  Every time I see it, I wonder at it - the size of its trunk, the magnificence of its branches.  I learnt a new term - Pachycauls - trees with disproportionately stout trunks.

We spoke about the ideals of the Theosophical movement and how they were relevant even today - yeah along with the giggles there were some serious discussions too.  I almost missed the rat snake that slithered into the undergrowth, spotted by G3 - me as usual watching the sky and clouds.  It was a large and magnificent specimen.

And so ended my lovely morning as the coucal flew across our paths and the sunbirds flitted above.  Thanks G3 - appa would have been delighted to hear how he touched your lives, as was I.  He enjoyed taking amma to the TS, even though he was not much into "nature".  

How many push ups can you do?

I have been seeing a lot of rock agamas of late.  At Yercaud.

I have seen the males do push ups, as they occupy the highest rock, chase other males, and I also came across females digging holes really deep for the purpose of egg laying.

The videos below are of her digging exploits.

After she was done, she covered the hole and it was fascinating that the sight of the digging could not be detected, so well was it camouflaged.

Our human male gym show-off can be assured that his behaviour is no different from that of the rock agama, and is a deep evolutionary behaviour.  I shall treat it with less scorn and impatience from now on!

Why do rock lizards display varied behaviour?

Study provides rare evidence of why animal signals are relevant in nature

Aathira Perinchery

Lizards may perform comical push-ups, head bobs or suddenly transform from a stunning crimson body colour to a paler shade in just a few seconds, but this is no game. A recent study on male rock agamas published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution shows that such ‘signals’ advertise their quality to prospective mates and competitors.

An animal’s quality or ‘fitness’ — measured by how successfully it obtains mates and reproduces — is an important concept in evolution, showing how well an animal’s ‘strategy’ does in nature. So what do these males do to win females over?

Multiple signals

To find out, Shreekant Deodhar and Kavita Isvaran of Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science studied all behavioural and physical (changes in body colour) signals displayed by 41 wild male rock agamas throughout the lizards’ lifespan (for around 2.5 years) in Andhra Pradesh’s Rishi Valley. They found that males used multiple signals, including head bobs, push-ups and neck flap extensions. Males often used these traits all at once; the frequency of most of these traits increased with the number of females in the vicinity, suggesting that these signals — directed towards females — are maintained by female choice.

“These behaviours may help females judge a male’s quality quickly and more accurately,” says lead author Deodhar. “It is often [energetically] costly to display all these signals together, and if a male does this, it can indicate his quality.”

But there are costs to such flamboyance: it attracts predators and fellow competitors. The scientists found that most of these displays reduced in the presence of predators, proving that predation risk too played a role in the use of signals. Some colour-changing traits could be aimed at multiple receivers including competitors, but detailed experimental studies would be necessary to understand this better, says Isvaran.

Rare evidence

The team also quantified male ‘fitness’, which is usually extremely difficult to measure in the wild. Observing males throughout their lifetimes, Deodhar noted how many females each male had access to per day and ‘breeding tenures’, the time for which males occupied territories during the breeding season (the longer this time, the more the access to females). Males that signalled more had longer breeding tenures; thus these signals are relevant biologically because they also affected lifetime reproductive success.

“The biological relevance of this finding is also exciting because it is often difficult to follow individuals across their lifetimes,” says Isvaran.

Agamas are well suited to answer this question because they have short lifespans, perform very unusual displays and live in open habitats which makes it easy to study their behaviour, she adds.

Chameleons and calotes

This here is a garden lizard, aka onaan aka "bloodsucker"!

Probably called bloodsucker, as its throat turns a bloody red during courtship.

As also this -

Among the teak flowers, high up, on the prowl for butterflies.  

But this here is an Indian chameleon!

Chamaeleo zeylanicus.  Fixing me with a beady stare, as its skin moults.  I did not see that long tongue of his.

Eyes shut.  They have a long tail, almost like a fifth limb.

And this here, is a video of one of the six chameleons seen in the Snake Park, Guindy enclosure.  Watch it, and see those eyes, as they move independent of each other, and the chameleon moves slowly along the tree branch.

Why should we protect snakes?

At the Snake Park.

A Calote on the tree

Rains!

Skyblue clustervine
August rains, unusual but welcome. It was a wet weekend in Hyderabad and a wetter week that followed in Madras. The papers are full of gripes - bad roads, potholes, overflowing drains, Stadia roofs leaking....Man's woes.

But I look around and I see that every other non-human creature around me is celebrating! The dust and pollution has been washed off the leaves, the cactii greeted the rain with more flowers, I heard the croaking of frogs after aeons, and the morning skies were oh so blue.

So here's my photo offering to that wonderful season of monsoon.

There was torrential rain one night, accompanied by all the sound and light effects that go with a thundershower.

I woke up in the morning to the call of sunbirds, koels and mynahs. This was in Shameerpet, near Hyderabad at a place called Celebrity Resorts.

I also awoke later than I would've liked, thanks to hysterical friends who insisted on hearing strange knockings and feeling imaginary rats crawling up their sheets, in the night!

All were much relieved to see daylight, reassured that all was well with the world, and the sun streaming through the trees was most welcome.

This butterfly (that I thought was a Common Crow) in the rain tree was blissfully unaware of all this nightly drama, as it went about its butterfly day briskly and flightily. As Amila pointed out, its actually a Great Eggfly! Take a look at both the links and this picture and you'll see that there are differences in the way the dots are aligned on the wing tips! Thank you Amila!

A female garden lizard basked in the grass, and obligingly held her pose for me. Some metres away, grown men were yelling like boys as they played a tennis ball cricket match as if their life depended on it.

As I explored the rear garden of our cottage, I saw these wasps hard at work. Are those white dots in the middle of the hexagons their eggs, I wondered.

The rains, I assumed, had led to hatching of hordes of these millipede-like arthopods all over the campus.

They just lay there in clumps, crawling all over each other and moving collectively across the fields. Hundred had been squished under car tyres, and it was not a very pleasant sight I tell you.

I have never seen them in clumps like this, and I wondered what they were. Anyone knows?

The bird life at the resort was amazing. The grounds are vast and wild, and I only hope it remains that way - wild I mean. It would be a pity if the grounds are landscaped.

Not wanting to miss out on the company of friends, and unable to convince them to walk with me in the middday sun, I went for an hour's meander, and did regret not having more time.

There were doves, scaly-breasted munias, mynahs, jungle babblers, bee eaters and sunbirds by the dozens. Red-vented bulbuls called out from everywhere, and I heard coucals and even peacocks!

Strangely, I did not hear a single barbet nor did I hear tree pies. I heard orioles and I caught a flash of scarlet - could it have been a minivet?
Scaly-breasted munias

They were all over the resort, and a first-time for me! I love the stout bills of the munias.
They were a gregarious lot, and I saw flocks like this on trees and in the tall grass. My most memorable moment was coming upon a group of them having a bath in the rain puddle. I delighted in their pleasure, as they whirred around and flew up and down from the nearby shrubs, the whirr of their wings so loud in the quietness.

This one looked busy picking at all the seeds in the grass heads. Everytime a munia landed on a grass, it would bend over with the weight, but they hung on...yoyoing up and down!

So entranced was I with the munias that I almost missed this purple sunbird that came and perched right over my head!

Back in Madras, and the rains continued. A wet Kingfisher sat on the Millingtonia outside my window, waiting for its wings to dry.

The rains also brought a large number of damselflies to my balcony. Strange, delicate creatures and I watched them flit from plant to plant, with their slender bodies bending, almost to form a circle.

I thought this one is a Golden dartlet. Amila says (see comment below) that its probably an Agriocnemis. Hmmm.

I used the Macro setting in my Panasoic Lumix digicam. Not bad, huh?


As I watched the dartlet, I was startled by this grasshoppper that whirred in front of my face, and landed on the leaf ahead. We eyeballed each other for a while, before it took off again for the next plant.




A crow called excitedly overhead, and I wondered if this grasshoppper was going to be lunch. It didn't. It came indoors that evening, and explored our apartment at leisure. It has a strange mannerism of using the foreleg to clean its antenna, and I must say it was more entertaining to watch than the cricket on the telly.

(By the way, I am sick of the over commercialism, greed and ridiculous marketing that is happening through the cricket telecast...impossible to watch.)

Tigers & butterflies

Arun was in Tadoba, for a weekend trip, along with his camera.

He writes:, "The forest was unbelieveably brilliant green , with the rain everyday . The rivers and streams were a raging torrent and a number of 'roads'/paths were underwater. Very often we would have to turn back and look for another place to cross. Sometimes the passage would be one-way(the water level having risen by the time we returned). Birdwatching was limited , notable being Monarch flycatcher sitting in its nest in full view at a height of about 15 feet. And a number of Streak-throated swallows."

I enjoyed being there, via these lovely pictures. Enjoy!

Arun's TADOBA recce - mid monsoon 2010

The "ambitious" keelback and the climbing perch

Baby olive keelbacks got eaten by a kingfisher at Vedanthangal, and now a checkered keelback is caught on camera trying to eat a humungous fish, at IIT, in front of forty kids on a birdwatching outing!

Read about it here!  Keelback steals the show

So many questions from this incident.

What was the snake?

A chequered keelback was the general opinion.  Its a common water snake supposedly and non-poisonous. But, folks, and this is an important but, it is an agressive, bad-tempered snake!!

I'm glad it was busy with the fish when the kids came across it!!  Its bite can be quite painful, and it also does not let go until its jaws are forced open.  Yeesh, all that does not sound very nice.

Chequered Keelback Snake
Originally uploaded by Naseer Ommer

What was the fish?  

A climbing perch, opined some.  I had heard of these fish, which supposedly "walk" on land, and IIT does have them.  Reportedly these fish can survive out of water for a while, and move with the aid of their fins and tail!

Why was the snake unable  to eat it?

Preston Ahimaz said, "In the case of snakes, the jaw bones are hinged with elastic ligaments which simply stretch to enable the jaws to swing way beyond any bone pivot would permit."

So, despite this elasticity that all snakes have, the keelback could not swallow this fish, and gave up after an hour, reported the observers.

Maybe it was not a full-grown keelback?

PS:  It seems to make a habit of biting off more than it can handle.  A search on Flickr, revealed various pictures of the snake with a huge fish in its mouth!!

An encounter at Vedanthangal

This article is linked in I and the Bird #98.

White-throated kingfisher - Photo by Mr Ramanan

This is a White-throated kingfisher, common in my neighbourhood and familiar to me.

Less than a foot, with a beak that looks like its too heavy for its body, and with a cackling and long cry.

(Even as I write this post, I can hear it calling outside my window)

Olive Keelback / Atretium schistosum
Originally uploaded by kamalnv / Ophiographer

This is an Olive Keelback, or so I was informed.   (I found this picture on Flickr.  Do take a look at kamalnv's other snake photos. He calls himself an ophiographer - someone who loves to photograph snakes!!)

The olive keelback is  unfamiliar to me. Found in freshwater  water bodies like ponds, common in south India, and maybe a foot and a half when full grown.  

Mama keelback lays eggs - about 10-30 of them - generally between January and April, and the baby snakes are half a foot long or so.

What do you think would happen in an encounter between bird and snake? 

I would bet on the snake as victor wouldn't you?  But Mr Ramanan was witness to an encounter where the bird just decimated the snake, well in an indirect sort of way.  

Read on...

Mr Ramanan recounts,

27th March 2009:  Vedanthangal sanctuary visit.  1:45 pm.  3 MNS members, sitting on a bench under a tree, lining the tank bund.  A white-breasted/(throated) kingfisher lands a branch some 20 ft away.

The bird was looking intently at the crevices formed between the stones studding the waterside of the bund. Suddenly it made a sharp dive towards the bund, caught a wriggling animal and flew back to its perch where it started battering the struggling animal to either stun or kill it. 

We thought that the victim was a skink, but when the bird sat still for a brief moment we could see that it had caught a small snake. 

Photo by Mr Ramanan

After some time the kingfisher flew away with the snake still in its mouth. Thinking that the show was over two of us moved away while the third stayed back to rest for some more time. When he rejoined us after about 30 minutes he mentioned that the bird had appeared twice more and caught a snake each time!

We returned to the bench after another 45 minutes or so. A local man sitting there informed us that during our absence the kingfisher had caught three more snakes while one snake which had emerged from the crevice when the bird was not around managed to survive. He showed us this snake which turned out to be a freshly hatched olive keelback. It was being mobbed by black ants which were trying to eat the yolk material still adhering to its skin. We took some photos to help in identification. 

When we looked up the kingfisher was there once again! In the next 30 minutes it caught two more snakes and one snake managed to survive thanks to the bird’s absence. After 4 PM the bird did not appear again.

The mother olive keelback seems to have laid its clutch in the crevice formed by the dressed stones lining the bund. And the bird seems to be aware of the hatchlings coming out one after another. In 130 minutes or so the kingfisher had caught 8 snakes and taken them away, probably to its nest, whereas only two snakes managed to survive. It is possible that the bird had caught some more snakes before our arrival, and also a few snakes might have moved away to survive. 

Mr Ramanan further elaborated that this is the nesting time for the whitebreasted kingfisher, and during that period, in order to feed its young, it looks voraciously for food.  It is not like the shrike, which kind of build a larder of dead prey.

Now this report, generated a lot of dialogue and sharing among MNS members.  While newbies like me, went wow! and amazing! etc etc, other senior members had more experiences to add!!

Preston Ahimaz recalled that, "I once saw a white-throat pick up baby squirrels from a coconut palm where their mother was depositing them, one at a time, from her nest in our kitchen after the nest was disturbed. " 

Sripad wondered whether the varied diet of the KF could be a reason for its "success as a species?  What I would like to know is, do other species of Kingfisher like the Stork Billed KF and the Pied KF follow the eating habits of the White Breasted KF. I think if they did, even their numbers would be as high as the WB KF. I have only seen the Stork Billed KF once,
early last year in Chennai.It would be physically difficult for a Small Blue to catch crabs and skinks. The Pied KF seems to have evolved the hovering ability to exclusively catch fish,there is no  doubt that they are only fish eaters . 

For me, it also explained why the KFs are common around my home, where there is no water body and no fish.  They love my neighbour's garden - probably feasting on all the creepy crawlies there.

The olive keelback snake is one of the more benign snakes, and does not go around biting, supposedly, and also eats mosquito larvae.  

Arun's wry observation that they say that "the WBK is neither a King, (they are so common) nor a fisher, (they eat umpteen things other than fish)!" is an apt sign-off!

About Vedanthangal

Its a bird sanctuary about 80 kms from Madras/Chennai, off the Chinglepet-Trichy highway.  There is a central water body, with the bund all around lined with viewing towers and benches.  Water birds like open-billed storks, painted stork, cormorants and some pelicans roost here, though Nelapattu in Andhra Pradesh  is more popular with the pelicans.

Read more Vedanthangal stories here.

Read Charlie's (of 10000birds.com) account here.