E7's record bested

E7 was a bar-tailed godwit which was recorded as flying some 11,570 kms non-stop from Alaska to new Zealand! If you thought that was a lot, then the record has been beaten this year!

11,655 kms is this years' record for non-stop flying. Same route. Same species.

Birds Fly More Than 7,000 Miles Nonstop, Study Shows - washingtonpost.com

Gill and his colleagues outfitted 23 bar-tailed godwits with satellite transmitters that periodically sent a signal detected by a satellite.

Female godwits are substantially larger than males. A one-ounce, battery-powered device was surgically implanted in them, with the antennas exiting their bodies just beneath the tail. The smaller males got a solar-powered device weighing less than half an ounce strapped to their backs.

Nine of the transmitters functioned well enough on the southward flight to provide evidence of sustained, nonstop flight.

One female flew directly from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska to New Zealand in eight days. Other birds either landed short of their destination in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, or the signal was lost near those places. Four were later identified in New Zealand by leg bands.

The birds weigh no more than 1.5 pounds when they leave. Half of that is fat, which they burn off completely during the flight. Some of the males may have lost their transmitters in flight as their bodies shrank.

The starting and stopping places are not chosen by chance. The Kuskokwim Delta is rich in food supply, which the birds must consume in prodigious quantities before leaving. The wintering site in New Zealand is largely free of predators. When the birds arrive in early October, they molt almost immediately.

The birds leave from late August to late September, departing only with favorable tail winds. How much of their journey is wind-aided is something the researchers hope to determine by overlaying the birds' routes with day-by-day meteorological data.

A major mystery is how high the birds fly. Gill said that since word of his research has spread, researchers on boats in the Pacific have told him of seeing godwits 3,000 feet high and "smoking by at deck level."

PS: If you do read the Washington Post article, check out the comments as well - some are intsructional, and some are pretty funny - lots of Palin jokes, what with the Alaska connection.

Butterflies

If you spot a butterfly and dont know what it is, these are two great reference points I found.  

Ryan Brookes and Naseer Ommer have each got a wonderful set of photos, which they have labelled as well.

I saw a red and black butterfly yesterday in our garden, and checked out these two sets.  Aha, there it is, I thought, a Common Mormon! Only to be informed by the detail that what I saw may be a Crimson Rose which is what the Mormon likes to pretend to be?!!  All very confusing!

Why are there so many kites in Bangalore?

Just back from a quick trip to Bangalore. The reason-to-go was a wedding in the family. What I did a lot was spend time in a car - a nice, comfy black car actually, much better than any cab I could have taken - as I went from one part of the city to another. So, an hour from the station to Indira Nagar, almost two hours from there to Banashankari, getting lost from there to Jayanagar, before I headed back to the station.

Okay, okay, it was not all on the same day, and in the middle of that I did have my auto rides in the city as well, but you get the point. You dont? What I'm trying to say was that I was on the streets a lot of the time, and as we were stuck in traffic with nothing to do, it gave me more than enough time to stare at the skies, trees and buildings all around!

And as a result, I saw kites in the air, kites roosting on the cell station towers, kites sitting on water tanks, coconut trees and the advertising hoardings, you know I think I saw more kites than crows in Bangalore this time! Black kites, Brahminy kites and I think a black-shouldered one as well. I cursed since I had not taken my binocs (what kind of a bad birder am I?) and neither did I have a camera. I did have some silk sarees though, not that it helped.

So, why are there so many of these raptors in Baangalore? I wonder if it is to do with the stony nature of the terrain, lots of building activity, and vermin being displaced from their hidey holes. Or is it the garbage?

Its not only me, even the recent cricket match saw Spectators of a different kind

And Charlie, the better birder that he is, had his camera on the ready to click this feeding black kite

Shall pack that binocs the next time, I promise.

The great horned owl at Nanmangalam

My first encounter with the Great Horned Owl, GHO or Bubo bubo was not so long ago at Nanmangalam.

Mr Ramanan, a veteran of many a GHO encounter, was there again recently, and captured this magnificent picture above.  These large birds are quite something else.   They breed post-monsoon, so maybe another set of chicks we shall soon see?  We had seen some chicks during the bird race, earlier this year.  Quite grown they were by then.  Read about it here.  

Recounting an interesting story, Mr Ramanan narrated how, in the early days there were no roads around Nanmangalam, and the Velachery roads were all full of potholes, and in some places a mud track as well.  The Nanmangalam scrub was not that thick either, and the planted eucalytus was also still young.

Not familiar with the ways of the Bubo bubo, learning was by experience, which included getting his ear clipped by this large owl!  Using the help of a shepherd boy, Mr Ramanan would scramble up to the nest of the GHO, to check and record the growth of the chicks.  

While inspecting the nest for recording the growth of the chick, the adult GHO clipped my ear! From that day onwards I used to wear a helmet whenever I approached the nest!  May be my regular presence and the fact that I was not a threat to the chick, the adult bird became some what friendly.  When ever I was alone or with MNS members or with lot of birds enthusiasts from abroad, the bird immediately with loud calls of "bubo bubo" approached us."

The adult that clipped his ear!

Through his numerous visits, he has seen the "broken wing" and the threat displays of the GHO.  Hopefully, one day I will see this fascinating behaviour.

What the owl does when it feels that its nest is under threat is that it lands on the ground some distance from the threat, acts as if its wing is broken and scurries along the ground, leading the threat away from the nest.  When it feels that the prey/stranger is far enough away from the nest, it takes off and flies back to the nest.

Amazing isnt it!

A broken wing display

Then there is the "threat" display, where the GHO would call its mate and then the two birds would puff their feathers out spread their wings, and look as menacing as possible, making threatening sounds, and swaying back and forth on their legs.

The threat display

Mr Ramanan recalls that he has seen three consecutive broods of the same pair of GHOs, over the span of a few years, and once also saw two pairs breeding together!

I sincerely hope the GHOs continue to survive and thrive in the Nanmangalam quarries.

The black buck and the tortoise - another GNP tale

One is fleet of foot, full of grace and with horns to kill for (or so it seems).

The other is endearingly slow, moves clumsily and deliberately and makes good soup(?)

Both are typical to this part of the world, endangered now, done in by our greed, and both are found in the Guindy National Park.  The GNP site claims there are 400 blackbucks in the sanctuary.  But there are rumblings among the naturalists that this number is far exaggerated.

Sorry, but I just cannot fathom how anyone could go around killing the black buck, or any protected animal for that matter, for sport.  What can be so sporty about hunting?  How can so uneven a contest be called a sport?  And did anybody ask the black buck whether it wanted to "play" in the first place?  

And the star tortoise has its own problems of being too endearing.  May I have one as a pet?  Every few months I read an article about how a hundred of them were seized by customs in Patna, another 1,000 on a Singapore-bound flight, another 600 at Kuppam railway station...

They dont do well as pets, most die from over feeding or wrong feeding, too much water, too little water, but still there are websites that persist in their trade, giving you tips on how you can care for them!  I came across a blog that giggles about her dad having bought these two start tortoises and then fed it Panadol?!  There are photos as well.

Yes, we will be in conflict with the animal world, as we try to survive and improve our lives.  But this is not survival, this is greed dont you think?  And selfishness.

The peacock - what a bird!

Enjoy!

Great pictures of our national bird, from Mr Ramanan, taken at Kanha.  Pavo cristatus.

I just read the peahen weighs about 4 kgs and the peacock in breeding plumage weighs six.  So, those feathers probably weigh 2 kgs?!

I cant decide which is my favourite picture - the train of feathers or the fan of feathers!  Tell me what you think!

Update - 11th November 2008

Here's one more picture that Mr Ramanan sent along, in order to complete the trilogy in a manner of speaking!

He comments wryly that when the photo-op comes along, its usually when the lighting is far from ideal.  But this picture below is quite spectacular, is it not?  Do click on the photo and enjoy a full-screen view.

Of crows and tigers - a tale from GNP

October 5th 2008:

Morning Guindy National park with MNS.

Through the southern entrance, rather than the western entrance which we used last time.

And we see tigers - hundreds of them, blue ones!  

Well that's what some one in their infinite wisdom named these butterflies - Blue Tigers.  Why? There's nothing tiger looking about them.  Strange.

There were also Glassy Tigers in plenty, and GNP for me was transformed by these lovely butterflies flitting from branch to branch and tree to tree, all over the park.

The Common India Crow is what this lovely brown butterfly is called.  Common, I can understand, but crow?!

I learnt that its the butterfly season, and I just soaked in the sight of all these butterflies, and the fragrance of the Divi divi flowers, which they all seemed to love.

There were little Pierrots (those small white butterflies) and the Common Grass yellow (little yellow ones) as well.  And though the white-browed bulbuls called noisily, the koels sang and the parakeets screeched, it was a butterfly morning for me.

Sekar found these lovely blooms of the Sickle Bush. Dichrostachys cinerea - a small tree with these interesting yellow and pink flowers.  Strangely, these vivid colours did not seem to attract the butterflies, or was I just imagining? 
And the Pink Cassia blooms filled the tree.  There are so many Cassia types aren't there?  

The weaver ants were busy as well...  Check out the Wikipedia entry on Weaver Ants - their nest building, or should I stay stitching, is quite fascinating.  I remember we saw one of these at close quarters at Penchalakona, and the ants themselves are large and menacingly red.

A weaver ant nest I think
Bhanu was very excited on seeing these yellow flowers - and muttered (more to herself I think) that this was Gmelina asiatica, a herb with lots of uses I think.  Some googling revealed that this was also called the Asian Bushbeech and mulkumizh in Tamil.  I hope I'm right!

More tigers!  As is evident, I coudn't get enough of them!

The tree is called Inky maram - because the make a dye/ink from it! 

A tiger and a sloth bear have a conversation

Read Shekar Dattatri's retelling of this Wow Moment, as he calls it!


Like something out of The Jungle Book!

Friends of Adyar Poonga

I attended a Friends of Adyar Poonga meeting this afternoon - so I think I qualify as "friend". (Nowadays, have you noticed, this "friend" is a very important concept. So I am friends with so-and-so in Facebook, I could be a friend of the Chennai Museum, or part of the elite Friends of Dakshinchitra.)

Anyways, for those of you wondering what Adyar Poonga is in the first place, its about 58 acres of wasteland, which the government has decide to restore back to nature. No, no that does not mean that all male citizens of our great metro can go and use it to answer their calls of nature, nor does it mean that we can throw our natural (and unnatural) rubbish there. No, it means that the TN government has finally seen the light and ordered that the Adyar Estuary, creek and wetlands around it need to be improved from the sewage pond and garbage dump they are currently, into some sort of eco park.

Thankfully, they got in some outsiders - Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants, all the way from Auroville, who have worked doggedly, enthusiastically and cooperatively.

This is the current status, as was shared with us at the meeting -

• Finally, they have been able to get the officials to cooperate and block the sewage entering the marshland and the stormwater drains in the neighbourhood
• The colonies around are now not throwing their waste and garbage into the 58 acres!
• A freshwater pond has been excavated, and has already benefitted from the rains, and has water.
• Tree planting - only native species for the most part - has begun.
• Educational boards and wildlife exhibitions are being hosted
• There is a semi-permanent display on the plans for the area.  (Do go and take a look, a lot of thought and planning has gone into it.)
• There are talks on with the large corporates and commercial buildings around to provide treated grey water for the development of the greenery.

So, what did I do?  Just listened actually, for the most part, and fed off some of the enthusiasm and optimism that was in the air regarding the future of the project.  Oh yes, I made an important "contribution" - I suggested that since they were not giving us a ration card or a voter's id, details like Father's Name could be dropped from the enrolling form!!

Next meeting on Oct 26th.  I hope to attend if I am in town.

PS:  Kailash of MNS pointed out some Large pied wagtails which was my first time seeing this wagtail! Thanks Kailash!    

Red-vented bulbuls

A non-descript looking light. What's it doing in a nature blog you think. Well, it seemed to have caught the fancy of red-vented bulbuls in Madras!
Here's what Geetha had to say:

"The bulbul has made a nest (for the fourth time in the same place) in the verandah my relative's house (in Karpagam
Gardens, Adyar) above a brass lampshade. It is seen feeding its three chicks with banyan figs and singapore cherries.
Apparently, the birds were very wary and shy at the time of the first nesting, but have become bolder with each new nesting tryout. At the moment, they are totally fearless and carry on their busy schedule irrespective of humans watching them at close quarters! Wonder whether it is the same pair or descendents of the original pair! At night, one of the parent birds sleeps in the nest along with the chicks. They are not disturbed when the lamp is switched on in the late evenings."

All the pictures courtesy Geetha and Jaikumar.

Now part of I and the Bird #106 - 4th Anniversary edition.

A Kaziranga flashback

Mr Ramanan has sent these wonderful photos from his 2007 trip to Kaziranga.   You can click on any of them to enjoy the "bigger picture"!

Mr Ramanan recounts that the trip was organised by a photographic buddy from Guwahati, and the group was a bunch of photographing enthusiasts.  The day they landed in Guwahati, there was a bomb blast at the railway station, and this led to a feeling of unease and insecurity all through their trip.  But in wildlife terms, it was a fantastic and productive experience!

I haven't been to Kaziranga, and that has to be righted some time soon.  Until then, these voyeuristic pleasures will have to suffice, tales of other travellers and pictures too.  Its one of those interesting places - designated as a reserve forest more than a hundred years ago, home to the Indian one-horned rhino, a strong tiger reserve, an important birding area, and most unfortunately, also home to many poachers.

The Bramhaputra regularly floods the grasslands and so, the animals face a threat from the furies of nature along with that of the poachers.

This picture is my favourite!  I imagined the baby rhino  saying, "Dont come any closer, or my mommy will not be amused"!

And the one below... look at the identical "armour-plated" backsides, and the small ears sticking out in the mother and baby!  Rhinos are solitary creatures, unlike elephants, though mothers and babies can stay together for something like four years.



Kalij PheasantThis black-breasted Kalij Pheasant is supposedly common in the north-east, and this looks like an adult male.

This red jungle fowl is seen down south as well.  Its rather brightly coloured isn't it?

Red jungle fowl

Wild buffaloThere's no shortage of buffalos in Madras, but they dont have the magnificent (and menacing) horns of their wild counterparts!


A feeding hog deerI have not seen this deer variety.  Its peculiarity is that when it runs it does so, with its head down, like a hog, rather than up like a deer!  Also, they dont flee as a herd, but tend to scatter when alarmed.  I think they are primary food for the tigers of Kaziranga.

The elephant grass could grow to ten feet in height, and you need to be on an elephant to catch a view.

Sheila's 2008 trip diary

WWF had organized a camp at the Kaziranga National Park between 12 and 16 of March, 2008. The camp was attended by 12 people, including 4 from MNS. Accomodation for the first night was at Baguri and the following three nights at the Wild Grass Resort. The park itself is spread over 430 sq km, sandwiched between the mighty Brahmaputra to the North and the Guwahati-Jorhat National Highway to the South. It is divided into 4 ranges – 

• the Eastern range at Agoratoli,
  
•  the Western Range at Baguri, 
  
• Kohora covering the central area and 
  
• Burhapahar range which is an additional area attached to the park. 
  

Vegetation is mostly open grassland with a few pockets of tropical semi-evergreen and deciduous forests. Kaziranga is an IBA and birding was plentiful with a number of birds flocking around the magnificent flowers of the Red Silk Cotton (Bombax) trees.

DAY 1 (Mar 12) : was spent entirely on travel, reaching Kaziranga at 7pm.
The rest of the days started early. The park is open at 6.30 to 12 noon, and 2 to 5pm in the afternoons, and accordingly we would leave at 6am after tea, return to the resort for lunch and once again leave post-lunch.

DAY 2 was a jeep safari. The sighting of the first rhino many miles away was exciting and we all strained our binocs on them but by the second day we had seen so many of them that even one at close quarters did not merit a second glance!
Weighing at 2 tons the rhino is shortsighted and hard of hearing and relies entirely on its sense of smell. We came across a rhino which kept coming towards our jeep much to our discomfort, and ran away only when it was close enough to smell us, which was quite close! The other jeep had a close encounter with a rhino and its calf. An interesting aspect I learnt about the rhino is that it’s a creature of set habits, follows well-worn trails and even defecates at the same spot every time!

DAY 3 was an early morning elephant safari. An group of 6-8 elephants line up and take you into the tall elephant grass to see the rhino up close . We saw 6 to 7 rhinos, some with calves, looking on disinterestedly while we made use of the photo-op. We also saw herds of barasingha and hog deer and a couple of fawns scampering around the legs of their mothers. Mother and baby made a beautiful picture. There is a thin layer of ground mist in the mornings and in the distance the Karbi Anglong and Mikir Hills lend beauty to the whole scene.
After a sumptious breakfast back at the resort, we head off for a birding walk in the tea estates bordering the forest. Many colourful birds were sighted. Noteworthy among them were the flamboyantly red-coloured Crimson Sunbird glistening in the sunlight, flocks of Scarlet Minivets flitting around on trees, the loud red-breasted parakeets, Daurian Redstart, blue-throated barbets constantly calling out, a pair of Verditer flycatchers and stonechats. Earlier we had seen blue bearded bee-eaters and a large and colourful stork-billed kingfisher with its huge beak posed for a picture!
After lunch we set off on another walk. Around dusk when we returned our driver gesticulated wildly at us to take another path. Later we saw there was a herd of wild elephant very close to the path earlier taken.

DAY 4 We set off for the Eastern range 20 kms away. This is a mix of grassland and open forest and we finally see the Brahmaputra here. Earlier a large and magnificent Great Indian Hornbill flew languidly over us and left us speechless! Other noteworthy sightings were the Long-Billed Vultures, Northern lapwing, pairs of green billed malkoha and the highlight was otters, and Pallas Fishing Eagles training/ weaning (?)a sub-adult, creating a racket in the process.
Mammal sightings on the trip were : rhino, wild buffalo, elephant, wild boar, hog deer, swamp deer, rhesus macaque, hoary bellied squirrel.

Here are some of Sheila's pictures