Travels along the Thamirabarani - Day 2 - Manjolai, Manimuthar and a forgotten golf ground

Continued from here.

Day 2: 18 April 2023

By Gayathri R

(My comments in italics)

After a good night’s sleep, we started our day early at 5:15 AM. 

This Then Vazhapazham bunch - rapidly vanished across the days we were there, and I plead guilty to eating many of them.

Leaving the campus.

We had Mr. Thanikaivel and Mr. Isakki to guide us along. We were split into groups in 5 cars and set off to Maanjolai, which is around 1162 metres above sea level. 

Manimuthar waterfalls - a beautiful view in the start while climbing the hill.

 

With the goal of finding the Varai Aadu or the Nilgiri Tahr, we stopped at a place where we could see steep cliff faces. Few were lucky enough to spot some movement of the Tahr.

 

Then we halted at another place consisting of the unique wood Savannah forests, which falls under the Kurinji region. Mr. Thanikaivel explained us the different landscapes and how temperature and vegetation changes with the elevation.

 

It seems this region has more than 50 endemic species. We were able to spot Red Spurfowl, Painted Spurfowl and Grey Junglefowl on the roads. Also we noticed Lemongrass planted along the roadside.

There were beautiful trees and a Bellerica as well.

To be identified

Maanjolai is a small peaceful village with rolling tea plantations which was a sight to behold. We had tea and rusk in a local shop. 

 

Photo by Sagarika - of the peacock that insisted on being photographed by all of us, complete resplendent dance as well.  However many times I see the peacock, it never ceases to amaze and astonish.  Goodness!  The colours, the designs, the sheer size! 

Here we spent some time birding in the nearby tea farm. 

We also stopped to see the enigmatic Nilgiri Langurs on a far away tree. Few of us were lucky enough to spot them right out of our car windows on the way back. 

 

Photo by Sagarika - She saw the langurs from the car, I think?  I saw them far away in the canopy but well seen through the binoculars.  This one was obviously disgusted with us...

...this one observed us.  Seemed more philosophical.  The Nilgiri langurs Semnopithecus johnii - are so handsome and majestic.  A joy to watch.  Their habitats are destroyed, and this is the biggest threat to them.  Photo by Sagarika

 

Photo by Sagarika On the way, we saw the Draco/ Flying Lizard on a tree. It seems it glides through trees using their "wing-like, patagial membranes supported by elongated thoracic ribs to generate lift forces." - Wikipedia

There was a lot of time and gesticulating needed before we all saw it, so well camouflaged was it, until it openened the patagium - probably there was a female around.  Many in the group were seeing these agamid lizards for the first time, and we were all awestruck at the spotting by Thanikavel, given how well camouflaged it was - he spotted it from the moving vehicle!  I was even more amazed at those who got photographs of it.

 

 

Kakachi

Our next stop was a place named Kakachi which was a golf ground during the British time. The grassland was surrounded by Eucalyptus trees.

There was a waterbody which hosted a variety of butterflies and odonates.  

More of it, on our return.

A fabulous tree - from the car - what was it?

 

 

 We sighted the Crested-serpent Eagle soaring in the sky.

We crossed Nalumukh and were on the way to Kuthuraivetti. 

 

All these villages had a post-office, ration shop and houses of people working in the tea estates.

 

But at Oothu, we were told some higher authority is coming and we weren’t allowed beyond. So we raced back to Kakachi.  (And in our vehicle Lyra was a very annoyed and indignant little lady, about this turning back - and she made sure that we heard her views, which were all entertaining and endearing!)

And here is an interesting story from Oothu from Indian Chai Stories - 

Catching the evening sun a stream of yellow oozed from the freshly dug earth.  A light drizzle had started, turning the yellow lava into tiny rainbows.  Unmindful of getting wet and the fact that it was time to go home, the militant Manjolai workforce started tearing at the ground with bare hands.  Then using stakes, staves and other implements, which they had brought along to intimidate us, they went into a frenzy turning the earth over to seek for treasure.  I looked across at Sylvester who, with a wry smile, said, “I think we won’t have any more problems finding people for digging.”

Gold coins, with Tippu Sultan’s emblem emblazoned on both sides, spilled from the damp earth.  Amber and mother-of-pearl ornaments too were being unearthed around us.  Soon hurricane lanterns and large sugar gunnysacks appeared and the field began resembling something from out of a fairy-tale.  Workers in bandages descended from dispensaries.  Others in lungis rushed from their homes and many came from as far away as Kutheravetti, the remote outer division of Oothu.  Later politicians and bureaucrats insisted that anything under the ground belonged to the Government of India.  The workers averred.  They said these blessings fell from the sky and, with encouragement from Sylvester, touched my feet.  It was as though I was responsible for their windfall!

Back at Kakachi, and had our lip-smacking packed lunch of Puliyotharai(tamarind rice), Til seeds thogaiyal and boiled eggs. 

It was a picnic lunch like no other - an amazing experience.  Quiet environs, filled with birdsong, sun and our laughter. 

Now, my friend Raji on return, discovered that the yellu thogaiyal was a Tirunelveli specialty - Ulundhu Sadham-Ellu Thuvaiyal is a thing.  Padhu's Kitchen has a recipe - if you are interested  - it is very tasty.

After lunch, we wandered around - Sara and Latha stretched on the grasses, Sagarika searched for her favourite dragonflies, Shashank, well, just wandered off, Chitra led/minded the boys on a nature walk, but she emerged without the boys, having lost them somewhere inside...and I just did some solitary exploring around the bungalow.

 

A grand old tree stood erect, with wildflowers at its base.

One of the said wildflowers.

There was the scat of some creature, which had eaten a whole lot of fruit,

and these speckled leaves added a gorgeousness to the floor. 

We spent good amount of time exploring this place. We spotted the Square-tailed bulbul, Long-tailed Southern Treepie/ White Bellied Treepie, the Racket-tailed Drongo making all sorts of mimics. 

Gayathri has omitted the most important event of the God Knows bird.  Just as the boys emerged from the trees onto the erstwhile golfcouse grasslands, they alarmed a bird (or so I think) that shot out of the canopies, and Aditya in a flash took a picture as it flashed past our group - we were facing the boys and so it appraoched us and vanished behind us in a blink.  It looked tailless, a bit like a moorhen in flight and some ruddyish colour with a greyish head.  What was it, we called out to the approaching boys, they replied, we couldn't decipher their reply, we asked again, they were closer and yelled even louder "God Knows!".  Ah interesting id.  The boys took a look at Aditya's photo, showed the wiser lot and it was identified as the Mountain Imperial Pigeon - a lifer for me.  On return and uploading on iNaturalist, the id was changed to Malabar or Nilgiri Imperial Pigeon - Ducula cuprea, the species has been divided.  Our sighting can be seen here.  

 Sagarika's eye picked up some interesting photos, which can be seen here.  After everyone was found, with much calling out, (Vijay out of sheer desperation even told one of the villagers walking to Kakachi village to send anyone he sees back!)  we bundled back in the vehicles to head down.

We stopped back at the bakery in Maanjolai to collect the tasty rusks ordered. We heard beautiful call of the Iora, spotted wild boars and marveled at the peacock dance which seemed like it had put up a special show for us. Other species spotted were the Malabar Giant Squirrel, Black Eagle, Great Hornbill, Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Dark-fronted Babbler and Indian Blackbird. 

Manimuthar dam

People in one of the cars have also seen a monitor lizard crossing the road. The roads were bumpy but we had good chit-chat and fruitful discussions in the car. We hung around at the Manimuthar waterfalls while coming back.

We admired the view and took a lot of pictures!

We also  had a good time touring the inside and outside of the Manimuthar dam. 

 

 Our driver Ajit talked about this end and that end of the dam, finally took us to that end - where we had to climb up these steps to get to the top.  We all made it to the top, and what a view!

 

I wondered what would have been the ecology before the dam?  Was this also scrub? But the scene was calming and peaceful, and we were the only ones up there.

 

The water level was low, and around the edges, grasses grew.  There was a gentle breeze, and somehow we were all shushed.  We sat on the dam wall, each staring around and drinking in the view and the silence.

 

On one side, these cliffs stood, moving into shadow as the sunset.  (Photo by Sagarika)

The sunset was magical, as flocks of cormorants flew past, on their way to their roosting site.  Many of the group had gone down to explore the innards of the dam.  A few of us stayed back and enjoyed these moments. (Photo by Sagarika)

In a few moments, the surrounding mountains were dark and the magic emptied from the sky. (Photo by Sagarika)

(Photo by Sagarika) Overhead, there were atleast a hundred swifts, circling and calling, making some formations, dissolving and making other formations.  Shashank identified them as Little Swifts - it was the first time I heard the Swifts calling, so low were they.  And a pair of Brahminy Kites came and settled on the cement pillars of the dam walkway, probably their night perches.  They did not appreciate our presence, and kept taking off and returning, in the hope that we would leave, i guess.  We did leave thereafter and headed back down and to the cars.

A day well spent, we had our dinner and went to sleep, waiting for another wonderful day. 

Day 3 here.

Travels along the Thamirabarani - Day 1. Tirupudaimarathur temple and bird conservation centre

 

Here is our trip report wonderfully summed up by Gayathri.  Italicised comments are my additions and can be ignored, as they are usually some frivolous details that are important to me.   

THE THAMIRABARANI LANDSCAPE | MNS TRIP REPORT | 17th APRIL to 20th APRIL 2023 | By Gayathri R

The perennial Thamirabarani has significant environmental and cultural importance to southern Tamil Nadu. It is born in Agasthyamalai, also called the Podhigai Hills and is 130 km long. Our aim was to explore Ainthinai in the Thamirabarani region which denotes the five geographical landscapes– Kurinji(mountainous regions), Mullai(forests), Marudam(cropland), Paalai(desert) and Neithal(seashore). 

As I was keen on exploring the Tan Porunai (Sangam name for the Thamirabarani) landscape, I quickly hopped on to the trip with MNS. We were a set of 21 people and the journey started on 16th April 2023 with the night train from Chennai to Tirunelveli. 

Latha, Sheila and I were in one compartment, and got stuck with an ace snorer, who spent his waking time on the phone and sleeping time snoring.  

Day 1: 17 April 2023–

Midnight rendezvous - Raji was to get on at Trichy at midnight.  Station comes, train stops;  Sheila - who is in the lower berth - goes to investigate, no sign of Raji.  I call Raji - and she says they just announced the platform, and she was coming.  Earlier in the night we had asked the TTR and he said the stop was for 3 minutes.  I panicked - where is this friend of mine?  Was she going to miss the train?  From the other platform?  Finally we saw her in the distance!  But she was not hurrying!! turns out that the train had arrived 10 minutes early,, and so the stop was 13minutes!  So she did board and did make the trip, yay!  Raji and I were on a trip together after years!  She was with the boys Samrudh and Aditya, and we went back to sleep for the few hours until daybreak.

At 6:30, on the morning of 17th April 2023, a couple of us joined the group at the Tirunelveli junction. My eagerness transformed into a feeling of warmth once I met with the bubbling (and babbling) group of people. As a first stop, we went to catch a glimpse of the mighty Thamirabarani, as suggested by Ajith, a young lad who was our driver and a support for the trip. 

The multi-coloured painted bridge that we all took pictures of, as we had our first glimpse of the river that defined and accompanied our trip.  

We malingered as we are wont to do - watching the dragonflies, taking selfies and just being delighted at the bucolic scene.

The stop was brief and we soon left for our place of stay, ATREE's Agasthyamalai Community based Conservation Centre. The Agasthyamalai landscape was rustic, dotted with palm trees and the comfortable dorm type rooms made our stay lively. We had a wholesome breakfast and interacted with the research team at ATREE (Mr. Mathivannan, Mr. Thanikaivel and Mr. Isakki). 

The landmark Agastyamalai hill and scenery from ATREE.

We ladies had one dorm of 6 beds, the kids had another along with Sagarika and Chitra, and the men were far away in the meeting hall.  It was a really nice set up for the research scholars, with study tables, adequate plug points and solar power.  Several fans circulated the warm air, though one fan protested and moaned about having to do its job! There was much discussion about who would clamber to the upper bunks - and the problem was solved by pulling the mattresses to the floor.  

This mango tree was very inviting indeed

As planned, we went to bathe in the stream nearby(a part of the Manimutharu river) in Zamin Singampatti. It was my first river bathing experience and I had a splendid time (as did we all.  The aftermath of dealing with wet clothes and trying to change out of them - that's another story). 

It was blazing hot and I wondered how these birds stood around in the sun, without seeking the shade. Photo by Sagarika

This field with the ibises and egrets had been irrigated - when we went there a second time it was bone dry. Photo by Sagarika

The surrounding villages depend on the Porunai and its various streams for their daily life. The sight here held a peaceful village life in its entirety. After the refreshing bath, we birded in the surrounding patches and ponds. We were also able to spot the Red-naped Ibis and Black-headed Ibis. We observed the Copper-smith Barbet making a perfect hole on the branch of a tree near the river. Probably it was trying to make a spacious home.

The conservation is efforts from the local village community, along with the FD, we were told by Thanikavel, who explained in detail about the place and the trees. 

After lunch, we went to the Tirupudaimarathur temple and bird conservation centre. The picturesque village is located adjacent to the Tamiraparani river. The Conservation Reserve is an IUCN Category V protected bird nesting area in the 2.84 hectares (7.0 acres) compound of Siva temple in the village. It was fascinating to learn that the village community manage this area consisting of the temple, the river and it’s sand bank, and the conservation centre.  This is the only village along Thamirabarani where commercial sand mining from the riverbed is banned.  Justice Ratnavel Pandian, former Chief Justice of Madras High Court, who hails from this village, has been the master behind all these postive efforts.

It seems "over 400 little egrets, pond heron and  painted stork nest in this grove of 20 huge, century-old Maruthu, Mahwa, Neem and Iluppai trees and feed in the many agricultural fields, a few ponds and the Tamiraparani River adjacent to it."  (Wikipedia) However, since the rainfall was low in recent times the birds haven’t started nesting yet. Other birds seen were Pied Kingfisher, Spotted Owlet, Rosy Starling, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Short-toed Snake Eagle and Yellow-throated Sparrow. 

We also saw hundreds of Indian flying foxes on the giant iluppai trees near the pond and we sighted the leaf nosed bats inside the temple.

The protected sacred groves within the temple walls, opposite the temple tank we went to.  the neer marudhu trees were awesome.

Photo by Sagarika - the Illupai tree with hundred of bats, in various stages of stupor, sleep or wakefulness.  We even saw some babies.

They would make sorties like this - were they cooling themselves?  Photo by Sagarika

Photo by Kumar - magnificcent

There was this lovely stone corridor in the side that I wandered through.

The Shiva temple at Tirupudaimarathur.  We circumnavigated around theouter walls, through the sacred and ancient groves.

At the beginning, these spotted owlets distracted us, and soon the group was straggling, with some fascinated with the owlets, others engrossed in Thanikai's accounts of the trees, and still others like me just wandering and day dreaming.  Photo by Sagarika

Illupai - Mahua - Madhuca longifolia, getting into fruit

Gaps in the temple wall and I saw the river and the cleen village streets,

...and even the "sandy beach" where we were headed.

The trees seemed to be looking at me from above.

The path around the temple - a deserted quiet moment to myself.

Inside the temple.  Legends of the Leaning  Lingam and the  swayambu Amman.   It was interesting to hear the legend of the leaning lingam, as Lord Shiva leaned to listened to his bhakta who prayed for a way to help him across the river in spate.  The amman is made of rudrakashas.

Photo by Kumar of the leaf-nosed bat, which was within on the rooms of the temple, closer to the roof.  The elaborate noses of these bats is supposed to help in echolocation

Vilvam tree

The incident of the Yellow throated sparrow - on the top of the gopurma, was supposed to be perched a YTS, and as I peered through my bincolars it just sat there, very still and unmoving.  Turns out it was a piece of cloth, wire and lightning arrestor, which magically suggested itself to be a YTS.  Anyways, as the light faded, I did manage to see one on the wires - there were a bunch of females  - and this photo is by Sagarika.

We headed to the sandy shore of the river, past this beautiful speciment of a tree.  Undisturbed and growing with abandon?

We spent some time on the banks of the river which was nothing short of a beach. We enjoyed the time with a wonderful sunset to complement.

The dogs decided the children were more amenable to giving them tidbits...and we had a tough time ensuring they did not feed them.  Many got their feet wet once again - I did not - too much effort to take out shoes etc - and I just sat and watched the sunset, the ibis flocks in the sky and the setting sun.

 

We came back to our stay around 7 or so. 

 

The mothing screen was kept ready by moth researcher Thalavaipandi Subbaiah of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) for regular study. He and his colleague are the first in the world to photograph the moth species Mimeusemia ceylonica, as only an illustration of the insect existed previously. For reference- Moth Found In Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi Districts After 127 Years    It was so fascinating to know about this field of research and few boys stayed up late to learn from the expert.

 The poochis that were attracted to the moth screen that night.  I didnt stay up - the boys and Sagarika did.  These are her pictures.

 Even though the temperature was soaring, all of our minds longed to experience more of this place.

To be continued - on to Day 2