Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

At Old Magazine House -Ganeshgudi, a resort nestled in the heart of the Western Ghats near Dandeli in Western Karnataka, there was a novel arrangement for enabling birding. Instead of requiring to go out in the wild traversing the trails trying to catch a glimpse of the birdie in the trees and bushes, there is an easier way- gathering around a man-made arrangement of ‘bird baths’ (dishes filled with water), with a branch set up over the baths for the bird to perch. The intention is for the bird to use the baths as a watering hole and for bathing. This intention worked out spectacularly as birds frequented the bird baths with unerring regularity, and contributed to us seeing 20+ new species (never seen before by us). The arrangement reminds me of my dad’s ambition of setting up something similar in our balcony in the flat at Bangalore, but plans so far have been scuppered by the  fact that in cities, it would only be darned pigeons that would visit this arrangements for their watering needs. This may get solved if there’s a fine grill around the balcony, too small for pigeons but large enough for small birds such as sparrows to come. However, this fine grill is a heavy capital investment so one needs to check beforehand if small birds  will come through the grill and not be dissuaded by the grill’s presence.

Let’s come back to the Western Ghats. So, at Ganeshgudi, there are 5 of these branch-birdbath arrangements. Behind the 5 arrangements, the forest starts and right behind the center of the arrangement, there is a bamboo thicket. Around 5 metres from this arrangement, there is a viewing gallery from where the human birders can snap away on their telephoto lons or view away on their high-zoom binocs through a small gap in a wall of green. The birds can be easily observed when they are in the bird bath area or also in the bamboo thicket. The Old Magazine house folks had set up some pipes which were semi buried which pumped water into those bird baths. The effectiveness of this arrangement led Dhivya to comment that zoos can be banned if we can set up such nice arrangements for observing fauna in natural habitats.

When I first saw the birding gallery area, the behaviour of the humans seemed curious, sitting lazily on the many lounge chairs spread about, but then snapping to attention when a bird came to the bird bath area. However, I adopted it and by the end of the second day the habit was part of my being (and that of our group) and someone else might have viewed our behaviour with curiosity or amusement.

On day 1, while we saw a good number of new birds for me, such as Monarch Flycatcher, Blue bellied white flycatcher and the Fullvetta, the pro Malcom said it’s a ‘pathetic’ day compared to an average day at GG. The hypothesis was that it had rained the previous day so the birds need not come to our bird baths to find their water- they would find sources aplenty . The same reason why dry season is the best time for tiger safaris. However, we did see 4-5 species on Day 1, so it was a great sequencing for us over the two days since the second day has been an absolute bountiful harvest. Had we seen bountiful harvest on first day, then we would have been disappointed by the second day. Because our second day was an absolute superset of the first day in terms of the species we were able to observer.

On the first day, we saw a three Blue Colored Flycatchers in quick succession- the White bellied blue flycatcher, the Tickel’s flycatcher, and the Monarch Flycatcher. We saw the black crown on the blue head which conferred the royalty to the Monarch- we at the time thought that it was an absolutely stunning bird and that any other sighting would be hard pressed to match it. The blue on the Tickel’s was a slightly dull blue, the Monarch had multiple shades of blue and the White bellied blue was slightly. Also, I thought it was entirely blue but actually it’s front is yellow orange in color so that’s an important correction to my book. I saw Tickel’s for a brief instant at my undergrad 13 years ago, so this was a good reunion. These guys in my group also saw a Paradise flycatcher for the first time for them (I was later to learn that the white one with streamers is the male and the rufous is the female).  The colors on the paradise and the blue flycatcher are a mix of the flamboyand and the earthy – the Rufous flycatcher being somewhere between orange and brown, and the White Bellied blue being a mix of Blue and Grey. I could also distinguish the harsh call of the paradise flycatcher by now- its one which I do remember hearing not very rarely in my past expeditions. There was the mostly brown looking ‘fulvetta’ which came to the viewing gallery and on day 1  (on day 2 when I would have taken a better look at it I would realize that its actually grey headed with a grey-brown body) I was able to make a good joke about the Fullvetta since it loved dipping itself in the bird bath– it is ‘full wet aa?’ in Bangalorean English. No other bird enjoyed bathing as much as the Fullvetta.  

Considering all the flycatchers we saw (monarch, blue bellied, paradise, brown bellied, rust tailed (later meeting)) , woe betide any flies in the neighborhood! In fact, we were told mosquitoes are lesser than what could usually be expected in such a forested area thanks to these FCs.

I also saw the big Malabar hornbill on a binoculars, rummaging away on the high branches on the of the biggest trees, right next to the viewing gallery. And the Malabar grey hornbill came near the bird bath too. The orange beak and the line of darker black hair on the beak / head on deep observation via HD binocs make it look quite spectacular too.

I interacted with this guy Malcolm who’s claim to fame is that his pic of Kerala boat race was on the Outlook center fold. He along with others were completely armed with big SLR with telephoto lens and they got some truly stunning pics. There I observed the difference between observer or dilettantes (our party) vs the pro or the goal-seeker. Those guys were seriously looking to post on social media. In fact that evening Malcom said that although the true joy is seeing em in the wild, the bokeh effect which is sought after for bird photos, will not be gettable in a picture in the wild and its only those in the viewing gallery that could get them some of those.

In the evening, some of the pros flashed a bright torch at the tree upon hearing owl calls - but no fish. At night as we were walking back, we saw a scorpion with its pincer bared. This was worrying because those guys can be pretty poisonous. Malcom made a funny comment when he said ‘that’s a green scorpion, it can fly!’.

When talking of scorpions, I should talk about the furry brown Malabar giant squirrel. Now there two are from completely different school of fauna, why they have been brought up in quick succession is that both are non-bird species. We saw many of them, and in fact in the other room among our party- SDA- they had a close view of a Giant Squirrel squirrelling about on a tree right from their window by the bed.  

We had a couple of binoculars between us- the Nikon which we christened as ‘HD’ and the Olympus which we christened as ‘SD’ thanks to the clarity of images through them. While the Nikon is of course good as its called HD, the Olympus we realized on this trip is not too bad and it has clear use case because it has zoom control unlike the Nikon. So you are zoomed out at 8x and once you identify the bird you zoom in to 16x.

The second day began with tea at 7 AM. We began a nature walk at 7 30 AM under the able guidance of birder Vinayak. It had not rained the previous day and we expected a bountiful harvest, and that’s what it turned out to be. We had barely taken a few steps when we saw a blue thrush on the ground on the trail, as if welcoming us to progress. We could also hear songbird calls at this time so I’m guessing it was this guy. Or it could be a Drongo who Vinayak told us is a master of mimicry (like Gopichand!) who could call out like 4-5 birds. We turned to the right and saw a brown breasted flycatcher. Then, folks spotted a striated snake (non venomous). We continued along the journey and we saw a vividly orange colored orange miniver in the sky, who Dhivya labeled as ‘silk saree’ colored. We heard a loud cackle, as loud as a langur or a mid size animal, and we look up and we see his huge bird with a tell tale pied beak sailing by high in the sky. That was a Great Malabar hornbill! Apparenlty very rare. Sweatha speculated that for all we know, this might have been the very bird we saw with Shamir at Ponda countryside by the river. These were the highlights of the walk. Upon return to base camp tea serving area (right next to the viewpoint), we saw (rather we were shown by the skilled Vinayak) – the Lesser Cuckoo which apparently is a migrant in these parts. We also later saw a striated cuckoo feeding on a caterpillar.

At the breakfast table, we saw a few crimson sunbirds flitting around in their usual style which is a country cousin of the purple sunbird of the city.      

In terms of activity at the bird baths, ‘they come and go in waves’. We had a frantic phase in which we saw in quick succession the flame throated bulbul, yellow browed bulbul, yellow throated Indian tit and the white bellied Shama. The yellow throated tit looked remarkable because of the intricate black and white patten on its body, slowly segueing into the dull yellow belly. I have not seen such an elaborate pattern on any bird, and this much of a pattern was on such a small bird!  It must be related to a bulbul, because it has a grand crest too- its crowning glory. Shama added to the list of blue birds- it was like were attending a blues concert! Because later in the evening, was a blue Indian Robin! Robin in the Hood, first time in 3 years! But this one’s blue not green. It looked very striking because it also had a black and white face. Also, it was definitely the bird I saw during my run on Raghav’s park.

Immediately after breakfast, we took a long nap and then came back to lunch.

Post-lunch came the moment the entire crowd had been waiting for – the Malabar trogon. There were two framed pictures in the mess hall – one of a Malabar trogon and one of a paradise flycatcher. Now it was spotted by the ever skllful Vinayak and then he guided us and we saw it! It was a bright red like a paan pasand toffee. Although now if I close my eyes and think - I don’t remember the moment when I saw it and how it looks in the eye of my mind, but I do remember the flash of red as it flitted, and also as it sat there far in the bush. And the orange when you view it from below or behind. Everyone in our ‘hunting party’ was delighted after the Trogon viewing. Next day, when we were on the cab from Gaeshgudi to Karwar, the cabbie asked us – “how were the birds” ; we answered “yes” , and his next question- “did you see the Trogon”. Wow. So firstly, never chatted with a cabbie about birding – good , that    - and secondly it shows the marquee status with Trogon holds in the hood. Another proof of its flagship status- there were 3 large framed phtographs in the canteen area- one of the white male flycatcher with streamers, and two of the Trogon.

There was one guy there from Bangalore who was on a mission to view all 14 western ghats endemics. Well, we ended up seeing 4 of the endemics- Malabar Trogon, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill .

Had a discussion with him and Malcolm about birding. He was quite amused by the term ‘twitching’ I introduced him to. The Endemic species hunter told me about this movie on birding starring Owen Wilson and Jack Black. Need to watch it.

I was strolling about in the main area of the camp and we suddenly heard a lot of churping and it was a bunch of birds which the guide called as a ‘hunting party’. It was a flock of fulvettas and drongo, and we also saw a striking nutracker. SO far we had not seen a woodpecker, but we saw a bird with similar behavior of going up and down the tree trunk in bouncy hops. Small bird, blue grey in color, with a striking reddish beak. This too is a confirmation of what we saw in Chikmaglur on the tree top – another confirmation following the blue robin confirmation. Oh and the Drongo in the hunting party was a bronzed wing drongo- not a common one. Talking of drongos, we heard a racquet tailed drongo nx morning but unfortunately it did not give us darshan.

After the ‘hunting party’, I came back to the bird bath viewpoint and the spree continued. Watched a rusty tailed flycatcher sipping away –unremarkable in its earthy brown but rendered a higher level of remarkableness by its rust colored tail. There was the oriental white eye which I have seen before of course, which is the black eye with the white kajal (opposite of what humans do). There was a black fronted babbler which is brown in color with a white neck and a black head, though it hid in the bushes behind the baths and did not come out. Such shy behaviour was also exhibited the next day during the walk, which is quite unbecoming behavious for a babbler which is supposed to be gregarious. Anyhow, the cornucopia was such that there were times when all 5 baths were occupied by different birds, including tickel’s blue, monarch, fulvetta and white bellied blue. Last sighting of the day in fading light was a orange headed rock thrush, which also has an interesting black-white war paint pattern on its head. Pattern similar to the Indian tit’s body. Unfortunately, these thrushes, although we saw 3 of them, we did not see them singing away to glory.  Atasi had mentioned that she wanted a birdie to come and sit on her hand like she was a falconer, and while that obviously did not happen, during the afternoon spree a white-bellied blue flycatcher did come by and sit on the chair next to Naveen, barely a few feet away.

Over our two primary days at Ganeshgudi, the orange minivet, the monarch flycatcher, and the Malabar trogon, were the standout bids. All in very standout colors. The Malabar Trogon was the prize spotting and the recognized marquee bird at Ganeshgudi.

Next morning, we had time for a short nature walk before we left. Amid the foliage Dhivya saw a Heart backed woodpecker while I just got a glimpse of it. I vaguely heard it ‘knock knock knocking’ on the bark. Was able to catch a sneak peak of a Golden Oriole, too – high in the sky against the sun. That’s another ‘silk saree’ bird, to use the prior description. Upon return, and when I had packed up by binocs awaiting the cab at the return, the guide Vinayak and Malcolm spotted a blue bearded Bee eater. I rummaged and found my binocs amid the luggage, and the bee eater was still there. Although it looped around to catch the odd bee or two, it came back to that spot to enjoy its meal. With that last sighting, I bid goodbye to the birding wonderland that is Ganeshgudi.

 

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