Thattekad Diaries – Day 4

The fourth day of the Thattekad trip.

Though Birds were our primary focus, the serenity of Periyar river seen from the bridge on the main road had captivated us. We decided to head to the bridge early in the morning before the birding session. We were hoping to get some pictures of the river at dawn before and after sunrise. We spent some time here admiring the beautiful scene that unfolded before us as the Sun came into view.

After getting some pictures we went with Eldhose to his home. He had informed us that Common Hill Mynas had come to the feeding station on the day we had been to Munnar. He was expecting them to come again. The first birds to come to the feeding station were the Malabar Grey Hornbills followed in close stead by the White-cheeked Barbets and the Rufous Treepies.

The Hill Mynas took their sweet time and the other birds tried to shoo them away when they tried to grab a bite. We got some wonderful closeup shots of these lovely birds.

As we were leaving we saw a Black-naped Hare being chased by a dog nearby. We had breakfast at Pappalil Restaurant and headed to the core area of the sanctuary. The first sighting was of the beautiful Asian Fairy-bluebird which was partially hidden by leaves. It gave us few seconds before disappearing into the thicket.

Then came the Common Iora, Crimson-backed Sunbird and the Little Spiderhunter. Though the Iora allowed us to take some pictures, we did not manage to get shots of the other two tiny birds. Flocks of Hill Mynas could be seen high up in the trees. Their shrill haunting sounds could be heard for quite some time.

The next sighting was of a White-bellied Blue Flycatcher.

A Dark-fronted Babbler darted into the bushes allowing us only a brief glimpse like the previous day. The Black Drongo could be seen for a while. A female Purple-rumped Sunbird was busy drinking nectar to take any notice of us. We went in search of the Kingfishers in vain. A Crested Serpent Eagle could be seen far away. The Malabar Trogon gave a peek-a-boo appearance with no chance of us being able to even see it properly let alone take pictures. A Little Minivet could be seen high up on a tree.

We returned exhausted to the homestay and indulged in some sumptuous lunch followed by a brief siesta. When we stepped out for the evening session we realized that a Eurasian Golden Oriole was right outside the homestay. It allowed us to take a few pictures.

We headed towards the rocky area of Kalipara. We had to pass through a rubber plantation followed by a climb up a stream interspersed with boulders and low hanging bushes. Leeches were thriving here and lost no opportunity in clinging onto us. We somehow zipped through and reached the rocky section which was devoid of any form of vegetation and no leeches therefore. The only bird that we spotted along the way was a Malabar Woodshrike.

The sightings were scant. We saw the Brown-backed Needletail and White-rumped Needletail flocks flying high. A flock of noisy Plum-headed Parakeets could be seen at a distance.

We didn’t spend much time here given the clouds and we didn’t want to go back through the leech laden path in darkness! As we came back to the rubber plantation we spotted a frog in the well. Soon it started raining and we had to rush to the jeep.

We headed to a restaurant in Punnekadu village and had some snacks and tea while waiting for the rain to stop. When the rain subsided we went to the same place where we had spotted the Nightjar on the first day. We wanted to get the colourful Indian Pitta this time. It was getting dark by the time we reached there.

We saw a Dollarbird high up on a tree and managed to get only a silhouetted picture of it due to bad light. A Rufous Woodpecker scurried away.

After a while we sensed the presence of the Pitta. We chased it around for a while and managed to get decent pictures with the help of Eldhose’s torch.

It was soon pitch dark and the day had come to an end for us. We headed back to the homestay for some lip smacking dinner.

Bird Log

Common Name	Species	Family
Babbler, Dark fronted	Rhopocichla atriceps	Timaliidae
Babbler, Puff throated	Pellorneum ruficeps	Timaliidae
Barbet, White cheeked	Megalaima viridis	Megalaimidae
Bluebird, Asian Fairy	Irena puella	Irenidae
Dollarbird	Eurystomus orientalis	Coraciidae
Dove, Emerald	Chalcophaps indica	Columbidae
Drongo, Ashy	Dicrurus leucophaeus	Dicruridae
Drongo, Black	Dicrurus macrocercus	Dicruridae
Eagle, Crested Serpent	Spilornis cheela	Accipitridae
Flycatcher, Asian Brown	Muscicapa dauurica	Muscicapidae
Flycatcher, Asian Paradise	Terpsiphone paradisi	Monarchidae
Flycatcher, Blue throated	Cyornis rubeculoides	Muscicapidae
Flycatcher, White bellied blue	Cyornis pallipes	Muscicapidae
Hornbill, Malabar Grey	Ocyceros griseus	Bucerotidae
Iora, Common	Aegithina tiphia	Aegithinidae
Minivet, Little	Pericrocotus lansbergei	Campephagidae
Myna, Hill	Gracula religiosa	Sturnidae
Myna, Jungle	Acridotheres fuscus	Sturnidae
Needletail, Brown backed	Hirundapus giganteus	Apodidae
Needletail, White rumped	Zoonavena sylvatica	Apodidae
Nightjar, Jerdon’s	Caprimulgus atripennis	Caprimulgidae
Oriole, Eurasian Golden	Oriolus oriolus	Oriolidae
Parakeet, Plum headed	Psittacula cyanocephala	Psittaculidae
Pigeon, Pompadour Green	Treron pompadora	Columbidae
Pitta, Indian	Pitta brachyura	Pittidae
Robin, Indian Blue	Luscinia brunnea	Muscicapidae
Spiderhunter, Little	Arachnothera longirostra	Nectariniidae
Sunbird, Crimson backed	Leptocoma minima	Nectariniidae
Treepie, Rufous	Dendrocitta vagabunda	Corvidae
Trogon, Malabar	Harpactes fasciatus	Trogonidae
Warbler, Large billed Leaf	Phylloscopus magnirostris	Phylloscopidae