Birding spots in Nilgiris

Nilgiris! The very name evokes a fantastic feeling in my heart!

Green grass, clean air, fresh green leaves swaying in the wind, giant trees that seem to grow to the sky, amazing landscapes, a stream of water every now and then, curvy roads through the blue mountains, deeply gorged valley on one side and a treat of greenery on the other, ….. I can go on and on. That is Nilgiris. The place where I spent my childhood!

The place is also a birders paradise. Many people have asked me about the various birding spots in Nilgiris. This post is an attempt to answer that question. This will be a growing post. As of now, I have listed a few spots without enough information. I will gather further information and update the post as time goes.

Given below is a list of birding spots in Nilgiris, ones I have visited myself. And I have also listed ones I haven’t visited too. Hopefully by end of this year, that list should move to the visited list.

View My favorite locns and routes in Nilgiris in a larger map

I have mapped these places on the map above. Do click on it and have a look at the larger format.
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Travel – to do

Here is a list of places I would like to travel to, within India, possibly by end of 2010.

1. Ladakh
2. Manali
3. Rajasthan – Kumbalgarh, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Udaipur, etc
4. Maharashtra – Shivaji’s forts
5. Kanha sanctuary
6. Bharatpur sanctuary
7. Rantambhore sanctuary
8. Do these treks in Nilgiris
   1. Parsons valley – Porthimund – NWEA hut – Mukurthi peak – Mukurthi dam – back
   2. Parsons valley – Porthimund – NWEA hut – Western catchment WC 3 – WC 2 – Kolaribetta – Avalanche – back
   3. T R Bazaar – Pandiar – Nilgiri peak – Mukurti peak – WC 2 – WC 1 – Bridle path – Bangitappal – Sispara pass
   4. Emerald – Avalanche – Kolaribetta – Bridal path – UB earth dam – UB hut – Korakundah
9. Nilgiris – Nadugani, Sispara, Bangitappal, Emerald, Avalanche, Red hills, Billikal, Longwood shola, Naduvattam forest reserve, Cairn hill, etc
10. Ajanta & Ellora
11. Belur, Halebid, Hampi, Aihole , Bidar, Badami, Chitradurga fort, Pattadakkal
12. Shimoga, Jog, Agumbe, Keladi, Ikkeri, Banavasi, Dandeli wildlife sanctuary, Gudavi bird sanctuary, Mandagadde, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
    
13. Kaggaladu heronry, Kokkarebellur
    
14. Somnathpur, Srirangapatna
15. Nagarhole
16. Andaman
17. Lakshwadeep
18. Sulthan bathery, Lakkidi, Wynad
19. Melkote, Shravanabelagola
20. Temples of Tamil Nadu

Habitat in nature photography

When it comes to wildlife / bird photography, people mostly attempt to get a frame filling picture of the subject. A frame filling shot,  like the one below, gives more satisfaction to some people, esp to amateur photographers who have just begun their journey.

Those with super zooms like 800mm lenses come very close (okay, it also depends on the size of the subject and distance!) to getting frame filling images of birds and animals. Others have to either make sure they are very close to the subject or do a crop of a larger image in order to get a frame-filling shot.

Going very close to birds/animals is not always possible. And buying longer tele lenses is not a feasible option for many as they run into lakhs (INR). Hence many amateurs / beginners tend to feel disappointed at not getting the kind of shots that the professionals get with their super zooms.

I have a Nikkor 70-300 VR lens which is my workhorse. And I too have been trying to get frame filling images only to be disappointed many times…. But recently I have started thinking on different lines. Why not be a habitat photographer?

Click the subjects in their natural environment. Leave enough room around the subject to tell a story about its living space and not just the subject. Open your eyes towards things beyond just the subject. Use your photo to tell a story!

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Trip to Manchinabele

This is a long overdue post. I was very busy in the recent few weeks to sit down and write! Bad!!

I am a huge fan of Sudhir Shivaram and when he announced his Elephas outdoors, I was keen to participate. And when he tweeted on the date and location, I sent my confirmation immediately! I was happy that I was part of the 3 member team that would go on the trip with him. Vidya and Jayaram were the other two.

The date was June 28. We started at 6.30 am. I parked my car @ BDA complex in HSR layout and hopped into a nice and new Scorpio (Sudhir’s). Weather was excellent. We reached Manchinabele in about an hour. (Via Nice road). Surprisingly, the road was good throughout.

ROUTE: HSR layout- NICE road – Mysore road – Dodda Alada Mara – Confusing lefts and rights – Manchinabele.

Upon reaching the first birding spot, Sudhir gave us a few tips on bird photography (some I knew already, some I didnt).

June is not a great period for birding (Sudhir too had conveyed this point earlier in his email) and we didnt see many birds. But we did see the regulars.. mynas, bulbuls, bushchats, parakeets, bee eaters, etc and we clicked those. A few like the red wattled lapwings were too far away and we didn’t bother to click them. And our search for the baya weavers was not fruitful.. (I have never spotted them till date).

What was new to me was driving into rough terrain (in Scorpio) and getting real close to birds. Previously, I had always tried to approach birds by foot and in many cases only scared them away.

I got some good shots of the shrike, bushchat and the myna. The shrike especially was patient enough to pose for us many times. Sudhir also helped with a few tips on composition and also about the angle at which the shrike looks beautiful on snap. He then took us around to quite a few areas in search of more species. At one spot, I saw the coucal. But before I could get a good click of him, he scampered away.. leaving me with only a record shot.

We then decided to take a break and have breakfast. Thatte idlis and coffee. It was decent enough and filling. We then resumed our birding.

At one location, we noticed a parakeet sitting high on a branch. The background was too bright. I raised the exposure by 2/3 stop and clicked. It looked better. (Previously I had attended Kalyan Varma’s training and knew how to use these options. But after a field trip like this, with Sudhir to clarify any doubts I had, I felt I only improved my photography skills).

We moved onto rocky areas. The terrain was rough and we sighted a few kites there and a few lizards like rock agama. Also a Laughing pigeon at close quarters. We drove close to it and got a few good shots.

By then the light was harsh and not many birds were around. So we decided to hit the dam, the main attraction around the place.

Boy.. it was amazing! The place is just too awesome! I dont feel competent enough to describe the place, you need to experience it yourself. Pure magic. I clicked a few shots of the place after changing from 70-300 VR to the 18-70 lens.

At the water body, I was able to click a shot of the Brahminy kite. Also a few Grey Herons… till date I had not been successful in going close to these. We spent some time driving around the dam area. It was purely blissful to explore this area. This area still remains virgin territory inspite of being close to Bangalore. I wish it stays that way!

It was lunch time by then and Sudhir had brought bread, jam, cakes, fruits, etc and we munched on them. It was time to explore the place more. We travelled around the place. I was never short of amazement. I had never seen this place before and was basking in its beauty.

On the way to Savanadurga state forest, we stopped at a place to spot the Kingfisher. We did, but weren’t successful in clicking. Instead we got a few good shots of the pond herons. Till date, I have missed the kingfisher narrowly several times. This too added to that count.

While driving on the NICE road, we spotted a black shouldered kite. It was my first sighting of this bird. Took a few distant shots of it. Hopped back into the vehicle and drove back towards HSR and reached the place by around 4 pm. The roads were good all throughout (except when we went off-road.. ).

It was a day well spent. I didnt see many birds, but did learn a lot. Sudhir is awesome and has a ton of ideas and tips. I felt I was a better ‘bird’ photographer after this trip.

I will add a few more snaps from this trip in a few days. Been busy a bit and have a ton of snaps to process.

Links:

Please read Sudhir’s trip report at this link. It also has images that Vidya and Jayaram clicked too.

Birding trip: Ragihalli

Last Saturday, Shreeram, Sushant and I had been to Ragihalli on a birding trip. This is a micro report on it.

Route taken: Bannerghatta road – take left at the circle before Bannerghatta national park (I think the Veeranjaneya temple is there too just around the circle ) – keep going about 6-8 Km.

We stopped for birding at 3 spots, one being an open land en route, second being the rocks overlooking Jigani (I think) and the last one being an almost dry lake. Having experienced birders like Sushant and Shreeram helped me spot more birds this time. Highlights to me were the spottings of peacocks, barred button quail, juvenile yellow wattled lapwing, rufous treepie, etc. Also, when I was walking near a bush, a hare jumped out of nowhere and ran away just near my legs.. almost giving me a scare!

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Trip report: Birding in Nilgiris – Part 2

In an earlier post, I blogged about days 1-3 of my Nilgiris trip. In this post, I will talk about day 4, 5 and 6 of the trip.  All snaps from this trip are uploaded to my my flickr account. If you want information regarding places and routes, please see this post.

Note: This is a lengthy post, but please do not miss the report on day 6 at Kalhatty falls early in the morning. It was the best phase of the trip.

Day 4 report: May 21: Ooty home – Doddabetta – Kotagiri – Longwood shola – Wood house area – cancelled Porthimund dam due to rain – Ooty home

By now, I was so used to the chirps of sparrows that I could hear them inside my head even if I closed my ears tight! They were my close friends. They were always there waiting for me at the window every day in the morning without fail.

Having stayed up late into the previous night trying to get more information on where and how I could spot the Nilgiri laughing thrush, I woke up at 7 am instead of the planned 6 am. I had planned to reach Doddabetta before 7 am, which was not to be. I reached there by 8 am with the sole aim of getting a very nice picture of the laughing thrush.

INWer Vijay Cavale had given me a few clear inputs. “Get the ticket –> Go straight to the tea shop and descend down the ladder –> Cross the fence. Try your luck there before crowd arrives. Or try you luck 5 km below (Kotagiri).”

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