Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)

The Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia. Males have elongated central tail feathers, and in some populations a black and rufous plumage while others have white plumage. Females are short-tailed with rufous wings and a black head. They feed on insects, which they capture in the air often below a densely canopied tree.  This one I saw at Gouri Farms in Gudalur is a mature male.

IMG_2932 IMG_2942With an extremely large range and a large population that appears to be stable, they have been evaluated as Least Concern by IUCN since 2004.  This is great news for birders as we have a lot of opportunites to see this stunning bird.  Get your award ticket to Central Asia or South-east Asia and try any of the national parks.  Southern India is a great place to start, especially Mudumalai National Park.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BIRD

Wikipedia

Birdlife

FES

VIDEOS

This bird is poetry in motion!

 And a good parent (though I wouldn’t want to eat that bug either)!

Getting From Wayanad To Mudumalai

The distances are not that far so getting from Wayanad to Mudumalai can be done in a few hours by public transport if you get the timings right.

Grassroots – Pinangode – Sulthan Bathery – Gudalur – Mudumalai

We took an auto-rickshaw from Grassroots to the bus stand at Pinangode.  Some of the buses are very attractively decorated!

IMG_2819 IMG_2820Next we caught a bus to Sultan Bathery.  These buses can be very crowed and we had to stand at first, then when some people got out enroute we grabbed their seats.  The scenery was very nice!

IMG_2821Once we arrived in Sultan Bathery, we found out the next bus to Gudalur wouldn’t be for another 3 hours.  Even monkeys playing nearby weren’t going to keep me in a bus station for 3 hours!

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We asked a taxi driver to take us, he said that there are special taxis that do long distance routes and he would send one over to the bus station.  20 minutes later, one showed up and we paid about $20ish for the ride to Gudalur.

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We traveled through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve but didn’t see any tigers.  Few people ever do.

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The scenery was great!

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We arrived in Gudalur and while the taxi driver was asking some locals how to get to Gouri Farm, I bought some snacks that I hoped wouldn’t be too spicy to bring along for lunch.

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Finally we arrived at Gouri Farm where the owner, Dr Shyla was there to greet us!

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Birding In Wayanad, Kerala

Wayanad, in India’s Western Ghats offers pretty much the same species as Coorg in Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu.  We stayed at the Grassroots Wayanad Lodge near Kalpetta which is between Bangalore and Kochi so either can serve as your gateway city for your Central Asia award.  We had Adi (Aditya) the owner organize a local guide with a jeep to take us birding.  He was a bit late picking us up but we did see a few more birds along the roadside just outside the lodge.

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While having breakfast, we watched some kids playing soccer.

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The driver finally showed up and we headed off to the nearby rainforest along the river to look for birds.  We started too late to get really good sightings but the butterflies were numerous and very pretty.

IMG_2743 IMG_2744 IMG_2725 IMG_2726 IMG_2727 IMG_2729 IMG_2735 IMG_2738 IMG_2741 IMG_2747 IMG_2748 IMG_2749 IMG_2751 IMG_2752 IMG_2754 IMG_2761 IMG_2765 IMG_2771 IMG_2783 IMG_2782 IMG_2784 IMG_2787 IMG_2788Next we visited a lake that seemed to be a popular picnic spot for locals with pedal boats for hire.  It wasn’t very birdy though.

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We saw a few more birds including a female Scarlet Minivet on the way back, then picked up some takeaway food to bring back to Grassroots for lunch.  We pulled over an ice cream seller on a motorcyle and bought some ice cream to take back as well.

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Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus)

The Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus) is a very brightly coloured small bird you are very likely to see in South-east Asia.

IMG_1322aThey are small birds – 20–22 cm (7.9–8.7 in) long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male has black upperparts and head, and scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump and wing patches. The shape and colour of the wing patches and the shade or orange in the male varies across populations. In the subspecies nigroluteus and marchesae from south Philippines the scarlet/orange is entirely replaced by yellow.

IMG_1323aThe female is grey above, with yellow underparts (including the face), tail edges, rump and wing patches.

Coorg Scarlet MinivetsI saw these birds in Coorg and Wayanad in several locations.  They have an extremely large range so you are likely to see them on any birding trip in the Western Ghats of India (Central Asia) or all over South-east Asia.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BIRD

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Birds of the World

India Nature Watch

VIDEO

Check out this gorgeous Scarlet Minivet couple with their chicks!

Lodge Review: Grassroots Wayanad, Kalpetta

When I was researching this trip, I fell in love with the lush grounds and tents with a deck overlooking the garden.  It looked very birdy and the reviews on Trip Advisor were excellent.  Although you can book directly with Grassroots on their website, I had a $50 Expedia voucher I needed to burn so used them to make the booking.

IMG_2653After some confusion, the rickshaw driver we hired in Kalpetta found the gate which is not well-marked.  We knocked on the gate and Aditya, the manager let us in and showed us to our tent which was the first one going up the hill.

IMG_2815 IMG_2814 IMG_2654The tents are beautifully furnished, very clean and comfortable.  I would have preferred that the tv not be there, the only sounds I wanted to hear were the songs of the local birds!

IMG_2655 IMG_2656 IMG_2657The deck was fantastic and we could indulge in some lazy birding complete with room service!

IMG_2658 IMG_2659The peace and quiet didn’t last long.  About an hour after we checked in, a family with several adults and small kids showed up.  My heart sank as the kids started running up and down the paths shrieking.  Why someone would bring kids to a peaceful nature retreat like this one is beyond me!  They didn’t seem interested in birds or wildlife and just wanted to play as kids usually do…………….they should have booked a beach resort in Goa.

I wanted to escape the noise so I walked across the street and down the hill a bit, then noticed the Vernal Hanging Parrot in the tree.  There were a few other birds around and I stayed to watch them until sunset.

Vernal Hanging Parrot shows where they get their name

Vernal Hanging Parrot shows where they get their name

The food was pretty good and we had requested food that wasn’t too spicy.  Breakfast is included in the rate.  There is supposed to be a resident birding guide, Lingesh but he wasn’t there.  Aditiya offered to book a jeep to take us to a good place for birding the next morning so I accepted the offer.

Kalpetta is pretty much right in the middle between Bangalore and Kochi so if you were taking an international flight , you would need a Central Asian award, then take a bus to Kalpetta.  If there is no direct bus, you can take one to Ooty, then change buses.

In my next post, I will show you the birds of Wayanad!

Traveling From Coorg To Wayanad

There really isn’t much difference to the eco-tourist/birder between Coorg & Wayanad. The bird species you will see are pretty much the same.  The two regions adjoin each other but Coorg is in the state of Karnataka and Wayanad is in the state of Kerala. In the map below, the grey shaded area is the Western Ghats, the red outline is roughly Coorg (Kodagu), the blue outline is Wayanad and the black outline is Mudumalai in the state of Tamil Nadu which also shares the same bird species.  I thought for the purpose of this trip, we should try to sample them all!

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We got Mr Muthanna to book us a taxi leaving from the guesthouse and dropping us off in Kalpetta, it turned out to be around $40-ish.  We could have saved a bit of money by taking the bus from Kutta to Kalpetta but not enough to be worth the inconvenience.  My back was still sore from the bumpy bus ride between Mysore and Coorg and I was dying for a massage.

On the map below, the 1st red dot represents Jungle Side Homestay, A = T Shettigeri, B = Kalpetta and the final red dot represents Grassroots, our home base in Wayanad.

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SCENERY BETWEEN KUTTA AND KALPETTA

IMG_2629 IMG_2630 IMG_2631 IMG_2632 IMG_2633 IMG_2634 IMG_2635 IMG_2636 IMG_2637 IMG_2638 IMG_2639 IMG_2640 IMG_2641 IMG_2642 IMG_2643 IMG_2644 IMG_2645 IMG_2646 IMG_2647 IMG_2648Once we were in Kalpetta, the taxi driver asked around for a massage place and was directed to Haritagiri Hotel & Ayurvedic Village.  We both went for the ayurvedic massage which was only 1000 rupees – a bargain!  The massage tables were pretty cool looking!

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There was a small cage with some Budgies & Lovebirds near the restaurant.  We had chicken biriyani for lunch after the massage which was pretty good!

 

 

 

IMG_2650Feeling refreshed, we went back to the main street to find a taxi to Grassroots.  A friendly local who spoke English came to our rescue and helped us hire an auto-rickshaw for the 7 km trip.

 

Vernal Hanging Parrot (Loriculus vernalis)

The Vernal Hanging Parrot (Loriculus vernalis) is a small parrot which is a resident breeder in the Indian Subcontinent and some other areas of Southeast Asia. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms that make up its diet. They frequent the Banyan tree for the fruit and Plantain trees for the nectar from the flowers.

Vernal Hanging Parrot shows where they get their name

Vernal Hanging Parrot shows where they get their name

This is a small, mainly green hanging parrot, only 14 cm long with a short tail. The adult male has a red rump and bill, and blue throat patch. The female has a green patch. Vernal Hanging Parrot is a bird of dry jungle and cultivation. It nests in holes in trees, laying 2-4 white eggs. Immature birds have a duller rump, and lack the throat patch. Vernal Hanging Parrot is less gregarious than some of its relatives, and is usually in small groups outside the breeding season. Its flight is swift and direct, and the call is a raucous chattering.

Since I couldn’t get a close up, here’s the Wikipedia one.

With a such a large range, this diminutive parrot will be on most national park’s bird lists from the Western Ghats of Southern India (Central Asia award) to Thailand, Laos & Vietnam (South-east Asia award).  So far, I have seen them in Thattekad and Wayanad.

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At least they are not as shy as some other parrots and will perch out in the open………….albeit a bit far from my camera!

IMG_1287a Thattekad Vernal Hanging Parrot IMG_2660 IMG_2663a IMG_2666aLEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

The Guardian

VIDEO

Choosing The Best Lodges For India & Sri Lanka

Yesterday, I showed you how I put together an itinerary for a birding adventure in southern India & Sri Lanka.  Today, I will show you how I chose the accommodation in each place.  In all cases (except Bangalore) I was prioritizing lodges that were located in birdy locations as I love being able to sit on a deck and watch birds any time of day!   Oh yeah, and we were on a tight budget being a somewhat impromptu trip!

I will be doing detailed reviews with photos on each individual lodge in subsequent posts.

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BANGALORE

The first night, we would be arriving around midnight and getting a bus to Coorg early the next morning.  Bangalore has horrible traffic jams so I wanted to stay as close as possible to the Mysore Satellite Bus Stand.  I used a Google map to zoom in on the bus stand and found the Transit Hotel Mysore Road right across the street.  I Googled the name, saw it bookable on Agoda (unfortunately not on Pointshound) and booked an AC room for a whopping $12!

COORG

On a previous visit, I had accompanied some friends to the wonderful SAI Sanctuary and really wanted to stay there.  Unfortunately, their staff had left and they couldn’t accommodate us but they booked us at a guest house just down the road called Jungleside Homestay.  We made a day visit to SAI to visit our friends and watch birds.

WAYANAD

I had no idea where to stay so I checked on Expedia since I had a $50 credit in my account.  I found a nice-looking place called Grassroots Wayanad, checked the photos & reviews on Trip Advisor and decided it sounded like my kind of place.  I booked it on Expedia to use the $50 credit.

MUDUMALAI

I was researching the sanctuary online and wanted to stay in their accommodation.  However it seems you can only book it with their office in Ooty or at the facility and they had no email.  I resorted to Google mapping the area and found the nearest town was called Gudalur.  I searched Gudalur on Trip Advisor and found a place called Gouri Farm which sounded good.  They weren’t on any booking sites so I emailed them and booked and they agreed to let me pay on arrival since we were there on a weekday.

BANGALORE

We would be arriving in the evening by bus and I have plenty of Club Carlson points so I booked the Park Plaza.

KITHULGALA

I read a few birding trip reports that highly recommended the Kithulgala Resthouse.  I wanted to book and pay on arrival so I used Booking.com which was the only booking agency that allowed for this.

SINHARAJA

Unfortunately this visit fell on a weekend and my first & second choices (Martin’s Simple Lodge & Blue Magpie Lodge) were booked up (according to Sri Lankan travel agency Red Dot) and they tried to get me to book a place for $200 a night that looked lovely but was out of our budget.  I did some researching online and stumbled across a place called Rock View Motel Kalawana which had room so I grabbed it.

Flights and accommodation booked…………………..the journey yet to begin!

India & Sri Lanka – Birding “On The Fly”

I usually plan trips at least a year in advance and book them when the last segment I need is within the 11 month booking window.  So hastily throwing together a trip to India & Sri Lanka was totally out of character for me.  I had been planning to do this trip in 2015 but when US Airways announced a major rebate promo, I couldn’t resist bringing it forward!

Malabar Parakeet AI knew which parrots I was targeting.  I never tire of seeing India’s beautiful Malabar Parakeets, Alexandrines and other psittaculas.  I was also dying to see the stunning Layard’s Parakeet, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot and many other bird species.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

I had enough miles to book us in business class on Thai outbound and Singapore return.   This is a Central Asian award.

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Since Sri Lankan Airlines hasn’t yet joined One World (only 4500 with Avios) and Air India hasn’t yet joined Star Alliance I had to pay for a bridging flight between Bangalore (via Chennai) and Colombo.  The cheapest flight was on Spice Jet which I booked on their website.

I spent a day reading reports of bird sightings and put together the itineraries for both countries based on which locations had my desired parrot species and as many other species.  In India, I knew I wanted to visit Coorg, Wayanad and Mudumalai.

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In Sri Lanka, I knew I wanted to visit Kithulgala & Sinharaja.

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With itineraries chosen, next step was to find accommodation…………………….