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| A Report from birdtours.co.uk |
Kerala 31st October– 15th November 2004,
We arranged this holiday totally online. After searching for a local Indian company we decided on Window to the World. (www.tourism-southindia.com). I sent an email listing places we wanted to go and we received an itinerary which suited us well with just a few minor adjustments. We chose to stay in small hotels and Home stays - a very good choice as it turned out. The cost of this trip was £850 a couple to include a lot of meals, all accommodation and a Toyota Qualis 7 seater and driver.
Our flights were booked through Opodo with Qatar Airlines. This involved changing planes in Doha was but well worth it for the comfort of a scheduled flight. A first class airline with excellent service. Cost approx £560.
We were met at the airport at Trivandrum by our driver and headed to Tamil Nadu and our first destination. Mayuram Farm.
MAYURAM FARM.
This farm is in a superb location in the foothills of the Western Ghats and contains mixed habitats of farmland, scrub, forest and small reservoirs. It is quite hard to find along muddy tracks from the village of Govindapperi.
The farm has 3 three double rooms. All rooms have en-suite bathrooms. We had a balcony along the back of the room and the views across the property and to the Ghats was wonderful. We spent a lot of time while it was raining birding from this balcony! The staff here prepare and serve excellent food. The owner, Rajesh George, will show birders around the property and is very good company. The place is under-watched and has a bird list in excess of 150. There are probably a lot more not yet recorded. We saw 83 despite the wet weather that restricted our walks and stopped us having a good look at the reservoirs. A bird was seen thought to be a Spotted Flycatcher but Mayuram is well south of its recorded range. (Has anyone any ideas?) Quail are best seen by driving the tracks in the late afternoon. Rajesh took us on this drive and we saw both Bush Quail and Rain Quail.
Altogether a very enjoyable couple of days. Just a pity we had so much rain. Ideally 3 or 4 nights should be spent here.
Birds seen at Mayuram.
Grey Francolin. Jungle Bush Quail
Rain Quail Indian Peafowl
Spot-billed Duck White Cheeked Barbet
Common Hoopoe Indian Roller
Common Kingfisher White-throated Kingfisher
Green Bee-eater Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Pied Cuckoo Grey-bellied Cuckoo
Asian Koel Blue-faced Malkoha
Greater Coucal Rose-ringed Parakeet
Asian Palm-swift Spotted Owlet
Rock Pigeon Laughing Dove
Spotted Dove Eurasian Collared Dove
White-breasted Waterhen Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper Red-wattled Lapwing
Black-shouldered Kite Black Kite
Brahminy Kite Crested Serpent eagle
Short Toed Eagle Pallid Harrier
Eurasian Marsh Harrier Shikra
Black Eagle Little Cormorant
Little Egret Cattle Egret
Indian Pond-heron Black Ibis
Spot-billed Pelican Indian Pitta
Brown Shrike Rufous treepie
House Crow Large-billed Crow
Eurasian Golden Oriole Black-headed Cuckooshrike
Black Drongo Oriental Magpie Robin
Asian Paradise Flycatcher Indian Robin
Chestnut-tailed Starling Brahminy Starling
Common Myna Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow Red-vented Bulbul
Red-whiskered Bulbul White-browed Bulbul
Zitting Cisticola Plain Prinia
Spotted Flycatcher Jungle Babbler
Rufous-winged (jerdons) Lark Purple-rumped Sunbird
Purple Sunbird Chestnut-shouldered Petronia
Baya Weaver Streaked Weaver
Scaly-breasted Munia Plain Flowerpecker
White-browed Wagtail Blyth's Pipit
Common Iora White-rumped Spinetail
Eurasian Hoopoe Ashy Prinia
Pied Bushchat House Sparrow
Common Rosefinch
TOTAL -83
The next two days were spent cruising the backwaters on a houseboat. The accommodation was really good with 2 en-suite bedrooms and far more good food than we could ever eat! Although this was a wonderfully relaxing couple of days it wasn't ideal for birding. It was lovely to watch daily village life continuing along the backwaters.
Birds seen from Houseboat
Great Cormorant Little Cormorant
Darter Grey Heron
Purple Heron Great Egret
Little Egret Western Reef Egret
Indian Pond Heron Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron Black-headed Ibis
Yellow Bittern Black kite
Brahminy Kite Western Marsh Harrier
Black Eagle Rock Dove
Spotted Dove Asian Koel
Greater Coucal Asian Palm-swift
Stork-billed Kingfisher White-throated Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher Green Bee-eater
Blue-tailed bee-eater Indian Roller
Peregrine Falcon Indian Swamphen
Bronze-winged Jacana Red-wattled Lapwing
Common Sandpiper Gull-billed tern
Common Flameback Eurasian Swallow
White-browed Wagtail Grey Wagtail
Red-whiskered Bulbul Red-vented Bulbul
Plain Prinia Oriental Magpie Robin
Indian Robin Purple-rumped Sunbird
Black-hooded Oriole Black Drongo
Ashy Drongo Ashy Woodswallow
Rufous Treepie House Crow
Jungle Crow Jungle Myna
Black-headed Munia
TOTAL - 53
We spent one night on the way to Periyar at a rubber plantation called Vanilla County near the town of Teekoy. Once again this was a home stay with there being just 4 rooms. Baby and Rani - the owners - were delightful. Rani is a superb cook and served us some amazing food. While there we went for a short walk around the property and also drove to see a working elephant at an area where logging is taking place. Birding was limited as we only had a short time here.
Birds seen at Vanilla County.
Little Egret Indian Pond Heron
Cattle Egret Black Kite
Brahminy Kite Spotted Dove
Malabar parakeet Asian Koel
Greater Coucal Stork-billed Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher Green Bee-eater
Blue-tailed Bee-eater White-cheeked Barbet
Common Flameback Eurasian Swallow
Large Cuckooshrike Small Minivet
Red-vented Bulbul Asian Brown Flycatcher
Tickells Blue Flycatcher Purple-rumped Sunbird
Eurasian Golden oriole Black Drongo
Ashy Drongo Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Rufous Treepie House Crow
Jungle Crow Common Myna
Laughing Dove
TOTAL - 31
We travelled on to Kumily, a town near to Periyar national Park. Here we stayed in Silver Crest Hotel. It wasn't the best place we stayed in but the rooms were large and well appointed. The swimming pool was empty and there were a lot of school children staying here who ran riot till about midnight!
Heavy rain restricted our birding in Periyar. The boat trip is a waste of time from a birding point of view but you can see some of the mammals around the waters edge. The guide we had from the Centre was very good. Leeches are a real nuisance in the forest. Leech socks can be hired from the centre and are essential!!
Birds seen in Periyar.
Great Cormorant Little Cormorant
Darter Grey Heron
Little Egret Indian Pond Heron
Woolly-necked Stork Brahminy Kite
Spotted Dove Mountain Imperial Pigeon
Malabar Parakeet Malabar Trogon
White-throated Kingfisher Pied Kingfisher
Blue-tailed Bee-eater Malabar Grey Hornbill
Red-wattled Lapwing Common Sandpiper
White-cheeked Barbet Rufous Woodpecker
Common Flameback Eurasian Swallow
White-browed Wagtail Grey Wagtail
Large Cuckooshrike Scarlet Minivet
Black-crested Bulbul Red-whiskered Bulbul
Red-vented Bulbul Yellow-browed Bulbul
Common Iora Orange-headed Thrush
Grey-breasted Prinia Western crowned warbler
Asian Brown Flycatcher Asian Paradise Flycatcher
Puff-throated Babbler Jungle Babbler
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Purple-rumped Sunbird
Brown Shrike Black Drongo
Ashy Drongo Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Ashy Woodswallow White-bellied Treepie
Rufous Treepie House Crow
Jungle Crow Jungle Myna
Red Spurfowl Great Tit
TOTAL - 52
Our next stop for 3 nights was Olive brook Homestead. An excellent home stay with superb food, probably the best we had all holiday. There are just 3 rooms. The two we had were facing the most beautiful view over the tea plantations. This is about 3 km outside the town of Munnar and again it's lovely to see people going about their daily life away from the tourist trail. The road in front of the Homestead is good for birding by walking towards Mount Trigore School. Also take the road towards Dalashan resort. Here we saw Black Bulbul and Scimitar Babbler.
Erivakulum. Rajmalai..
This is the park famous for the Nilgiri Tahr, a type of sheep only found here. We found them quite easily but made 3 mistakes at the site.
1. We went on a Sunday. Not a good idea as it was very crowded with local people enjoying a stroll making it bad for birding.
2. We went in the afternoon. Ideally we should have gone in the morning.
3. We should have walked to the top from the Ticket Office, birding on the way. Instead we drove to the Visitors Centre so missed the best site for White-bellied Shortwing.
However, we still managed to see a pair of Nilgiri Pipits. These are markedly striped and buff coloured. Also a pair of Grey-breasted Laughing Thrushes.
Munnar - Top Station
This is 38km from Munnar along a reasonable road. At the dam we saw Oriental Goshawk. By the time we reached the top a heavy mist had descended and then it began to rain. So after seeing a pair of Nilgiri Laughing Thrushes we gave up and returned to Munnar.
Birds seen at and around Munnar.
Little Grebe Little Egret
Crested Serpent Eagle Crested Goshawk
Black Eagle Nilgiri Wood Pigeon
Greater Coucal Moorhen
Red-wattled Lapwing White-cheeked Barbet
Coppersmith Barbet Common Flameback
Grey Wagtail Scarlet Minivet
Red-whiskered Bulbul Yellow-browed Bulbul
Black Bulbul Blue Rock Thrush
Malabar Whistling Thrush Common Tailorbird
Greenish Warbler Western-crowned Warbler
Nilgiri Flycatcher Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
Pied Bushchat Nilgiri Laughing Thrush
Grey-breasted Laughing Thrush Brown-cheeked Fulvetta
Black-lored Tit Little Spiderhunter
Brown Shrike Large Woodshrike
Black Drongo Ashy Drongo
Indian Scimitar Babbler House Crow
Jungle Crow Jungle Myna
House Sparrow Oriental Whiteeye
Southern Hill Myna
TOTAL - 39
From Munnar we drove back to the coast. We spent the night in Ann's Residency in Cochin. Next morning after a tour of the city and a visit to the Chinese Fishing Nets we drove to our beach hotel.
Alleppey Beach Resort is a small hotel with a few rooms right on the beach front. We had these rooms which were large and we had a fridge too. We ate at a table on our patio overlooking the beach and sea. The only birds of note were a few Brown-headed Gulls and Western Reef Herons which were always present at the waters edge.
Salim Ali Reserve, Thattekad.
We visited this site via a place called Bird Lagoon. We were assured Mr Eldhose - the top birder for the area would be available to guide us on this day and we booked a boat trip on a country boat. On arrival we discovered this to all be untrue although the resort is very nice. The lagoon has long since dried up and there were very few birds about. Our Country Boat looked as if it had been high and dry for many a month!! We were allocated another guide to take us to Salim Ali Reserve. He took us on a walk through the forest and to the rivers edge. He was very pleasant but as a bird guide was useless as he barely knew the common birds and didn't even have binoculars with him.
Birds only seen at Thattekad.
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
Grey-headed Bunting
Malabar Trogon
Brown-breasted Flycatcher
TOTAL BIRD COUNT FOR TRIP - 160
All in all it was an excellent trip. We thoroughly recommend the company we used. The arrangements were spot on and the standard of accommodation and transport were superb. Our driver Mani was great. Nothing was too much trouble for him.
Kerala is definitely a very good place for birders. Guides are hard to find although we did have a good one in Periyar. Plenty of research needs to be done in advance if birding independently.
We maybe went a few weeks too early. The monsoon was still around and I think maybe a January trip would be better to maximise the birding time, especially in Periyar where the rain did affect us and also at Mayuram Farm.
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