2014 | 166 | 15Jun14 | Shivanahalli

BNG BIRDS - 3rd Sunday Trail @ Shivanahalli

Special thanks to Ms.Geethanjali and BNG birds for arranging such a wonderful birding trail. Adding to it when professionals like Mr.Seshadiri, Mr.Deepak joins, the whole team gets enlightened with tons of information, for me personally I felt amazed to hear about gear systems in carpenter bees, habits of procession ants, evolution of terminalia trees, specialty of sandal woods roots and so on. For a while I though I should have choose botany or Zoology as my major. : ). At the same time, need to thank Ashram and their team for allowing us inside. Thank you again for all your support.

Arun

:: Birds ::

01. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) - Female -  14 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Male from Blue-throated by orange throat. Female has blue-grey cast to upperparts (especially rump and tail), orange breast, and white belly and flanks.

02. Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) - Adult - 13 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Has long (slightly down curved) pale bill, rufous forehead and forecrown, greenish upperparts, and dull whitish or buffish underparts. Breeding male has elongated central tail feathers. Juvenile lacks rufous on forecrown. Subspecies in Sri Lanka (e.g. 0. s. sutorius) have darker and greener upperparts and lack supercilium. 

03.  Orange-headed Thrush (Zoothera citrina) - Adult Male - 21 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Adult has orange head and underparts; male with blue-grey mantle, female with olive brown wash to mantle. Juvenile has buffish-orange streaking on upperparts and mottled breast. Shows white banding on underwing in flight. Z. c. cyanotus (peninsula) has vertical black stripes across white ear-coverts, and white throat.

04.  Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) - Female - 12.5-13 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Male is entirely black except for white rump and patch on wing; duller due to rufous fringes to body in non-breeding and First-winter plumages. Female has dark brown upperparts and rufous-brown underparts, with rufous-orange rump. Females in peninsula and Sri Lanka are darker and more prominently streaked than in North.

05.  Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) - Juvenile - 16-18 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Small with elongated central tail feathers, blue or green throat with black gorget, variable golden-brown to rufous crown and nape, and green tail. Juvenile has square-ended tail; crown and mantle are green, lacks black gorget, and throat is pale yellowish- or bluish-green. 

:: Insects and other Invertebrates ::

01.  Millipedes (Myriapodous arthropods) - Feeding on fruit - 0.2-35 cm
ID by  Wikipedia: Millipedes have as few as eleven to over one hundred segments. They are generally black or brown in colour, although there are a few brightly coloured species. The millipede's most obvious feature is its large number of legs. Having many short legs makes millipedes rather slow, but the many legs pushing in unison provides powerful strength for burrowing.

02. Chiasmia sp

03. Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) - Matting
Thanks to Mr.Vimal who spotted and showed this lovely couples.

2014 | 158 | 07 & 08 Jun14 | K Gudi & BR Hills

• Road Condition : Nice. Mostly opt for 80-100 km speed, few places near villages are bumpy.
• Travel Date : 07-08 June 2014
• Route : 

• Outbound : Bangalore > Kanakapura > Malavalli > Kollegal > Yelandur > Nagavalli > K gudi > BR Hills - 230 Km - Departed 04:20 AM Arrived 09:00 AM

• Inbound : BR Hills > Kollegal > Somanathpura > Bannur > Malavalli > Kanakapura > Bangalore - 200 Km

• Weather : Partly cloudy. Day 26 C, Night 18 C
• To Do :

•  Birding through the main road (A stretch of approx 50 km from Nagavalli to BR Hills, thick forest range),

• Enjoy Panoramic Scenic from Biligiriranga Hills,

• Visit Ranganatha Tempe (Don't forget to check 1.9 feet long leather footwear),

• Soliga Tribe Dance,

• Stay:

• We stayed at www.champakaranya.com near Rangathaswamy Temple,

• Only Veg food served (Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, Welcome Drink, Tea/Coffee),

• Hotel arranged for evening Tribal Dance with bonfire,

• Don't expect Star hotel service

• Food quality is good,

• Remember, there is no other hotel service available around 25 km surrounding,

• Mini Cafe Coffee day counter available near the temple (Only coffee)

• Champakaranya running a small eatery near the accommodation, this is the only eatery available in that location. 

:: Birds ::

01. Red-naped Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa) - Adult - 68 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Stocky, dark ibis with relatively stout down curved bill. Has white shoulder patch and reddish legs. Appears bulky and broad winged in flight, with only the feet extending beyond tail. Adult has naked black head with red nape, and is dark brown with green-and-purple gloss. Immature dark brown, including feathered head.

02. White-bellied Drongo (Dicrurus caerulescens) - Adult -  24 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Whitish from belly downwards,Smaller than Black and Ashy, and tail is shorter and fork is typically shallower. Upper parts are glossy slate-grey, much as Ashy (and therefore less black than Black). Throat and breast are browner in first-winter compared with adult (except for leucopygialis) and border between breast and white belly is less clearly defined.

03. Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) - Juvenile - 46-50 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Adult from Grey by combination of uniform slate-grey hood (extending to breast), rufous-brown mantle and scapulars, pale grey wing-coverts and tertials contrasting with black of rest of wing, fulvous-buff underparts, and black-tipped silvergrey tail. In flight, pale grey wing panel, whitish subterminal tail-band, and rufous rump are useful features from Grey. Juv. similar to adult but has browner hood (less well demarcated from mantle), buffish wash to wing-coverts, and tail feathers have pale buffish tips. Five races in subcontinent; vary mainly in length of tail and richness of mantle and underpart colour.

04. Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii) - Female - 38 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Male has 'shawl' of white and pale golden-yellow spotting; band of golden-yellow spotting on scapulars, grey underparts, and long sickle-shaped, purplish-black tail. Eclipse male has shorter, brownish-black neck hackles, and shorter tail. Female is similar to Red Junglefowl, but has buffish face, bold white streaking on underparts, and yellowish (rather than greyish) legs. Immature male resembles adult male, but has much-reduced 'shawl' of yellowish white spotting, smaller comb and wattles, and has shorter tail.

05.  Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) - Adult - 50 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Broad greyish-white supercilium with dark grey ear-coverts, white tips to primaries and secondaries, and white-tipped tail. Has prominent blackish casque, and more extensive black at base of bill compared with Malabar. Further, lacks pale streaking on head, neck and breast, has paler sandy brownish-grey coloration to upper parts, and white trailing edge to secondaries. Tail is also longer than on Malabar Grey, and paler brown with dark grey sub terminal band and elongated central feathers. Female is similar to male, but has smaller casque with less pronounced tip. Immature has bill as female's, but smaller and with smaller casque; lacks white wing-tips.

06.  Orange-headed (Thrush Zoothera citrina) - Adult - 21 cm
ID by  Richard Grimmett : Adult has orange head and underparts; male with blue-grey mantle, female with olivebrown wash to mantle. Juvenile has buffish-orange streaking on upperparts and mottled breast. Shows white banding on underwing in flight. Nominate (Himalayas and NE, wintering south to peninsula and Sri Lanka) has head entirely orange (although may show diffuse dark vertical bar at rear of ear-coverts). Z. c. cyanotus (peninsula) has vertical black stripes across white ear-coverts, and white throat. Z. c. andamanensis and Z. c. albogularis (Andaman and Nicobar Is) lack the white shoulder patch of the two continental races, have pale throat but lack black face stripes.

:: MAMMALS ::

01. Wild boar (Sus scrofa) - Female - 90-200 cm
ID by  Wikipedia : The body of the wild boar is compact; the head is large, the legs relatively short. The fur consists of stiff bristles and usually finer fur. Southern India Boars weigh 44 kg. Adult males develop tusks, continuously growing teeth that protrude from the mouth, from their upper and lower canine teeth. The upper tusks are bent upwards in males, and are regularly ground against the lower ones to produce sharp edges. Females also have sharp canines, but they are smaller, and not protruding . Wild boar piglets are coloured differently from adults, having marbled chocolate and cream stripes lengthwise over their bodies.

02. Stripe-necked mongoose (Herpestes vitticollis) - 25-41 cm
ID by  VIVEKMENON (Indian Mammals) : A stocky mongoose with an iron-grey head and varying reddish tints to its body. The tip of the nose, the bare skin around the eye and ears are rufous, and it always has a black stripe, thinly bordered with white, from ear to shoulder on both sides of the neck. The base pelage of the rest of the body is dark grizzled grey. The specimens of northern Karnataka do not have any red on the body (H.v. inornatus) while those in the southern parts of its range have an orangish red tint on the rear part of the body (H.v. vitticollis). This reddish colouration increases southwards and, for e.g., in the Anamalais, it is almost a reddish creature with a grey head, and dark legs, tip of tail and neck stripe. The legs are short and brownish black with five digits, and the tail is three-fifths of the head and body length, with a black tip that, like the Ruddy Mongoose, it carries with the tip pointing upwards.

03. Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) - 35-51 cm
ID by  Wikipedia & VIVEKMENON (Indian Mammals) : Has a conspicuous two-toned (and sometimes three-toned) color scheme.: Completely maroon on its back and ears with a pale cream venter, pale face and pale tail tip. It has black on the forelimbs and shoulders, and the tail is also black with a pale tip.

04. Chital (Axis axis) - 150-155 cm
ID by  VIVEKMENON (Indian Mammals) : Older males are darker and the fawns are lighter. It has white throat patch and undersides are complemented by a dark dorsal stripe, and in the case of old males, with a dark muzzle band and a dark pattern on the face. During the rut, the male necks become darker and more swollen.There is no neck ruff and the facial glands are less developed. Male antlers are lyre-shaped with three tines: a long brow tine (set at right angles to the beam) and two branch tines (inwardly oriented trez tine). Older males may have one or more false points where the brow joins the beam. The sexes are almost identical except for size (males are about 50 per cent heavier than females) and the presence of antlers in the male.