Dr. Arulvelan Thillainayagam, Financial Consultant & Birder, Coimbatore.
First time in my life Pongal Day was celebrated away from home and family members. Nevertheless, I looked forward to spend the festive days with birds and my young and hungry birding friends. What more a birder needs! The long wait got over; innate excitement neutralized the external chill weather.
DAY 1: January 14, 2019, Tuesday 05.30 AM
Myself, Selvaganesh K and Hareesha AS started the much anticipated Pongal Birding journey in all earnest. Off we went to the Nilgiris through Mettupalayam-Kotagiri Road. Mellifluous song of Malabar Whistling Thrush Myophonus horsfieldii greeted us just a few minutes close to Kunjappanai village, the eastern entry point of Nilgiris district. We made our first stop and immediately there was a Blue-capped Rock Thrush Monticola cinclorhynchus nearby, our first sighting for the festive trip. We spent 15 minutes for our first complete eBird checklist by walking through the Kunjappanai Reserve Forest patch adjacent to the road and logged in another 11 bird species. Sunrise in the hill country! Then we climbed down and made a stop over at Annur Lake for the Coimbatore district. Bird activity ascended as time passed. Highlight at that place was the entry of Red Avadavat Amandava amandava pretty close to the lake side road. We made it a point to have our complete lists away from towns to enable us to combine birding with food/drinks/health breaks.
At Genguvarpatti near Kodaikanal Ghat road junction we stopped for a complete list to cover Theni District. A lake full of birds on one side, paddyfields teeming with birds again on the other side and with Kodaikanal hills behind us, we quenched our thirst with tender coconuts. Nature at its Best! Day progressed with birding through Tirupur, Erode, Karur, Dindigul, Theni, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Thoothukkudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari districts to culminate at lands end of India at Kanyakumari sunset point for the glorious sunset view. Simultaneously, we sighted Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis on the sea rock front and Yellow-wattled Lapwing in a patch close to the beach among other birds. Photogenic and beautiful looking Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus happened to be a regular sight all through the highways perched on electricity posts and lines especially in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Thoothukkudi and Tirunelveli districts.
Day 1 Summary – 163 checklists, 116 Species, 12 Districts, 16 Hours and 695 KMs. Night halt at Tirunelveli.
DAY 2: January 15, 2019, Wednesday 06.00 AM
Pongal Day dawned with attractive bird activity including Knob-billed Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos, Red-naped Ibis Pseudibis papillosa among others on the outskirts of Tirunelveli town itself when we did stationary birding while at a fueling point. It was a rare sight to observe the Red-naped Ibis in courtship mode. A place near Kayathar Veerapandiya Kattabomman Memorial was alive early in the morning with bird life when we stopped for a list for Thoothukkudi district. At Abiramam Kanmai in Ramanathapuram district we were attracted by the vastness of the huge tank and stopped to bird, but alas there was no water at all, as far as we could see. Bird activity was also limited. Right across the Vaigai River near Manamadurai we observed hectic bird activity especially a big group of white egrets, Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus and Bee-eaters. At Viralimalai bypass we observed a lot of Little Swifts Apus affinis and a good number of raptors when it was nearing noon. Near Samayapuram, a big group of Asian Openbills Anastomus oscitans and other stork sp. were riding the thermals.
In Thanjavur district, we travelled along the Cauvery River and near Nellichery, a local cycle rally on the road made us to take a respite for a while. We used the opportunity to spend quality time with ace birder Raja Simma Pandiyan, an IT Professional turned Agriculturist in the region. He came all the way to motivate and appreciate our effort. Highlight of the day was the presence of Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Garganey Spatula querquedula, Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope, Lesser Whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata and Knob-billed Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos all in Varanavasi Lake near Ammakulam of Ariyalur district. Pongal Day at its best! We birded all day long through Tirunelveli, Thoothukkudi, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Madurai, Pudukottoai, Trichy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Karaikal, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts.
Day 2 Summary – 116 checklists, 115 Species, 15 Districts, 17 Hours and 690 KM. We halted for the night at Puducherry and our birder friend Surendhar Boobalan hosted us with great warmth.
DAY 3: January 16, 2019, Thursday 06.00 AM
It was a cold, misty and overcast sky at Puducherry. However, birding began very promisingly with a pair of Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus perched on a cell phone tower close to Pondicherry University. Though misty weather continued up to Chennai outskirts on the East Coast highway, birding was bright with Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, Brown-headed Gull Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus, Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica, Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia, Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans and Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis among others at Vennangupattu Bridge of Villupuram District. Thousands of Northern Pintail Anas acuta, hundreds of Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus, Little Stint Calidris minuta, Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia were a sight to behold at Mudhaliyarkuppam Backwaters/Odiyur Lake in Kanchipuram district. Please see the complete checklist here.
At Chennai, we were able to manage an open air birding cum breakfast at Adyar Ananda Bhavan and saw a Large-billed Crow Corvus marcrorhynchos relishing a Pappad feast. Tiruvallur district, as expected was crowded and teeming with vehicles and shops. We were able to locate a small tank with water amidst dense human habitation in Poonamalle. We were trying to find an entry point for the water body when two enthusiastic local school boys offered help and led us right through a house to gain access. We could see a staggering 23 Species in that tiny water body including Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica, Cormorants, Little Egrets Egretta garzetta and Brahminy Starling Sturnia pagodarum. It was unbelievable for us! Looks like birds have also learned to adapt to the polluted and cramped surroundings. Teacher ghosts in all the three of us rose up to motivate the school students into promising birders. On such occasions real teacher Selvaganesh has no match and finished a run away winner. Boys decided to give a slip, though.
From Chennai, we proceeded on the western corridor of Tamil Nadu with intermittent halts at every district for complete eBirding checklists apart from continuous travel and incidental checklists throughout the day. Near Kaveripakkam in Vellore district we enjoyed a birding lunch at Murugan Idli Shop. We were served with hot and sweet Pongal though we did not ask for it. Pongal and Birding together, literally. Just after crossing Krishnagiri, we had to make a stop to give the road to local Jallikkattu Bulls whose day it was, the well known Maattu Pongal Day. Poor bulls ran helter skelter on and off the road driving the people also to run. We used the occasion to do birding in the lake adjacent to the road.
We were forced stop again to give way to the Chief Minister’s convoy near Salem-Magudanchavadi toll. Surprisingly and by genuine coincidence a group of four Asian Palm Swifts Cypsiurus balasiensis happened to be the last of the bird species sighted for the day and for the trip to align perfectly with our team name, Palm Swift. However, we heard the call of Yellow-wattled Lapwing while looking/listening for a 15 minute nocturnal stationary checklist in Erode district to mark our 32nd district in Tamil Nadu during this Pongal Birding Festival. Birding for the day started from Puducherry and progressed through Villupuram, Kanchipuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts.
Day 3 Summary – 160 Checklists, 96 Species, 12 Districts, 15 Hours and 700 KM. Back to Coimbatore and Home.
Pongal Bird Trip: 3 days Summary – 439 eBird Checklists, 151 Species, 34 Districts (TN 32 and Puducherry 2), 48 Hours and 2085 KM.
The last day (January 17, 2019) was spent with our family and with the local neighborhood birds. On the whole, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, exhilarating and experiential learning run of birding for three days. None of us wanted to stop this journey but only wished to continue to bird forever. Not a minute passed, without a bird on view to at least one of us. There are many districts in Tamil Nadu which are in the forefront of birding like Coimbatore, Tirupur, Chennai, Salem, Kanchipuram with numerous active birders. Simultaneously there are many other districts like Karur, Perambalur, Dharmapuri, Sivaganga and Namakkal wherein birding activity is very limited. We wanted to motivate the birders in those districts and other active birders in the nearby districts to take a cue from our pilot effort and support birding activity in deficient districts. Time to recall and thank Dr P Jeganathan, Scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation who floated this idea of covering all TN Districts for Pongal Bird Count and for his continuous support throughout the trip.
For the umpteenth time I realized that the world is big, nature is all around, birds are everywhere, we are too small and that we need to explore for ever. This Pongal Birding Festival was yet another opportunity to do that.
Do see their amazing animated journey in this video prepared by Rajarajan. For detailed report and results of Pongal Bird Count 2019, please click here.
