Canopy 2009 Photo Contest

Well, a side trip on my part where I submitted a few on my photographs to the Photo Contest conducted by ATREE along with the organizers of 5th Canopy International Conference held at IISc Bangalore. It was judged by eminent persons in the field of wildlife photography and nature conservation:- Ganesh H Shankar, Mark Moffet, Shekar Dattatri, Sandesh Kadur. So, it was a pleasant surprise when my image taken during our Muthodi trip was given the 1st prize. I sincerely feel 90% of the credit should go to the Langur which posed for me so well with the forest canopy in the background, tailormade for this contest! 10% to me for taking and entering this image into the contest. :) 2nd place was given to Kalyan Varma for a technically difficult and beautiful image of fireflies in the night, 3rd place to Ashwini Kumar Bhat who entered a mesmerizing image of a shadow creeping across lush canopy.


My 2 shortlisted images were:

The image was taken in Timber Yard, Dandeli during a Bird-watching trip. We had finished going around the place and were returning to our vehicle. I lagged behind taking shots of the sunset seen from between the foliage. The cut and neatly piled logs gave a contrast to the nature that we were trying to find and enjoy. I composed the shot to highlight it and got this exposure after a few tries.






Early morning views of Muthodi forest range are magical from the Sheeghekhan Estates which is located on top of a small hill. We were in the balcony before dawn and enjoying the blankets of mist over the canopy before the rising sun slowly started melting them away. A langur was also sitting on a branch some distance away basking in the morning sun. Its peaceful posture with the backdrop of the Canopy was a wonderful sight and it captured the moment very well.

Manjarabad Fort

This was more of a family social trip than a nature or bird watching trip to Sakleshpur over the last weekend of Dasara. My sister has lived here for the past 25 years or so and we usually plan a trip during Dasara. However, since her house is at the end of town close to where the forest cover again starts, one can just do birding around the house itself. This time we also planned to visit Majarabad fort more for something to do than for hope of spotting birds.

On way to Sakaleshpur, we found couple of very good lakes, one 5km after Hassan and the next a few kilometers further. We were able to enjoy Bronze-winged Jacana's, Coots, Moorhens, Kingfishers and other common birds here. Our hopes to do much bird watching in Sakleshpur got a setback as there was incessant rain all through our stay. That still did not stop us venturing out with Umbrellas and jackets couple of times. The birds which also decided to ignore the rain and fly about were: Red-whiskered Bulbuls, House sparrows, Oriental Magpie Robins, White-browed Wagtails, Couple of Purple-rumped Sunbirds, a lone Grey Wagtail and a Long-tailed Shrike. Several Dusky Crag Martins were the most active doing fast low flights repititively in the same pattern as if on a race-track. My guess is that they were catching insects in the air.

As planned, we drove up to Majarabad fort in the rain saturday afternoon. It is only about 5km from the town. Look for a huge board with the name and some shops on the left at a hairpin bend. You need to park here and walk up a little and then climb 250steps (my daughter Nithila counted it!) to reach the fort. The fort itself is fantastic apparently built by Tipu Sultan in 1782 as per a ASI board at the start of the trek up. Some of the watch towers are in good condition giving good views of how the soldiers would have scanned the horizon during those times. Birding was tough due to rain. There was a raptor which disappeared too quickly. Many Dusky-crag Martins gave us company though.

On the way back, just a km before Sakaleshpur town, we stopped at the road side to scan some paddy fields. This was under a Ficus tree. (F.virens?). Looking up we noticed a lot of barbet activity and could easily spot the white-cheeked ones. I noticed a flash of red on one which was smaller in size and assumed some coppersmiths were also there. Tracking it on the binoculors gave me a flash of blue also and I knew we had something else here. It started to rain heavily and we had to reluctantly return home. We came back again to the tree in the evening about 4ish hoping for a better look. This time, the bird liked our determination and came down the canopy to the lower branches to feed on the white fruits. No doubt now. It was the Crimson-fronted Barbet(Magalaima rubricapilla), our first time ever! A truly beautiful bird to watch scampering around the tree most of the time high up in the canopy. We spent quite some time enjoying it. I made one more trip back to try and get a few images even though light was fading fast. The bird again rewarded me by coming down once helping me get some record shots. It made our trip memorable.

We were on our way back to Bangalore early next day morning. There was morning sun at the lake near Hassan for us to observe a Pheasant-tailed Jacana family with 2 really cute chicks. One final note, if you happen to breakfast at Mayura Hotel (best with a family as it has a spacious play area) near Belur Cross, check out the trees for lot of Tickells (Pale-billed) Flowerpeckers.

Bangalore's very own hill station - Nandi Hills

Location: Nandi Hills
Date: Aug 30th 2009
To get there: [Click here for Google Map]. From Hebbal take NH7 towards Devanahalli Airport and Hyderabad. After you pass the airport look for really small sign to turn left towards Nandi Hills.
Distance: About 60kms from Bangalore
Trail type: There are lots of trails to pick from. As soon as you enter there is a large Nandi hills park map and one can plan using it. A trail starts from the point going through fairly thick vegetation and up (steps). You can join the trail anywhere which goes around the hill along the fort boundary giving you lots of great views.
Facilities: Mayura Pine Top is the KSTDC run hotel there which has basic facilites and fairly decent food with fantastic views. Lots of other roadside type shops are also there. A large kids playarea can also be found.

For some days prior we had been thinking of visiting a good place for bird watching where we had not been recently. Nandi hills was tempting and hoping for some early migration season surprises we set out for it sunday leaving Hebbal with all 5 of us on board by 7am.

We were at the foothills around 8am and stopped as soon as the climb started. We were rewarded with a sighting of Sirkeer Malkoha which promptly skulked far away from us! Driving up, the group started to focus mostly on the wild flowers that are peppered among the hills foliage. While discussing and enjoying this at one of the several hairpin bends before we reach the main entrance, we got to see a Short-toed Snake Eagle comfortable gliding almost to a standstill in the high thermals looking for food below. We parked right at the entrance even though cars are allowed all the way to the top where Mayura hotel is, since a trek to the spot gives us more oppurtunites for birdwatching. There is a nominal entrance fee charged here to enter the hill station.

We trekked to the top and then chose to walk along the trail which goes around the hills along the fort. Birds were not as plenty as hoped. The sole grace being a very quick flyby of an falcon possibly Peregrine. But just before we reached our parking spot we spotted the first arrival of a single Grey Wagtails for the 09-10 migration season. Close by a Puff-throated Babbler decided to hop right across our paths giving me trigger fingers on the camera. :). We started back around 2ish and were back in Bangalore by 3.30pm.

Somethings to know if you do happen to go with family for a picnic/trek. Monkeys are everywhere and they smell a picnic basket even before you get out of the car. We saw one family which parked the car, got out and before they could stretch and admire the surroundings, one had snuck behind them and was almost into the car! Later, I was sitting on a slope when I felt a tug behind me which happened to be a monkey taking the water bottle out of the backpack! Yes, they are probably hooked on to coke which is what it probably thought it was. So, advice is to pack finger food if you happen to picnic and eat quickly and fast in an open place, ie no over hanging branches. Leisurely picnics are out of question. And yes, remember, Nandi Hills is now a no-plastic zone so try to pack accordingly and not litter the area. Enjoy! It is a fantastic and cool place and we are lucky to have it within an hours drive from our city.