THATTEKAD
Prelude:
The forest inspection bungalow sat in quietude amid jackfruit, mango and mahogany trees. Insects hovered around in plenty; encircling under the tube-light and crawling on the walls and the white marble floor. I stepped out on the porch and sauntered around with my cup of piping-hot instant coffee. The air was still and sultry, yet pleasant. Thattekad, illuminated by a pale moon looked both lovely and creepy at the same time. Under the flash of our swaying torchlights, we walked to the other side of the road into the sanctuary towards Girish’s homestay.
Girish and the Malabar Gliding frogs:
After reading a few blogs that spoke highly about his birding expertise I had cherry-picked Girish from the handful of guides at Thattekkad. Girish’s family comprised of his wife, two kids, his mother Sudha and his 90 year old grand-mom. A lawyer by profession, he was a cheerful man in his forties. Thattekad being his birthplace, he had developed a keen interest in birding since childhood. Sudha, a soft spoken and energetic lady, was a bird enthusiast too! Interesting conversations unfolded around Thattekad and its ecosystem. Girish’s home, painted in electric blue, nestled cozily in the forest canopy. An army of Malabar frogs dwelling in his courtyard had taken me by complete surprise! With their smooth and vivid green body, yellow feet and bulgy yellow eyes, they looked like characters out of a fairy tale. Gliding frogs are tree frogs that can make gliding jumps of upto 12 meters, approximately 100 times their length. This rare specie is found only in the Western Ghats.
Malabar Gliding frog-Mobile click
Urulathanni :
Seven kilometres away from the main sanctuary, Urulathanni was waking up to a cloudy and drizzly morning. Such a weather in the mid of May was both unexpected and disappointing. To our luck, it cleared off sooner than anticipated. Traversing through teak and rubber plantations, we reached a flat rocky patch, ahead of which, a moderately elevated climb led us to a clearing that presented a panoramic view of the forest and the mountains surrounding Thattekad. A small tribal hut stood towards one end. Girish mentioned that the hut was in the elephant and leopard crossing zone, but the small tribal family of four along with their dog, were well adapted to the lurking dangers. We glanced around and realised that this stretch was bustling with flower-peckers, minivets, starlings, hill mynas, parakeets, sunbirds, drongos, hornbills and others flew in plenty. The sun was up and the birds we active already. Girish sped like a superfast train, spotting and identifying birds by their flight and calls, while I struggled to keep up with his pace. The hyper-activeness of the birds and the considerable distance from them made focusing almost impossible. I toggled frustratingly between mounting my beast-like lens on the tripod and hand-holding it. As the morning sun became harsher, humidity started taking a toll. I hadn’t clicked a single good image, except that of a giant butterfly and a bug! Eventually, when the heat became unbearable, we started to descend into the lower terrain. It had been a frustrating and ugly start!
The Srilanka Frogmouth
‘I can’t see them’ I uttered in an anxious, but hushed voice. ‘Go closer, be careful not to touch or shake the branch though’, instructed Girish. I inched further towards the bunch of dried leaves of a slim tree that stood amid hundred other identical trees. I noticed a withered leaf gently ruffle for a split-second. I found the pair of Srilaka Frogmouths roosting on a fragile branch; one of which had acted like a dead leaf dangling in the wind! They duo was glued to each other, absolutely motionless and so perfectly camouflaged, that if not for Girish, I would have never been able to locate them, even at such close proximity. Srilanka Frogmouth is one of the tougher birds to spot due to its plumage that resembles dried leaves. More so, these are nocturnal and usually perch at the same spot for long hours with slight or no movement. Its elongated eyes, wide bill with moustache and frog-like face renders it both beautiful and weird-looking at the same time! We encountered more frogmouths at considerable distances from each other later on the trail. It wasn’t surprising that we bumped into all of them at the exact same spots over the next couple of days.
Srilanka Frogmouth stretches its neck when alert
Srilanka Frogmouth pair- the female is rufous and the male is slightly grey in color.
The mysterious hooter and the Jerdon’s Nightjar
Noon was well-spent near a placid lake which had a colony of bee-eaters and swallows As the sun began to set, we were back into the forests to hunt down the Jerdon’s Nightjar. However, our attention was diverted to a loud and mystical ‘wooooh-woooh-wooooh’ that echoed from a distance. “I think its a Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, but I am not sure!”, Girish exclaimed overwhelmingly. We hastened through the bushes and thorny shrubs, in the direction of the hooting. Each time we felt like we were getting closer, the owl would pause for a few minutes and then hoot again, but farther away. This hide and seek continued for sometime, until we eventually gave up! It was high time we headed back for the nightjar. Girish brought us back to a small expanse, not too far away from the road. He started playing the nightjar’s call on his phone repeatedly. Drawing our attention towards two bare branches of a bush nearby, he confidently implied, “It would fly around here anytime now and sit on either of these branches for a few seconds; be ready”. And as though Girish had some premonition, a beautiful Jerdon’s Nightjar perched exactly on the branch that Girish had pointed out. Its plumage was in shades of black, brown and white and it had deep black eyes. It sat for less than thirty seconds before disappearing into the woods. This was too good to be real!
Jerdon’s Nightjar. Pic Credits : Mihir Vilekar
Tracking down the Trogons
A faint and short ‘eaw eaw’ lead us offtrack and down a gentle slope to the base of the jungle with a brook running through it. Here, the ground was moist and laden with leeches. Albeit my efforts and repeated pleas from my husband, I just couldn’t pull my attention off the blood suckers and in the bargain, we lost track of the Trogon. I looked down to pull away from the cursing look on his face, only to find that three leeches had already crawled up my left foot, despite all the drama I had put up. We continued walking off-road for a few meters and connected to the-mud trail in no time. My face lit up as we chanced upon a beautiful pair of pruning Trogons just 10 feet away! The male was handsome, with a bright crimson front, black head and white color. The female had a chrome yellow chest while the head and collar were brown. Malabar Trogons are resident birds of the Western Ghats. Due to their shy nature, they are usually found in thick canopies. Even with such striking colors, they blend well with their surroundings since their backs are camouflaged! For me, these were no less than the birds of paradise.
A vibrant male Malabar Trogon
A Malabar Grey Hornbill with its juvenile
Salim Ali bird trail
On the last day, we explored the Salim Ali trail inside the Thattekad sanctuary with Sudha. Apart from a jungle owlet, a few malabar parakeets we did not sight anything much. A stunt watch tower inside the forest threw some scenic views. Further ahead, we reached a pond skirted with dense growth of bamboo beyond which the trail opened up into a long and narrow path with thicket of tall trees on either sides. Drongos and woodpeckers wandered in abundance. A pair of white-bellied treepies with never-ending tails, looked majestic when they flew from tree to tree. These again, can only be found in Western Ghats.
White Bellied Treepie. Pic credit : Mihir Vilekar
With the last bird on my wish-list ticked off, it was time to leave. An unexpected overcast took over Thattekad, vanquishing the intolerable airlessness with soothing whiffs of cool winds. We drove past the area where had head the enigmatic hoots the previous evening. From deep within the woods, the uncanny ‘wooooooh-woooooh-woooooh’ echoed, piercing the silence of the jungle. The mysterious owl though, had made up its mind to maintain its inconspicuousness.
The rare, Drone Cuckoo
Greater Racket tailed Drone
Orange-headed thrush
Malabar Giant Squirrel
About Thattekad: Thattekad is a dense evergreen forest situated approximately 65 kms to the east of Cochin in Kerala. More commonly referred to as The Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, it is considered to have the richest bird habitat in the peninsular region of India with close to 280 reported species(resident and migratory). In the local dialect, Thattekad translates into ‘Thatte- plate’ and ‘Kad-forest’. The topography of Thattekad comprises of flat rocks and hence the name. Also, the pristine Periyar river branches into and cuts through the sanctuary. Few rare birds endemic to western ghats can be found here. Urulathanni is the richest in terms of bird species and population, in my personal opinion.
Best time to Visit : Oct through March. To skip the crowd of birdwatchers, one may visit in April, though most migrant birds return from Thattekad by then but resident birds can be sighted in plenty.
How to reach :
By Air : The nearest airport is Cochin. Private taxis could be booked to reach Thattekad.
By Rail : Aluva is the closest station. Hire a private taxis or take a bus hereon
By bus : Overnight bus from Bangalore to Koothuparamba- local bus to Kothamanagalam- local bus to Thattekad.
Where to stay : You can choose to stay in Girish’s homestay. If you are on a budget, try the Forest Inspection bungalow. In both cases, advance booking is strongly recommended. Alternatively, one can stay in Kothamangalam. For Forest IB contact Mani @ 8547603174
Where to eat : the nearest eatery joint is 3 kms away. Thattekad is mostly rural, hence no big hotels in the vicinity. Kothamangalam is a slightly bigger town, 12 kms away.
Guide info : Girish @ 9847034520.
Essentials : A good telephoto lens above 500mm, tripod, binoculars, sunscreen, light, camouflaging clothes, cap, 2 litres of water, umbrella ( it may rain post March), leech socks (if visiting pre/post monsoons)
A serene sunset on river Periyar that cuts through Thattekad
My list of identified and photographed birds species at Thattekad: 66. For a pictorial tour, click here : Birds of Thattekad
- Srilanka Frogmouth -male and female
- Malabar Trogon Male- male and female
- Jerdon’s Nightjar
- White-bellied Treepie
- Malabar Grey Hornbill
- Rufous Treepie
- Vernal Hanging Parakeet
- Malabar Parakeet
- Red Whiskered Bulbul
- Red Vented Bulbul
- Yellow Browed Bulbul
- Flame Throated Bulbul
- Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
- Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
- Black Drongo
- Drongo Cuckoo
- Streak-throated Woodpecker
- Yellow-crowned Woodpecker
- Lesser Yellow Naped Woodpecker
- Lesser Goldenback Woodpecker
- Heart-spotted Woodpecker
- Bar-winged Flycatcher
- White-bellied Blue Flycatcher
- Little Cormorant
- Little Egret
- Great Egret
- Darter
- River Tern
- Spot-billed Pelican
- Cotton Pygmy Goose
- Bronze-winged Jacana
- Lesser Whistling Ducks
- Coppersmith barbet
- Grey Shrike
- Bay backed shrike
- Wood Shrike
- Asian fairy Bluebird-male and female
- Black Hooded Oriole
- Oriental Magpie Robin
- Hill Myna
- Orange Headed Thrush
- Spotted Dove
- Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
- Imperial Green Pigeon
- Pompadour Green Pigeon
- Blyth’s Starling
- Brahminy Starling
- Jungle Babbler
- Common Kingfisher
- Pied Kingfisher
- Stork-billed Kingfisher
- White throated Kingfisher
- Minivet- male and female
- Green Bee-Eater
- Chestnut Headed Bee-Eater
- Blue Cheeked Bee-Eater
- Grey Tit
- Red-Rumped Swallow
- Flowerpecker
- Indian Nutthatch
- Jungle Owlet
- Sunbirds
- Indian Coucal
- Jungle Fowl
- Red-wattled Lapwing
- Hoopoe
A Capri On The Road 
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Awesome Blog , colourful Birdy pics.
Spectacular landscape capture.
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Flowing as usual 🙂
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