Dec

Short walk in Longwood (Nature Rambles)

I had three hours, one and a half on an evening and one and a half next morning for watching birds in the Nilgiris. The bird watching was sandwiched by meetings and travel. The saving grace was that I was to stay at the forest inspection bungalow at Longwood shola near Kothagiri. I had heard of the place earlier, the little patch of montane evergreen forest protected as a water source by the local communities of the area. I may also have heard of it in the context of the chief minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha who passed the place during her four monthly retreat to nearby estates. When that happens, it is difficult to stay at Longwood as her minions take over the place. But now, with elections on, everyone is in Chennai except those who are in Madurai; there is no one in Longwood and it is easy to walk through and see three species of bird endemics on one day.

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A Nilgiri blue flycather (Eumyias albicaudatus), the Verditer equivalent of the Nilgiris.
Photo: Vivek Menon / WTI

The Nilgiri flycatcher first, a brilliant azure, darker than the Verditer and more dumpy, lighter than the Tickell’s but coloured all blue. A blob of brilliant blue flitting through the undergrowth. Then the Black chinned or Nilgiri laughing thrush, with a white stentorian eyebrow that gives it a military look momentarily, till it gives all that seriousness away with a cadence of chuckling sqwaks and chirrts. And finally that enigma amongst Western Ghats oddities the Nilgiri blue robin or the rufous bellied shortwing, neither a shortwing, nor really rufous bellied (the belly itself is white, the rufous flanks it.)

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A male black and orange flycatcher (Ficedula nigrorufa) with a distinctive three coloured look.
Photo: Vivek Menon / WTI

These were the prize catches, but there were other non-endemic yet interesting birds too. The grey headed canary flycatchers ruling the canopy, the orange and black flycatcher flitting away in the mid bush level (the female was seen eating a termite grub with great relish) and the Tickell’s leaf warbler, white supercilium boldly marking its olive face.

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A grey headed canary flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis), a restless bird high in the canopy.
Photo: Vivek Menon / WTI

The forest guard was efficient but not too knowledgeable about the shola; after all he was from Mudumalai himself- a plains man stuck atop a montane forest! He was polite to a fault and punctual as well for the walks, so perhaps I should not have asked for more. Only once did I try ask him a question, as one of the robins had a pink band on it. I wanted to know who it was, that was doing research there. He shook his head onerously. No information, sir, he said. Maybe he was right and it was not research but a mark of special favour by the Chief Minister’s men.

A Nilgiri Blue Robin (Myiomela (Brachypteris) major), with a pink bird band on it.
Photo: Vivek Menon / WTI