When I got here I explained to Vinod that I wanted to take it at a relaxed
pace, and that I had no real interest in ticking off the endemics of this
area and the ultimate size of my Thattekad list was a matter of extreme indifference to me. I've never been to India before so almost everything is new to me and
want to experience the Western Ghats not be taken around at break neck speed
missing out on the other wildlife of the place.
So at 3pm we set off at a leisurely pace and walked around the World famous
bird trail at Thattekad, named after India's founding father of ornithology.
It was still hot and birdlife was hard to find at times, yet as the evening
progressed we did start hearing and seeing more and more birds.
The highlight for me was these wonderful
vernal hanging parrots. I've seen hanging parrots before, blue-crowned in Singapore, and they're just a wonderful family of tiny parrots that as the name implies, often hang upside down! Other species seen today included, in no particular
order (because I don't even know what the endemics of this area are),
white-cheeked barbet, white-throated kingfisher, crimson-backed sunbird,
Oriental darter, black-hooded oriole, grey junglefowl, orange-headed thrush,
Malabar starling and cinereous tit.
Malabar starling.
White-cheeked barbet.
Elephant dung!
South Indian flying-lizard.
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