Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXV No. 13, October 16-31, 2015
YMCA Yelagiri Camp, nicely spread over 30 acres at the foot of Karadi Hills, is approximately 6-7 km from the main Yelagiri city centre (which saw some serious wide-road laying and median erection even in the middle of the night) and approximately 2 km from the quaint little town of Mangalam. Due to the nature of its location, the camp offered excellent bird watching trails in and around the Camp itself. As expected, the Camp was booked to the brim, with quite a bit of floating population owing to the religious association. Despite hundred+ consuming food on a daily basis, the food quality was very consistent backed with excellent service.
Day 1: All of us reached the YMCA camp by 11 am after a brief breakfast halt near Sriperumbudur at Singapore Komala’s (ex-Arusuvai facility, recently purchased by new management – good breakfast and service). After checking into the rooms followed by a quick cup of tea, most of us took a stroll around the Camp itself absorbing the location slowly.
We were told that the team could take a rest after lunch and then take a walk at the back of the Camp itself where there were some good trees and shrubs for birding.
As first-time travellers with MNS (although our family has always enjoyed bird-watching) it was clear that the MNS trip was as much about bird watching as it was about watching and learning from the group itself. For example, at the end of the first day, while most of us came to the dinner table with plates filled with food, Srinivas arrived with pen and paper and started filling out not just the birds, but also the count of each bird with the number of sightings.
Day 2: Vijay and three dogs from the YMCA Camp led us to the farthest point atop Karadi hill (that was accessible easily) without having to cape with overgrown plants and bushes. On the return, when we reached a point where there were two alternative paths we could take, the dogs stubbornly stood along one of the paths even while some of us were taking the other path and then we realised in a short while the reason why the dogs waited for us to come along their way. The trek up lasted nearly close to 2 hours while the return was between 40 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes for the entire group.
Back at the Camp, we went looking for some of the local birds. The Common Iora, Munia, White-bellied Drongo and other Drongos, Robins (Magpie and Indian kind), Bulbuls, Parakeets, Swallows, Babblers, and Prinias were some of the species we saw. The Sunbirds, Wagtails (grey), Leaf Bird, and Sparrows could be sighted inside the camp. At lunch, we saw several fruit trees and birds around the dining hall. Right in front of the dining hall there was even a mangosteen tree and a few of us even got to taste its fruit. A little farther away, just beyond the gate, there was a beautiful nest of the Baya Weaver hanging above a small water pit. It was said that this was typical, to prevent easy entry for predators into the nest, but we saw another Baya Weaver nest close by on a tree in open area.
After a brief rest following lunch and some hot chai in the Mangalam tea stall (followed by some yummy ragi snacks from Pritam), we set out for the eucalyptus tree filled area at the back of the Yatri Nivas. After seeing just Sunbirds and moving leaves for a while, we spotted a few Small Minivets (M&F). After not seeing activity in the next 10-15 minutes, we decided to try our the luck in the lake area. There was a noisy crowd in the park just around the boat landing. We moved on around the entire lake and got to spot Yellow Wagtails, Kingfishers, and the Ashy Wood Swallow.
Day 3: Even the 4 am rains and intermittent drizzles lasting approximately 2-3 hours could not dampen the spirit of trek leader Vijay, who at the first sighting of the sun taking a quick peek from behind the clouds, sounded out the troops to get ready for the hike up Swamimalai. From nearby Mangalam we started the trek up the hill after a short walk through fields. Due to rain it was quite chill. By the time, we reached the top of Swamimalai, the sun was out and how we wished for shade. Green Bee-eaters and a whole host of butterflies made their appearance during the trip. Rock Agama and a fairly large lizard gave us a peek into the life beyond winged creatures.
This trip up and down was a little tougher than the Karadi hill trip due to there being steps which seemed to pound on the knees, especially on the way down. The whole trip took longer than expected and, hence, most of us ended up just chilling out the camp on our return.
The team took one final walk to a location near the Camp, and it turned out to be the most productive trail of the trip. We were rewarded with a view of a well-rested Scaly-breasted Munia and a Flowerpecker. After breakfast, we headed back to Chennai. We had, as a group, spotted 30 species of butterflies and around 65 species of birds. (Courtesy: Madras Naturalists’ Society Bulletin.)
–Gowrishankar,
Srividya, Madhuvanti and Hemavati