Thattekad: the birdman’s pocket bird sanctuary

When Dr Salim Ali, "birdman" of India, came to explore the birdlife in this part of Kerala in the 1930s, he found a variety and richness of birdlife, unrivalled by any place in India other than perhaps the northeast. His discovery that the Ceylon frogmouth breeds here soon followed and half a century later, he recommended that a 25 square km area be set aside for posterity: thus was born Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekad.

Situated on the north bank of the Periyar river, Thattekad's rich evergreen forest and undulating rocky hillocks is home to many endemic and migratory species and is just a two hour drive from Kochi, making it a perfect getaway from anywhere in India. We stayed at the Junglebird Lodge, a homestay within the sanctuary manned by four generations of one family! Mouth watering Kerala cuisine interspersed by engrossing birding was our routine for the next three days.

A lake next to our homestay set the stage for an array of water dwellers. Kingfishers (white throated, common and pied), darters, cormorants, a bronze winged jacana and a whole flock of lesser whistling ducks were the permanent inhabitants here. The air was filled with characteristic whistles as the ducks took off in unison. Drongos were aplenty (greater racket tailed, ashy, bronze) but it was thrilling to spot the drongo cuckoo, a cuckoo that looks just like a drongo so that it can lay bits eggs in their nests: we had to.look carefully for the give-away slender curved bill. On the first evening, we were treated to a "bird show": a puddle in a rock served as the evening watering hole for a variety of small birds as they trooped in one by one to quench their thirst while keeping a cautious eye on us. Blue flycatchers (white bellied, Tickell's and blue throated), the Indian blue robin, the orange headed thrush, black throated munias, Asian paradise flycatchers and dark fronted babblers were the stars that kept the audience engrossed. The two toned piew-piew of the Indian pitta preceded it's arrival shortly after dusk, and the bird looked no less pretty when illuminated by our flashlight. It was well past dusk when we returned home to celebrate over hot crisp vadas washed down with fresh lime juice. Ah, the good life!

The Salim Ali trail

Yellow browed bulbul by Dr L Vijaya

We spent the next day doing some relaxed birding on our own on the Salim Ali trail, a well marked path close to the sanctuary entrance, while our guides took the majority of our group for a day at Munnar. Orioles (all three species: golden, black naped and black hooded) maintained a constant yellow parade in the canopy above. Heart spotted and brown capped pygmy woodpeckers were lifers. Grey jungle fowls scurried across our path. Hill mynas kept up a metallic series of calls overhead. Green imperial and grey headed green pigeons tested our neck craning skills overhead. The birding was more leisurely though the absence of our guides forced us to keep our eyes and ears open: no "spoon feeding today"!

The next day was largely spent at Urulanthanni, a rocky outcrop that affords an amphitheater like view of birds around us. Here Thattekad literally came alive: grey hornbills cackled from close up, the Asian fairy bluebird glistened black and blue in the morning sun and the flame throated bulbul showed exactly why it was named so. A crested goshawk was nicknamed "diaper raptor" for its characteristic thick white feathers seen around its tail base in flight. Perhaps most iconic of Thattekad, the Malabar trogon and the Sri Lankan frogmouth, both followed in quick succession! The trogon male is a rich panoply of black, red and pink, while the cinnamon brown female was almost as pretty as they perched silently above the frenzily excited birding group below. The frogmouth pair we saw were impossibly camouflaged in their brown tree roosts, now and then opening a lazy eye and swaying slightly like the brown leaves around them. Our whoops of excitement were matched by our guides' sighs of relief: now would either host or guest want to finish a tiger safari in Kanha or Ranthambore without seeing its iconic inhabitant?

Sri Lankan frogmouth pair by Dr L Vijaya

Back at Urulanthanni the last morning, we were treated to a second round of lifers for "dessert". The black baza, black and white all over, flew overhead before settling on a treetop. It was most satisfying to first hear and then see the greater flameback woodpecker, and carefully identify the features  distinguishing it from the ubiquitous urban black rumped flameback.  The "peter-peter" call of the banded bay cuckoo was followed by the sighting of this delightfully brown banded bird. Then came the "mother of all lifers" which even our guides had last seen nine years ago: the Sri Lanka bay owl! This beautiful, rare owl was spotted roosting at a nearby impossible to locate position and continued to do so despite the rush of eager humans below. What a sendoff for us!

Sri Lankan bay owl by Dr L Vijaya

So if you have a free weekend and want to know how Dr Salim Ali's wonderful bird paradise has been preserved for posterity, you know where to head!