Kerala Bird Race

Kerala BirdRace - Raju/Rajasree acknowledged

2007-11-19T17:07:00.000-08:00

Dear all:

I forgot to mention about the support rendered by by Raju & Rajasree in helping to organise the BirdRace at TVM. They played a pivotal role in making the southern part of the BirdRace at TVM a grand success..

Thnx Raju/Rajasree for your help... & sorry that I missed out your names in my last email...

Regards
NAMEER

As posted by P O Nameer on Keralabirder e-group

Kerala BirdRace - a success story

2007-11-17T01:04:00.000-08:00

Dear all:

I was under the “shock” after the stunning success of the Kerala BirdRace ……and am slowly recovering from it, and hence the delay in getting to you on my observation on the first ever Kerala BirdRace!!

Wow, it was an amazing programme. The response to our announcement reg. the registration for the BirdRace, has been so overwhelming and we were actually struggling hard to limit the participants to 150 at Cochin, and 100 each and Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, to make it within our budgetary limit...

The participation for the Kerala BirdRace has been splendid, with the participation from large number of bird/nature enthusiasts from all walks of life, from school/college students, house wives, teachers, doctors, advocates, media persons, politicians, govt. servants etc etc… Apart from that most of the senior birders in the State also participated in the activity such as C.Sashikumar, Dr.Sreekumar, Suresh Elamon, Jafer Palot, K.V.Eldhose, Manoj V Nair, C. Jayakumar, S.Rajeevan, Dr.T.N.Vijayakumar, Dr. Dileep, PK Ravindran, PP Sreenivasan, Vishu Das, Vinayan, Rajkumar Namboodiri, to name a few.

We were also successful in getting two eminent personalities as Chief Guests - Smt. Sugathakumari and Prof. MK Prasad, two legendary figures in the nature conservation scenario in Kerala, both of them also have the repute for spearheading the Silent Valley crusade about four decades back.

We also got very good support from the senior Forest officials of the State, some of whom even participated in the Race, and many attended the valedictory function at the three venues.

Press (both print as well as visual media) also had given very good coverage of the event (and is still continuing…)

C.Susanth Kumar at Thiruvananthapuram, E.S. Jayachandran at Kozhikode and Smitha Komath at Kochi did an incredible job of coordination of the event at these three places – responding to hundreds, if not thousands of phones calls, from the potential participants, organising them into various teams, allocating locations to them, convening the preliminary meetings to explain about the concept of the BirdRace, distributing the log books etc etc …, they did it all exceptionally well..

Sunjoy Monga and HSBC is remembered with gratitude for the concept of the BirdRace and also for sponsoring the event..

But the most rewarding and satisfying part of the first ever Kerala BirdRace has been that we could bring all the serious birders of the State under one roof!!

Kudos to Praveen - our moderator, for putting across this idea.. , it also shows the power of networking, coordination and collaboration… Let’s all shed our egos and join together for the cause of Conservation…

Best wishes and regards
NAMEER

As posted by P O Nameer on Keralabirder e-group

179 species at Kochi for the Bird Race

2007-11-14T00:48:00.000-08:00

Dear all,
I have uploaded the compilation of log books for all teams
for Kochi. You can access it at

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/keralabirder/files/Bird%20Race/
(Folder name is Bird Race)

We have seen 179 species in Central Kerala on a single day!!

best rgds
Praveen

PS:
Site coordinators are compiling similar info for TVM and KZE -
Lets wait for those data to get the final list.

As posted on Keralabirder by Praveen J. If you are not a member of Keralabirder you can also access the log at this location - http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pLpc5duu9T6mSQORn52BDEA

Kerala Bird Race: First Reactions

2007-11-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

It is indeed very heartening to note the turn-out for
the Kerala Bird Race from all three cities - though I was physically
present only at Kochi, good news poured in from Thiruvananthapuram
and Kozhikode on the success in these locations too. Hearty thanks to
the all the participants, organising coordinators and judges for
making this event a grand success. It is great to note that Kerala has
such an extensive bird-watcher community - thanks the pioneers like
Prof.K.K.Neelakantan.

I shall make a more detailed summary of all the three
locations and post in all the e-groups (as required by HSBC) -
possibly tomorrow. Meanwhile, please do feel free to post your own
experiences in the forum. The TVM group has already made a good press
coverage,
http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111260900300.htm
Kochi news is expected to come tomorrow - i hear that
Kozhikode Bird Race was covered by television channals.

Apart from these postings, we intend to compile all the
lists from all teams in 3 sites and also put a few observations,
learnings, photographs, press clip images etc in the form of a small
report (soft copy only). All of you are welcome to sent me (or to the
group) your observations, suggestions, photographs, press-clippings
etc - we shall include them as your personal contribution. Once, we
have a fair coverage of what i intend to put - we shall upload the
file for everyone to see. It will be reworked after further inputs and
we shall publish the final report in web. A copy shall also be sent to
HSBC, Kerala Forest Department, IBCN etc.

As posted on Keralabirder by Praveen J on behalf of the entire Bird Race team of -Nameer,P.O, C.Susanth Kumar, Smitha Kommath, E.S.Jayachandran, Raju.S & Jafer Palot

The Kerala BirdRace - a great event!

2007-11-12T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

On the eve of Dr Salim Ali's 111th Birth Anniversary, we flagged off the
2007 - 08 leg of the HSBC India BirdRaces with a superbly organised Kerala
BirdRace yesterday, Sunday, 11th Nov. It was the first time we tried a
BirdRAce across a state.

It was simultaneously held across three cities (Calicut, Kochi and
Thiruvananthapuram) and their environs.
Nearly 55 enthusiastic teams participated, coming from various parts of
Kerala.

Some of the most distinguished naturalists-birders-environment

alists from
Kerala helped as Adjudicators for the multiple events and/or otherwise
graced the evening programme at the three venues.

Sincere-most thanks to the local coordinators at all venues and to all those
who so whole-heartedly participated and the seniors who so kindly graced the
occasion(s) in honour of the legendary bird-man who had also authored a (for
long, out of print) classic -- *Birds of Kerala.*

Of course, there were some terrific sightings during the day!
A detail report on the event will be sent by Praveen J and Nameer who were
also the Chief Coordinators of the event.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai BirdRace is scheduled for 10th February, 2008.

Cheers -- Sunjoy Monga

As posted by Sunjoy Monga (Chief coordinator of Indian Bird Races) on birdsofbombay e-group

Rare species spotted in bird ‘race’

2007-11-12T00:44:00.000-08:00

The migratory greater spotted eagle sighted

by Staff Reporter
THE HINDU
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 12, 2007

A flock of bird watchers: A team engaged in bird-spotting at Aakkulam
as part of the race on Sunday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 130 species of birds were spotted by teams of bird lovers in a day-long ‘race’ held in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam.

The exercise was held as part of the HSBC India Bird Race organised by KeralaBirder, a bird lovers group on the Internet. In Thiruvananthapuram, the race was organised by the green groups ‘Warblers and Waders’ and ‘Thanal.’ The race was also held in Kottayam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode on Sunday.

The highest number of bird species — 92 — were spotted from the wetlands of Punchakkari and Vellayani near Thiruvananthapuram. The ‘bird of the day’ — the greater spotted eagle, a migratory bird — was sighted in this area as was the Black-crested Baza (Karimthoppi Parunthu). While 68 species of birds were spotted in Kakkamoola, 62 species were spotted in Arippa in the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram border area.

Fifty-four species of birds were spotted in and around the Museum complex in the city. C. Susanth of Warblers and Waders told The Hindu here that the sighting of so many birds in wetlands underlined the need to conserve these areas. “It is not common to sight the greater spotted eagle in Thiruvananthapuram. Many migratory birds were spotted during the race today. This shows that wetlands are crucial to the survival of a large number of birds,” he said. The lower-than-expected number of sightings in the Kallar-Ponmudi belt needs to be investigated further. This could be due to some climatic change or damage to the environment, he added.

After the race, the bird lovers — about 80 of them, grouped into a dozen teams — got together at a city hotel to share their experiences. The prize for the best team was given to the group that went to the Vellayani-Punchakari areas. The chief guest on the occasion was poet Sugathakumari.

First Kerala Bird Race great success!!

2007-11-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

The first of the HSBC Indian Bird Races for the 2006-2007
season, the KERALA BIRD RACE, concluded on Nov 11th evening in Kerala
amidst great spirits and enthusiastic participation among the
bird-watchers. Coinciding with the 111th birth anniversary
celebrations of Dr.Salim Ali, this is also the first time that Indian
Bird Races team ventured out to conduct a state wide event with
simultaneous gatherings in three cities; Kozhikode, Kochi and
Thiruvananthapuram. The first state wide event conducted by
KeralaBirder Internet forum, about 50 teams participated in the race
and winners were announced in each of the venues separately.
Bird-watchers from all walks of life from school students to senior
citizens participated in this event and shared their experiences. Some
raced hard, went everywhere to look for birds in the hot sun, some
chose to be sedentary, and concentrated on getting all the species at
a location. Several senior HSBC officials and press teams joined us in
all the three venues.

Sunjoy Monga from the Indian Bird Races team joined us at
Kochi and explained the concept of bird races in India. Information
Kerala Mission Chairman, Prof.M.K.Prasad and Angamaly MLA Mr.Jose
Thattayil were the distinguished chief guests. Under the able
coordination of Smitha Komath, 18 teams participated for the bird race
at Kochi. David Raju and his team (Team Swallows) who birded at
Thattekkad went away with the first prize with 84 species closely
followed by Dr.Dileep and his team with 83 species. Sandeep Das and
team who birded around Kole wetlands came third with 73. Felix and
friends saw a Black-naped Monarch for the first time in the heavily
birded Kerala Agricultural University Campus and was selected as the
bird (twitch) of the day. The dip of the day was Black Drongo. Other
interesting species recorded were the tough-to-miss Black Baza at
Thattekkad, Srilanka Frogmouth, Malabar Lark, Western Reef Egret etc.
An interesting Aquila eagle is awaiting identification from
photographs made by Sandeep Das. Teams also reported to have seen
Greater Grey-headed Fish Eagle and White-eyed Buzzard-Eagle - however,
these reports were not considered by the judges for the
bird-of-the-day. Dr.Sreekumar, coordinator of Vembanad Wetland Count,
and Mr.K.V.Eldhose, the bird-man from Thattekkad, were the
distinguished judges.

Thiruvananthapuram bird race was coordinated by C.Susanth
Kumar along with several members of Thanal and Warblers and Waders
pitching in to help. Even a team from Kanyakumari (Christopher) also
participated in this event though they were a bit late in submission
of their log books. The first prize went to Raju.S and his team who
birded around Punchakkarai wetlands with a whooping 92 species; they
also got the bird of the day - a Greater Spotted Eagle. Dip of the day
was House Sparrow. The second place also went to the team who birded
around Kakkamoola (68 species) and third went to Arippa team (62
species). Veteran bird-watchers Mr.Suresh Elamon, Mr.Manoj V Nair,
Mr.C.Jayakumar and Mr.S.Rajeevan were the distinguished judges and
honorary chief guest of the occasion was poet Smt.Sugathakumari.

Sighting of Indian Peafowl near Mavoor, a vagrant to Malabar,
was the twitch of the day for the Kozhikode Bird Race; the dip of the
day being Tailor Bird. Coordinated by E.S.Jayachandran with several
people from Malabar Nature History Society (MNHS) helping out, 18
teams participated in the race at Kozhikode. The team by C.P.Rajan who
birded at Mavoor came first (91 species) followed by team lead by
Bimalnath at Vadakara. The third prize went to Vinayan and team from
Wayanad. Distinguished judges were MNHS core team members
Mr.C.Sashikumar and Dr.T.N.Vijayakumar while the chief guest of the
occassion was Wildlife Warden Sri. Subramanian - also present were the
DFOs K.V.Uthaman and Jayarajan.

Chief guests of the occasion presented the winners with
prizes; HSBC and Indian Bird Race team presented mementos to judges
and chief guests. The event folded up with a group photograph and a
dinner.

All in all, the mood is upbeat - everyone from participants to
chief guests to press realised the importance of such an event in
Kerala and believe that this will bring in more and more people into
this exciting hobby. Prof.Prasad also felt that these bird races can
also feel the pulse of the bird life in the state, a yearly event on a
particular day can indeed provide an idea on how badly our bird life
is suffering.

So, we are gonna have Kerala Bird Race every year adjoining Dr.Salim
Ali's birthday.

As posted on Keralabirder by Praveen J & P O Nameer

Do you hear a chirrup in the air?

2007-11-03T01:13:00.000-07:00

Dr. Salim Ali’s birthday falls on November 12. Bird enthusiasts will celebrate it with a bird race on November 11

Photo: K. Ananthan

Bird-conscious Birdwatchers and nature lovers are on the rise

There is an excited chirrup in the air amongst bird watchers across Kerala as they gear up to celebrate the birthday of the bird man of India, Dr. Salim Ali, on November 11. His birthday falls on November 12. And they are to celebrate the winged beauties in a unique maiden event, the Bird Race. A dawn-to-dusk race will have the bird watchers trying to spot the maximum number of birds in areas chosen by team leaders. The team with the largest species list will be the winners and with a prize for spotting a rare species too! The event is organised by Kerala Birder, an internet group of passionate bird-watchers, along with HSBC. A State event, it will be held in three cities of Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, each having a hundred participants in 25 teams of four.

For the first time

Sunjoy Monga, naturalist, photographer and writer who’s coordinating the Race says, “This is happening in Kerala for the first time and as a State event. Kerala is a bird rich part of India and has very good bio-diversity.”

“One of the objects of the present activity is to train as many bird enthusiasts as possible in bird watching. We are using bird watching as a tool for the conservation of bio-diversity. Birds are very good indicators of the health of an eco system and they are cheerful, happy and wonderful creatures,” says P.O. Nameer, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Wildlife Sciences of Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur.

Adds naturalist Suresh Elamon, “birds are the best ‘early warning system’ around us and we should learn to observe them and learn from them.”

“Bird watching makes us observant. To be able to keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open is difficult for many people and to have a hundred birders on a single platform is a rarity,” adds Monga. On the larger context he feels that bird watching is the stepping stone to bigger environmental issues. Another object of the event is to monitor the common bird.

“We have been doing surveys in wetlands, sanctuaries and national parks but have not focussed on common birds in and around us,” says Nameer, informing that this first of its kind event will be repeated in all 14 districts of the State if this maiden venture is successful.

For veteran birder K.V. Eldhose, there’s no better way to kick off the birding season.

“Every year there has been a steady increase in the number of birders making it to the State in search of the rare, endemic species. And an event like this will certainly give the new season a head start.” According to him this event, more than anything else, will help create awareness, especially among children, about Nature and the need to protect it.

About birds in urban areas, Eldhose says, “One major threat is habitat loss in urban areas. Any effort to make people aware of all this will be extremely helpful.”

Says S. Balakrishnan from Tripunithura who’s looking forward to the race, “Though I was interested in bird watching from my childhood it is only recently that I bought Dr. Salim Ali’s book ‘Birds of India.’ I also bought a camera and now after taking VRS from banking service I bird watch everyday.” Ask him if he can spot birds, not the common variety, in the city, and he says, “You can find birds provided you look for them.” He spotted the Blue Flycatcher recently near his house and the rare Sri Lankan Frog Mouth at Thattekad Bird sanctuary. Says Nameer about the growing interest in the hobby. “There are 600 members on the Kerala Birders mailing list. More and more people are getting interested. Last month we did an activity called Bird Migration Watch. The response was very good. What we need now is to train them in bird identification.”

Says Elamon, “When I started bird watching about thirty years ago there may not have been more than 20-30 ardent birdwatchers in the entire state, but now there are countless people, keen on this hobby.”

Ginu George, an engineer with KSIT Mission and a birder is upbeat about the coming event. “I will get a chance to meet other ornithologists from the district. People with the same interest.” And so even if the bird lovers get the warbler’s neck after the day-long Race they are game for it. For registration details, contact:

Dr. P.O.Nameer: 93885 56966 or Praveen J.: 94480 39906.

PRIYADERSHINI S. & K. PRADEEP
© Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu

Kerala Bird Race announced in Media

2007-10-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

A ‘race’ for birdwatchers
by Staff Reporter
THE HINDU
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007

Kozhikode: Enthusiastic birdwatchers can get ready for a different kind of race in the State. The HSBC India in alliance with KeralaBirder, an internet mailing group of birdwatchers, is holding the first ever Kerala Bird Race on November 11.

For Salim Ali

The organisers said that the dawn to dusk event is being held to commemorate the birth anniversary of legendary ornithologist Salim Ali, often described as the Bird Man of India. The bird race will be conducted at the same time in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

Teams of birders will spend the day recording as many as species of birds as possible. They will also learn the finer points of bird watching from experts. Later all teams will meet at a venue and participate in an interactive session to share their experiences.

The HSBC Indian Bird Races has been a regular feature in major metros in the past five years. However, it is for the first time that a State-level event is being conducted with simultaneous assemblages in three different cities. The race will also be the first among the eight bird races HSBC plans to conduct in various cities in 2007-2008, they said.

Birdwatchers attached to several organisations involved in active conservation programmes such as Kottayam Nature Society, Malabar Nature History Society, Warblers and Waders and Nature Educational Society in Thrissur are also associating themselves with the Kerala Bird Race.

Registration has started for the bird race. Interested participants can contact C. Susanth Kumar (ph: 9447699236) at Thiruvananthapuram, Smitha Komath (phone: 9447762071) at Kochi and E.S. Jayachandran (ph: 9495062864) at Kozhikode.

Kadalundi-Vallikunnu community reserve rich in flora, fauna

2007-10-18T02:48:00.000-07:00

by R. Madhavan Nair
THE HINDU
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007

Kozhikode: The decision to declare the Kadalundi-Vallikunnu estuary area a community reserve comes as a happy climax to efforts by nature lovers, academics and bird-watchers to get official recognition and protection for a favourite haunt of migratory birds.

When Forests Minister Benoy Viswom makes the declaration on Thursday, 60 hectares of the estuary area will become a special zone, an ecosystem, with its flora and fauna and heritage structures, that will be protected with people’s participation.

The importance of the estuary as a wintering ground for migratory wading birds has been highlighted since the early 1980s when bird-watchers started visiting the area from September to April every year.

During low tide, the inter-tidal area there is populated by plovers, sandpipers, terns and gulls and a variety of resident birds.

Members of the Kerala Natural History Society Kozhikode chapter visit the estuary frequently and to their delight, have come across birds hitherto unrecorded in Kerala. For instance, sandwich terns (Sterna sandvicensis), rare elsewhere in the country, have been found in good numbers.

P.K. Uthaman and L. Namasivayam were among the early bird-watchers to highlight the importance of Kadalundi. They prepared a provisional checklist of birds and appealed for the establishment of a bird sanctuary.

The first detailed attempt at understanding the birdlife at the estuary was when Deepakumar N. Kurup of the Forest Department took up a two-year ecological study of the birds there while doing his Ph.D.

Several articles on the birds of Kadalundi came in newspapers. A few committees were formed locally, notably the one headed by the then president of Vallikunnu panchayat, U. Kalanathan, which voiced the cause of Kadalundi as a bird reserve.

Dr. Kurup monitored the population of birds visiting the estuary during the winters of 1987-88 and 1988-89 and showed the preferences of birds for the various habitats in the estuary — tidal marsh, retting ground, river bank and tidal mudflat and also their feeding ecology.

Studies have showed that the estuary supported a rich avifauna, with 108 species recorded. Thirty species of shorebirds and twelve of seabirds have been observed. The migrant-resident ratio is 5:2. The winter passage of birds at Kadalundi begins at August-end or the beginning of September and coincides with the waning of the southwest monsoon. Bird populations decrease from April.

Species such as the grey plover, Terek sandpiper, bar-tailed godwit, black-tailed godwit, Temminck’s stint, dunlin, sanderling, eastern knot, crab plover, sandwich tern, masked booby and barheaded goose observed at Kadalundi are either new additions to the Kerala bird list or those recorded sparingly. Though a few species show signs of over-wintering, the entire estuary remain inundated during the monsoon and practically few birds are found from June to August.

Several biotic interferences are prevalent in the estuary, notably fishing, collection of oysters and mussels, defoliation of tidal marsh, mining of sand and lime and retting of coconut husk.

The estuary is under the ownership of Kadalundi and Vallikkunnu panchayats and the inter-tidal area used to be periodically leased out by them for retting and defoliation.

Dates announced for first Kerala Bird Race

2007-10-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

We are continuing with the preparations for the Kerala bird race scheduled for Nov 11th 2007 - we shall be in a position to announce further details in a week's time. I once again remind you all to block your calenders for Nov 11th for the big event.

Best rgds
Praveen

Posted on Keralabirder (yahoo group)

Birding Locations around a City: Palakkad

2007-06-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

1. Site: Banks of Malampuzha Main Canal
Note: The left bank canal from Malampuzha passes close to the Palakkad
town on the eastern periphery through Kallepully, Manali, Kalmandapam areas
and has good array of paddy fields on both sides in most locations. The
habitats are more or less the same as seen in any of the villages in the
Chittur, Alathur and Palakkad Taluks of the district - mostly centred around
paddy fields. Hence, this note is just an indicator for all such village
habitats in the district.
How to Reach: One can start from Kalmandapam (2km from Sultanpet) near the
Calicut bypasss and travel upstream towards Kalepully or downstream
towards the NH-by pass. The latter stretch has better paddy fields and is
less disturbed.
Birds: Most of the common wetland birds, Common, Wood & Green
Sandpipers, Snipes, Wagtails, Kingfishers, Cormorants ovehead, Egrets,
Jacanas, Waterhens, Palm Swifts, Brown Shrikes, occassional Marsh
Harriers, rare Blackwinged Stilts, Bee-eaters, all four of the common
Kingfishers, occassional Common Grey Hornbills, Bayas, Munias, Pipits - a
rare Richard's, Bushlarks etc. Generally about 30-40 species on a trip.
Mode: Along the canal bund, mid-sized cars will be possible but an
equally sized vehicle on the opposite side will create problems. One can go
on two-wheelers, park the vehicles and go along the bunds of paddy fields.

2. Site: Malampuzha Garden/Foothills
Note: About 12km from Palakkad town, offers variety of habitats
including garden, dam, mango orchards, downstream river etc. Evenings and
holidays tend to be crowded.
How to reach: Drive on your vehicle or take a bus from Palakkad.
Birds: Chestnut & Black Bittern, Little Green Heron, Night Heron,
Darter, Egrets etc along the downstream river during mornings, House
Swifts, Spotbill Ducks & River Terns in the reservoirs, Pitta,
White-throated Ground Thrush, woodland birds like Small Minivets, Wood &
Cuckoo Shrikes, Crested Serpent, Changeable Hawk Eagles, Honey Buzzards
Rosy Pastors etc in the woodlands between Malampuzha bus stand and rock
garden. Other common birds in the garden. About 50-60 species on a trip.
Mode: Walk along the habitats while using motor vehicles on the road
to select locations with less crowd.

3. Site: Dhoni Foothills
Note: Nearest western ghat locality from Palakkad about 10km from the
town; further about 6km from Olavakkod Railway Colony. Part of a more
wide range of hills known as Palakkad Hills. Forests in higher
altitudes can be visited only on a full day trip and hence its
suggested that one keeps to low altitudes during paskhi dinam. Moist
deciduous forest and teak plantations are the main habitats.
How to reach: Drive in your vehicle until Dhoni forest checkpost or
take one of the very occassional buses uptil Dhoni or take the
frequent buses to Railway colony and use auto to travel the last 6km.
Birds: Most of the low altitude Ghat species like Fairy Bluebird,
Rubythroated & Yellowbrowed Bulbul, Besra, Bronzed & Racket-tailed
Drongo, a rare Rufousbellied Eagle or a Three-toed Kingfisher, Malabar
Trogon, common forest raptors like Serpent Eagle, Crested Hawk Eagle
and Honey Buzzard, Scarlet Minivets, Velvetfronted Nuthatch, Whistling
Thrush, Emerald Dove, wintering flycatchers, Malabar Grey Hornbills
etc. About 40-45 species on a trip.
Mode: By foot.
Permission: From Olavakkod Forest Range Officer

4. Site: Kawa
Note: Can be combined with Malampuzha trip, its further 6km from Rock
Garden to reach the eastern flank of the reservoir. Reservoir, open
meadows and degraded deciduous forests on the forest fringes.
How to Reach: Just one bus plies to Kawa from Palakkad. You will have to
use your own vehicle to drive down till Kawa. Fairly decent tar road
exists. About 50-60 species on a trip.
Birds: Good wetland birds like Pintails, Openbills, Spotbills,
Stints, Shanks & Sandpipers, River & Whiskered Terns, open meadow
species like Skylarks, pipits, yellow & white wagtails etc can be seen.
The forests near by is also good for woodland as well as Ghat species like
Large Green Barbet, Greenbilled Malkoha, Fairy Bluebird, Black Bulbul,
Rufous Babbler, Emerald Dove and a rare Great Pied Hornbill.
Mode: By foot in the reservoir beds and forest path. Drive till you see
a good point to go by foot.

5. Site: Walayar dam
Note: About 23km from Palakkad on the NH to Coimbatore. Exactly at the
state border. Reservoir, open meadows, scrubs and plantations.
How to Reach: Innumerable buses ply between Palakkad and Walayar. Get
down at last stop. Walk along the forest edges of the reservoir to reach
the vast meadows and water line of the dam.
Birds: Storks, Ducks, Stints, Shanks, Sandpipers, Plovers etc abound the
water body. Also look out for Larks, pipits, wagtails and
occassional quails & partridges. Forest edges are good for woodland
species and raptors. Overall a good area to get 80-90 species on a
single day.
Mode: By Foot

6. Site: Choolanur
Note: About 25km from Palakkad towards Naduvathapara-Thiruvilvamala in the
Palakkad-Thissur border. Open forest with small trees and scrubs.
How to Reach: Take any bus that goes to Thiruvillamala via
Naduvathappara and get down at Naduvathappara. While driving, you can
go via Kottayi-Peringottukurissi.
Birds: Most of the open woodland species are very easy to see here
because of the height of the trees. Indian Peafowl, Whitebrowed
Fantail, Cuckoos, Wood-Shrikes, Cuckoo Shrikes, Mahratta, Pigmy and
Streak-throated Woodpeckers, Small Minivets, Grey Partridges,
White-browed Bulbuls, Kestrel etc. About 50-60 species in a trip.
Mode: By Foot after parking the vehicle on the road side.

7. Site: Veezhumala
Note: About 27km from Palakkad, this lone hill can be visited either
from Kottayakulam or from Anakkampara. Open forest, rubber
plantations, scrubs and some grasslands at the top.
How to reach: Take a bus to Nemmara via Chittalanchery and get down at
Kottayakulam. Take a bus to Thrissur and get down at Anakkampara. From
these locations, one has to trek along to reach the hill top.
Birds: Very similar to Choolanur with birds like Peafowl, Whitebrowed
Fantail, Grey Partridge, Common Grey Hornbill, Black Eagle, Harriers etc.
About 50 species in a day.

All these were complied and written by "Praveen J"

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Deatils about Kerala Bird Race

2007-05-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

HOW TO CONDUCT:
The 'Kerala Bird Race' will be part of a larger all India Birdraces (which has already been conducted in several cities in the country) – since this is the first such event in Kerala, the competition part of the event can be much subdued in our case as we are hoping for more participation than twitching. A named team (e.g.The Spiderhunters!) of four people, each with at least bird watcher who can identify most of the common species, shall visit any area(s) in traveling distance from dawn-to-dusk and try to see as many species as possible. However, they have to assemble at the end of the day (6pm) to submit the results and participate in the concluding sessions. The forms can be collected later by the state coordinator and results published in popular media. Read more about the rules of the BirdRace on the official website of India Birdraces @ http://www.indiabirdraces.com

HOW TO ORGANISE:
Mumbai, Bengaloru and other big cities worked around the problem very easily, However, birding fraternity in Kerala is more decentralized. Hence, we would require multiple gatherings. So for 2007 since this is the first year we will have 3 official gatherings for the whole of Kerala. These gatherings will be in the cities are Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. We would require volunteers in each city to organize the event there. We hope to be able to cover more cities and districts in the coming years.

WHO WILL ORGANISE/SPONSER:
Organization of the event, needless to say, shall be the responsibility of us, the birders. We would require a good bunch of volunteers in the three cities to bring success. For funding and support, HSBC India has agreed to sponsor 'Kerala Bird Race 2007'.

HSBC India has always played an active environmental role in India, working closely with the community and its employees to protect the living environment and to conserve natural resources. Recently, the Bank made strong commitment to tackling climate change by committing to go carbon neutral by 2006.

Bird-watchers from several organizations involved in active conservation like Kottayam Nature Society (KNS), Malabar Nature History Society (MNHS), Warblers and Waders (W&W), Nature Educational Society, Thrissur (NEST), Thanal provide leadership to the Kerala Bird Race.

Registration has begun and interested participants should contact C.Susanth Kumar (Ph: 94476 99236) at Thiruvananthapuram, Smitha Komath (Ph: 94477 62071) at Kochi and E.S.Jayachandran (Ph: 94950 62864) at Kozhikode.

PUBLICITY:
The event should be announced shortly in some dailies, news-groups and news channels. If we can get some distinguished guest (like the Forest Minister) to preside over the concluding session at the state capital, then it would a good publicity for the subsequent year.

With this posting, We would like to know your views and gain support for organizing such a recurring event in Kerala for this year and the years to come. If we do it well, this might be the first of its kind event for the country when a whole state is participating in a birding event on a one single day.

Best rgds
Praveen

Slightly modified by Sahil from the original message posted on Keralabirder (yahoo group)