Being born with a lazy born I avoid every chance to go for birding trips. I would rather sit in 4×4 vehicle for hours spotting a Tiger coz it’s probably easy way out. Birds are super active species and will make you run around the jungle, so I must have done thousand coin tosses to see if I can talk myself out of it. On my way to Thattekad I was officially in ‘GOD’S OWN COUNTRY’ driving through sleepy towns of Kerala enjoying beautiful churches, temples, spice and rubber plantations and shining waterbodies on both sides of the road. However, purpose of the trip was way beyond beaches, heritage and food, it was time to admire Mother Nature’s flying Miracles called Birds.
First place I visited was dense rainforest, locally known as ‘Bhutathakitt’ literally meaning built by demons. Local myth says rocky dam on water body flowing through the forest was built by demons. We treked into deep and dark jungle and birding has officially started. We reached a small puddle and I carmped myself on small rock keeping an eye out of evening reptlies to shoo away. No matter how much brave face I put up I am scared of them and more so in depp dark forest which is known to be build by demons. However Mother nature as always surprised me and rainbow of colors and Mother nature’s dance of the beuties was in full swing. Ruby throated Bulbul, dancing paradise flycatchers and tree pie were at arm length, playing hide and seek in evening light around the dense bushes. I simply called it ‘Festival of feather dipped colors’.
Next day marked an excellent beginning and we walked through local rubber plantation into deep woods to a rocky clearing on Table Top Mountain giving 360 degrees view. The streaming sunlight in the woods announced that the sun has arrived. An open house show of birds from minivets, hornbills flying overhead, barbets, bulbuls, sunbirds was a delight to eyes of birders and photographers. Nothing could beat the tea and breakfast on the mountain top (a breakfast experience to die for). Evening was a treat to sour eyes of concrete jungles. Within minutes of setting off in the woods on mission to spot ‘FrogMouth’ the rare and elusive bird was spotted. With happy faces group began a walk through deep woods, thorns, bushes and water streams in search of oriental dwarf Kingfisher. Though we couldn’t find the Bird, I doubt in my lifetime I would ever walk through such an adventurous patch of woods. I called it the ‘paisa vasool trail aka every penny worth trail’ of the trip.
The highlight of the trip was certainly the visit to Munnar and happily posing birds like black and orange flycatcher, Nilgiri Pippet and family portrait of Painted bush quails, Eurasian Black Bird, Nilgiri Thars and rare Nilgiri Flycatcher. A was amazed to see Munnar outside Travel guides and Mother Nature’s romance with palate of colors for creating the feathered angels. As I thought just a day left and time to head back home, Mother Nature packed the time table with Malabar trogon, Fairy blue bird, Velvet fronted Nuthatch, Heart spotted woodpecker, mix hunting parties of birds till it was time to jump into vehicles to head back home.
On my way back, I was trying to drink in, pack in, and fit in all the colours of Nature in my eyes. I don’t think any Photoshop, artist or biggest paint manufacturing giant can create the shades which decorated each Bird. It has to be Mother Nature and no one else, who can touch my soul and being in such a colourful way. A trip may fade out memory eventually but it remains in heart forever if it becomes an experience. Thattekad was one such amazing Experience.
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