Monday, June 30, 2014

2014 Monsoon Batrachology camp #01

Just back from Matheran after attending the first (in a series of) Monsoon camps as part of the "Understanding Amphibians" course being conducted by noted Indian Herptofauna expert - Dr. Varad Giri from the Bombay Natural History Society

As with any interaction with Dr. Giri this too was awesomely interesting and completely knowledge packed, I already can't wait for the next camp :-) .. 

Typical valley view from Matheran
Now what do I say about - Matheran? We Mumbaikars are blessed to have such an amazing treasure trove of biodiversity soo close to us and as always it was amazing to be in this tiny but impressive hill station, sadly however the rain gods have been playing spoilsport (so far this Monsoon season) and deprived us of the amazing feeling of walking in the clouds - one of the main attractions of being in Matheran! We've been told that although it's the end of June Matheran has a only received a couple of days of decent rainfall - as far as amphibians are concerned this is really bad news! 

Below is a detailed account of our two days here. 

Day 1- 28th June 2014: 

We reached Matheran at around 10:30am on Saturday morning armed with some preliminary knowledge of Amphibian identification gained a couple of weeks back during a hands-on session at BNHS' collection centre - which has an extensive collection of Amphibian specimens from across India. Unfortunately, however the lack of rain meant we were not able to see any amphibians enroute our hotel from the main taxi drop off - the entire route was uncharacteristically dry for the end of June! We couldn't find a drop of water in any of the road side gutters, even the known large streams were completely dry and to make things worse we didn't even get any moisture on digging thru piles of leaf litter! We reached the hotel and broke for lunch before we embarked on our first proper trail. 

While we searched for amphibians, smaller creatures like the Deccan Banded Gecko (Geckoella deccanensis)
and this Tarantula sp. kept us on our toes.

After a heavy lunch we headed to 'Pay Master park' and its vicinity a known haunt in Matheran for Caecilians. Once again the lack of water frustrated us and kept these burrowing creatures away from the ground surface which were mostly too dry. More digging through wettish looking soil and leaf litter led only to more disappointed! When almost all hope was lost we found a open Sintex tank half filled with water (most likely used by the gardeners of the park) was also providing much needed shelter and water to 7 frogs from the summer like conditions outside - 3 of the frogs were Polypedates sp. (true tree frogs)... 

Check this typical Polypedates sp. frog with its characteristic stand on the bark of a tree
Check the disks of fingers and toes are moderately well developed - true signs of an arboreal species.
Another images of the same Polypedates sp. individual
and rest of them were of Indirana sp. We spend some time observing and photographing these, as these were our first frogs of the trip. 

The Indirana - genus of frogs are endemic to the Western Ghats of India. 

Around here we found a small puddle on the ground that was fast drying which was filled with Tadpoles; 

Unkown tadpoles..
... sadly, I don't think any of these guys would have made it to the next stage :-(  

We then moved further uphill to the highest point of this part of the Matheran Hills - alas, here a combination of lack of water and lots of recent building activity had disturbed much of the known amphibian micro-habitats!

the typical yet beautiful road soil pathways that cut across the forests of Matheran

A bit disappointed with the heat - we headed back to hotel for our indoor session with Dr. Giri. Enroute however Hiren (aka Snake Magnet) kept all of us (especially the photographers) very much engaged with some awesome snake sightings - he showed us many Green Vine Snakes..

 Green vine snake (Oxybelis fulgidus)

.. and a spectacularly camouflaged (juvenile) specimen of a Bamboo Pit Viper. 

The spectacular Bamboo Pit Viper (Trimeresurus gramineus) coiled up in a striking position
Check its amazing colouration
Face to face with the venomous Trimeresurus gramineus
Upon reaching the hotel post a quick tea break we started with an intense quiz format slideshow where Dr. Giri pushed the entire group to identify various Amphibian species based on their most obvious anatomical features visible on the photographs.  

To me this was the highlight of the trip as it not only introduced us to the main physical characteristics of most of the common genera of Indian 'Anura' but also helped me gain a lot insights into the behavioral aspects of some of these beautiful creatures.
Our last session of Day 01 started at around 09:00pm after dinner, it included a walk around the hotel and down the main market road of Matheran about half the way to the car park at Dasturi. The night trail started very promisingly at a small pond (in front of the Police station) just outside our hotel with lots of (mating?) calls of Polypedates sp. Interestingly, the few individuals we did manage to spot were calling from the forest floor (I wonder whether that's common for this family of true tree frogs?!). While searching for these frogs someone from the group managed to accidentally spot a Chequered Keelback snake who most probably like us was also searching for the frogs. As we moved towards the market we spotted many Indirana sp. specimens..

Indirana sp. check its truncated disc finger tip dilation - a good physical feature to them this genera apart from the similar looking Zakerana sp.
...and multiple colour morphs of the Common Indian Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus). 

the very common - Common Indian Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)
Another colour morph of the Duttaphrynus melanostictus, in fact we saw quiet a few more colours including a bright Yellow individual
Some half an hour into our night trail we came across a large tree (bang in the middle of the main Matheran market stretch) that would prove to be the most productive tree of our trip - Dr. Giri initially pointed out at a large Gecko specimen on the tree ...

The large sized Gecko- Hemidactylus maculatus - also commonly known as the Spotted Leaf-toed Gecko 
....but on closer inspection we found 3 Ramanella sp. frogs on it. The largest of them (presumably Female) was about two feet of the ground ...

This Ramanella sp. frog is most likely - Ramanella mormorata - commonly known as the Marbled Ramanella

... while two more specimens both smaller in size (presumably Males) had climbed up to over twelve feet on the tree. Frogs of the Ramanella genera even though are part of the Microhylidae family (i.e. Narrow-mouthed frogs) of specialist ground dwelling Anura, as you can see in these photos they are highly adapted to climbing trees and have developed discs on their fingers....

Check the triangular dilations of this Ramanella specimen.
... One of the theories is these frogs lay their eggs in small puddles of water in Tree holes and hence the arboreal adaptation. 

Further ahead Hiren spotted a few more snakes - more Green Vine Snakes and Cat snake (Boiga sp.)...

Cat snake (Boiga sp.)
.. Just beyond the market we finally got hold of a Raorchestes sp. (Bush frog)...

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of this Raorchestes sp. on its leaf perch - it jumped down on the ground and managed to sneak away..
...who's calls we had been hearing all the while since sunset but we're unable to spot them. 

Another Tarantula sp. for the day - this one with prominent white feet
By around 12:30am we decided to call it a night and started heading back for much needed sleep before our second day in the field in Matheran; stopping briefly on the way to take a look at a Wolf snake sp. that someone spotted climbing a small compound wall but it quickly disappeared into a crevice between the stone courses. 

Day 2 - 29th June 2014: 

The second day's trail started at around 09:00am after breakfast and included searching the area around Charlotte lake for any amphibian activity, but a combination of lack of water and summer like heat didn't help!

The group enjoying the view from Lord Point
At least thanks to Hiren we kept seeing snakes at regular intervals and once we reached Lord point at the tip of the lake (just beyond the dam) we decided to take a break to enjoy the amazing scenery of Matheran's surrounding hills and to take some group selfies :-) 

Group Selfie

During this trail (the last for this trip) we seriously searched a lot of stream beds, culverts and fringes of the lake - unfortunately to no avail! 

At one particular stream bed, Dr. Giri was very hopeful of getting Caecilians as he felt this densely tree covered portion of the stream seemed have the right micro-climate and soil conditions to suit these unique creatures. So we spend a good half hour taking turns in digging through the upper soil but I guess it wasn't our day!
 However, one thing is for sure this part of Matheran should be amazing once it starts raining properly. 

As the afternoon sun came beating down harshly it was time for us to head back to the hotel to check out and start making our way back to Mumbai. To conclude I would say that even though amphibian activity was very low in Matheran - the trip, with all the interaction between the participants and Dr. Giri was completely worthwhile. t has for sure left me very eager to attend the next camp in a month's time in Goa - let's hope by then the Monsoon picks up! 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Back in Firdaus

Spend a day at the world famous Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur yesterday. And as expect it was pure bliss. 

Birding here is always amazingly easy and fruitful. 

Here's a bunch of photos from the trip and a list of birds that I managed to see here including a couple of Lifers [Black Bittern and Dusky Eagle Owl] :-)












































This time I also managed to do a boat ride inside the Sanctuary .. Here's a few photos from the boat..







And in my mind this photo of a rare glimpse of the elusive Black Bittern out in the open is my most precious photo of this trip :-)

And here's a few photos of the Mammals I managed to see within the park this time around:

Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus)
Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) 
Sambar (Rusa unicolor)

Early in the morning as we started off we were able to spot the elusive Jungle cat (Felis chaus), unfortunately though I was unable to photograph this Lifer species!
And to end this post here's a complete bird list from my second trip to Paradise:

28-Jan-13
Keoladeo Ghana National Park
Bharatpur 
GALLIFORMES: Phasianidae
1 Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus
2 Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus
ANSERIFORMES: Anatidae
3 Lesser Whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica
4 Greylag Goose Anser anser
5 Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus
6 Knob-billed Duck / Comb duck Sarkidiornis melanotos
7 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea
8 Gadwall Anas strepera
9 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
10 Indian Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha
11 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
12 Northern Pintail Anas acuta
13 Eurasian Teal Anas crecca
14 Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina
PODICIPEDIFORMES: Podicipedidae
15 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
CICONIIFORMES: Ciconiidae
16 Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala Near-threatened
PELECANIFORMES: Threskiornithidae
17 Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus Near-threatened
18 Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
PELECANIFORMES: Ardeidae
19 Black Bittern Dupetor flavicollis
20 Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
21 Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii
22 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
23 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
24 Great Egret Ardea alba
25 Little Egret Egretta garzetta
PELECANIFORMES: Pelecanidae
26 Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus
27 Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus Vulnerable
SULIFORMES: Phalacrocoracidae
28 Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger
29 Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
30 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
SULIFORMES: Anhingidae
31 Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster Near-threatened
ACCIPITRIFORMES: Accipitridae
32 Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus
33 Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca Vulnerable
GRUIFORMES: Rallidae
34 White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
35 Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio
36 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
GRUIFORMES: Gruidae
37 Sarus Crane Grus antigone Vulnerable
CHARADRIIFORMES: Recurvirostridae
38 Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta
CHARADRIIFORMES: Charadriidae
39 Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus
CHARADRIIFORMES: Jacanidae
40 Bronze-winged Jacana Metopidius indicus
CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae
41 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
CHARADRIIFORMES: Laridae
42 River Tern Sterna aurantia
COLUMBIFORMES: Columbidae
43 Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis
44 Yellow-footed Green Pigeon Treron phoenicopterus
PSITTACIFORMES: Psittacidae
45 Vernal Hanging Parrot Loriculus vernalis
46 Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
CUCULIFORMES: Cuculidae
47 Lesser Coucal Centropus bengalensis
STRIGIFORMES: Strigidae
48 Dusky Eagle-Owl Bubo coromandus
CORACIIFORMES: Alcedinidae
49 White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
50 Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
51 Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
PICIFORMES: Picidae
52 Black-rumped Flameback Dinopium benghalense
PASSERIFORMES: Laniidae
53 Bay-backed Shrike Lanius vittatus
PASSERIFORMES: Dicruridae
54 Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus
PASSERIFORMES: Corvidae
55 Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda
56 Indian Jungle Crow Corvus culminatus
PASSERIFORMES: Pycnonotidae
57 White-eared Bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis
58 Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer
PASSERIFORMES: Acrocephalidae
59 Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus
60 Blyth's Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum
PASSERIFORMES: Cisticolidae
61 Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis
62 Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
63 Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
PASSERIFORMES: Leiothrichidae
64 Large Grey Babbler Turdoides malcolmi
65 Jungle Babbler Turdoides striata
PASSERIFORMES: Sylviidae
66 Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca
PASSERIFORMES: Sturnidae
67 Bank Myna Acridotheres ginginianus
68 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis
69 Brahminy Starling Sturnia pagodarum
PASSERIFORMES: Muscicapidae
70 Bluethroat Luscinia svecica
71 Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
72 Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicatus
73 Red-breasted Flycatcher Ficedula parva
PASSERIFORMES: Passeridae
74 House Sparrow
Passer domesticus





To explain what Bharatpur means to me I will quote a Farsi couplet by the famous 14th Century Delhi poet Amir Khusrau - 

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast
If ever there is Paradise on Earth / It is here! It is here! It is here!