Butterflies…..and more butterflies….and 3 BIG lifers

Posted by Shreeram on May 19, 2010 in Blog, Uncategorized | 8 comments

As we turned off Kanakpura towards Galibore Fishing Camp, all of us were looking at our watches. Aren’t we too late to catch the action? Well, in the birding world, 8:30AM is a bit too late especially in the height of the summer.

And then, the deluge started. What started off as single butterflies crossing the road slowly graduated into hundreds. Crows, Blue Tigers and Danaid Eggflies were migrating from East to the West. We entered a huge open space (what used to be a pond a few months back) and were treated to some awesome sights. Butterflies on every available shrub, bush, blade of grass and many of them mud-puddling. And then came the first lifer – Spot Swordtail. 5 of these beautiful butterflies were mud-puddling in a “quiet” corner.

The road to Galibore was like an avenue of Gulmohurs. Some of them were just beginning to bloom with light orange flowers emerging. Yet others were at the end of the blooming cycle with the leaves almost disappearing from the trees.

Butterflies were virtually everywhere. Even within the camp, we saw thousands of Danaids all over the place. Others, like the Lime Butterfly, joined them in mud-puddling.

As we entered the camp, we were wondering why we didn’t come across many raptors. Other than the 3 species of kites and the Shikra, we didn’t see any other raptors along the way. As we wandered around the camp, we saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at us and trying to assess the threat. The Shikra-like shape was a giveaway – Brown Hawk-Owl – Lifer #2.

As we were recovering from the enthusiasm of getting a lifer, the bird quietly disappeared. Disappointment gave way to super-excitement as we saw another bird, then another 2. There was a complete family – “Hum Do Humare Do”

We were able to watch the family, without disturbing them, for almost 4 hours! The first-sighted juvenile was playing the guard and was constantly moving from one perch to another, before settling down. The others didn’t seem unduly disturbed, either by other visitors walking underneath their perch or by Bonnet Macaques coming dangerously close.

As the day progressed, it became very cloudy. As we were waiting for our boatman to take us on a short ride, we spotted Lifer #3 – Grizzled Giant Squirrel. It was feeding on the trees along the river bank. Before I could get a good photograph., the squirrel disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared. May be next time…

The excitement didn’t end there. As we got into the coracle, the clouds began to look more dangerous than earlier. Combined with the gloomy skies, the evening light and the winds lent some very scenic views.

Moments after we got back from the coracle ride, it rained heavily for about an hour. On our way back, a couple of Nightjars (Indian in all likelihood) made their appearance in the car headlights before flying away into a nearby field.

A superb drive later, with thunder and lightning all around, back home for dinner. What an amazing day it had been!