Rakshidi is a place where the amalgamation of forest land and plantation happens. 12 kms from Sakleshpur town this place houses some big coffee plantations. And the plantations houses a wide variety of bird life, few species endemic to Western Ghats!
Myself and Chandu were blessed to be the first birders to explore the virgin land (27-28 Feb 2010). The place is pre-dominantly a tropical evergreen forest which receives massive rainfall during the monsoons. It is a very interesting fact that this happens despite the place being located in the rain-shadowed slopes of Western Ghats!
We stayed in the bungalow of Dr. Javid who owns a huge coffee plantation there and it was his mail only which gave us this wonderful opportunity to explore this part of the Western Ghats. Also thanks to Chandu this was my beginning in the field of "serious birding".
Photographing in this kind of place will always be a challenge. The canopy is so high that firstly you would not get the desired background for your subject and then your neck will start giving up. We were always trying to get into an elevated place from where we can manage those "eye-level shots". My Canon 400D body was churning out real noisy images as I was forced to use a minimum of ISO400! And I was really missing my 3 legged friend! Even my Canon 400mm f5.6L USM lens was not able to cope up with the humongous working distance and every-time the subject was like one tiny dot in my frame. I guess a fast body which can perform well at high ISOs and a minimum of 800mm focal length on APC sensor is a must there!
We also visited the tea estates of Kadumane where I could manage some good shots of the White-bellied Treepie, a Western Ghats endemic. This cutie was teasing us all the while with its electric guitar like call and finally on the last leg of the journey I managed to capture some frames of it.
Apart from the birds, the reptile variety of the place will also attract a lot of herpetologists. I encountered 2 cobras, 1 rat snake and a beautiful creature named Draco or flying Lizard!
The list of birds I could manage to capture(record shots included) are as below:
Malabar White-headed Starling
Bronzed Drongo
Draco or Flying Lizard
White-bellied Treepie
Dark-fronted Babbler
Malabar Grey Hornbill
Ashy Woodswallow
Large Pied Wagtail
Myself and Chandu were blessed to be the first birders to explore the virgin land (27-28 Feb 2010). The place is pre-dominantly a tropical evergreen forest which receives massive rainfall during the monsoons. It is a very interesting fact that this happens despite the place being located in the rain-shadowed slopes of Western Ghats!
We stayed in the bungalow of Dr. Javid who owns a huge coffee plantation there and it was his mail only which gave us this wonderful opportunity to explore this part of the Western Ghats. Also thanks to Chandu this was my beginning in the field of "serious birding".
Photographing in this kind of place will always be a challenge. The canopy is so high that firstly you would not get the desired background for your subject and then your neck will start giving up. We were always trying to get into an elevated place from where we can manage those "eye-level shots". My Canon 400D body was churning out real noisy images as I was forced to use a minimum of ISO400! And I was really missing my 3 legged friend! Even my Canon 400mm f5.6L USM lens was not able to cope up with the humongous working distance and every-time the subject was like one tiny dot in my frame. I guess a fast body which can perform well at high ISOs and a minimum of 800mm focal length on APC sensor is a must there!
We also visited the tea estates of Kadumane where I could manage some good shots of the White-bellied Treepie, a Western Ghats endemic. This cutie was teasing us all the while with its electric guitar like call and finally on the last leg of the journey I managed to capture some frames of it.
Apart from the birds, the reptile variety of the place will also attract a lot of herpetologists. I encountered 2 cobras, 1 rat snake and a beautiful creature named Draco or flying Lizard!
The list of birds I could manage to capture(record shots included) are as below:
- Ashy Drongo
- Ashy Woodswallow
- Asian Fairy Bluebird
- Blue Caped Rockthrush
- Booted Warbler
- Bronzed Drongo
- Brown Capped Pygmy Woodpecker
- Common Flameback
- Crested Serpent Eagle
- Dark Fronted Babbler
- Eurasian Golden Oriole
- Gray Wagtail
- Green Bee-eater
- Hill Mayna
- Jungle Mayna
- Large Pied Wagtail
- Large Woodshrike
- Lesser Yellownape
- Malabar Grey Hornbill
- Malabar Parakeet
- Malabar White-headed Starling
- Nilgiri Flycatcher
- Orange Headed Thrush
- Pale-billed Flowerpecker
- Plum-headed Parakeet
- Pompadur Green Piegeon
- Racket-tailed Drongo
- Red-whiskered Bulbul
- Scarlet Minivet
- Spotted Dove
- Western Crowned Warbler
- White-bellied Treepie
- White-cheeked Barbet
- Yellow-browed Bulbul
Malabar White-headed Starling
Bronzed Drongo
Draco or Flying Lizard
White-bellied Treepie
Dark-fronted Babbler
Malabar Grey Hornbill
Ashy Woodswallow
Large Pied Wagtail
