We drove to a nearby gorge birding the riverine forest and waiting for raptors to rise on the thermals. A Legge's Hawk-Eagle put in an appearance over a distant ridge. It soon became hot and activity died. Rather than continuing to bird for the afternoon, Jijo asked if I was interested in taking it easy and then making a 'do or die' all night effort to try and see Sri Lanka Bay Owl? As we had to leave the Hornbill camp for Kochi airport at 4am the following morning it was our last chance. It seemed like a good idea so I tried to get some sleep during the afternoon. Setting-off at around 6pm we first walked across a large pineapple plantation only to find there was a 6 foot Elephant-proof wall to scale at the far side in order to enter the forest! I found a loose spike and removed it from the top of the wall and managed to climb over. Not far into the forest Jijo found a hairy caterpillar on him that clearly caused some discomfort! It was a bright moonlit evening and we were making slow progress through the forest as there were no trails. Seeing a calling Jerdon's Nightjar had lifted our spirits but at around 9pm my legs got caught in a thorny rattan, and in trying to remove them, I ripped my thumb apart. Jijo told me to see that as a good sign, although at the time, I was finding it difficult to see how! But no sooner had he said it than we heard a Sri Lanka Bay Owl calling, and not too far from us - they are fond of rattans! We quickly crossed a rocky outcrop and entered the forest on the far side with the Owl still calling and now close. As we did so, Jijo turned to me and simply said 'disaster'! I was a little baffled as it seemed just the chance that we'd been waiting for, but at that moment, his torch had unexpectedly died. Fortunately I had a spare, but an hour or so later, with the Owl calling what seemed like all around us at times, we still hadn't found it. Then, second potential 'disaster', my torch began to dim... The Owl had fallen quiet and it felt our chance had gone. Jijo considered it too dangerous to continue for the rest of the night armed with just one torch, so said that if we were to continue, he'd dash off to borrow another torch. He did, by the light of his mobile phone, as he left me with the remaining torch telling me not to move! It was nice to be out in the forest alone, but not really alone, as there was a calling Oriental Scops Owl and a cacophony of insects for company. It almost felt a little cool at times and that was appreciated too! It was easy to think of JFC willing me on and I found myself asking Mark & Steve, to pull some strings, to give me a break with seeing the Owl!! I thought that if Jijo didn't return, I'd await daybreak and then find my way out, only to remember that wouldn't work, as we were due to leave at 4am!! It had taken Jijo longer than he'd anticipated but suddenly a torchlight broke the darkness and I guessed it was him. His beam scanned around and I heard him call a slightly concerned 'David'! I replied and he quickly joined me, shaking a little - he'd not previously broken sweat in the time we'd been with him - and he said that on not seeing me in the torchlight he'd become concerned that I'd wandered off with all of the implications that might entail! He asked if I'd heard the Sri Lanka Bay Owl in his absence, and on telling him that I hadn't, I could see his disappointment. But playback re-employed, and it called back immediately, Jijo moved forward, shone the beam of the borrowed torch, and there it was clinging onto a vine and looking at us - a simply brilliant finale to the trip. Whilst watching it, another called to our left, explaining how at times earlier in the evening it felt as if it had moved around us unseen. After it flew, job done, we enjoyed a brief but well-earned celebration and we headed back to Camp. We then said our farewells to Jijo, as after what was now left of the night, our driver would take us to the airport alone.
It is hard to imagine a better guide or nicer person than Jijo to have been travelling with throughout the Andamans and south India. We'd managed to see 61 new species with him, that gave him (and us!) much pleasure, in being one more than we'd managed to see in Sri Lanka!
Indian Cormorant 1
Great Egret 2
Eastern Cattle Egret 60
Indian Pond-Heron 1
Crested Goshawk 1
Crested Serpent-Eagle 1
Legge's Hawk-Eagle 1
Black Eagle 2
River Tern 2
Whiskered Tern 2
Grey-fronted Green-Pigeon 3
Vernal Hanging-Parrot 6
Brown Hawk-Owl h
SRI LANKA BAY OWL 1
Oriental Scops Owl h
Jerdon's Nightjar 1
Great Eared Nightjar h
Indian Swiftlet 10
Indian White-rumped Spinetail 1
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Red-rumped Swallow 4
Grey Wagtail 1
Ashy Woodswallow 1
Grey-headed Bulbul h
Yellow-browed Bulbul 1
Asian Brown Flycatcher 1Green Warbler 1
Lesser Hill-Myna 6
Our riverside tent appropriately named 'Frogmouth' at the Hornbill Camp
View from the veranda
Orchids at Thattakad
Grey-fronted Green-Pigeons at Thattakad
Black Eagle at Thattakad
Legge's Hawk-Eagle at Thattakad
Named after the naturalist who described the species to science in Ibis 1878 it was long treated as a subspecies of Mountain Hawk-Eagle but its taxonomic status was re-evaluated in 2008 recommending it should be treated as a full species. It's latin name is in honour of Kelaart a naturalist who described many plants and animals from Sri Lanka. Gjershaug (2006) recommended that this species be categorized as Near Threatened, but later predicted that it will probably be listed as Vulnerable, given its small population size, declining numbers, and requirement for large areas of primary rainforest (Gjershaug et al. 2008, Gjershaug et al. 2009). BirdLife International includes it as part of the widely distributed Mountain Hawk-eagle and does not assign it a separte conservation status designation.
An illustration of Legge's Hawk-Eagle by Keulemans from Legge's A History of the Birds of Ceylon published in 1878.
Named after the naturalist who described the species to science in Ibis 1878 it was long treated as a subspecies of Mountain Hawk-Eagle but its taxonomic status was re-evaluated in 2008 recommending it should be treated as a full species. It's latin name is in honour of Kelaart a naturalist who described many plants and animals from Sri Lanka. Gjershaug (2006) recommended that this species be categorized as Near Threatened, but later predicted that it will probably be listed as Vulnerable, given its small population size, declining numbers, and requirement for large areas of primary rainforest (Gjershaug et al. 2008, Gjershaug et al. 2009). BirdLife International includes it as part of the widely distributed Mountain Hawk-eagle and does not assign it a separte conservation status designation.
An illustration of Legge's Hawk-Eagle by Keulemans from Legge's A History of the Birds of Ceylon published in 1878.
Jerdon's Nightjar at Thattakad
Sri Lanka Bay Owl at Thattakad
Jijo Mathew of Nest India Birding Tours
