Agasthya
A newsletter on the Natural History, Ecology
and Conservation of the Agasthyamalai region, Western Ghats, India.
Any and all opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of ATREE.
Centre for Excellence in Conservation Science
Royal Enclave,Srirampura,Jakkur Post
Bangalore-560064
Telephone: 080-23635555 (EPABX)
Fax : 080- 23530070
Kaduvetti in Tirunelveli district was the last tank on our list during the water bird census this year and as it turned out, it proved quite difficult to locate. After endless enquiries and confusion, we somehow reached the far end of the tank and starter scanning the birds wading through waist high grass. Soon we were greeted by dozens of wood sandpipers, a pin-tailed snipe (a lifer for me), spotbilled ducks, cormorants and coots among the invasive weed, Ipomea (I had learnt about it that morning!) and we got busy counting them. Suddenly Prasanth, pointing skywards exclaimed: “watch the show!”
And what a show it was! The light was fading fast and the sky was in its glorious best, showing off its most beautiful hues of pinks, purples and yellows. And as if the light show was not enough, 'Mother Nature' started her symphony with the blue tailed bee-eater orchestra! The sky was suddenly awash with thousands of blue tailed bee - eaters and oh my! They were coming in waves and waves and were suddenly diving into the Ipomea and then rising up en masse with tremendous noise – displaying a perfect high speed formation flying! Totally awestruck by the display I walked back to the car with a wide grin in my face and happiness in my heart wiping away all the fatigue of my body, mind and soul. It will be one of the most cherished memories of my life.
Editorial Team
Editor: Allwin Jesudasan
Associate editor: Rajkamal Goswami
Editorial Review: R. Ganesan, M. Soubadra Devy, T. Ganesh
Design and presentation: Kiran Salegame
A S H O K A T R U S T F O R R E S E A R C H I N E C O L O G Y A N D T H E E N V I R O N M E N T
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