Indian Black Turtles

From my visit to Amirthi zoological park last month, I took time to watch and shoot the Indian black turtles or pond turtles left in a partial glass tank. I think I last saw live turtles and tortoises in Madras Crocodile Bank, a decade back, but I continue to see these in images from blogs I follow inspired me not to miss shooting these medium-sized freshwater turtle found in South Asia.

Though it named black turtle, the colour of its upper shell or carapace can vary from reddish to dark brown and black with yellow streaks running along its length. The underside is uniformly brown and the turtle’s face may have yellow or orange marks and spots, with color varying between subspecies.

... quiet listeners

The black turtle still appears to be common in India and Nepal is classified as threatened in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Visit to Amirthi Zoological Park, near Vellor

Two weeks before, I visited the Amirthi Zoological Park in the vicinity of Amirthi forest on the foot of Jawadhu Hills, near Vellore.  Though the zoological park comes under Tiruvannamalai district, the Vellore city is closer by 25 kms.  I was planning to visit the park for last few years, and when I made a visit to Balamathi Hills, adjacent to Vellore city in Feb 2018, I couldn’t make up to the park due to lack of time and I too did not want the visit to be a hurried one.

I learned the zoological park is accessible by wheelchairs and visiting a park in the forest environment could never miss out of my pocket, because I’m someone always enjoy visiting forest and stay close to nature. We started the trip from home (Chennai) at 8am and get there by 12.30 pm, meanwhile stopping the car for breakfast and buying lunch (biryani) at Arcot, and the route from there was scenic and beautiful as it took us through mountains and countryside scenes.

'The Arcot – Kannamangalam is the best and shortest route to reach Amirthi for people coming from Chennai; and Arcot is the right place to buy food stuffs because there's nothing available at Amirthi, even though there’s a canteen run by the forest department, outside the zoological park, we could not expect anything surely. They don’t allow carrying foods inside the park, so we had our lunch at the parking lot and there are slabs to sit around the trees to have lunch but there’s lot of monkeys and stray dogs to cause fear.

Indian pond turtles

Amirthi is a small zoological park, developed on 25 hectares of forest land, which covers 25 km of forest, made as a wildlife sanctuary and tourist spot the other half. The park opened in 1967 has minimum number of animals and birds and during my visit I found many empty cages to make me disappoint.  The zoological park seemed to be renovated lately or the works haven't finished yet, as many cages left with a note of under repair; the park is well paved to reach every corner of the park without difficult and it helps to take closer looks at animals and birds in cage. 

Python relaxing at its room

I saw Indian pond turtles inside a glass tank and Golden fox in a den like setting, roaming alone sadly.  There’s a section for snakes with a series of glass rooms but only a python and Russell’s viper is available to see, while other rooms are empty. I saw a sign board at the park, warning people on snakes since the park is located in the vicinity of forest snakes are supposed to wander freely on the campus.  Mongooses are enclosed in a room next to snakes and porcupines in another small cage, peacocks, pelicans and herons are put in subsequence cages.

Golden Fox (see on the right) in its cage

 Pelicans and herons

There are many colourful images of animals, birds and reptiles painted on the walls inside and outside of the park captured our attention. The park, established in a forest land makes feel its presence though the number of trees that exist from the forest environment had made a natural canopy throughout the park to make feel always cool and shady. Amirthi zoological park could be a best picnic place for family and friends to spend a day on natural environment and shadows, apart watching animals.

Amirthi is a very small zoo where you could not expect more; even the children’s park in Chennai has more animals to attract visitors. Apart the park, there’s a seasonal waterfalls about a km from here which had to be reached by trekking. The best time to visit the park is from September to February to make use of more greenery and to enjoy the waterfalls and river run beside the park, but even on midsummer you won’t be feel the weather once entered the forest environment.

I really enjoyed the place despite being a Sunday; there weren’t much people around the park and only at the time of leaving found a bus full of school kids having lunch at the parking lot. Staffs at the park were kind to inquire about my convenient there, and was I able to go everywhere? The only thing that bothers me was to see fewer animals than expected. Though I don’t like seeing birds or animals in enclosed cages while they have wing to fly and legs to run… I’m at least happy to see them because even if we go to forest seeing them is doubt. 

I took many photos and I can't post all at a time here... so my future posts will carry those.

Tinted

Tenderly trapped
between the fingers, tinted
yellow butterfly! 

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Chameleon and Rain Tree

Perhaps it was afternoon when I casually came into the balcony; spot a chameleon taking nap on the branches of the Rain tree or Monkey pod (Albizia saman) grown opposite to our house on the roadside. The chameleon wasn’t taking nap quite but was on its usual slow pace push ups and I didn’t want to miss the chance, so quickly reached the camera and took few shots because the iPhone don’t zoom for that long.

Actually the Rain Tree was wrongly planted in our street or unaware of what tree was it when planted because there isn’t enough space for the widespread tree to grow in our street and the tree separated into two branches at few feet from the ground went growing wild in multiple directions to look distracting and blocking the wind. Though we managed to cut few branches of the tree sometime back it started too grown again to damage the look. Post winter the tree lost many of its thick pinnate leaves to leave ground yellow carpet but it hasn’t bloomed yet in white and pink.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Mangoes and Parakeets Peck

Summer is a season of mangoes! At the end of winter the mango trees in India starts to bloom following new shoot of leaves and in less than a month the mango trees turns fruit-bearing. Mangoes are considered delicious and prime among the sweetest fruits and there’s a word in Tamil called Mukkani (three fruits) where Maa (Mango) is first and Palaa (Jackfruit) and Vaazhai (Banana) make successive landing. In Tamil Nadu, Salem is very popular for tasty mangoes and this district and its surroundings produce tons of tasty mangoes yearly and Periyakulam in Theni district is also called Mango City due to its fair amount of mangoes produced.

Here's someone trying to nip from above

Mangoes do great business in this season of summer, but these days artificially ripen of mangoes are into sale and people has to be cautious while purchasing fruits. In cities it’s becoming rare to see mango trees and no one seems interested to stone out mangoes from the trees like what we used to do in childhood and everyone knows in Tamil Nadu that a stolen mango has high deliciousness than what bought for money. Nature is so gifted with mango trees with ever delicious pulp within a soft skin. A fruit-bearing tree is always an attraction for birds and squirrels, the very first species to taste the essence of the season and I’m glad to live opposite a mango tree, grown within the compound of a neighbour to get me chance to see and hear birds feast on hanging mangoes. 

I see/hear Mynas, Green Parakeets and Asian Koels screeching in the mornings and evenings hiding from the thick foliage of mango tree and sometime I see green parakeet acrobat in peck eating the fresh pulp. Parakeet is a regular sighting in the neighbourhood but mostly they quick screech across the sky and only in summer they stay sometime hunting on the hanging mangoes. Glad I moved to our house to see it happening closer, after moving out of our apartment house where I would see many birds forage on open vegetation. Last week I decided to capture the show that I missed to capture sometime due to laziness or unreachable with camera to focus on the Parakeet. Being a green parakeet it often hid in the greenery of the tree makes it difficult to focus or finding its presence.

Parakeet neatly bit off the pulp, leaving away the seed.

Walk Down Dog

There’s a huge dog in the neighbourhood and every day it used to walk down our street by it’s caretaker. At the size of a tiger it put forth a majestic walk yet quiet, patient and gently at pace, even when the dogs in our house and on the street barks (up going dry throat) it didn’t bit distract from its state than humbly walk beside its caretaker. Other day my cousin told me the name of the dog’s breed which I couldn’t recollect now and it’s obviously a foreign breed and should belong to some rich person. As I write this post the dog walk past my house with the surrounding noise of barking dogs. They see him daily but I think they couldn’t accept his double the size of regular dogs and feel so foreign or strange. Dogs have great sense to find out the difference and this big one sense much for them to bark like hell. 

The dog has pretty fur and brown in color has white at the tail and on all four legs apart some white around the nose and black ears. 

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Twilight Zone

The sun haven’t raised, yet
the life started to act
at the state of twilight,
the purified air of night
and the tranquilized dust
is back to surface
as life restarts, to survive.

The honk of vehicles, bang
as other noises unbroken, yet
the natural chirp of birds
and crisp in air, sways
as slowly sky consume light
things went for better views
as sun warm-up to glow.  

Like things have two sides
the light has its part of shadow
or silhouettes against its glow,
the twilight zone is bliss
as things take minimal effect
to retreat or restore the activity
from the day or night sleep.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Jack Fell into a Well

One of the three street dogs my brother taking care of fell into an apartment well in the backstreet this evening when two of the three went playing around. There was totally fived dogs gave birth by another street dog and my brother fed them all, where among two was killed in a street accident (a year back) and one was adopted by my cousin sister and other two by my brother. Now, as we moved close by a door next the three dogs continue to enjoy their company and were all fed almost together. Though it annoys sometime and has created lot troubles early, they all settled well around now and get used to the balconies and terrace above our home. Ours is a three storey residential building and we reside at the first floor and adjacent to us was my cousins so we let them take space at their own comfort except coming into the home. In day time they roam on streets and come home only for night sleeps and naps.

Coming to post, the dog Jack (in photo above) fell into the well when it went on top of a net covered well, at an old apartment complex in the backstreet. The apartment walls are very low and anyone can leap into the apartment and the two dogs (Jack and Black) went playing around there and the rusted well net couldn’t hold the Jack’s weight and it fell into the well. Glad there was two to three feet of water in the well and the Jack safely landed on the water and hold to the wall with its back legs pedalling and the Black continued to stay back barking at the well, signalled the people about the fall. Three little kids ran to our house informing us and my bro has been out then, so on information he rushed to the spot and my cousin and his friends brought a rope ladder on rent and Jack was rescued safely by my brother who climbed down a nearly 20 feet well.  Jack has climbed on his shoulder as soon he gets down, perhaps he must have scared enough.  Jack is a hefty dog and climbing the rope ladder along with him isn’t an easy task but my brother’s attachment with them made possible.

At this place I remember the nursery rhyme – Jack and Jill… to fetch a pail of water… from the well up the hill and Jack fell down… here the Jack fell inside the well rather down the hill! Jack is a calm dog and much responsible among the other dogs and never been rude or threatening but his bodily and furry look may create panic to by passers. Jack brought its features from her mother whom I guess was a cross of Himalayan Sheep Dog because Jack resembles the look of the breed. Glad he was rescued and I hope he won’t go there again.  

Knock at the Door

A house sparrow discussing with its reflection about the loss of their habitation and livelihood thinking it was another bird! But the sparrow was actually knocking at the glass window constantly in a manner of fighting out the other. It sensed me that they are actually knocking at our doors to let them have their space but us insensitively denying their rights and given importance to our hum him. We can’t blame anybody to enjoy their comforts and benefits available at the globalization, but did we really gave importance to something travelled along with us or realized what we missed in excite, the thing that was overridden or overtaken to let it fade through the rear mirrors.  March 20 was World Sparrow Day! And House Sparrow is a species designed to mingle and sustain with people but the reality was we failed to live up to their simple needs rather concerned only our comfort, style and hi-speed telecoms. The Western Ghats, along the south west coast,  plays a pivotal role in preserving the tiny house sparrows whose company we enjoyed until 2k, where the transformation begin to descend the harmony of their voices from our lives esp. in cities. I always enjoy their presence whenever I visit Western Ghats as part of travel and the picture was shot on same. 

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Breakfast Time

Other day I waked up early and got to watch the activities on our street, what I regularly miss since I wake up not less than 8 am. And just before the sun rises above the building on east, the neighbourhood crows had their early breakfast – some kind of snacks left on road – and what I really liked was the way they all gathered (neatly) like people sat around a round dining table.

Following the disperse of crows, comes out a glowing sun spreading its warm light glittering through the stainless steel rail of the balcony, and without putting flame glows the coconut palm through the climbing up of sun.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Rock Paintings on Critters

During the wait at the toll gate on ECR (east coast road) in Chennai, I used to take photos sometime on the plants and rock paintings decorating the medians that separate the lanes for vehicles to pass through the collection booths. I here share couple of photos shot at the beautiful rock paintings on critters – different kind of butterflies and a turtle/tortoise and lizards – from two different stops at the toll gate. These paintings are there for more than a decade (without fading) and sometime I try to capture them depending on the vehicles movements and pace and my interest.  The butterflies above were shot with iPhone and the tortoise below was a camera shot.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Maya and Mysore pak

Our dog Maya loves anything that taste sweet (which I’m not sure all dogs come under this category) and whenever we have something she used to bark which means she needs some bit too. We rarely offer her some piece of sweet or cakes or cookies made of chocolate to satisfy her unending desire and to make her have medicine or tablet we used to hide it inside the sweet or chocolate because she never took easily orally a medicine. Sometime we voluntarily drop a tablet in front of her and pretend to pick it up where she swiftly act and take the tablet in mouth. Rarely she eats the sweet alone and split the tablets separately.

We don’t keep down things Maya is interested on when she was on loose and sometime she behaves senseless picking anything from the house dustbin. Two days back, relatives visited us and they brought a sweet box and some fruits which mom had left on the floor in thought Maya were tied and forget to shift things from there. When we saw later everything was fished off the sweet box. Maya had eat 1/4kg of the Mysore Pak and looked with a weighted tummy as if having offsprings and also found difficult to walk. We really thought/worried what going to happen to her as she already have wheezing and weaker heart and this heavy loaded Mysore Pak (made of generous amounts of ghee and sugar) could cause anything. But glad she’s doing well and turned normal next day after couple of toilet visits.

About Mysore Pak: It was originally called as Mysuru Paaka, in which Mysuru indicates the city of Mysore, in the Indian state of Karnataka and Paaka means sweet syrup, is a popular Indian sweet made of ghee, sugar, gram flour and cardamom.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Saturday's Critters

A crow preening from a recent showering! The northeast monsoon this year haven’t covered even half the amount it should have (at least in Chennai and adjacent districts) and we’re barely left by a week of hope for the rains as the season ends, and although winter has widespread all over the state, the hope for rain has decline. Though the meteorological dept. has predicted that there could be a formation of low (in Bay of Bengal) in the coming week, its hope of rain is uncertain or should be insufficient.

Due to low pixel mode, I had to sacrifice on the quality of pictures which I only realized after uploading to laptop and I have took many photos without checking it as I keep it always on high mode, something went out of my concern.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Goats from Neighborhood

Goats are regular visitors into our area from the neighbourhood, where they are reared by some and these goats are often found on roads searching for foods at garbage bins and shrubs that are available at neighbours’ houses. During our stay at the backstreet here they rarely come in search of food but after shifted to the main street I see them often, mainly in front (opposite) to our house, where they enjoy munching on the leaves and fruits of the Portia tree, which aka Indian tulip tree or Poovarasu in Tamil. I can do a post on it later. Sometime the goats even climb on the parked bikes when the leaves are beyond their reach. Today I saw a group of goats, mostly young ones, munching on the leftover vegetables, from a basket placed by the veg shop owner next to our house and I just captured it (from the balcony) to share with SaturdayCritters.

Front and Back

Here’s couple of candid shots on a horse ride around the Kodaikanal Lake road. It was the same horse, horseman and rider on both images that I just shot from the parked car, beside the lake, as they rode front and back. Kodaikanal Lake is one of my favourite places and just observing things happening around is a great time pass and entertainment as well. And horse riding is a part of the tourist activities take place around the lake road, apart cycling, where cycles are rented on hour’s basis.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Beetle Play

My cousin picked up this green beetle from the woods (during our vacation at the woodhouse near Kodai) and I was scared when he put it on my wheelchair board. But he told me it was lifeless so did I breathe, because I am always scared of insects and that not mean I hate insects but I like watching and shooting from a distance. He knows I like to shoot interesting subjects and as I had camera on hand I immediately took a snap on the beetle to only see a little vibrate in its legs but before we realize it was alive, it took off to fly! We were surprised and he told it was on the ground, with all mud sticking on it made certain it was dead   and was like that until I took snap.  I could still recollect the vibrate it creates before taking off.

I leave with another wild insect I captured from the same vacation and I have idea about the species and it was lying on the dining table out at the woodhouse balcony.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Herd of Sheep

Those who follow me know that I love taking road-less travelled and every time I plan a trip I try to explore some unusual places and routes and this way I took an unusual road to Kodaikanal last year, which took me through refreshing sights. By taking this road I have covered all the motored roads to Kodaikanal, even though it’s a link road it takes through some beautiful mountain villages, including Thandikudi, where my uncle built the woodhouse. The 40 km detour takes us through newly scenes and experience of traveling. It was showering and drizzling alternately as we travel through the countryside, we come across herds of sheep blocking the road for a distance we could see.

Although it took few minutes for the shepherds to clear the sheep, seeing such big herd is a wonderful scene and allowed me to take photos on the same. Since it was about 4 pm, looks like the sheep are driven back to their shelter following grazing through the day. There were more than 3 big herds of sheep following one behind another and for us it was a long journey from Chennai and as we move close to the mountains the weather turned gloomy and rainy which was the reason I couldn’t get more clear photos and the following ones are shot from inside the car.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Bird Watching and Red Whiskered Bulbul

Western Ghats is a great stretch of mountains, including valleys, dense forests and plantations of tea, coffee... according to the circumstance of height, soil and weather condition. It’s also home to innumerable species of trees, plants and shrubs and variety of birds and insects and wild animals. For the people of south and west coast of India, Western Ghats plays an important role as summer vacation with many parts of mountains or Ghats becomes a hill station where people visits when the plains turn hotter.

The view from the balcony on the rear side of my uncle's  woodhouse

Kodaikanal is one of a blissful part of the Western Ghats, comes under the Palani hills range and it’s the only hill station where I have been to more than 10 times. Since my uncle built the woodhouse (Smokey Haven) in the lower Palani hills or to say as half Kodai, staying atop the mountains has become easy and for last couple of years we have been visiting the mountains twice a year. Nestled amid woods, natural vegetation and coffee plantation, the place provides lot of opportunity to bird watch and listening to distinct note of birds. I call it as bird paradise but birds most of all smaller in size are difficult to find out but I try my best to capture birds every time I visit there.

Though there are number of birds in the vicinity of woods, adjoining the woodhouse, some birds are frequently spotted or to be a residential birds of woods. I have spotted even migratory birds flying all the way from Himalayas, which are difficult to believe looking at their tiny size. The bulbuls, magpie robins, eagles, woodpeckers are commonly found there but for me who sees once or twice a year turned to be surprise and blissful to watch and shoot. During my visit in December, it was raining and full of fog and mist but it didn’t stop me looking for birds and the Red Whiskered Bulbul was the one I able to shoot as it came perching the wire outside the woodhouse, despite light showering.

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Travel through Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

A continuation of travel to Munnar…

Following Anamalai Tiger Reserve, we entered the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary as well as the state of Kerala crossing the border check posts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is facilitated with ecotourism where tourist can stay and enjoy wildlife from their rest houses and take safaris and hiking through forest. The Chinnar got its name from the river Chinnar, meaning small river, which travels long the northern edge of the sanctuary defining the state boundary of Tamil Nadu/Kerala by East-West.

(the monkey leaped on our car bonnet and we're force to roll up the windows)

It continues to be cloudy and slightly drizzle to keep environment wet as we travel for about 13km through the sanctuary and few kms from check post the Pambar River joins for company along the left side of the road and as we continue to elevate through hills the river travelled against us as gorge. We stopped at few places to watch the river flowing amid the wild forest and hills and at some places making beautiful waterfalls. Near the check post of the Sanctuary we are attracted to the handing bridges made for monkeys to cross the road, and we find couple of monkeys using the bridges, which remind me Valparai, where I saw the bridges made for same to the endangered Lion tailed macaques.  

With Eravikulam National Park to the south and Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary (Anamalai Tiger Reserve) to north and Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary to east, Chinnar forms an integral part of 1187 sq. km of protected forests. The road from Udumalpet-Munnar passes though the sanctuary, divides it into nearly equal portions and the Chinnar and Pambar rivers being a perennial of the sanctuary leads to Amaravati Dam after merging at the interstate boundary. The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is home to 34 species of mammals including Tigers, Panthers, Elephants and Nilgiri Tahr and Indian star tortoise and mugger crocodiles live largely in the sanctuary.

A forest camp site is down the valley and close to the Pambar river

The Ecoregion of the sanctuary comprises mostly grassland and wet grasslands vegetation with 965 species of flowering plants and some South Western Ghats montane rain forest and moist deciduous forest and high sholas. The Maraoor sandalwood forest or reserve is located close to the sanctuary and Thoovanam waterfalls is a must watch for anyone on this route. More on later…

Pambar river creating little falls like flow

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS