Thirunelveli and Palani Hills...In Search of Nature & Wildlife


Thread Starter #1
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#1
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
We had to attend a wedding at Nagarcoil on the 7th of August. Since the engagement was on 6th evening, We started out at around 6 am on the 6th from our house.

We reached Nagarcoil around 3:30 pm. The drive was mostly on 4 lane highway except for the last few kms where we had to dirve on single lane state highway. The traffic and road conditions were quite bad inside Nagarcoil with lots of one way. So we just parked the car at the hotel and used autos for attending the functions.

The wedding got over by 11:30 am and we had lunch and started our drive to Thirunelveli by around 2 pm. We reached the hotel at thirunelveli by 4 pm and just relaxed.

The next morning we decided to do a lazy drive around Thirunelveli. Started out at 6 am and headed out.
We saw quite a few birds on the full day drive.

Here are some of what we saw...

A Black Kite having a meal...

DSC_3645ls.jpg

DSC_3654ls.jpg

DSC_3658.jpg

DSC_3676ls.jpg

DSC_3678ls.jpg


[to be cont.]

 
#2
AppU

AppU

V10
#2
Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
3,077
Likes
1,927
Location
Vellore/Chennai
Re: Thirunelveli and Palani Hills... in search of nature and wildlife

Starting with starter [lol]

Good Start, Expecting more pics as usual[;)]
 
Thread Starter #3
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#3
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
Re: Thirunelveli and Palani Hills... in search of nature and wildlife

AppU said:
Starting with starter [lol]

Good Start, Expecting more pics as usual[;)]
Click to expand...
Thank you, AppU! Sure, lots of photos. We covered Thirunelveli, Kodaikanal and the lower Palani hills this trip.


As we were driving slowly we stopped whenever we saw some bird and took photos and drove on.

Drongo...

DSC_3791.jpg

DSC_3809ls.jpg

DSC_3821.jpg


A common Myna...

DSC_3985ls.jpg


A Dove

DSC_4008ls.jpg


Red-vented Bulbul...

DSC_4039.jpg


Plain Tiger...

DSC_4244.jpg


Indian Roller...

DSC_4376ls.jpg


[to be cont.]
 
Thread Starter #6
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#6
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
Ambylovers said:
Hi,
Your photos were looking bit more professional. Nice and keep it up.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Ambylovers! I will try.


Ambylovers said:
In and around Tirunelveli, there are many tourist places. Have you tried the water falls over there.
Click to expand...
We usually try and avoid tourist places as we hate crowded places and traffic. We did not go to any tourist place near Thirunelveli. We just drove around some villages and some grassland/lakes. We drove around the whole day ate our breakfast and lunch at some small village hotel. Our aim was to spot as many birds as we can in that area.


souvikjana83 said:
Awesome shots Highway_Ranger... [clap]
Click to expand...
Thank you, souvikjana83! Much appreciated.


rk0887 said:
Great clicks with perfect timing I must say. Waiting for more from your lenses.
Click to expand...
Thank you, rk0887! It was a long trip. So we do have a lot to share.


Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark... (we saw many of these around)

The ashy-crowned sparrow-lark (Eremopterix griseus) also known as the ashy-crowned finch-lark or black-bellied finch-lark is a small sparrow-sized member of the lark family. It is found in the plains in open land with bare ground, grass and scrub across South Asia. The males are well marked with a contrasting black-and-white face pattern, while females are sandy brown, looking similar to a female sparrow. Males are easily detected during the breeding season by the long descending whistle that accompanies their undulating and dive-bombing flight displays.[wikipedia]

DSC_4590.jpg

DSC_4587ls.jpg

DSC_4642.jpg


[to be cont.]
 
Thread Starter #7
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#7
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
Indian Eagle Owl or Rock Eagle Owl...


The Indian eagle-owl, also called the rock eagle-owl or Bengal eagle-owl (Bubo bengalensis), is a species of large horned owl found in the Indian Subcontinent. They were earlier treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian eagle-owl. They are found in hilly and rocky scrub forests, and are usually seen in pairs. They have a deep resonant booming call that may be heard at dawn and dusk. They are typically large owls, and have "tufts" on their heads. They are splashed with brown and grey, and have a white throat patch with black small stripes.[wikipedia]

DSC_4999is.jpg

DSC_5045is.jpg

DSC_5054ls.jpg

DSC_5091is.jpg

DSC_5097.jpg


[to be cont.]

 
Thread Starter #8
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#8
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
A travel and then workload... so after a long gap continuing this thread.

That day around Thirunelvelli was a full day drive around the villages looking for birds on the open fields, rocky hills, and by the lakes. By the end of the day I ran out of memory and had to use the card that was in my other camera.



The Indian courser...

The Indian courser (Cursorius coromandelicus) is a species of courser found in mainland South Asia, mainly in the plains bounded by the Ganges and Indus river system. Like other coursers, it is a ground bird that can be found in small groups as they forage for insects in dry open semi-desert country. [wikipedia]

DSC_6149.jpg

DSC_6114.jpg

DSC_6141.jpg


a juvenile...

DSC_6337.jpg

[to be cont.]
 
Thread Starter #11
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#11
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
ASIR said:
Great Pictures as usual Highway Rider. Roads are indeed bad in Nagercoil right now due to drainage work. Name of the auditorium in Nagercoil???
Click to expand...
Thank you, ASIR! Appreciated.

The engagement and the reception were held in YR Mahal, Water Tank Road and the wedding was at Christ Church, behind the YR Mahal (just walking distance. But we didn't know that and took an Auto)


More from that day

A Laughing Dove...

DSC_5120.jpg


Eurasian Collared Dove...

DSC_5185.jpg


Black-winged Stilt...

 DSC_5544.jpg

DSC_5551.jpg

DSC_5656ls.jpg


[to be cont.]
 
Thread Starter #14
Highway Ranger

Highway Ranger

V10
#14
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1,736
Likes
2,545
Location
Hosur/Chennai
arunprasad said:
Fantastic shots as usual sir.
Indian courser juvenile .. have never seen that even in pictures before. Great catch.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Arun! This is the first time we saw one too. Seeing these ground birds reminded me our our outing in Chennai where we were after that lone Oriental Pratincole.[;)]

Grey Francolin...

DSC_7312.jpg

DSC_7325.jpg

DSC_7337.jpg


and a junior...

DSC_7299.jpg



[to be cont.]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom