Film on TIGER WASP Released...

Hi, friends,

A short film on TIGER WASP is available for viewing in the VIDEOS section. Click over the thumbnail and go top. Your comments and criticisms are most solicited.

Thank you,

Dr.Dilip K G

CNHS House Sparrow Monitoring Project

Thank you, Dr. Anilkumar T R for your post in the "CNHS House Sparrow Monitoring Project". The data you provided is of immense value. Please continue posting.

One Day Birding Trip to IDAMALAYAR

Dear Friends,

Cochin Natural History Society is conducting a one day bird watching programme on Sunday
5th December.
Area : Bhoothathankettu to Idamalayar Dam Area.
Vegetation : Semi Evergreen and Plantation
Date : 5th December 2010
Route of Travel :Perumbavoor – Kothamangalam – Keerampara- Bhoothathankettu – Thundathil-Idamalayar
Distance : Approx: 50 kms from Perumbavoor
Starting Time : 5 45 a.m Near Perumbavoor Transport Bus stand
(There is a pay and park facility there where you can park your vehicle)
We will travel t by a Mini bus/Tempo traveler from Perumbavoor.
Cost : The actual cost of transportation & food to be shared by all

Instructions:
1. Please register before 30th November 2010 by email (cochinnhs@yahoo.com) or by phone Vishnu: 9446437410 Registration is limited to 20 persons.
2. You should carry light snacks, umbrella, caps, enough water etc.
3. We will be birding along the road and immediate vicinity. Most of the road from Bhoothathankettu passes through thick forest and we are likely to see 70 – 90 species on a good and lucky day including Malabar Trogon, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Blue Bearded Bee Eater, Chestnut Winged Cuckoo, Yellow Browed Bulbul, and Scarlet Minivet, Barn Swallow, Dusky Crag Martin and many more species of beautiful birds. We are likely to see many species of Butterflies and dragon flies etc. also.
4. We will start at 5.45 a.m on 05.12. 2010 from Perumbavoor KSRTC Bus station and do birding till 2 p.m and return.
5. Breakfast and lunch will be had along the way from small teashops (cost sharing basis).

Bird Race 2010 - Team OWL

Hi, All,

I am Parvana Dilip . I am from team owl, a two member team. The captain of my team was my father Dr Dilip KG. We started our race by six in the morning. We first went to a field close to our home were we spotted almost 43 species. Remaining were spotted on the way to and the main spot located near Manjali, Pandiyolichal . We were able to spot only 55 species in total because we ended up the race by 12 at noon to attend a family function.

Bird of the day - Watercock

Dip of the day - Pied wagtail

Kerala Bird Race 2010 Sparrow Team

Kerala Bird Race 2010 Ernakulam
Team - Sparrow
Location - Koottikkal,Bhuthathankettu and Iringolkavu.
Time : 6.30 am to 5.30 pm (14-11-2010 Sunday)
Captain - Madhu Krishnan
Team Members - Dr. S. Prasanth, Saranya
Total No. of Species - 67
Bird of the Day - Heart-spotted Woodpecker
Dip of the Day - House Sparrow

List of Birds

1. Lesser Whistling Duck
2. Racket-tailed Drongo
3. Blyth's Reed Warbler
4. Little Cormorant
5. White-breasted Kingfisher
6. Indian Pond Heron
7. Rose-ringed Parakeet
8. House Crow
9. Jungle Crow
10. White-headed Babbler
11. Indian Treepie
12. Oriental Magpie Robin
13. White-cheeked Barbet
14. Red-whiskered Bulbul
15. Plum-headed Parakeet
16. Yellow-legged Green Pigeon
17. Mountain Imperial Pigeon
18. Gery Jungle Fowl
19. Oriental Broad-billed Roller
20. Brown-breasted Flycatcher
21. Purple-rumped Sunbird
22. Black-naped Oriole
23. Jungle Babbler
24. Southern Hill Myna
25. Asian Paradise Flycatcher
26. Asian Fairy Bluebird
27. Black Drongo
28. Blue-winged Parakeet
29. Red-vented Bulbul
30. Eurasian Golden Oriole
31. Median Egret
32. Large Egret
33. Ashy Drongo
34. Little Egret
35. Common Myna
36. Jungle Myna
37. Brahminy Starling
38. Bronzed Drongo
39. Heart-spotted Woodpecker
40. Great Black Woodpecker
41. Small Blue Kingfisher
42. Spotted Dove
43. Small Bee-eater
44. Western Marsh Harrier
45. Purple Sunbird
46. White-bellied Treepie
47. Crested Serpent Eagle
48. Common Tern
49. Purple Heron
50. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
51. Greenish Leaf Warbler
52. Streaked Fantail Warbler
53. Cattle Egret
54. Red-wattled Lapwing
55. White-breasted Waterhen
56. Red Spurfowl
57. Golden-headed Fantail Warbler
58. Malabar Grey Hornbill
59. Blue-tailed Bee-eater
60. Common Tailorbird
61. Large Pied Wagtail
62. Greater Coucal
63. Common Swallow
64. Asian Koel
65. Indain Pitta
66. Blue Rock Pigeon
67. White-throated Ground Thrush.

Dr. S. Prasanth

Bird Race 2010 - Kochi - Team Swallow (CNHS)

Hi all,

Please see our brief report below.

Team - Swallow

Birding area - Bhoothathankettu Dam to Edamalayar Dam, Kothamangalam & Nedumbassery,

Time - 6.30 AM to 5.45 PM

Team Captain - Ginu George

Team Members - Jai.P. Jacob, Prinson , Noble, Elias.

Total species count = 92

Bird of the day = Rufous-Bellied Eagle

Dip of the day = Tailor Bird

Mammals = Stripe-necked Mongoose, Dusky Palm Squirrel, Malabar Gaint Squirrel.

Rgds

Ginu George

See below for full species count.

1. Little Cormorant

2. Little Egret

3. Purple Heron

4. Large Egret

5. Indian Pond

6. Cattle Egret

7. Asian Openbill-Stork

8. Shikra

9. Rufous-Bellied Eagle

10. Crested Serpent Eagle

11. Grey Jungle fowl

12. Purple Moorhen

13. Bronze-Winged Jacana

14. Red-Wattled Lapwing

15. Yellow-Wattled Lapwing

16. Common Sandpiper

17. Whiskered Tern

18. Rock Pigeon

19. Emerald Dove

20. Rose-Ringed Parakeet

21. Plum-Headed Parakeet

22. Blue Winged Parakeet

23. Indian Hanging-Parrot

24. Common Hawk-Cuckoo

25. Greater Coucal

26. Mottled Wood Owl

27. Jungle Owlet

28. Indian Edible-nest Swiftlet

29. Malabar Trogon

30. White-Throated Kingfisher

31. Chestnut-Headed Bee-eater

32. Blue-Tailed Bee-eater

33. Green Bee-eater

34. Indian Roller

35. Malabar Grey Hornbill

36. White-Cheeked Barbet

37. Black-Rumped Flameback

38. Heart-Spotted Woodpecker

39. Greater Flameback

40. Malabar Lark

41. Dusky Crag Martin

42. Barn Swallow

43. Brown Shrike

44. Eurasian Golden Oriole

45. Black-Hooded Oriole

46. Black Drongo

47. Ashy Drongo

48. Bronzed Drongo

49. Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo

50. Ashy Wood Swallow

51. Chestnut-Tailed Starling

52. Common Myna

53. Jungle Myna

54. Southern Hill Myna

55. Rufous Tree Pie

56. White-Bellied Tree Pie

57. House Crow

58. Jungle Crow

59. Bar-Winged Flycatcher Shrike

60. Large Cuckoo-Shrike

61. Black-Headed Cuckoo-Shrike

62. Scarlet Minivet

63. Small Minivet

64. Common lora

65. Gold-fronted Chloropsis

66. Asian Fairy Bluebird

67. Grey-Headed Bulbul

68. Black-Crested Bulbul

69. Red-Whiskered Bulbul

70. Red-Vented Bulbul

71. Yellow-Browed Bulbul

72. Indian Rufous Babbler

73. Jungle Babbler

74. Asian Brown Flycatcher

75. Asian Paradise Flycatcher

76. Black-Naped Monarch Flycatcher

77. Plain Prinia

78. Greenish Leaf Warbler

79. Large-Billed Leaf Warbler

80. Oriental Magpie-Robin

81. White-Throated Ground Thrush

82. Malabar Whistling-Thrush

83. Great Tit

84. Large Pied Wagtail

85. Pale-Billed Flowerpecker

86. Purple-Rumped Sunbird

87. Purple Sunbird

88. Loten's Sunbird

89. House Sparrow

90. Black-Throated Munia

91. Scaly-Breasted Munia

92. Black-Headed Munia

Kerala Birdrace 2010 Report

Kerala Bird Race 2010 concluded

The 4^th edition of the Kerala Bird race was held on 14^th November 2010. 130 odd bird watchers and nature enthusiasts in 31 teams from Ernakulam, Kottayam and Thrissur took part actively in the event. This included veteran birdwatchers to VII standard students like Ijas Muhammed and Parvana.

The event was organised in Kochi, by Cochin Natural History Society, a premier conservation organization in central Kerala.

Highlights of the dawn to dusk bird watching event was sighting of Malabar Pied Hornbills, Blue Bearded Bee Eaters and Rufous Bellied Hawk Eagles.

In the valedictory function, prizes to the winners were distributed by Hon. Minister for transport, Adv. Jose Thettayil. The team led by Sandeepdas won first prize (168 species). Bird of the Day prize was won by the team led by Gopal Prasad and Dr. Anudath who sighted a big flock of 16 Malabar Pied Hornbills in Athirappally-Vazhachal area. Dr. B.S. Corrie, Chief Conservator of Forests spoke on project of compensating and encouraging farmers who protect large roosting sites of Cormorants, Egrets and other wetland birds in the State. Dr. N.C. Induchoodan, DFO, spoke on the afforestation and bird conservation project of the Forest Department near CIAL Nedumbassery.Dr.B. Sreekumar,President of Kottayam Nature Society was the Adjudicator of the event. Sri.Sunjoy Monga,Mr. Renu Varghese, Dr. P.O. Nameer,Head Center for Wildlife Studies,KAU also spoke on the occasion .

KERALA BIRD RACE 2010

Dear all,

This is a call for registration for the teams participating in Kerala Bird Race 2010; the 4th bird race to happen in Kerala. For more details CLICK here

CNHS House Sparrow Monitoring Project

Thank You, Mr.Vishnu, for your posting in the CNHS House Sparrow Monitoring Project. Pls. continue posting. We request all the readers of this Blog to post their record (if any) in the page available at the bottom of the Blog.

Thank you.

for

CNHS

Harry Potter Blamed for Fuelling India Owls' Demise

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Velli Moonga

To read the BBC report CLICK here