Jungle Prinia brings me to 914
When I visited Vandalur zoo sometime in 1997/98, I had just started birding seriously. I was not impressed with seeing wildlife in cages. Though the good thing was they started giving plenty of space for wildlife to roam around instead of smaller cages. A couple of Red-whiskered Bul-buls outside excited me more. I could see green hills in Perungalathur/Vandalur area. A few years later I wanted to bird the hills, but had no idea where to go. Twenty years from my first sighting of Red-whiskered Bul-buls, I found the best spot to bird around that area - Repeater road, which went through a forest. I wanted to see my favourite Bul-bul species which I hadn't seen for a while. I got up early and took multiple buses and walked to the Repeater road entrance. People were taking walks, and sadly they were loud! Also, they stare at you when you bird in Chennai, but I got used to it just like the ladies in the city. I saw birds which I did not see in my previous trips to India - Laughing Doves, Ioras, Red-whiskered Bul-buls, Long-tailed Shrikes - all in good numbers. A person going for a walk bored me with questions like if I was a scientist taking a survery and so on. Thankfully a bird interested me, and I stopped. He got bored and left! I had the trail to myself and birded peacefully. Calling Jungle Prinias were bird species 914.
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| Jungle Prinia |
I continued the walk up the hill until I was made to turn back by a guy on a motorbike, whom I believe was a policeman. He said "This part is closed for public, and cameras are not allowed without permission from forest officer or a certain police officer". I turned back and on the way down another guy on a motorbike stopped me and said "Did you not see the sign that said people aren't allowed"? I told him I saw a sign that said private vehicles aren't allowed and people were coming in for walks. He responded with 'walking time is over' and I learnt later that there is nothing called 'walking time'. He too told me that cameras aren't allowed, but in a relatively more ruder way. I later met a guy working there who told me the same thing about cameras. Apparently poachers will know about the animals in the forest. The animals are actually escapees from Vandalur zoo! This forest is screwed up! If you want to hear more about my thoughts, we can talk! We walked a little and talked on various topics. A spur-road to an Amman temple was very birdy. One of the things he mentioned was that cell-phones of a few college students were taken away in the past. I mentioned to him about the sighting of a bird (Siberian Ruby-throat) with a photo taken of it at this place last winter, which alerted me to the fact that such a place exists! People would not have known that the bird came down to TN for a winter. Maybe it is a vagrant. Maybe more birders need to come to the hills in south Chennai. In any case photos would be useful for documentation purposes. I wish genuine birders are allowed to bird in peace. With very few places left due to illegal construction, dumping of waste, lack of access to public, traffic and honking preventing you from birding in peace, birding is getting harder in Chennai. I went to Hasthinapuram lake to find the place in a complete mess and stench due to garbage. Slowly the lake would be encroached upon and dissappear. The lake was originally bigger, but tactical encroachments made sure buildings were constructed on the lake beds. If restrictions are put on places like Vandalur repeater road for birders, where would birders go? At least cameras seem to be the only problem right now, in which case birders can bird with or without binoculars and still enjoy the place. In any case, birding was really good. I was overwhelmed at a few places where there were birds going all around me. About eight calling Ioras flying around at a single spot, and loads of Red-whiskered Bul-buls were the highlights.
Here is the checklist:
Here is the forbidden photo-set:
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