Like to hear the forest Laugh

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Now how many of you know about this? That there is a rare species that you can sight only in Nilgiris !

There are lots of species which are rare that can be sighted in Nilgiris upon rarity there is a Unique place for The Nilgiri Laughing Thrush (NLT) which can Only be sighted in Nilgiris and nowhere else Yes you read it right.

The Nilgiri Laughing Thrush (NLT) is a insectivorous bird larger then a house Sparrow and smaller then a common Crow splurging on insects and berries found in the Shola thickets, the call of NLT is very unique a resounding call more like mimicking laughter. NLT is the only truly endemic species of Nilgiris in the Avian Fauna part now. Thou there are lotta species that have the prefix of “Nilgiri” attached to it like the famed Nilgiri Thar then the Nilgiri Wood Pigion, Nilgiri Flycatcher, Nilgiri Pipet and so on but these species are found even outside the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR). The Nilgiri Thar is found all the way down in Munnar and Valpari. Even more astounding is the fact that NLT is enlisted as an Endangered (EN) species in the IUCN Red list, a rung below the lists priority - Critically Endangered (CR), with the highly fragmented geographical distribution NLT can be found in small numbers around Nilgiris, there have been a sighting of NLTs in the Pala Mala Kerala ( these sighting are yet to be authenticated, inputs are needed) the population of NLT is estimated to be any thing between 2500 to 9000 individuals according to BIRDLIFE International as it is really difficult to peg the exact numbers and its anybody guess now, it might even have decreased in numbers given the state of disturbance to its habitat – which is predominantly Sholas, thickets and scrubby undergrowths in the elevation above 3000 ft.


On the conservation front what are the efforts taken to protect this unique bird, to my knowledge it is near non existent. The officials sitting in the concerned department are not aware of the importance of such a bird, even if they do they cannot gauge the critically importance attached to it. And above all it is not highlighted or media represented, like the importance given to the Nilgiri Thar. Species like NLTs are crucial denominators for the state of our environments health there are many such denominator going unnoticed around us, of all miseries people are more interested in big names of Tigers and Lion conservation – yes it holds true when the top predator is protected the ecological food chain sustains by itself, but what about the isolated small dynamic forest reserves where umpteen number of smaller species like NLTs thrive, there might even be many more species and organisms alike around the world that are in the verge of getting vanished or have seen their traces wiped off from the face of this earth due to loss of habitat – we will never come to know about it and how less important are these species in the ecological food chain? Can all this be attributed to the evolutionary process! If so can we allow the Lions the Tigers and the other exotic species to see its natural end of being wiped off from this very earth as their role in the evolutionary process has been attained?

I know no evolutionary theorem here - just a laymens heart to possess and to be possessed by nature

Is any body listenin out there ?

Chasing Monsoon

Coonoor Singara Estate Road

The picture perfect monsoon mood that is conjured up in the movies of the mountains flacked by moving mist, smog and the occasional wind swept drizzle is all but in the reel world. In the real world what does the Great Indian Monsoon means to people of Nilgiris. For us it is more of a “love hate” relationship as the better part of the year is consumed by both the SE – NW - Monsoon - it obliviate life every time monsoon sets in - to reconcile the ways and means to counter the monsoon rains over and over again – it is a way of life no doubt, a habitual acclimation of sort for the resident is more cumbersome and comes with a ritual cribbing as they gradually ease in to the monsoon mode. what with intensive cloud cover, one hardly sees the sun rays hit the earth for weeks together, dampness and moist clothing to put up with as it hardly dries, if one dwells in homes with old Mangalore tiled roofing it is (most of us do) then of all probability it will leak, seep and will splotch with droplets.

Left with the smaller side of the Monsoon as the peak months of June and July are behind us now, having yielded below normal rains then forcasted for this year let alone year on year. In the ecological front if one has observed the pattern of monsoon for last 8 to 10 years it is pretty evident that there has been a major shift in Nilgiris climate pattern one that stands out conspicuously is the window of second season which has vanished and both the monsoons have merged – every thing in its severity is has been the order of the day. Heavier rains in the monsoons, summer getting hotter with ever souring temperature.

The monsoon is now expected more so with some kind of mechanical precession with the every passing year the weather department is forecasting the precise date the monsoon sets in - fairly it is been the case for more then 8 to 10 years now that we have received reasonable monsoon as expected. In the face of it I keep pondering over the thought of “expecting the nature to perform on any given time” Now can it perform to our demanding needs ? with so much of influence like the El Ninos, The Greenhouse Effect and the vanishing green cover. In the probability of the monsoon skipping out for a year – imagine what will be the arising scenario? Total devastation a precarious scenario whereby our storage facilities is churned out on hand to mouth basis. The last time monsoon gave a break for a year the scenario wasn't as demanding as now but that was 10 year before. What we will see is chaos every where, the obvious blame game, committees upon committees special task force core working groups (bureaucratically buying time, and excuse “WE ARE WORKING ON IT” ), the green crowd given a hearing and massive fund infused to do major forestry, de-silting dams, reservoirs lil bit of framer pleasing finally the sizable chunk of the fund will end up with crooks masquerading as Realtors. And can we have a plan B here if so what kind of contingency can we plan to fill up in place of the monsoon a blatant management theory here to ask for a contingency plan for nature (sic a contingency plan for “nature”, thou one can be better equipped to face it but cannot replace it) ~ it is like being parched on top of the cliff and expecting every time a copter to rescue us.

That precarious Year is not far off from us, will eventually dance to the tune of Nature until then I await the arrival of the Monsoon dampness mountains flacked by moving mist, smog, the occasional wind swept drizzle et al

Coonoor, Brooklands Road