River Periyar, Thattekad

So having finally cracked and rebelled against being herded around to tick as many birds as possible, I broke free this afternoon and had probably the best half day birding of the holiday, or at least since Changaram wetlands. 

Basically I did two circuits of the local area which took in the lake outside the homestay and the bridge over the River Periyar. It was at the bridge where I spent most time, probably three hours in total, in two seperate stints, it was really that good. 

Initially I had great views of my first river terns, plus whiskered terns, various egrets and a few little swifts. It was during the second stint that things really got good and I stayed until dusk. First off I had a magnificent white-bellied woodpecker fly across the river, too distant for a photo but a good view never the less. Then bizarrely a southern birdwing butterfly flew the other way along the bridge. What a butterfly that is, with a 19cm wingspan, an absolute beauty!

My first white-browed wagtail was on the wires next to the bridge.

As it got darker swifts began to gather, and soon there were up to 100 little swifts swirling around over the bridge.

Little swifts.

Suddenly they were joined by a couple of alpine swifts, possibly the same birds that I saw yesterday, but thankfully today I was able to fire off a couple of photos. And still the bridge kept giving, as two dusky crag martins appeared from nowhere before flying around for a bit and then appearing to go to roost under the bridge.

Even when it was nearly dark the birding was still good. Vinod had told me that great-eared nightjar often flew to the lake outside the homestay to feed and fortunately I was walking back at exactly the right time and was lucky enough to see one a couple of times hawking over the water, once coming quite close, close enough to see that it was large and lacked any white patches on the wing. 

So all in all a great afternoon birding and fully justifying my decision to keep away from the crowds being shepherded around.

Oriental darter.

Indian golden oriole.