Penchalakona
Sixteen members of the MNS went on a weekend trip to visit Kandaleru dam, Penchalakona falls and Somasila dam, in the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh. All these fall within the Penusila Narasimha Swamy Sanctuary. Cloudy skies, and light drizzle as well as the occasional heavy downpour accompanied us throughout our trip.
Saturday 27th: We assembled at Gudur, saw some coots and swallows around the Gudur tank and then drove to Kandaleru reservoir on Saturday morning. The earthen dam that enclosed the reservoir has created a water body that stretched from horizon to horizon, filled by the current monsoon rains. It was a spectacular sight, and also reassuring for us Chennaiites, since it is an important water source for the city.
There was good birding in the flat, scrub around the reservoir. The list of birds we saw included:
1. Common Kestrel
2. Pied Kingfisher
3. White-browed Fantail Flycatcher – a group of them
4. Red Vented Bulbul
5. Red Whiskered Bulbul
6. Purple-rumped Sunbird
7. Brahminy Myna
8. Silverbill
9. Coucal
10. Little Egret
11. Little Cormorant
12. Small Green Bee-eater
13. Black Drongo
14. Indian Robin
15. Tailor bird
16. Ashy Prinia
17. Pond Heron
18. Swift
19. Swallow
20. Pied Cuckoo
21. Common Myna
22. House Crow
23. Jungle Crow
24. White Breasted Kingfisher
After lunch, we drove on to Penchalakona. On approaching, we had a grand view of the falls from the road, near the entrance to the Karunamayi ashram. We settled in to the accommodation, close to the Narasimhaswamy temple, and went for a short walk to explore the territory. We found a one-street temple town, (which was sadly already strewn with plastic litter), herds of cows loitering around the temple, a few other visitors, and the lovely stream flowing through the town. As we climbed up a stony path beside the river, we had a lovely view of the falls itself as well as the mountains around, which were dense with scrub jungle, looking green and washed in the rains.
Sunday 28th morning: a group of us went on a walk upstream, to locate the plunge pool of the falls. With thick undergrowth on either bank, we had to wade upstream for the most part, and after a couple of bends, we left behind traces of the town, and it was a rewarding and fulfilling walk, as we clambered over boulders, waded through clear, cool water, ducked under a thin waterfall, while all the time the roar of the falls got louder. With a thin drizzle overhead, there was hardly any birdcall on this walk.
We reached the plunge pool after a while and it was well worth the trouble, to see the water thundering down into the pool and rising in a mist and spray to drench us all. Some of the men "plunged" into the pool, but by this time the rain intensified, and the guide looked worried that the river bed would be unpassable soon. So, we hurried back, only to find the rain stop when we reached the lower levels! But this meant that we were rewarded with bird activity. Suddenly, the forest was alive with sound, and the members had a good half an hour of sightings – woodpeckers, orioles, sunbirds, babblers and parakeets.
After breakfast, we went for a walk in the scrub jungle around, along with the rain, and saw Acacia, Cassia, Glory Lily and red sanders. Mr Ramakrishna remarked that this was a non-thorny scrub jungle, which is somewhat unusual. There were good specimens of ant nests in the leaves of a mango tree as well.
We did not sight any other fauna, but the birds we saw at Penchalakona are:
1. Spotted Owlet
2. Shikra
3. Common Myna
4. Rose-ringed Parakeet
5. White-bellied Drongo
6. Black headed Oriole
7. Paradise flycatcher
8. Wood pecker
9. Jungle Babblers
10. Purple-rumped Sunbird
11. Purple Sunbird
12. Coppersmith Barbet
13. Asian Koel
14. Common Treepie
15. White-breasted Kingfisher
16. Indian Roller
17. Red Vented Bulbul
18. Red Whiskered Bulbul
19. Golden Oriole
20. Common Crow
21. Jungle Crow
22. Tailorbird
23. Golden oriole
The elusive Yellow throated bulbul, and Shama were not seen.
After lunch, we proceeded to the Somasila dam, where again the water was full. The second batch of visitors – Mr Ramachandrandan, Mr Mrutyumjay Rao and Mr Ramakrishna – saw all the gates being opened, and water gushing out at great force. They also saw the Penchalakona falls in greater strength, since they stayed an additional night, and therefore caught sight of the falls fed with more rain. The stream was also full, and so there was no way we could have waded up, the next day.
posted by pappu at 11:16 PM
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