Call of the Coorg | Monsoon Trip - Aug 25th to 28th 2011

Call of the Coorg – Aug 25th to 28th
Trip Report by Naresh Balasubramanya

Here is the route map to reach Honey Valley!

Trekking, photography can be listed as my favorite hobbies. When my dear friend Bala announced monsoon photo expedition to coorg, I was tempted to navigate deep inside the Coffee estates and jungles of the Western Ghats to sight and photograph nature’s rare species. On 25th early morning we started to Honey Valley -coorg. Drive amidst through lush green terrain was breath taking it is not an exaggeration if we bracket Coorg with Scotland. The place Honey Valley home stay facility is situated near the town of Virarajpet in Coorg. It’s about 285 kilometers from Bangalore by road. This place is managed by Mr. Suresh Chengappa.

The estate is about 38 acres in size and has it’s share of coffee plantations. Not too long ago, it was very well known for honey production and had won lots of awards. This estate borders on to the jungles of the Western Ghats. One could experience the fantastic bird life comprising of 350 birds including Asian Fairy Bluebird, Nilgiri Flycatcher, Nilgiri Laughing Thrush, Great Black Woodpecker, Malabar Whistling Thrush, White-bellied Treepie, Hill Myna, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Malabar Parakeet, Honey Buzzard among others. It is a promising place for wildlife lovers to sight & photograph endemic and rare Snakes, Frogs and Lizards, Spiders, Caecilians, Scorpions, Beetles, Centipedes, Millipedes and an array of insect life!

Day 1

We were a group of eight; most of them were my seniors and well versed with the terrain. After unloading our bags into our rooms, Bala briefed us about the activities we would be doing for 4 days, also gave us list of species that can be sighted there, precautions we need to take , during the treks and night walks, after the brief session we stretched our legs for few hours and stepped out on my maiden trip.

It was drizzling on and off , leeches were in plenty ,all of them desperately trying to suck our blood we had to pluck them as plums and throw it , frogs of different hues greeted us with there bulging throats. All of us were tired after day’s travel and hungry we decided to walk back to the dining hall for a nice homemade dinner. After dinner we spotted snails and frogs near the entrance of our rooms, did not want miss this opportunity and we started clicking, I had never used a flash before ,thanks to Bala and Praveen who taught me quite a lot on flash settings, composition etc. After a brief photo session we all retired to our rooms with a dream of finding more species tomorrow.

Photo by : Naresh Balasubramayam Photo by : Naresh Balasubramayam

Day 2

The next day we were greeted by colorful insects, praying mantis at our doorstep. We soon set up our equipment and took some pictures of the mantis. After breakfast we sighted birds like scarlet minivet, hill myna and greater coucal outside the dining hall, we set out for a trek in search of Caecilians and pit vipers, we photographed some colorful snails, earth worms, millipede, mushrooms and landscapes on the way, It soon started to rain continuously and we thought that the monsoon made it’s presence felt. After lunch we couldn’t head out to the field, due to the rains, we had causal chat, with Zeeshan, Rajesh, Bala and Praveen learnt quite a lot on the species we had sighted so far. On the way back to our rooms, I spotted a bedome keel back juvenile a non poisonous snake, we were all excited soon set up our equipment and took some pictures of it The skies had opened up a bit by evening we all decided to leave behind our cameras, expect for two in the group who decided to carry there equipment with them . We sighted velvet natach bird near our to living quarters, we ventured into streams close the cardamom plantations and found lot of crabs ,a bronze frog , we walked further , we spotted frog called as Nyctibatrachus sp. (Wrinkled frog) which was perched close to a small pit filled with rain water , Praveen took some snaps of it. It started raining heavily again and we did not want to give up quest to find vipers, frogs and Caecilians. We continued further in the rain and found a scorpion, these species glow under UV light, we witnessed this phenomenon and photographed it with the help of Zeeshan. It was getting late of dinner , hence we all decided to go back after dinner, Bala and Rajesh spotted some rare spiders close to the dining hall, Bala took some snaps of it. It was really fun through out the trip. We all headed back to our rooms we with a hope to find pit vipers and caecilians the next day. Near my room found a colorful bug, rushed to my room to set up my equipment and took some pictures of it. The rains continued to show its fury all the through the night.

Photo by Sudha Achar


Scorpion in UV Light: Photo by Subramanniyan.C.M

Day 3

Woke with bird calls, stepped out of my room to find them , saw Praveen photographing a cicada perched on a small wooden piece near our living quarters, had heard its calls all for the last two days , was excited to see it , it was very colorful species. After a heavy breakfast we decided to go the streams close to the roads with a hope to find Caecilians, we were disappointed again, we headed back to lunch, heavy rains kept us indoors, little late in the evening despite of heavy rains Bala , Zeeshan and Rajesh ventured into the coffee estates in search of Vipers but returned back empty handed. After a nice dinner and chat with the group, we retired to our rooms, with heavy heart that we all have to go back to our respective destination tomorrow

Day 4

This was the last day of our tour. We all woke up leisurely and started to pack our bags to get back home. Our four day tour was quite eventful and we had got some good shots and plenty of information about the species and there habitat. After breakfast it was time for some group photo session. With a promise (to ourselves) to return soon we bid goodbye to wonderful people at Honey Valley who took care of us so well during our stay.

My heartfelt thanks Bala for his time and effort in organizing this trip and identifying the frogs photographed on this tour. None of these pictures on this tour would have happened, if not for the great team effort shown by the wonderful people in our group. Each one of us had a role to play - be it searching for subjects, holding umbrellas, lighting the subjects by holding the torches the correct angles, looking out for leeches…the list goes on! Apart from all this, the great fun we had for these four days is something, one can cherish for a long time. I would like to thank the entire team for making this a memorable photo-tour with great companionship and picture making ideas. Come August I am ready to pack my bags move with this group again for another adventure.






List of Frogs
1) Raorchestes leoteolus
2) Micrixalus sp.
3) Raorchestes chromosynchysi
4) Golden Frog
5) Nyctibatrachus sp.
6) Raorchestes tuberohumerus
7) Raorchestes charius
8) Indirana sp.
9) Fejervarya sp
10) Bronze Frog

Snake
1) Beddom’s keel back (Juv.)

Scorpion
1) Heterometrus

Snails
1) Indrella ampulla