Thursday, August 27, 2020

MOST UNUSUAL BIRD BEHAVIOR.... 2011

This happened in April 2011.  In Denawaka; a village off Malwala on the Ratnapura Palabaddala Road to Adams Peak. I was assigned to the construction of a mini-hydro project across Denawaka Ganga the main tributary of Kalu Ganga.  My living quarters were beside the road from Malwala to Balangoda via Rassagala.

It had a small garden that the owners living in the lower ground area maintained and was just opposite my window in the upper-ground area.

Black-naped Monarch and Indian Paradise Flycatcher in their nests -Pic Curtsy Wikipedia  

I noticed a pair of Black-naped Monarchs busy, nest building opposite my window on a liana scaling skywards in this garden patch in early April 2011. Every morning before going to work, I noted the progress of the nest and was a bit nervous to part with the Monarchs when soon it will be time to go home for the Sinhala /Tamil New Year that came in the second week of April.  


Back to work after the holidays, I noticed the two eggs laid in the nest and the birds were taking turns incubating them. The climate during this time in the Peak Wilderness was not at all favorable for brooding birds but they did brave the thunder and rain that was to fall on the last two days of the month

On 28th April 2011, I was away in Colombo at a workshop. I inspected the Monarch nest before leaving and she was seen trucked up neatly in the nest. It was 6:00 am when I left for Colombo.

I was back in Ratnapura late in the night and was too tired to check on the nest. But the following morning (29th April 2011) I saw the nest abandoned. I was tilting to aside with the two eggs about to fall out. My immediate reaction was to inquire about the nest from the cook boy and caretaker of what came by the nest.

His story was almost unbelievable….During the day he had seen the Indian Paradise Flycatcher (male) that also foraged about in the garden sitting on the Monarch nest. But he had not noted the damage to the nest until then. "Not all persons are crazy about nature and birds I realized."     

The nest with the two eggs had taken a heavy beating from the night rain and was soggy and delicate to be positioned manually without further damage. The Monarchs were now calling out and flying about the nest unable to sit on the tilted cup. Not much that I could do and preferred nature to take precedence.   

On the 29th evening, the nest was found to have detached from the main liana attached to the bush and was hanging from a supporting strand. One egg was still held in it and the other gone missing. I did not find the Indian Paradise Flycatcher. The destruction cannot be by a Palm Squirrel, for it would not keep the other egg in the nest.

I am still trying to figure out the behavior of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher? This bird at this time in the wet zone could be a straggler migrated from India or from the dry zone (there are proven records of a local migration from dry zone to the wet zone of the native species).  It could be the bird in its breeding instincts sat on the nest which is similar in shape to its own, but this was smaller and less sturdy. I did not see any female Indian Paradise Flycatchers about the garden to be a prospective mate for it. It is disappointing to have missed the photograph of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher sitting on the nest though.

Please let me know if you have observed such unusual breeding behavior before.

Today with Google facilities to check back of such behavior it is noted that both the Indian Paradise-flycatcher and the Black-naped Monarch both are noisy birds uttering a common sharp skreek call. It breeds from May to July. Both male and female take part in nest-building, incubation, brooding, and feeding of the young. Three or four eggs are laid in a neat cup nest made with twigs and spider webs on the end of a low branch. This description matches quite like that of the Black-naped Monarch's nest building. There is but a record of an interspecific feeding case noted with paradise flycatcher chicks fed by Oriental white-eyes.

Therefore there seem to be some noteworthy interruptions and interactions related to the Indian Paradise Flycatcher's breeding behavior.

I did forward this observation back then when social media was limited to Emails, to Mr. Jagath Gunawardane and the FOGSL. Both institutions took note of the scenario and conveyed the interest of the observation.

This is also recovery from my old hard drive that crashed with many such recordings,,,,, this I would be of interest to bird enthusiasts. The photographs are not that clear as my better camera was not in Ratnapura then. My intension was to photo record the breeding behavior of the Black-naped Monarch from my window which ended thus with an unsolved mystery.          

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Return to Meemure - 2003

Pic Curtsy EnageBang                                                          Lakegala - Meemure

Meemure having come into the limelight after the parliamentary elections in 2001 caused me to return to this old Kandyan village to perceive what progress it made since my last visit 20 years back.

My first visit to Meemure was in 1975, in my university days and then it was another remote location that we adventured during our leisure. Public means of transport to Meemure then, and even now was by bus and one had to alight at Loolwatte on the Kandy Mahiyangane road. This is followed by a trek of almost 20 kilometers by foot for there is no public transport to the village from Loolwatte. However, there are now vans that will take passengers to the village depending on the need and the road conditions for a very generous fee.

The road is being renovated and done up with concrete and other road construction means with a new bridge across the rivulet. The last 7 kilometers is still under construction and is negotiable with difficulty, on the way up when almost every evening is gloomy and drizzly. Our van driver had bundles of hay ready at hand in case the road was slippery on the climb back. The end of the road is at the village center where a giant ‘Mee’ tree sits in the center of the road. The tree had survived the 20 years even with the current road work. Not much has changed, except for a new health center provided with solar-powered electricity and a Divisional Secretariat building that had come up during this period. The other major change was a massive stone plaque at the base of the old ‘Mee’ tree noting the Prime man had been here to inaugurate the road rehabilitation work.

Pic Curtsy Lakdasun                                   The Mee tree -
The unforgettable scenic ‘Lakegala’ the massive rock outcrop depicting a gigantic inclined Sivalingam was in the backdrop of the village. The numerous bird calls from the virgin forests around ‘Lakegala’ was an open invitation for bird watching. The footpath to the forest was the same as then; only it was marked with red painted arrows making it easy for a stranger to find the way into the forest and back. The path snaked up the hill passing the home garden plots demarcated by loose stone walls as seen in Irish farm plots.

About 3 kilometers into the forest even the trees had those red markings. These were different from the arrows but with a letter, E painted on them. On return after a stint of birding, and inquiries made of the markings on the trees. We were told they were the trees to be felled for the proposed electricity supply to Meemure from distant Pallegama about 10 kilometers in Laggala. This would be the shortest distance from the source as the crow flies. 

Meemure should get its share of electricity in this new world, there is no contention. But isn't there other means; without felling down all these giants that have stood there for over 500 years…. Just to light up an isolated landlocked village in the Knuckles range when there are alternative ways to provide electricity to Meemure? There is definitely very high potential in tapping the waterways that flow around Meemure to supply electricity through a mini hydro-power system. There is the never-ending wind energy to be harnessed at the famous Corbets Gap which of course is a longer feeder line without chopping the forest. With so much of alternate energy resources waiting to be harnessed; I’m quite sure if proper exposure of the village is done to the outside world, finding funds would not be that difficult.

However, the dangerous threat that I foresee of the Lakegala forest was quite imminent with the new road coming up. Close by the famous Mee tree at the village center was a giant Mara tree measuring a girth not less than 30 feet, which had been felled and logged into five sections. They were all awaiting a permit to be transported out. This will not be a problem anymore with the new Divisional Secretariat in the village commencing operations soon?