[Amit_Kapoor4750]

A brilliant travelogue with beautiful pictures, i20ian!
Monsoon and hills are the perfect combinations to explore our beautiful country. You should be very happy that you got to do that on a great Sunday long drive. All the pictures are very refreshing with vivid colors, but I missed some shots of birds floating on the lake.

[SCORPION]

Originally Posted by trtraj

Very Nice, and great that you could spot hornbills and LTMs Have been roaming in Anamalai Tiger Reserve for years i couldn't snap one yet.

Trtraj, you should drive to Valparai. You will surely have an LTM sitting on your bonnet as you near Valparai.
Keep your camera handy.

[CLIX]

Beautiful Snaps! Did you mention your photo equipment details ?...

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by i20ian

Had been to Valparai a couple of times earlier and was always taken aback by the sheer beauty of the place. But this time the aim was to do some birding in and around Valparai and also to photograph the flora and fauna there.

Is in mandatory that you should have hornbill photos in your travelogues? This is your second one with awesome action snaps of Great Hornbills. Lovely pics and write-up

We started at 4.45am from Palakkad. As an initial setback, Google maps showed us a confusing way and we reached almost a dead end.

You got lost in your own backyard?

This guy almost jumped into my car as I was using the window pane as a tripod and trying to shoot him.

Originally Posted by SCORPION

I think this particular fellow (may be his friends too) has the habit of jumping on to cars' bonnets.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

May be the same guy, I guess there are only two group / troop of LTMs in Valparai town.

Yes I guess there are two urban families - one at Rottikadai and the other at Valparai town proper. The town guy had climbed on to my car bonnet too!!

[trtraj]

Originally Posted by SCORPION

Trtraj, you should drive to Valparai. You will surely have an LTM sitting on your bonnet as you near Valparai.
Keep your camera handy.

Yeah i have been driving since 2008 there, LTMs was noticed but couldn't snap it. I will get it this year for sure... My dream shot is an hornbill while eating the fruit. it is yet to come real. with 600 MM Sigma lens and a decent Canon gear am still searching.


OT : I have seen 74 varieties of birds in ATR including Valparai

[i20ian]

Originally Posted by Amit_Kapoor4750

All the pictures are very refreshing with vivid colors, but I missed some shots of birds floating on the lake.

Thank you. The only water body I could find in Valparai was the Koolangal river and as I said I could only spot people floating on that.

Originally Posted by CLIX

Beautiful Snaps! Did you mention your photo equipment details ?...

Thank you. I'm using a basic camera model. Canon 1300D with Tamron 150-600 f5.6 VR

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Is in mandatory that you should have hornbill photos in your travelogues? This is your second one with awesome action snaps of Great Hornbills. Lovely pics and write-up

Thank you. Hopefully this love affair with Great hornbills continues. Have been lucky as it is very difficult to spot them in the wild.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

You got lost in your own backyard?

May be early morning blues I guess. Had little sleep the previous night and completely lost it in the beginning. Took the route through Ahalia for the first time only to find out that their gates were closed early in the morning..

Originally Posted by trtraj

Yeah i have been driving since 2008 there, LTMs was noticed but couldn't snap it. I will get it this year for sure... My dream shot is an hornbill while eating the fruit. it is yet to come real.

Wish you good luck with hornbills this time. The fruiting season has started I guess as I could see quite a lot of fallen fruits in that area. So the time is ripe.

[arunrajk81]

Nice Pics .

I had a trip to Parambikulam few weeks back and our return trip was via Valparai on 24th-July. It was raining throughout the day, but I was lucky enough to click pics of few birds including hornbills.


Stork-Billed Kingfisher


Spotted Dove


Great Hornbill


Parrot


Malabar Giant Squirrel


Chestnut headed Bee Eater




Gaur

[locusjag]

Great thread sir! My dad is an avid birder and you've given me an idea.

But I wonder if Valparai is doing ok with all the rain and floods in the region. It's a tragedy that has struck Kerala, but I'm wondering (rather selfishly at this time) if a trip from Chennai to Valparai would be doable. Any thoughts?

[i20ian]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Great thread sir! My dad is an avid birder and you've given me an idea.

But I wonder if Valparai is doing ok with all the rain and floods in the region. It's a tragedy that has struck Kerala, but I'm wondering (rather selfishly at this time) if a trip from Chennai to Valparai would be doable. Any thoughts?

This is not the right time to go to Valparai as the ghat road from Aliyar has witnessed landslides due to the heavy rains.

Better to postpone your trip to September as the situation might get better and you would be able to enjoy the place better

[Bluebird_7]

Love the greenery and wildlife specially during monsoons. What lens did you use to capture these ?

[i20ian]

Originally Posted by Bluebird_7

Love the greenery and wildlife specially during monsoons. What lens did you use to capture these ?

Tamron 150-600 f5.6 VR

[ramnath_77]

Stumbled upon this lovely travelogue on Valparai and its star residents (The Great Hornbill & Lion Tailed Macaque). Thank you i20ian for sharing the pics and some of the details of the location.

I am due to visit Valparai around mid Oct for exactly the same reasons. While i have some pictures of the Great Hornbill (taken in Ganeshgudi & Mahananda wildlife sanctuaries), it is Valparai that i feel gives the best photographic opportunity in terms of the landscape, background etc to get those stunning shots of this majestic bird. I hope to get lucky with both the star residents.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by ramnath_77

Stumbled upon this lovely travelogue on Valparai and its star residents (The Great Hornbill & Lion Tailed Macaque). Thank you i20ian for sharing the pics and some of the details of the location.

I am due to visit Valparai around mid Oct for exactly the same reasons. While i have some pictures of the Great Hornbill (taken in Ganeshgudi & Mahananda wildlife sanctuaries), it is Valparai that i feel gives the best photographic opportunity in terms of the landscape, background etc to get those stunning shots of this majestic bird. I hope to get lucky with both the star residents.

Any suggestions for good places to stay in Valparai with family?

[i20ian]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Any suggestions for good places to stay in Valparai with family?

Check out Briar tea estates on Google. They have some very good properties. Stanmore, Monica, Sirukundra, Puthuthottam all are very good.