[TheBeastFieast]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Very interesting report sir. And a tough decision between a rare owl and another rare chap-the leopard. Lucky you got wonderful snaps of both

Thank you very much.

Oh yeah it was tough and i was very excited and nervous as it was my first safari with full gear (DSLR + Telephoto). I am happy I was able to capture them and them came good

[pjay_in]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Quite right, pjay. This bird is called the bird of death in South Kerala. The call is similar to a distress scream of a lady. In Malabar, another bird(this is also an owl) is called the Kalan Kozhi - am yet to find out the English name of that. Called Neduvulan in Malabar

Quite possible. I am from central Malabar area and there we call this bird Kuttichoolan (with sharp 't', 'kutti' as in stub not as in child. The second part choolan could have come from the word choolam (whistle). But the myth holds good there too.