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Butterfly Walk: Navamalai
On 21 st Jan-18, I along with three birders went & camped overnight & started trekking early morning along the back waters of
the dam. Lot of bird movements & little of butterflies could be seen. Mostly of emigrants, pansies, blues & common tigers.
After breakfast we headed towards the mountains & started our climb. Was motor able road for some distance & found a suit-
able place to park the vehicle. Started walking along the canal. We could see lot of butterflies ,damselflies & birds. At one place
the canal passes thro t he mountains & comes out thirty feet away. Here there is water fall( it was almost dry) and a bridge con-
necting the canal. Under the bridge was the puddling spot where lot of butterflies were present. It was quite hot & humid. This
is where I spotted the Blackvein Sergeant & Bamboo Treebrown. Lot of leopards and yellows were seen too.
This place I feel is a hot spot & worth exploring further. Sure to get some rarities. After this I went further & along the way
could see the camera traps for the big cats. Lot of sailors, Common & white banded Awls were seen. Now and then the high
flying Blue Mormons & lovely common banded peacock s were seen. Finally reached the Waterfalls & we all had a wonder dip
in the cool waters on a hot sunny day. By this time our vehicle also reached the spot & all of us returned back to camp…
List of Butterflies seen:
Family: Papilionidae
Common Jay, Tailed Jay, Common Mormon, Red Helen, Blue Mormon, Lime Butterfly, Common Banded Peacock, Common
Rose, Crimson Rose.
Family: Pieridae
Three-spot Grass Yellow, Common Grass Yellow, Common Emigrant, Mottled Emigrant, Small Salmon Arab,
Small Orange-tip, Plain Orange-tip, White Orange-tip, Great Orange-tip, Dark Wanderer, Common Wanderer,
Common Gull, Common Jezebel, Psyche, Pioneer.
Family: Nymphalidae
Common Beak, Blue Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, Striped Tiger, Plain Tiger, Double-branded Crow, Common Crow,
Common Nawab, Common Evening Brown, Bamboo Treebrown, White Four-ring, Common Four-ring, Common Leopard, Black-
vein Sergeant, Common Lascar, Chestnut-streaked Sailer, Common Sailer,
Common Castor, Yellow Pansy, Chocolate Pansy, Lemon Pansy, Danaid Eggfly
Family: Lycaenidae
Guava Blue, Banded Blue Pierrot, Common Pierrot, Zebra Blue, Common Cerulean, Forget-me-not, Dark Grass Blue, Oriental
Grass Jewel, Tiny Grass Blue, Indian Cupid
Family: Hesperiidae
White Banded Awl, Indian Skipper, Fulvous Pied Flat, Common Snow Flat
PATTAMPOOCHI
A TNBS MAGAZINE
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