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In search of the Palni Sailer
Madhan Kumar
Prelude:
A couple of years ago, when I had just started photographing
Butterflies, near Pillar Rocks in Kodaikanal, I took a photo of a
butterfly which appeared unusual for a Common Sailer. Unable to ID
it, I eventually deleted the photo.
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Fast forward today, with much better understanding, I realized that I
might have photographed the elusive Palni Sailer. Without the photo,
it was a case of coulda, shoulda, woulda ....
I decided that the only way for me to be sure is to once again
photograph it.
But Where?
Searching in www.ifoundbutterflies.org and the Facebook butterfly groups, it dawned on me that almost all
photographs were from the Munnar area. Pampadum Shola NP was decided as the target since the log house there
is located on a place that is a slice of heaven and it is generally agreed as the best location for sighting another
elusive species – Nilgiri Marten.
A friend of mine who is into Astronomy wanted to join once he heard about how beautiful
the night the skies can be there and another birder friend who wanted to photograph Shola
birds also decided to join. So we booked the Log House from the Shola parks website run by
the State Govt of Kerala and were all set for the trip.
Wish List:
Before I set out on a trip, I usually prepare a wish list of the species that I want to
photograph. No guesses for which ones made the list as #1 & #2!! Apart from them, I hoped
to add other local endemics like Palni Bushbrown, Palni Fritillary etc., along with my one of
my favorite birds – The White-bellied Shortwing/Sholakili.
Getting There:
We decided to take the Chinnar route since there were quite a few records of Nilgiri Tit sightings there. It was the
last day of the heat wave and had very poor butterfly activity there. It was too hot and hence decided to stop and
try our luck at a stream in Marayoor. To our bad luck, stray dogs and Bonnet Macaques were fighting and had to
abandon that location too despite butterfly activity.
The third and first meaningful stop was at Lakkom Falls. There was very good butterfly activity. A lot of Red Helens
and Blue Bottles were mudpuddling in a steep outcrop near the cascade. Saw a club beak and another hedge blue
species which proved elusive.
We reached Pampadum Shola and started the trek towards our log house.
Straight away saw a lot of Nilgiri Clouded Yellows being very active. Near the
check dam saw a small black skipper that I couldn't ID. Once we crossed the
grass lands and reached the shola patch, a surprisingly high number of Red Disc
Bushbrowns, Dingy Scrub Hoppers and Red Admirals were spotted. As the sun
started going down, a lot of Nilgiri Flycatchers, Black and Orange Flycatchers and
3 White-bellied Sholakilis were active around our accommodation. Two herd of
bison came out of the forest and started foraging in the open grassland below us.
A troupe of Nilgiri Langurs would act as sentries giving us a good feel of the animal movement in the shola which
was barely 20 feet away from the elephant trench surrounding our wooden log house. It was a clear sign that we
made a good decision about our camp. As the night set in, we were treated to a beautiful star lit sky and took good
photographs of the night sky.
The D-day arrived and we opted for the trek route that joins the now abandoned Kodaikanal-Munnar road. It was
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