Croaks : Part II

Croaks : The Wonderful World of Bandhavgarh Frogs, by Siddharth Edeke, Program Officer, The Corbett Foundation

The major star attraction for the night were undoubtly, the Balloon Frogs- both the common Balloon frog (Uperedon globulosus) and the Marbled Balloon frog (Uperedon systoma) who had flooded almost all the streams and ponds. They were in greater numbers compared to any other frogs. These frogs are known to stay deep underground for greater part of the year and they come up only during the monsoon, stay on ground until the first few rains, mate and lay eggs and make a disappearing act soon after. As the name suggests they have a tendency to bloat when disturbed and they can give a pretty hard time to their predators.

I saw snakes like Checkered Keelback’s (Xenochropis piscator) making attempts to devour these Balloon frogs but alas most of them were in vain. The frogs were not in a mood to give up and they were clearly showing their resisting powers.

As I was really enjoying this magical journey into the world of amphibians and was getting to know many of my croaking friends one by one, I stumbled upon another unusual frog. I jumped with joy when I saw him clearly in the gleam of my torch . It was none other than Painted bull frog (Kaloula taprobanica). These frogs belonging to the narrow-mouthed frog family have round bodies. This sighting as a surprise to me making my journey more interesting.

The other sets of frogs which I came across were the tree frogs (Polypedatus macualatus) who kept on jumping from places and not staying at one place for long, Microhyla ornata whose tiny size will fool anybody but no frog can compete when it comes to intensity and loudness of his call and last but not the least, the skittering frogs (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) who were dancing to their own tunes. My whole world had become amphibious that night and all I could hear were frogs croaking which I soon realized was in a sort of a rhythm. For any wildlife enthusiast, that croaking was nothing less than a beautiful song of its own.

There’s an old saying about Bandhvagarh that it is full of surprises. I ’t agree more after coming across so many varieties of frogs and that too on just one day. I am really hoping to encounter more species as the monsoon progresses in Bandhavgarh and hope each rain will get me closer to another of my croaking friends.

Concluded

CROAKS : Part I

Croaks : The Wonderful World of Bandhavgarh Frogs, by Siddharth Edeke, Program Officer, The Corbett Foundation

Bandhavgarh national park is known and acknowledged world wide as ‘the land of tigers’ attracts hundreds of photographers and thousands of tourists every year. The very thought of seeing wildlife at its best attracts many researchers and wildlife scientists to this fascinating tiger country who come here for documentation and study. A lot has already been talked about the tigers and other dominant mammals of Bandhavgarh like bear and leopard through numerous published articles, photos and scientific papers. Well, all this is when the season is on and people are flocking to see wildlife.

But there are few lucky people like us who get to stay at Bandhavagarh even during the ‘off season’. I am talking about the monsoon which has been at its best here in Bandhavgarh in 2010. Thanks to The Corbett Foundation for whom I work and Infinity resorts which has been my place of residence, I got to see and document some of the best amphibian life in Bandhavgarh. My encounter with amphibians began on June 20th when Bandhavgarh saw its first heavy rains of the year. It was already late for the monsoon but nevertheless it was here.

It rained very heavily for a couple of hours making me all tired and wanting to go to bed early. I guess I must have slept for some time but was suddenly awake at around 10 pm in the night. The rain had stopped but had awakened thousands of sleeping beauties as it parted. The entire Infinity campus was buzzing with loud croaks “trr..trr..trr…”, wakk..wakk..wakk…, pukk…pukk..pukk…, there were so many calls I almost went deaf. Amazed with what I am going to see in the next few minutes I set out with my torch and my camera into this wonderful world of croaks not knowing what was coming my way.

It was a beautiful sight altogether. I thought of it as a phenomenon, something one can see just once in his or her lifetime. There were small puddles and streams created by the rains that had just swept Bandhavgarh and in those puddles were not ten, not hundred, but thousands of tiny little frogs and I had no clue from where they had emerged. With lot of enthusiasm I dared to count those just to give it a try but soon gave up looking at their huge numbers. They were everywhere- on land, on trees and in the water, there were few known faces while the rest of the visitors were completely new to me. In the known faces we had Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, commonly called the Bull frog who was trying to voice himself amongst thousands of other croaking frogs. Compared to the others, Bull frogs were a minority that night and were trying the best to make the presence felt with their huge football like sizes.

The next sets of visitors were the narrow- mouth Burrowing Frogs, (Spaherotheca breviceps) who were croaking at the top of their voice and trying to attract mates. Some were really lucky to find their suitable partners and one could sense the love in the air.

To be continued...

Appeal for help for Uttrakhand

The rains have wreaked havoc in Uttrakhand and Infinity Resorts through our NGO, The Corbett Foundation, are doing our part. Please contribute to help the people of this region.

Here is the text of the appeal from Dilip D. Khatau and Rina D. Khatau:

Dear friends,

I am sure u have heard about the devastating floods in Pakistan and now where our resort, Infinity Corbett Wilderness and our charitable organisation, The Corbett Foundation is situated, the rivers carrying water down from the Himalayas are in full spade. Large volumes of water flowing down at great speed, had destroyed villagers' homes, livestocks, crops and even some of the villagers were drowned.

Wildlife in the Corbett Tiger Reserve is also affected. We had pictures of spotted deer, sambhars, porcupines, all drowned as they tried to escape the rising tide and unable to swim against the strong currents. Even the Sisham tree plantation across our resort had been completely destroyed, taking the soil underneath these trees. Now the Kosi River flows across further away from our resort where the sisham plantation once stood!

Our staff at The Corbett Foundation had started doing medical and welfare/relief work in the villages that are badly affected by these floods. We intend to distribute food, durable plastic sheets to these villagers. In addition, our Rural Medical Outreach teams have fanned out to these remote villagers to cater to the sick and injuired.

Pls help by sending your donations, clothes, blankets, etc to The Corbett Foundation. For more info, pls click the below links.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/corbettfoundation/225163006905?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Infinity-Resorts/223680427607?ref=ts

Your early attention is much appreciated.

Rgds,

Dilip & Rina Khatau
Chairman & Co-Chair - The Corbett Foundation
Owners - Infinity Resorts

Rain Fury in Uttrakhand

As most of you know, Uttrakhand has been lashed by heavy rains this week resulting in landslides and flooding which have killed many people. This is the view of the Kosi from the Deck at Infinity Corbett Wilderness.

A drowned spotted deer

Our NGO, The Corbett Foundation and its Kutch arm, the Kutch Ecological Reserch Centre is active in and around the village of Tera in Kutch.

The KERC works in rural medical programs, animal husbandry programs (the nomadic tribes of Kutch rear livestock), dairy development programs, grassland regeneration, and wildlife awareness.

Here are a few images of the KERC and the wildlife hotspot of Chari Fulay or Chari Dhand, a freshwater oasis in the heart of brackish Kutch.

And if you fing Infinity Rann of Kutch too luxurious, we have a few rooms at Tera which puts you in the lap of Tera and Nalliya grasslands. These rooms are favoured by birders for the accessibility to the grasslands.

http://corbettfoundation.org/tcf_kutch.html

Chari Fulay




Watchtower at Nalliya



The KERC at Tera

http://www.infinityresorts.com/kutch_about.htm

Infinity Rann of Kutch - our volcano :-)

Infinity Rann of Kutch has a volcano ... yes, that's right. The landscape where we are located is dominated by the massif of Dinodhar, an extinct volcano which is right behind our resort.

Excellent for a half-day's excursion with a packed lunch, Dinodhar offers a double thrill: you can climb up the hill, and then climb into the hill!

Steps lead to a temple at the lip of the volcano, after which it is a nature lover's delight. The lava flows are clearly visible and the tracks of a leopard have been recorded from the bottom of the crater! Dinodhar also offers birdwatchers a myriad scrubland species.

The Kutch landscape, looking towards Chari Fulay on the way to Dinodhar



Approaching Dinodhar



Looking back from the lip of the volcano



Sunrise at Dinodhar







Views inside the volcano, the lava flows can be clearly seen

http://www.infinityresorts.com/kutch_about.htm

Infinity Rann of Kutch

Infinity Rann of Kutch, or IROK, as we call it, is a luxury tented camp just an hour from Bhuj airport (and yes, we do have a swimming pool and a conference hall).

Kutch has a unique landscape (images tomorrow) and varied and completely different wildlife such as the Desert Fox and the Desert Cat, and the Striped Hyena.

There are the grasslands of Nalliya and Tera close to the resort and these are havens from rare birds like the Lesser Florican and the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps). Still further Kutch is the only place to spot the vagrant Gray Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus). Even better Kutch in winter has fabulous migratory birds, especially the raptors and is one of the best places in India to chase after the Peregrine (Falco peregrinus).

Kutch is also famous for its colourful nomadic tribes and for their handicrafts. A visit to Kutch would be incomplete without spending time with these people and their art.

Infinity Resorts through The Corbett Foundation also runs the Kutch Ecological Research Centre at Tera. More on the KERC in a day or two.

http://www.infinityresorts.com/kutch_about.htm












General views of the resort



The Reception



The Recreation Tent



Tranquility at night



View from the verandah of a tent



Motif from the tents