For the past two years, we have been documenting the biodiversity in Thiruvannamalai, particularly on the hill and in Marudam farm. We have been uploading our observations onto the India biodiversity portal, which while helping with identification, also serves as a record keeper of the biodiversity of the region. This documentation process adds fuel to our conservation. We have been identifying and recording birds, moths, butterflies, snakes etc and we are so happy that our searching and learning is still proceeding vigorously even after two years. We have uploaded more than 1000 observations so far, which in the last year included six species of birds newly sighted in the region. Of these, the Spot-billed Pelican, Little Ringed Plover, Common Snipe and Black-headed Ibis are all water birds, drawn over the winter to the lakes which filled in last year’s good monsoon. The Rosy Starling meanwhile is a winter visitor from Europe, common in North India but not often seen this far south. The last of the new sightings was the Brown-breasted Flycatcher, a forest bird finding a home in the improving green-cover.
The Forest Way 