It was the 30th of April, 2010. We set out on a morning safari by jeep and had an excellent time.

Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus)

The sightings began with that of a beautiful Rufus Woodpecker close to the Seeghur Lake.

We were then excited to spot over 15 vultures near the S band (on the safari route). As we gazed at the vultures against the backdrop of the beautiful golden sunlight, a unique creature glided towards us from a teak tree.

Malabar Gliding Lizard (Draco dussumieri)

It came as a surprise to all of us that it was a Draco flying from one teak tree to another. A Draco sighting is rarer than a Leopard or Tiger sighting. I remember the last time I spotted one was eight years back in Waynad.

‘Draco’- the name gives one goose-bumps as one is reminded of the era of the ‘Dragons’ that existed over a billion years ago! This reptile is commonly referred to as the Malabar Gliding Lizard and popularly known as Draco after its scientific name, Draco dussumieri. The Draco is unique in that it’s the only lizard species that flies. The lizard ‘airways’ operate in the Western Ghats and the forests in the Deccan Plateau where they occur 700 meters above sea level. It came as a surprise to us when we found a specimen at less than 600 meters above sea level at Kabini.

Malabar Gliding Lizard (Draco dussumieri)

The Draco, which blends with the Teak, Arjuna, Rosewood, Beach and Bauhinia trees, is excellent at gliding between trees that are spaced even about 200 meters apart! If not for it swaying its ‘communicator flap’ (an interesting bright-yellow flap on its ventral), I would have never spotted it.

I could feel goose bumps of joy rise on my skin. My excitement even passed on to the guests. I would not have spotted such a rare and well-camouflaged creature if not pressurized by the guests to spot a leopard, which forced me to keep a tight vigil on every tree. This in turn led to the sighting of the Draco. Every time I look around the teak plantation and see a leaf circling down, I almost uncontrollably cry out, “Hey… Dra…”! But alas! It is only a leaf!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Birds, Reptiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.