Dancing Frogs of Agumbe

This is about a trip to Rainforests of Western Ghats of India to Shoot Frogs, Snakes, Insects, etc and specially The Dancing Frog!

Lockdown blues were taking toll on me and after months slowly things started opening up. Forests opened up too and the pictures from various wildlife photographers created a very deep urge in me to visit the Jungles. 

I pinged many people to join me for a Trip to Kabini or Bandipur. Even urged my cycling buddies to do a cycle trip to Kabini with me but nothing materialised. 

I had also pinged Anshuman, a very passionate and experienced wildlife photographer, who stays in my society itself. He said he is planning to go to Agumbe to shoot in the first week of September.  I had been to Agumbe once before and I immediately said yes to him. The Rainforest is also home to Largest Venomous Snake of the World - The King Cobra.

Anshuman managed all the logistics of booking the place - Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology. We decided to drive down (around 400 kms) to the place from Bangalore. I was not aware that Anshuman had done research on the Dancing Frogs and had a plan in mind. He just mentally prepared me to be ready for shooting in the rains for long hours. 

Prashanth who will be our Guide for next three days said he will wait on the road to guide us th the Kalinga Mane - An abode deep inside rainforest. It's not possible reach the place with the help of Google Maps as the Pin is incorrectly positioned. 

The Route from Shimoga to Agumbe goes through the forest reserves and is extremely scenic and blissful. I have already decided to do it on my Bike (Shimoga - Agumbe - Mangalore) once travelling by Bus becomes safer.

Here is short clip of the route.

We reached the place around 3 PM. We settled into our cottage. We were the only two guests there at that point. The cottage was pretty nice and clean. No TV and No Mobile Network. Blessing in disguise!

Soon after that we ventured out and saw this two tailed spider guarding its eggs sack. 

It didn't move a nanometer from this position for 3 days we were there. Prashanth told us that the frog activity will start after the sun sets. It rained in the evening and there were lot of frog calling in the evening. We spent sometime in the property itself then went out and ventured in the forest. Sighted couple of Vine Snakes and many varieties of Frog. 

Had dinner around 10 and then hit the bed. Anshuman again ventured out and later called me out as well to click a pair of Amboli Bush Frog in mating position. It was not their mating season so it was little unusual.

After this we hit the bed as next day was going to be long day. Anshuman told me that we will spend 2-3 hours for the Dancing Frogs. A bit about the Dancing Frog - 

Micrixalus (commonly known as dancing frogs, tropical frogs, and torrent frogs) is a genus of frogs from that are endemic to the Western Ghats in India. Micrixalus frogs are popularly known as "dancing frogs" due to their peculiar habit of waving their feet to attract females during the breeding season.

It was their breeding season and we were hoping to get good shots of them waving the legs! 

In the morning we made a quick trip into the forest and shot some Vine snake pictures. Prashant got Neer Dosa prepared for the breakfast which was very tasty. We ate stomach full as lunch would get delayed in all probability.

We rested little bit after that we headed for the stream to catch the Dancing Frogs in action. We saw 2-3 of them on the rocks and setup our cameras. I had a 90 mm Macro lens on on my Nikon D850. Anshuman had 100 mm Macro on Canon 1DX and 70-200 mm F2.8 on Canon 7D body he was well prepared. From 10 AM to 12 noon we waited but there was hardly any action. They were most sitting still and not calling. After 12 suddenly the action started and it was there for a brief period. We got one or two shot however were not satisfied. 90 mm lens didn't gave enough reach as these frogs are shy and you have to shoot from a distance.

It started raining also so we packed up and left for Lunch around 2 PM. We were happy that we got some shots but not completely satisfied.

We took a little nap after lunch and were ready for the evening and night session. second day activity was lesser than the first day in night but we still saw lot of Spiders, 2-3 Vine Snakes, Frogs and various other life forms of Rainforest. It is after all one of the top 8 biodiversity hotspots in the word. 

Anshuman said that next day we will go to the stream around noon because that is when the activity starts. He specifically mentioned he wants a video where two frogs compete on the same rock by showing off their legs. It looked very very difficult based on what we had seen in the morning. We did another small round in morning into the rainforest before breakfast and afterwards near the cottage. 

Then we headed to stream again and this time I took my 200-500 mm lens which I carried for birds. We setup our cameras and waited for the frogs to start calling.

Like previous day the action started around 12.30. And this time there was lot of action. We kept shooting for couple of hours. I got some very good shots and Anshuman had a very satisfied smile on his face. In low voice he mentioned - "I think I got what I wanted". And I felt very very happy for him. It was too much of effort and felt like endorphins releasing in the body!!

Here is one of the shots I got.

For more shots please follow both of us on Instagram

Saday - https://instagram.com/saday.tiwari

Anshuman - https://instagram.com/anshumankumarphotography

After the shoot we did a little trek along the stream. We saw a huge bird of prey that looked like a Brown Fish Owl. But didn't get a chance to shoot it. The stream ended up in a bigger stream and there was a small lagoon where one can swim when water levels are less.

We returned to the cottage extremely satisfied with the effort and the result. It made the trip worth. 

We had lunch and nap after that. Later we realised we were only Eating, Sleeping and Shooting since we arrived there!

Only thing that I wanted and didn't happen was to see and photograph a Pit Viper.

In the evening Prashanth said he will take us to a place where we can see Malabar Gliding frogs and he will search for Pit Viper. 

We went to this place and got good shots of Malabar Gliding Frog but the Viper eluded us. We were supposed to leave next day morning. 

Another thing missing was sighting of a King Cobra. That would have happened only if Prashanth would have gotten a rescue call from nearby villages. Anyway we decided we will go back again next year before monsoons when it is breeding time for King Cobra and many other species.

We had our breakfast next day morning and Prashanth guided us half way outside the forest and then when we were about to hit the main road there was a huge tree fallen on the road blocking our way! Anshuman mentioned even forest don't want us to go out! We returned and took an alternate way out. Little while later we saw a Pied Hornbill Pair flying across the road and they perched on a nearby tree. We stopped to shoot but by the time I setup my camera they flew away!

That marked the end of a lovely and a very very memorable trip. Me and Anshuman have already decide to do many other trips together in future! Stay tuned and Follow us on Instagram. 

Saday - https://instagram.com/saday.tiwari

Anshuman - https://instagram.com/anshumankumarphotography