India Part 5

Thursday 27th

We did some pre-breakfast birding along the road just down from the hotel where the star birds were Painted Bush-quail, Nilgiri Blue Robin and Nilgiri Laughingthrush. 

Painted Bush Quail

Nilgiri Blue Robin

Nilgiri Laughingthrush

Hill Swallow

Indian Blackbird

Looking back up at our hotel

Three-striped Palm Squirrel

We checked out after breakfast and drove to the next National Park where we had a short stop. 

Viewpoint overlooking Ooty

Gaur, a wild cattle

Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

We continued, adding a roadside Crested Goshawk and entered Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

Crested Goshawk

Painted Stork

 

Some of the Indian tiger reserves are completely free of human habitation but this one has a small town and main road in it so people are regularly walking around where Tigers might be and we had heard that a Tiger had killed a local woman just two days earlier. We checked into the Jungle Hut camp inside the reserve which was the best located place we ended up staying in.

Black-rumped Flameback

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Red-vented Bulbul

White-bellied Drongo

In the afternoon we went on a jeep safari deeper into the reserve. There were plenty of Spotted Deer, the Tigers’ favourite prey and a single Black Buck. We didn’t expect to see any cats but there are plenty of other mammals including Asian Elephant and we were just on our way to see a group when our guide shouted ‘Tiger’ and we screeched to a halt. Not more than 20 metres away a Tiger was slowly making its way through the grass; we had a fabulous view of it for a minute before it wandered into taller vegetation and disappeared. Although I had seen them before on a previous visit to India, it’s always a treat to see such an amazing cat and the Elephants we paused for on the way back barely registered.

Blackbuck

Spotted Deer

Bay-backed Shrike

Grey Junglefowl

Red-wattled Lapwing

Friday 28th

We had a full day in Mudumalai NP, some of it in the camp and the rest driving around. We started with a pre-breakfast drive, stopping for a Spotted Owlet before picking up a local guide and going for a walk around an abandoned resort. When the reserve was created, some resorts were closed and it’s illegal to build new or demolish old buildings.

Spotted Owlet

Abandoned camp

Among the birds we encountered on our walk were Jerdon’s Bushlark, Malabar Lark and Indian Nuthatch. 

Indian Robin

Malabar Lark

Pied Cuckoo

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Tawny Pipit

After a hearty breakfast, we went out again and had a bit of a raptor fest with Red-headed, White-rumped and Indian Vultures, Great Spotted and Bonelli’s Eagles as well as Shikra and the usual Black Kites. It was good to see the vultures doing so well here as India has lost 99% of their vulture population in the last twenty odd years due to feeding on dead cattle that had been given an antibiotic drug that ended up killing the vultures.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Indian Vulture (centre)

White-rumped Vultures

Bonelli's Eagle

Red-headed Vulture

We also saw Blue-faced Malkoha and a very obliging Indian Pitta. 

Indian Pitta

Indian Pond-Heron

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Yellow-billed Babbler

Purple Sunbird

We had some down time either side of lunch back at the camp so did our own thing and ended up finding another Indian Pitta.

Bronzed Drongo

Greenish Warbler

Red-vented Bulbul

White-bellied Drongo

Blyth's Reed Warbler

butterfly sp

turtle sp

Our cabin in Jungle Camp

Jungle Camp bar, dining room & reception

One of several ponds in the camp

We went back to the abandoned resort later in the afternoon and then to a woodland but couldn’t find any of our target birds but there were plenty of other birds around.

Bay-backed Shrike

Pale-billed Flowerpecker

Plum-headed Parakeet

Blackbuck

Wild Boar

Saturday 29th

Our final day began with us birding from our cabin balcony before breakfast. 

Wild Boar by our cabins

Smyrna (White-throated) Kingfisher

Spotted Dove

Vernal Hanging Parrot

As we drove out later, a Hoopoe flew past. We entered another state: Karnataka and into Bandipur Tiger Reserve, another one with a human population. We stopped at a small wetland where we added lots of new birds including Red-naped Ibis, three species of egret and Indian Silverbill.

Bay-backed Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike

Great, Little & Medium Egrets

Red-naped Ibis

Shikra

The latest hands-free device...

In the afternoon we spent a couple of hours beside a canal near Mysore, trying to find some roosting owls but couldn’t locate them. However, it was a very birdy place with Grey Francolin, Black-headed Ibis, more Hoopoes and a Short-toed Eagle just before dusk. 

Brahminy Kite

Cattle Egret with its buddy

Grey Francolin

Hoopoe

Indian Grey Hornbill

Paddyfield Pipit

Rose-coloured Starling

Short-toed Eagle

Wire-tailed Swallow

We then had a three hour drive to our final hotel in Bengaluru. We didn’t arrive until 9.30 so went straight to dinner before having a short nap.

Sunday 30th

Our cab picked us up at 1.30 in the morning for our transfer to the airport and then a direct flight back to Heathrow on Virgin, landing at 10.50. It had been another excellent trip filled with great memories and experiences. I ended up seeing 34 new birds along with many mammals, reptiles and insects.