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It has to be said that this tour is rapidly becoming one of my real favourites. This was the most successful to date, with a clean sweep of all the Western Ghats endemics and almost all of the Andaman specialities. Coupled with the comfort and convenience (and some terrific food!) provided by a safe, friendly and willing host nation, there was no better way to spend part of the northern winter! The first Birdquest to Southern India and the Andamans for four years began with a night of travelling, which we emerged from on a cool morning in Bangalore. We eagerly strapped on our optics and set off to find our avian quarry. Our first stop was at a small temple just off the main highway, on a rocky scrub-covered hill where we found our first endemic species; Yellow-throated Bulbuls and Jerdon's Bushlark, with Jungle Prinia, Red Avadavat and Short-toed Snake Eagles. We paused at our sumptuous hotel in Mysore for lunch before venturing out to the nearby Ranganthitoo, where from the comfort of a rowing boat we enjoyed numerous Great Thick-knees, River Tern, Streak-throated Swallow, Baya Weavers, noisy colonies of Great Cormorants, Marsh Crocodiles and trees full of Indian Flying Foxes. We moved westwards to Kabini River Lodge, near to Nagarhole National Park, passing roadside tanks where we found Red-naped Ibis, Tawny Eagle, Garganey, Purple Swamphen, Spotted Owlet, Black-throated Munia and Streaked Weaver. On arriving at our accommodation we began with a productive walk around the lakeside woods, finding Black- headed and Large Cuckoo Shrikes, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Blue-winged Leafbird and our only Brown Fish Owl of the tour. We explored the deciduous forests of the National Park in jeeps, making forays into the jungle in the mornings and evenings, and took to the water twice - once in a coracle, just to say we had done it!. Here we found our only Oriental Pied Hornbills of the tour, our first Southern Hill Mynas and plenty of Woodpeckers including a huge White-bellied busy with some tree surgery, Common Flameback, Rufous, Yellow-crowned, Streak-throated and tiny Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers. Raptors included two White- eyed Buzzards and some vocal Changeable Hawk Eagles, and Parakeets were well represented with Plum-headed, Alexandrine and our first Malabars. Around the lakes we saw Painted Stork, Bar-headed Geese and Ruddy Shelduck, Ashy Wood Swallows sitting in drowned trees, and along the rank margins we found the endemic Malabar Lark, Singing Bushlarks and a Sykes's Warbler. Mammals were evident with Indian Elephants, Gaur and hundreds of Spotted Deer. One evening as we returned from our supper at our lodgings, a Mottled Wood Owl emerged and paused briefly on the flagpole in the midst of the bungalows. Moving onwards towards Mudumalai National Park and our night stop of the 'Jungle Hut', we explored scrublands and bamboo thickets that held Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Vernal Hanging Parrot, our first Large-billed Leaf Warblers, White-browed Bulbul and Yellow-billed Babblers, Hume's Lesser Whitethroat, White-browed Fantail and Bay-backed Shrikes. Around the lodge itself, at the foot of tall Nilgiri mountain slopes, we found White-rumped Shama, Malabar Whistling Thrush and Jerdon's Nightjars, and eventually the sneaky Grey- headed Bulbul (after we had searched for it high and low everywhere else!) Ascending the Nilgiris we paused in a small shola of original forest where we found Crimson- backed Sunbird, Nilgiri and Black-and-Orange Flycatcher, Hill Swallow and Indian Scimitar Babblers. Our home for the next two nights was a fine hotel in Ooty, situated at the highest point of the tour at 2300m. The habitat is pretty messy here but the endemic birds seem to carry on in scrappy patches of original forest, and without too much effort we were closely scrutinising gorgeous Nilgiri Laughingthrushes (the leaders' bird-of-the-trip!), more of the dapper Black-and-Orange Flycatchers, White-bellied Shortwing (of the rufous-bellied race), and an exciting warbler flock that contained Yellow-browed, Tickell's Leaf, Tytler's Leaf and Western Crowned Warblers. An afternoon visit to some good forest near Coonoor in search of the scarce Nilgiri Woodpigeon drew a blank, but we enjoyed our first Yellow-browed Bulbuls, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Peregrine Falcons of the peregrinator race, and Brown-cheeked Fulvetta. Descending to the plain, down a busy windey road, we stopped briefly and found our first White-bellied Treepie, our only Rufous-bellied Eagle and a large flock of Alpine Swifts. We continued across to the next range of hills, to Top Slip. Here we enjoyed some well-appointed if basic accommodation, surrounded by great forests, and in the company of a tribal forest guide, set off in search of the many good birds available here. Our first afternoon provided our first Malabar Grey Hornbills, the cyanotis race of Orange-headed Thrush, and, incredibly, two Sri Lanka Frogmouths at roost, huddled together and virtually invisible in a spray of dead leaves (how did he find them!) Returning to our accommodation we were surrounded by night birds when dusk fell. Another Sri Lanka Frogmouth uttering its eerie scream, Oriental Scops Owls purring away and a Collared Scops Owl chuntered and barked from a small tree over our heads. Our further explorations here yielded (apart from a few leeches!) Rufous and Dark-fronted Babblers, gaudy Crimson-fronted Barbets, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, and a
Chestnut-winged Cuckoo was found with a Drongo flock, and two Red Spurfowl were spooked from a clearing in the bamboo. A last morning in the forest produced our remaining targets, with Malabar Trogons, a pair of delightful Heart-spotted Woodpeckers, Black-throated Munias and a pair of White-bellied Blue Flycatchers. Returning to the plain and then ascending once more, through the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, (where we saw a Grey-bellied Cuckoo and some Jungle Bush Quails) we climbed into the High Range to our next stop at Munnar. Here in the Eravikulam National Park with its lofty crags and grassy slopes we swiftly found the white-bellied race of White-bellied Shortwing singing its heart out, Grey-breasted Laughingthrushes, Nilgiri Pipits, Black- lored Tits, and the star mammal of the reserve, the Nilgiri Tahr, absurdly tame for the early risers. A Northern Goshawk passed overhead and we finally saw a Nilgiri Woodpigeon as it flew rapidly between sholas. On a grassy slope we spent some time kicking around, flushing four different Broad-tailed Grassbirds, the first time this little-known species has been seen on this tour. Dragging ourselves away from some of the best food on the whole circuit, we continued southwards towards Periyar, through forest patches that were alive with birds, to another splendid hotel. We stepped down a gear for an afternoon boat ride on Periyar Lake, where we saw Smooth Indian Otters and a pack of Dhole on the lakeshore. An exploration of a newly-opened area of forest near to Periyar was very productive, and we saw many of the harder-to-find endemics once more. All present were Malabar Trogon, Black- throated Munia, Grey-headed Bulbuls and Red Spurfowl, and we added Rusty-tailed Flycatcher, Besra and Black Eagle. A splendid days birding for our last day in the Western Ghats! Before we left these hills however, it was time to peer under the bungalows of our hotel and see a splendid Indian Pitta hopping about unconcernedly (even mooning us with its red backside!) We headed back to Chennai via an internal flight, any delays being compensated by the sumptuous rooms we were given on arrival. If you have always wondered what the Presidential Suite looks like, then maybe this was the tour for you! Off to Port Blair, the principal town on South Andaman, for our tropical island experience! We began in the rain, finding Pacific Golden, Greater Sand and Lesser Sand Plovers, Whimbrels and Ruddy Turnstones, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Cinnamon Bittern, and our first endemics in the form of Brown Coucal and a large flock of White-headed Starlings, looking like snowflakes as they crowded into a big tree. The forests are fragmented but still in fair shape, and here we began finding the shyer inhabitants. An Andaman Woodpecker drumming away on a dead tree, Andaman Drongos mixed with bird-flocks containing Bar- bellied Cuckoo Shrikes and Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, an Andaman Serpent Eagle watched the trees from an exposed perch, and we had a brief view of a shy Andaman Treepie. We had to sort through the numerous Green Imperial Pigeons (and Pompadour Pigeons, Alexandrine, Long-tailed and Red-breasted Parakeets!) but eventually found a very obliging Andaman Woodpigeon. Across the water to Mt Harriet (via a handy little ferry) we found three Andaman Cuckoo Doves blithely feeding in a fruiting bush, right by our bus of course! We visited some of the numerous wetlands and swamps where we found Oriental Reed Warblers, Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns, Watercock, Eastern Marsh and a superb male Pied Harrier, possibly the first for the islands. A reward for these Birdquesters was a few hours spent lounging on a beautiful beach on Redskin Island, with blissfully warm salty water to bring relief to those itchy bites, White-breasted Wood Swallows and Edible-nest Swiftlets overhead and a Forest Wagtail lurking behind the toilets. But of course the story is incomplete. There were our many owling (or is it howling?) expeditions. A superb Andaman Hawk Owl showed well, as did an Oriental Scops Owl, yet the presence of the Andaman Scops Owl was only registered by its mocking call, our numerous attempts to see it drew a blank. It was on our last evening that the biggest fluke of the tour occurred, with an Andaman Crake spotted going up into a tree to roost, although sadly it only showed for a brief moment. And so it was time to move on, after a last al-fresco breakfast overlooking the bay. We bade farewell to our indefatigable local crew of Vikram and Solomon, and flew back to Chennai. An afternoon foray to the south of the city yielded unexpected delights at a shallow lakeside where we found dozens of Yellow-wattled Lapwings, Jerdon's Bushlarks, hordes of Egrets, Whiskered Terns and Asian Palm Swifts, and a thrilling Red-necked Falcon that perched for a few minutes before shooting past us. At Kovalam we found Oriental Skylarks and Ashy- crowned Sparrow Larks, Grey and Kentish Plovers, Terek Sandpiper, and a brief seawatch yielded Pallas's, Brown-headed and Caspian Gulls. And so a super trip had to come to a close, a record-breaker that had found all of the Western Ghats endemics, plus ten (plus that damn Scops Owl heard only!) of the twelve Andaman endemics. Add to this some all-round great birding, great food and accomodations, one is left to wonder why South India isn't choked with visiting birders! |
