Nagarhole

We drove a short distance to a nice open forest and walked along a dirt track and very quickly found a Jerdon’s Bushlark which I called in and then scoped on top of a small tree. It was nice views after yesterday’s events when rain stopped play. Then we continued our walk further along the track and picked up lots of Brahminy Starlings and eventually a few Rosy Starlings and Grey-headed Starlings as well. 

Brahminy Starlings

Overhead both Indian and White-rumped Vultures were soaring around and towards the end of our walk we also saw a very low flying Red-headed Vulture. 

Indian Vulture

Red-headed Vulture

Continuing the raptor theme and a Shaheen flew over – although only a race of Peregrine it was still nice to see. Flocks of Yellow-footed Green-pigeons were perched up nicely in the trees and Chris picked up a Brown-headed Barbet. As we were just about finished with our walk a wonderful White-bellied Minivet was spotted and everyone saw it very well. We also came across a lone Gaur crashing through the scrub, had a brief look at a Grey-headed Bulbul and White-rumped Shama, saw a Yellow-eyed Babbler very well, several Common Rosefinches and had reasonably close view of a Sykes’s Warbler.

Yellow-eyed Babbler

 Leaving Jungle Huts behind we set off on the drive north to Nagarhole, which was long and tedious but enlivened, inevitably, by some good new birds for the list. So we added Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark and Indian Black Ibis and saw plenty of other commoner things.

Eventually after a four and a half hour drive we arrived at the wonderful Kabini River Lodge, and by now it was almost 2.45pm so went straight for lunch and then right onto the boat for our ‘safari’ along the huge reservoir. This turned out to be pretty good with hundreds of River Terns present, along with a few Whiskered Terns. 

River Tern

Some small islands held lots of Pygmy and Indian Cormorants, Oriental Darters, with a few Great Cormorants as well. Black-headed Ibis, Asian Openbill, Eurasian Spoonbills, a few Painted Storks, Purple and Grey Herons, and Black-crowned Night-herons all added to the spectacle. 

Eurasian Spoonbills

Indian Cormorants

Flocks of Pintail and Spot-billed Ducks also contained smaller numbers of Common Teal and Garganey which took flight as we sailed by. Raptors included several Brahminy Kites, an Osprey and best of all, a superb Grey-headed Fish-eagle which was perched prominently on one of the numerous dead trees protruding from the water. 

Osprey

Grey-headed Fish-eagle

On the grassy banks herds of Spotted Deer also included some Sambar, along with a few Wild Boar, however the Asian Elephants stole the show. Several groups were seen digging up the grass for food, and one small herd included a young baby! 

Asian Elephant

Asian Elephant

As we watched this one particular group a Malabar Pied Hornbill flew over and gave really nice views against the clear blue sky. 

Malabar Pied Hornbill

However, probably the best sighting this afternoon were of the 3 Small Pratincoles perched on a bank beside the water and were a species I had not expected to see on this tour. 

Small Pratincoles

We also saw Stork-billed and Lesser Pied Kingfishers as well. As the light began to fade huge flocks of River Terns congregated over the water, which made for a spectacular sight and a Brown-headed Gull was seen on one of the small islands. So by the end of the day we had seen 116 species, our biggest day total by far and by now had seen 98 endemics of varying degree! Not bad going, and we’d break the 100 barrier tomorrow as well…

Mudumalai

After another leisurely breakfast we left a misty and drizzly Ooty and headed down into the foothills and our next base at the edge of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Along the way we stopped to check out some Hill Swallows, much to Roy’s delight and then continued lower, stopping to admire a couple of endemic Nilgiri Langurs. 

Nilgiri Langur

The going was slow along the winding road but eventually we passed into the reserve and started seeing a few new birds, with a cracking Crested Hawk-eagle and our first Brahminy Starlings and Indian Black Robin. 

Crested Hawk-eagle

Having been slightly worried by the name of our next lodge, simply called Jungle Huts, my imagination had been running riot and I feared the worst – but upon arrival we were all pleasantly surprised. A couple of neat blocks of rooms in some well-wooded sprawling grounds were very clean and comfortable, and we even had hot showers! A Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher greeted us and as our host tried to show us to our rooms we became distracted by a flock of Orange Minivets and a Taiga Flycatcher. After lunch we drove a short distance and then walked along a lane and into a very open forest where we were shown a White-naped Flameback in its nest hole, and had some very good views of another one flying around and perched in a bare tree. The same spot also had Coppersmith Barbet, Bay-backed Shrike, a lovely Indian Nuthatch and a Streak-throated Woodpecker. 

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Unfortunately the low mist covering the surrounding crags materialised into rain and we had to take shelter a couple of times in people’s houses! So our attempt at Jerdon’s Bushlark didn’t end to our liking and we had to settle for a few Malabar Larks and Yellow-throated Sparrow instead. 

One of the local guides accompanying us took us to a day roosting Savannah Nightjar and we also had nice views of an adult Bonelli’s Eagle flying over and perched in a big tree, as well as Yellow-crowned Woodpecker. By 5.30pm we had had enough, drenched to the bone and thankful of Francis (our driver) suddenly appearing in his minibus. 

Oriental Scops-owl

Before dinner I spotlighted a Brown Fish-owl in the garden and eventually an Oriental Scops-owl as well – our 12^th species of owl on the tour so far.....
 

Ooty

We dropped into the Botanical Gardens after a late start and quickly picked up Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and a superb male Blue-capped Rock-thrush, but the recently reported Kashmir Flycatcher failed to appear. 

Blue-capped Rock-thrush

So we checked out a few sites for bush-quail, one of which was alongside a lake where Indian Spot-billed Duck was seen, as well as another Black-and-orange Flycatcher. Then a short drive to an open, close-cropped grassland area gave us Brahminy Kite, and more importantly at least 4 Malabar Larks. 

Malabar Lark

After a great lunch in a local restaurant we spent the remainder of the day on bush-quail duty but turned up a big, fat zero so retired early to our luxurious hotel and made the most of the facilities, as the rest of the week was going to be a full one!

Ooty At Last!

Right before sunrise a few of us were lucky enough to get the Mottled Wood-owl in the scope just as it headed off to roost, before we set off on a little walk around the local vicinity. A few new birds were found starting with Common Woodshrike, followed by Black-shouldered Kite, Red-throated Flycatcher, Siberian Chiffchaff and White-browed Bulbul. Other birds seen included Grey Francolin, Shikra, Asian Paradise-flycatcher, Common Iora and others. After breakfast we set off on the long 5 hour journey to the hill station of Ooty, noting Wire-tailed Swallow, Brahminy and Black Kites along the way. As the road began winding its way up into the hills the temperature dropped quite quickly and a bumpy last stretch of road took us to a viewpoint teeming with people. 

Black-chinned Laughingthrush

Indian Blackbird

But behind the stalls selling all manner of goods, lots of rubbish and wasted food had been thrown and here numerous Black-chinned Laughingthrushes and Indian Blackbirds were present, feeding on the scraps. The latter species is now a good split from Eurasian Blackbird and is quite different as you can see from the above photo. They even came up to the stalls on occasion to scrounge for more food. Amazing!  

Nilgiri Blue Robin

Nilgiri Blue Robin

It took a few minutes longer to get onto Nilgiri Blue Robin, but sure enough we did and enjoyed great views of this little skulker.  This used to be called Nilgiri Shortwing and it's hard to fathom why it was ever called that considering its jizz and behaviour! But it's a great little bird all the same and one of my favourites on the tour so far. And that was it but we hung around for a while enjoying repeated views of all these species before heading off to a great hotel and fabulous buffet dinner.