Saturday October 28th – Thursday November 16th 2006 Leader: Chris Bradshaw Group Size: 8 with 1 leader Birds: 320 – 380 species *Optional extension from Day 16 Although rather neglected by birders visiting the vast Indian Subcontinent, the southern sector of peninsula India offers some superb birding in an area quite different in character to other parts of this country. The region is dominated by the hills and mountains of the Western Ghats and the pace of life here is rather less frenetic than in parts of the north. This tour samples a wide range of habitats that characterise this part of the subcontinent and focuses in particular on finding the twenty species endemic to this area of India and a further fifteen shared with Sri Lanka. We will of course find many of the common and widespread species of the subcontinent and a variety of winter visitors from breeding grounds further north. This is an interesting and unique tour to Southern India with an option to visit the relatively unknown Andaman Islands. Chris Bradshaw has spent nearly a year in the field birding on the Indian subcontinent and this will be his eleventh tour to the country.

Itinerary:

Day 1: We take a flight from London to Chennai (Madras) with arrival early the next day.

Day 2: We take a flight to Bangalore and from here we head southwest to Mysore for an overnight stay. Along the way, we should see Indian Pond Heron, Cattle and Little Egrets, Black Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Red-wattled Lapwing, Little and Asian Palm Swifts, White-throated Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Long-tailed Shrike, Black Drongo, Common Myna, House Crow, Red-whiskered and Red-vented Bulbuls, and Pied Bushchat, and we may also encounter Short-toed Eagle, Jerdon’s Bush Lark and Jungle Prinia.

Day 3: Morning visit to the small Ranganthitoo Bird Sanctuary near Mysore. The sanctuary harbours Little Cormorant, Oriental Darter, Painted Stork, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Asian Openbill, Eurasian Spoonbill, Wire-tailed and Streak-throated Swallows, Dusky Crag Martin, White-throated Fantail and White-browed Wagtail. Ranganthitoo is also a reliable location for Great Thick-knees. There is a huge roost of Indian Flying Foxes. From Ranganthitoo we proceed to Nagarhole National Park where we stay for three nights. On the way, we may see Cotton Pygmy-goose, Purple Swamphen and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. We arrive at our lodge on the banks of the Kabini River in time for some initial exploration.

Day 4: Nagarhole comprises a varied selection of habitats, dominated by extensive dry deciduous forests. Brown Fish Owls are sometimes found close to the lodge. Raptors include Black-winged Kite, Shikra, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, White-rumped Vulture, Crested Serpent Eagle and Osprey. The area is home to the endemic Grey Junglefowl, Common Peafowl, Asian Koel, Plum-headed Parakeet, the endemic Malabar Parakeet, Spotted Owlet, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Eurasian Hoopoe, Indian Swiftlet, White-cheeked and Coppersmith Barbets, Malabar Lark, Bay-backed and Brown Shrikes, White-bellied, Ashy, Bronzed and Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Chestnut-tailed and Brahminy Starlings, Southern Hill Myna, Rufous Treepie, Large and Black-headed Cuckoo-Shrikes, Small Minivet, Common Iora, Yellow-billed Babbler, Common Tailorbird, Blyth’s Reed, Green and Greenish Warblers, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Indian Robin, Paddyfield Pipit, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Purple-rumped and Purple Sunbirds, and Chestnut-shouldered (or Yellow-throated) Sparrow. Not far from the lodge, the Kabini River has been dammed and the resulting lake, together with its well-vegetated margins and stark, dead, partly submerged trees, provides a welcome habitat for Great and Intermediate Egrets, Spot-billed Duck, White-breasted Waterhen, Black-bellied Tern, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Ashy Woodswallow and perhaps the endemic Malabar Pied Hornbill. We may see Jerdon’s Nightjars sitting on the trails at dusk and later in the evening we may find Collared Scops Owl or Brown Hawk Owl close to the lodge.

Day 5: After some final birding at Nagarhole, we drive to Mudumalai National Park.

Day 6: Mudumalai (and the adjacent Bandipur sanctuary) comprises a huge area of mainly dry deciduous forest and scrub. The park is situated in the lowlands at the foot of the Nilgiris. Among species we may encounter are Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, the endemic Blue-faced Malkoha, Crested Treeswift, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, White-naped and Streak-throated Woodpeckers, Black-rumped and Common Flamebacks, Black-hooded Oriole, Gold-fronted Leafbird, endemic Grey-headed and White-browed Bulbuls, Tawny-bellied Babbler, Red-breasted and Tickell’s Blue Flycatchers, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch and Plain Flowerpecker. If we are lucky, we may find the highly localised White-bellied Minivet. After spending most of the day in Mudumalai, we travel to Ootacamund (usually shortened to ‘Ooty’) for a three-night stay.

Days 7-8: Ooty is situated at c2250m in the Nilgiri Hills. Most of the natural forest has been replaced with tea plantations and eucalyptus and conifer plantations. We search some ravines with remaining natural forest for Nilgiri specialities - Nilgiri Laughingthrush, Black-and-orange Flycatcher and the elusive Rufous-bellied Shortwing. Other species we may find include Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Nilgiri and Grey-headed Flycatchers, Ashy Prinia, Tickell’s Leaf Warbler, Indian Blue Robin, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Scaly Thrush, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Forest Wagtail and Common Rosefinch. With luck we may locate the uncommon Nilgiri Wood Pigeon and Kashmir Flycatcher, a species recently discovered to winter here in small numbers.

Day 9: After some final birding at Ooty, we travel to the Anaimalai Hills. We spend the next two nights at Top Slip in the heart of Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Day 10: The extensive forests of Anaimalai are famous for their wildlife, in particular the numbers of large mammals including the magnificent Gaur. The endemic Nilgiri Langur is also particularly common here. During our stay, we concentrate on the mixed and evergreen forest close to Top Slip looking for Malabar Grey Hornbill, Crimson-fronted Barbet, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Dark-fronted Babbler, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Black-throated Munia and Wynaad Laughingthrush. Other species might include Emerald Dove, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, White-bellied and Heart-spotted Woodpeckers, Asian Paradise-Flycatcher and Grey-breasted Prinia, Indian Pitta, Puff-throated Babbler and Orange-headed Thrush. Sri Lanka Frogmouth occurs in these forests and we hope to locate one at a daytime roost.

Day 11: After some final birding around Top Slip, we will continue our journey southwards to Munnar.

Day 12: Munnar is situated at 1450m and is the centre of a major tea producing region. We visit the scenically spectacular area at Rajamalai, comprising a series of high, rounded, grassy ridges with dense patches of natural evergreen forest (known as ‘sholas’). This is a rather specialised habitat but the limited variety of species includes several endemics – Grey-breasted Laughingthrush, Nilgiri Flycatcher, the white-bellied race of Rufous-bellied Shortwing and Nilgiri Pipit. We have another chance here for Nilgiri Wood Pigeon and, if we are fortunate, Broad-tailed Grassbird. Other species we may find are Bonelli’s and Indian Black Eagles, Alpine Swift, Pacific Swallow, Black Bulbul and Blue Rock Thrush. The grassy plateau is also one of the last haunts of the rare Nilgiri Tahr, a kind of wild goat.

Day 13: We descend from the hills before once more climbing up the steep forested, eastern escarpment of the Western Ghats, this time to Periyar Sanctuary for a two-night stay.

Day 14: Periyar is situated in the Cardamom Hills at the southern end of the Western Ghats; it comprises a lake formed by the damming of the Periyar River surrounded by high hills rising to 2000m. Extensive areas of forest remain. As a result of its wide range of habitats, Periyar boasts an impressive list of resident species including about half the peninsular endemics and near-endemics. New species we may see include Malabar Trogon, White-bellied Treepie, Rufous Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Malabar Whistling Thrush, and Crimson-backed and Loten’s Sunbirds. Other species we may encounter are Woolly-necked Stork, Black Baza, Besra, Red Spurfowl, Pompadour Green Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Jungle Owlet, White-rumped Spinetail, Rufous and Brown-capped Woodpeckers, Black-crested Bulbul, Black-naped Monarch, Black-lored Tit, Little Spiderhunter and wintering Pintail Snipe, Asian Brown, Brown-breasted and Rusty-tailed Flycatchers, and Large-billed Leaf and Western Crowned Warblers. At night, the forest around the lodge resounds to the calls of Indian Scops Owls.

Day 15: After some final birding in Periyar we leave the Western Ghats and descend to the plains to the city of Madurai from where we take a late afternoon flight to Chennai for an overnight stay.

Day 16: Flight home to London with arrival later the same day. Or a morning flight to Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.

Days 17-19: The Andamans consist of several hundred islands and a range of hills. Much of the land surface of the Andamans is still covered in pristine forest and we are concentrating on this rich habitat during our stay. The birdlife is a mixture of Indian and South-East Asian but the long period of isolation has also resulted in a high degree of endemism. A number of endemic birds are fairly straightforward to find, and these include Andaman Serpent-Eagle, Andaman Cuckoo-Dove, Andaman Coucal, Andaman Woodpecker, Andaman Drongo, White-headed Starling and Andaman Treepie. South Andaman also has Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns, Striated Heron, Pacific Reef Egret, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Watercock, Pacific Golden Plover, Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Black-naped Tern, Green Imperial Pigeon, Red Turtle Dove, Red-breasted and Long-tailed Parakeets, Edible-nest and White-bellied Swiftlets, Brown Needletail, Collared Kingfisher, Black-naped Oriole, Black-headed Bulbul, Thick-billed, Clamorous Reed, Black-browed Reed and Dusky Warblers, the distinctive local form of White-rumped Shama and Olive-backed Sunbird. We hope to find several of the islands’ more elusive inhabitants, namely the endemic Andaman Crake, Andaman Wood Pigeon, Andaman Scops Owl, Andaman Hawk-Owl plus Slaty-breasted Rail, Pied Imperial Pigeon and Mangrove Whistler.

Day 20: Morning flight back to Chennai for our connection back to Britain. Arrival is later the same day.

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Tour Price: £2695....... Single room occupancy: £290 Deposit: £250 Andamans extension: £4395 Single room occupancy: £285 Not included: drinks, insurance and items of a personal nature. Video camera fees at some reserves and a visa to enter India. This holiday is fully inclusive of flights, accommodation, meals and transport, permit fees, guidance, tips and taxes. Flights are available from Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh. Good accommodation but basic and clean with en-suite facilities. The lodge at Top Slip is very basic with shared bathroom facilities. Meals based on southern Indian cuisine. Transport by mini-coach. Short to medium length walks, although a few are longer and more strenuous. Stour footwear is recommended for this tour plus a range of clothing to cover cool altitudes down to the humid islands of the Andaman chain. Book this Tour >>