Our first port of call today was birding around Ela Blooms in the hopes of finding the rare Banasura Laughingthrush, which only occurs on this mountain. As such, we set off at 07:00 to walk the kilometre trail up the mountain to the area to find the bird. The trail was absolutely brutal and required some effort to complete. Unfortunately when we got to the area, we found it extremely windy and the activity was consequently low. Still, we gave it our best shot over the next two and a half hours but sadly drew a blank. We had a few nice species such as Nilgiri Flycatcher and Saheen Peregrine Falcon but otherwise there was little to write home about. Although it had been enjoyable, it also felt like it could have been so much more.
At 10:30 we got a lift down the mountain and then from there we got a taxi to our next destination, the village of Masagudi in the middle of the Mudumalai National Park. We arranged a hotel enroute but discovered upon arrival that we wouldn’t be able to go out birding by ourselves due to the danger of the numerous wild animals. Thankfully one of the lads at the hotel was very helpful to our predicament and he arranged for his uncle, Daniel, to come and be our guide and driver in the park. At first we were obviously very sceptical but his uncle actually turned out to be a fantastic naturalist and very competent birder. He knew the park as we drove around and discussed our plans for birding the following day as well.
Because of this, we arranged a game drive for the afternoon in the hope of seeing some large mammals. We first drove along the hydroelectric road, and along the way had Axis Deer, Wild Boar, Malabar Sacred Langur and a superb male Sambar. In terms of birds it was not bad either, with Yellow-billed Babbler and White-bellied Minivet being the standouts, but other goodies included Yellow-throated Sparrow, Bay-backed Shrike, several Indian Peafowl, White-browed Fantail and just some all round good birding.
At 17:30 we had completed this road and so headed for the Coffee Plantation road, which Daniel said offered the best chance to see big cats since the habitat was more open than the scrub on the hydroelectric road. Sadly it was not to be, although we added another animal with Indian Hare and an absolutely brilliant bird with Indian Pitta, which perched out in the open before diving into the vegetation. And then as we were leaving the area, just as we crossed the main bridge, we had a Brown Fish Owl sat up and silhouetted against the sky, rounding out a brilliant afternoon.
Still we were not yet done. I had spoken to Daniel about the possibility of finding Indian Chameleon during our drive and he said that he would take us out to try and find one after dark. And he was good to his word. Although night driving is no longer allowed, he still made an effort. At first it was not looking good, but we reached a nice open area he wanted to check for nightjars and had one individual, but unfortunately we could not identify it to species. We then began our return, scanning when we could, finding first a few Wild Boar feeding in front of a temple, and then an absolutely fantastic Sloth Bear! What an incredible animal and not at all what we had expected to see when arriving here. It was a little distant but even still it was impressive in size! And then to wrap up a brilliant afternoon, Daniel picked out an Indian Chameleon in one of the roadside bushes! Absolutely superb!
Species List:
Ela Blooms: Grey Junglefowl, Crested Honey Buzzard, Black Eagle, Crested Goshawk, White-cheeked Barbet, Peregrine Falcon, Hill Swallow, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Square-tailed Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Indian White-eye, Nilgiri Flycatcher, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter,
Mudumalai National Park: Indian Spot-billed Duck, Indian Peafowl, Eurasian Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Asian Koel, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Common Moorhen, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Red-wattled Lapwing, Little Grebe, Asian Openbill, Asian Woolly-necked Stork, Painted Stork, Oriental Darter, Indian Pond Heron, Purple Heron, Black-winged Kite, Crested Honey Buzzard, Brown Fish Owl, Spotted Owlet, Eurasian Hoopoe, Asian Green Bee-eater, Coppersmith Barbet, White-cheeked Barbet, Malabar Flameback, Plum-headed Parakeet, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Indian Pitta, White-bellied Minivet, Common Iora, White-browed Fantail, White-bellied Drongo, Brown Shrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Large-billed Crow, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Jungle Babbler, Yellow-billed Babbler, Brahminy Starling, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Common Myna, Jungle Myna, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Purple Sunbird, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Common Rosefinch,
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