Since we had endured so much trouble at Periyar, and that the morning activites were all booked up, we decided to instead make a small detour and drive back to Munnar before continuing to the Thatekkad Sanctuary, therefore giving us another chance to find the Nilgiri Pipit and a few other birds that we had been missing. We set off from Kumily at 05:00 arriving at the areas we wanted for 07:00.
We first visited the Gap Road Viewpoint again, hoping that while the area was quiet we might have some of our targets on the rubbish heap before the vendors. Sadly we were not lucky in this regard and despite an hour in the area and searching as best as we could, we ultimately found nothing so decided to continue on our way and check the Lava Flats that had seemed so promising the last time we visited them. The best bird we managed in this area was a skulky Common Grasshopper Warbler!
We arrived at the Lava Flats at 08:00 and already had some interesting birds with two Indian Scimitar Babblers and two Palani Laughingthrushes. Buoyed by this excellent start we set out across the fields hoping for something to change with our fortunes, but alas it did not. We managed some interesting species such as our first Tree Pipit and a flyover Malabar Imperial Pigeon, but otherwise activity was limited. After two hours, right at the death I flushed a chick of Painted Bush Quail, with the adult quickly scampering under the bushes next to me. This was one of our main targets but it would have been nice to see them better, since I couldn’t refind them afterwards. Finally Gray told me that he had found some roosting nightjars on the rocks, so we headed back down to the area and there we had two Jungle Nightjars roosting under the shade of a rocky overhang.
With it now being 11:00 we decided to continue to Munnar and have some lunch there, before checking out our next site. And so at 13:00 on our descent from Munnar we check out an area of tea plantations in the faint hope that we might find a flock of Rufous Babblers. We had hoped to find the species at Periyar but had obviously failed. Despite it being incredibly hot we did manage to find a group of around six babblers that were quite showy in the end. After the disappointment of the morning, we were thrilled with this outcome.
The rest of the drive took two hours, taking us down to Jungle Bird Homestay in Thatekkad Sanctuary where we would see out the rest of our trip. We enjoyed the hotel rooftop for the rest of the daylight hours and had some nice species, including a tick for me with Heart-spotted Woodpecker. Additionally we had plenty of flying Brahminy Kites, a mixed flock of Little Swifts and White-rumped Spinetail as well as a Whiskered Tern over the water.
After dark our guide, Gireesh, took us out on a walk to look for the local owls that he knew. We started with a near-adult Spot-bellied Eagle Owl chick which he showed us in the twilight, as it was perched up in the bamboo. A massive and striking bird, this was one I had been hoping for on this trip and it did not disappoint. Next we moved on to Mottled Wood Owl. We had to work a little more for this bird, especially since we kept being distracted by the Indian Flying Foxes all around us, but in the end it perched up nicely but frustratingly briefly, giving me my second owl tick of the evening. We finished off the walk back near the first owl, where we had a perched up Jerdons Nightjar and two sleeping Indian Pitta. On the drive back we had a Sambar by the side of the road. So far as night walks go, it certainly wasn’t bad.
Thatekked Bird Sanctuary: Lesser Whistling Duck, Green Imperial Pigeon, Jerdon's Nightjar, White-rumped Spinetail, Little Swift, Asian Palm Swift, White-breasted Waterhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Whiskered Tern, Oriental Darter, Little Cormorant, Indian Pond Heron, Medium Egret, Crested Honey Buzzard, Brahminy Kite, Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl, Mottled Wood Owl, Asian Green Bee-eater, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, White-throated Kingfisher, White-cheeked Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Indian Pitta, Indian Golden Oriole, Ashy Woodswallow, Ashy Drongo, Rufous Treepie, Large-billed Crow, Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Green Warbler, Southern Hill Myna, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Loten's Sunbird, White-rumped Munia,
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