And so the circus began!
We went to the ticket office car park where we were supposed
to meet our bird guide for the early morning walk. We had not bought tickets as
we were told that it would be arrange with the guide once he arrived. But
shortly before he arrived, we received a call from him asking us if we wanted
to do any other activities, and that because of global warming there were no
birds anymore. Although we were a little perplexed by this, we insisted that we
did the bird walk and he confirmed he was on his way. Then, just 15 minutes
later he cancelled. This threw our entire morning into chaos! We decided to try
and get on the 07:00 Green Trail guided walk, but were told that it was all
booked up and that we would have to reserve a place on the 11:00. This was all
far from ideal but we clearly had no choice in the matter so arranged a place
at 11:00.
In the meantime we decided to walk to the Bamboo Grove area
again and try our luck with the Wayanad Laughingthrush there. We managed to
make it in, and were told by a local that if we stuck to the road we would have
no issues but after 90 minutes one of the park managers came to escort us out,
saying that we shouldn’t be there without a guide and that they had seen us on
cameras. While it lasted we did have some nice birding, although no sign of the
laughingthrush. We had our first White-bellied Treepie here, as well as many of
the other endemics we had seen the previous day. On the mammal front we had
more Nilgiri Langur, as well as our first Northern Red Muntjac and a brilliant
encounter when three Dhole ran across the road in front of us, one even stopping
for a second just to bark at us!
Once we had been escorted out we went for breakfast, before
heading back for our 11:00 walk. We had not anticipated much, but were a little
more optimistic to learn that we would be the only participants on the walk, so
spoke to our guide Prabhu, and asked if he could take us to see the Wayanad
Laughingthrush. He agreed, so off we went in a completely different direction
to the Green Trail but up a river valley near the Bamboo Grove where we had
been during the morning. With the heat we were hardly optimistic but Prabhu
seemed fairly competent with birds and soon he thought he heard the call of the
Laughingthrushes! Although we were a little dubious at first, we had soon
tracked the birds down. They were very mobile and difficult track, but we
managed some Ok views before they moved up the hill. Mission accomplished.
Despite being midday we had a very pleasant walk. On the
bird front we ticked Rusty-tailed Flycatcher, Malabar Woodshrike and
Flame-throated Bulbul, as well as enjoying more White-bellied Treepie and
Malabar Grey Hornbill. But the real standouts were the mammals. As we were
walking up the valley we had three more, or possibly the same, Dhole cross the
path in front of us. In addition we had two Gaur in the forest, including a
massive bull.
With the walk complete at 13:30 we headed back to the hotel
for an hours rest before heading back out. This time we walked the main road
through the national park, since you did not need a guide to complete this
stretch. The forest was very quiet, although we had nice views of Sambar and
more Nilgiri Langur. On the bird front the highlight was two rather confiding
Orange-headed Thrushes on the path in front of us. Otherwise it was rather
disappointing.
To finish off we returned to the ticket office to try look
for some birds there as the light was fading. We did not find the Rufous
Babbler we hoped for but had a nice flyby Emerald Dove and a mammal tick with
some roosting Indian Flying Foxes. All in all a satisfying end to what could
have been a very frustrating and disappointing day.
Periyar National Park: Grey Junglefowl, Spotted Dove, Common Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, Greater Coucal, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Indian Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swift, Red-wattled Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Striated Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Medium Egret, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Black Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Jungle Owlet, Malabar Trogon, Great Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Stork-billed Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Coppersmith Barbet, White-cheeked Barbet, Malabar Flameback, Lesser Yellownape, Plum-headed Parakeet, Blue-winged Parakeet, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Malabar Woodshrike, Ashy Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Brown Shrike, White-bellied Treepie, Cinereous Tit, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Flame-throated Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Greenish Warbler, Dark-fronted Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Wayanad Laughingthrush, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Southern Hill Myna, Jungle Myna, Orange-headed Thrush, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Rusty-tailed Flycatcher, Loten's Sunbird, Black-throated Munia, Grey Wagtail,
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