SOUTH INDIA And The Andaman Islands 2–17 January 2009 Extension to 24 January 2009 Leaders: Qupeleio De Souza and Vaughan Ashby

The Western Ghats, running for almost 1000 miles parallel to the southwest coast of peninsular India, have been recognised by Birdlife International as one of the most important endemic bird areas in Asia. This tour takes us in search of 16 (or 24 depending on the authorities) regional endemics as well as other south Indian specialities. This is all set amidst the picturesque backdrop of the dense forests, lakes and tea plantations of southern India's mountains, from the foothills up to the highest peaks. Expect around 240 species.

Day 1 Overnight flight to Trivandrum in Kerala.

Day 2 We arrive this morning in Trivandrum, the capital of the coastal state of Kerala, and drive inland towards the hills of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, arriving around lunchtime. The afternoon will be spent exploring the moist evergreen forests and lake edges of Periyar, where we may find Oriental Darter, Great Cormorant, Alpine Swift, Crested Treeswift, Ashy Woodswallow, Puff-throated and Dark-fronted Babblers, Black and Changeable Hawk-eagles, Black Baza, Great Hornbill, Heart-spotted and Rufous Woodpeckers, Black-rumped Flameback, Asian Paradise-flycatcher, Black-naped, Black-hooded and Eurasian Golden Orioles, Greater Racket-tailed and Bronzed Drongos and Pompadour Green-pigeon. Possible endemics include Malabar Grey Hornbill and White-bellied Treepie. Two nights in Periyar.

Day 3 Today we will spend the whole day birding in Periyar. We will take a boat out on the lake where we will be able to view good numbers of raptors, swifts and kingfishers as well as some mammals – possibilities include Wild Boar, Sambar Deer and even wild Indian Elephants coming to the lake edges to drink. Walks through the forest will give us the opportunity to see a wide selection of birds, which may include the specialities Indian Scimiter-babbler and White-bellied Woodpecker and further Western Ghats endemics Malabar Parakeet, Crimson-backed Sunbird and, with luck, a flock of the elusive Wynaad Laughingthrushes.

Day 4 We will leave Periyar early morning and head up to the hill station of Munnar in Kerala's rolling Cardamom Hills. En route we will spend time roadside birding, as the vegetated gullies of Bodi Gha are one of the most reliable sites for the scarce and localised south Indian speciality Yellow-throated Bulbul. We arrive in Munnar late afternoon for a two-night stay.

Day 5 We have a full day in Munnar to bird the open grassland, vegetated gullies and patches of woodland dotted within the vast tea plantations that envelop the town. This combination of habitats has allowed a variety of species to flourish here, with Alpine and Fork-tailed Swifts, Brown-backed Needletail, Indian Swiftlet and Pacific Swallow regularly being seen over the hillslopes whilst Blue-capped Rock-thrush and Grey-breasted and Nilgiri Laughingthrushes can be found in the understorey. By spending time at the nearby Eravikulam National Park, which contains the highest peaks in the Western Ghats, we may find restricted-range endemics including Nilgiri Pipit, Black-and-orange and Nilgiri Flycatchers and the uncommon and nomadic Nilgiri Woodpigeon.

Day 6 This morning we will leave Munnar early and head down through the foothills to Thattakad Bird Sanctuary at the base of the Western Ghats. Although only covering a small area, Thattakad and its dense lowland forests support many specialities absent or more difficult to find at higher altitude. During our visit we may find Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Malabar Trogon, Blue-throated Flycatcher, Loten's Sunbird and Speckled Piculet among the commoner Grey Junglefowl, Red Spurfowl, Tickell's and White-bellied Blue Flycatchers, Asian Fairy Bluebird and Dollarbird. As dusk falls, Great-eared and Grey Nightjars can be seen hawking over the reservoir. Overnight in Thattakad.

Day 7 We will spend the morning in Thattakad before starting the drive back up to Munnar, where we will arrive around lunchtime. The afternoon will be spent birding around Munnar or Eravikulam National Park. Overnight in Munnar.

Day 8 After a last morning spent around Munnar we will drive through the riparian scrub forests of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary into the Anaimalai Hills of the neighbouring state Tamil Nadu. Our base for the next three nights will be the town of Pollachi.

Days 9–10 For these two days a short drive each morning will take us into Top Slip or the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. We will start birding in the bamboo groves and dry deciduous forests here and also back across the Kerala border in the contiguous Parambikulam Sanctuary. Various Western Ghats endemics including Rufous Babbler, White-bellied Blue-flycatcher, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Nilgiri Pipit, Malabar Parakeet and Crimson-fronted Barbet, may be found here alongside White-cheeked Barbet, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Hill Myna, Vernal Hanging-parrot, White-rumped Shama, White-browed and Yellow-browed Bulbuls and Black-naped Monarch. The Western Ghats endemic mammals Malabar Giant Squirrel and Nilgiri Langur can also be seen in the sanctuary and we may even come across larger mammals, possibly including Indian Elephants and Gaur (Indian Bison).

Day 11 This morning we drive up to Ooty in the rolling Nilgiri Hills or Blue Mountains, some of the highest in southern India. The evergreen montane forests and patches of open grassland support a variety of restricted-range endemics and, by spending the afternoon birding around the outskirts of this hill station, we may find White-bellied Shortwing, Nilgiri, Wynaad and Grey-breasted Laughingthrushes and Nilgiri Flycatcher. Also possible are Western Crowned and Large-billed Leaf-warblers, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Indian Blue Robin, Blue-capped Rock-thrush, White-throated Fantail, Scaly Thrush and Kashmir Flycatcher, which otherwise can only be found in Sri Lanka during the winter months. The next two nights will be spent on the outskirts of Ooty.

Day 12 A full day spent birding around Ooty.

Day 13 An early morning start for the drive down to the foot of the Nilgiri Hills to Mudumalai, part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve - one of the largest protected areas of forest in India. We will spend the rest of the day working our way through the dry deciduous and scrub forests searching for Blue-faced and Sirkeer Malkohas, Yellow-crowned, Streak-throated, White-naped and Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers, Grey Francolin, Asian Paradise-flycatcher, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Common and Large Woodshrikes, White-browed Fantail, Yellow-billed, Tawny-bellied and Yellow-eyed Babblers, Jungle Prinia, Indian Pitta, Black and Rufous-bellied Eagles and the Western Ghats endemics Grey-headed Bulbul and Malabar Lark. This is also a stronghold of the near-threatened and localised White-bellied Minivet. Overnight in Mudumalai.

Day 14 We will spend the morning birding at Mudumalai before setting off on the drive north towards the old royal capital of Mysore after an early lunch. Arriving at Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary by late afternoon, we will take a rowing-boat cruise around this series of islands in the Kaveri River. This is an important breeding and roosting site for Painted Stork, Asian Openbill, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-headed Ibis, Black-crowned Night-heron, Indian Pond-heron, Great, Intermediate, Little and Cattle Egrets, Great, Indian and Little Cormorants, Purple Heron, Oriental Darter, River Tern and Great Thick-knee, and we should get spectacularly close views of many of these species. Overnight in a nearby hotel.

Day 15 For those not taking the extentsion our day will begin early for the drive to Bangalore to catch our internal flight back to Trivandrum, where we will spend the last night of the tour.

Day 16 An early-morning start to transfer to Trivandrum International Airport for the return flight to the UK.

Extension

The Andaman and Nicobar group comprises over 300 isolated islands, many of which are uninhabited and covered in pristine rainforest with mangrove-lined waterways, formed by a submarine mountain range in the Bay of Bengal. As a result of their relative proximity to Myanmar, the avifauna of the islands is somewhat different to that of the rest of India. In addition, the Andamans and Nicobars together harbour 16 endemic species. With the Nicobar Islands remaining off-limits to foreign tourists, and Narcondam Island in the Andaman chain – home to the endemic Narcondam Hornbill – proving difficult to access, it is the remaining 11 of these endemics on the island of South Andaman that our itinerary will focus on. We will also look for many distinctive sub-species that may be reclassified into full species in the future.

Day 15 Early drive to Bangalore to catch our internal flight to Chennai. We have the rest of the day free for some birding within the city, where we will spend the night.

Day 16 We depart from Chennai very early on our two-hour flight across the Bay of Bengal to Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and we will enjoy spectacular views of the islands as we come in to land. We will spend the afternoon birding around Port Blair looking for the commoner species, including Red-breasted and Long-tailed Parakeets, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Asian Glossy-starling, Black-naped Tern, Pacific Swallow, Brown-backed Needletail and possibly our first endemics. We will spend the next six nights at a comfortable city hotel.

Days 17–21 On our first two days we will make early morning drives north of Port Blair to Mount Harriet National Park, an area of dense evergreen rainforest that supports most of the endemics found on South Andaman, including Andaman Treepie, Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike and Andaman Woodpecker. Other species that can be found include Black-naped Oriole, Dollarbird, Vernal Hanging-parrot, Forest Wagtail and the near-endemic Andaman Drongo. The peak is also an excellent place to watch for raptors, with numerous species overhead including the endemic Andaman Serpent Eagle. On one or both evenings we will spend some time after dark searching for Andaman Scops-owl, Andaman Hawk-owl and the obscura race of Brown Hawk-owl. The next day will be spent birding the forest trails of Chidiyatapu ('bird point') at the southernmost tip of South Andaman, which is approximately one hour's drive south of Port Blair. This area of coastal forest and mangroves is a good place to find endemics including Andaman Woodpigeon, Andaman Cuckoo-dove, White-headed Starling and, if we are very lucky, the endemic and highly elusive Andaman Crake as well as the near-endemic Brown Coucal. Other species here include White-rumped Shama, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Emerald Dove, Pompadour Green-pigeon and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. On our next day we will visit the coastal forests of the southwestern point of South Andaman and Manjeri and Sippighat, which are productive areas of marshland and tidal creeks. The mixed habitats should provide a broad selection of species including Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Stork-billed, Ruddy and Collared Kingfishers, White-breasted Woodswallow, Small and Scarlet Minivets, Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns, (Indian) Purple Swamphen and Slaty-breasted Rail. The last full day will be flexible to allow us to re-visit any of the previous sites in order to catch up with any birds we may have missed.

Day 22 We depart from Port Blair on a morning flight to Chennai, travelling onwards on an early afternoon flight to Trivandrum, where we will spend the last night of the tour.

Day 23 Transfer to Trivandrum International Airport for the return flight to the UK.

General Information South India is quite hot at this time of year but rain is also a possibility. The pace is easy but the heat can be tiring at times. On most days, we will split the birding into two sessions with a break in the middle of the day so we can take time off to relax. There are a number of health requirements and you must consult your GP in this respect. Insects are not a major problem but you must take precautions to avoid other health risks. Accommodation is in medium-standard hotels and wildlife resorts, all with private facilities. Visas are required.

Group size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 8; maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader, 14 with 2 leaders.

Top