WESTERN GHATS 13 – 28 JAN 2019 The endemic Black-and-orange Flycatcher (GM) Killian Vaucher (KV) & Gabriel Marcacci (GM) Contact: [email protected] Western Ghats 2019 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this trip was not a full birding trip, but to conduct bird surveys in organic tea plantations in the Nilgiri mountains. Although within these two weeks we spent only five days outside the plantations, we still managed to see all Western Ghats endemics except the ultra-skulking Nilgiri Thrush, the Wynaad Laughingthrush as well as the two recently split Laughingthrushes which are rather unaccessible at the moment anyway. TRANSPORT We mostly used taxis kindly arranged by our hotel. Taxis may be the best option regarding the cost/flexibility ratio to travel the Western Ghats. Note that even though the distances between birding sites seem to be rather short, driving the curvy roads of the mountains takes a lot of time. Almost all the sites are accessible by public transport, which would be a cheaper option, but more time costly. DIRECTIONS To find our way to most of the sites we only used the smartphone application MAPS.ME, allowing to take easily GPS points, markers, etc. This is a free application on which you can download freely the maps of all the countries of the world (and most are very accurate, even in remote areas). You will find precise GPS coordinates in this report. The taxi drivers know their area very well including most of the birding sites. ACCOMODATION AND FOOD In India, food is great! We did not suffer any food poisoning during all our stay and every meal was delicious. We only stayed at four different places that we already booked in advance. However, we could have easily found nice hotels day-to-day. SECURITY Southern India is totally safe, and we did not have any bad experience. The potential risk comes more from wild animals (mostly elephants which are surprisingly abundant there). As a consequence, you cannot walk and explore freely most of the forest areas, especially by night, and you often need a local and/or special permission. nivalisbirding.com 2 Western Ghats 2019 VISA You need to get your visa before arrival. The easiest option was to get granted e-visa which allow you to end the procedure on arrival. Be sure to use the official website when you applicate for the e-visa (https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html) and be careful to print your e-visa application which you will need to present at the immigration on arrival. A two months with two entries visa (the minimum possible) costed us 70 USD. MONEY ATM are widespread and most big hotels and facilities do accept credit card. At the time of our visit 1 USD ≈ 70 Indian Rupee (INR). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to thank Pavan Sukhdev, who proposed us this project and warmly welcomed us in his wonderful homestay, and Stephan Lorentz for his advice. REFERENCES We used three trips reports found on cloudbirders.com (VERHELST 2017, BRECKENRIDGE 2017 and MERRILL 2017) together with ebird to have up-to-date information. As literature, we used “Birds of Indian Subcontinent” (Grimmett et al. 2011). nivalisbirding.com 3 Western Ghats 2019 VISITED SITES THATTEKAD We stayed two nights in Jungle Bird Homestay (http://junglebirdhomestay.blogspot.com/) which we absolutely recommend: although accommodation and food were rather basic, we were living with Gireesh’s (the owner) family in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Gireesh and his mother are both bird guides and they perfectly organised everything (early breakfast, driving to other spot, night sessions). Birdwatching with Gireesh is a great experience on its own as he is never tired (he is also working as a lawyer between two birding sessions) and so enthusiastic (even more than us) to spot the birds! It costed us around 30 USD/day/pers. for food and accommodation with 15 USD extra for each excursion at Urulanthanni (to pay the vehicle and the “entrance fee”). It is possible to contact Gireesh by email ([email protected]) or directly by whatsapp (+91 98470 34520) and we would recommend to book in advance as there are usually many Indian photographers coming at this place. Around Thattekad, we visited Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary (490 INR/pers.) where we have seen most of the target species including White-bellied Treepie, Indian Pitta, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Parakeet, Malabar Woodshrike, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Malabar Starling, Southern Hill Myna, Grey Junglefowl, Rufous-bellied Eagle, etc. The entrance of the sanctuary (10.131026, 76.688183) is only at 300 meters from Jungle Bird Homestay. Before entering the sanctuary, you need to get a ticket (490 INR/pers.) at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary reception just next to Gireesh’s place. Note that Salim Ali closes at 5:30pm. We also explored a track in nice forest starting just the other side of the Periyar River (10.127184, 76.683837) which does not require any special fee to access it. Here, the White-bellied Treepie seemed to be easier to find than in Salim Ali. Malabar Barbet (left, GM) and Urulanthanni (right, GM) nivalisbirding.com 4 Western Ghats 2019 It is also the only place we recorded the difficult and very localized Grey-headed Bulbul and several Blue-faced Malkoa. THATTEKAD - URULANTHANNI We visited this place which is about 20-30 minutes’ drive from Thattekad twice during day time and once for a night session. You cannot access the area without a local guide because of the high abundance of elephants. The birds were a bit different from Thattekad with Malabar Barbet, Grey-fronted Green Pigeon, both Purple-backed & Loten’s Sunbird, Flame-throated Bulbul, Orange Minivet, Dark-fronted Babbler, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Orange-headed Thrush and Vernal Hanging Parrot being quite common. It was also the best place for White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Malabar Trogon, Sri Lanka Frogmouth and Sri Lanka Bay Owl (see paragraph below). It was also an excellent place for woodpeckers with 6 species recorded within one hour: Black- rumped Goldenback, Greater Goldenback (ssp socialis “Malabar Goldenback” sometimes referred as potential split endemic to southern India), Heartspotted Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Lesser Yellownape (ssp chlorigaster “Indian Yellownape” potential new split endemic to peninsular India) and Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. But the main reason to visit Urulanthanny is without any doubt to have a chance to see its superstar: the mythical Sri Lanka Bay Owl. Indeed, Urulanthanni might be the best spot on earth to see this scarce and very localized species. Therefore, we spent two and a half day looking for it (it had not been recorded for five days) and we finally found it roosting our last morning! We enjoyed the privilege to have prolongated view of this truly magical bird perched a few meters above us. Note: Urulanthanni used to be a relatively good spot for the Wynaad Laughingthrush which favours bamboo thickets but we could not reach this area because of the high elephant activity in this sector. THATTEKAD – NIGHT SESSION When visiting Thattekad, you must plan to allocate your evening for night sessions as most of Southern Indian night birds are occurring in the area. We spent the first evening in the other side of the Periyar River where we recorded Jerdon’s and Great- eared Nightjar, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Indian Scops Owl, Jungle Owlet and a distant Sri Lanka Bay Owl calling. We tried the Bay Owl in Urulanthanni the second evening where we had great views of the impressive Spot-bellied Eagle Owl. Great-eared Nightjar and Brown Fish Owl were present around Jungle Bird Homestay. Mottled Wood Owl and nivalisbirding.com 5 Western Ghats 2019 Jungle Nightjar also occur on the other side of the river (10.116149, 76.67589) and Gireesh knows a Brown Wood Owl’s roosting spot. It was such a relief when we finally found after much effort this roosting Sri Lanka Bay Owl during our last morning in Urulanthanni. MUNNAR - POTHAMENDU Munnar is located at 1500 meters asl and offers the opportunity to find most of the Western Ghats’ highland endemics. The landscape is dominated by shaded plantations such as tea and cardamom, shola forests and grasslands. Birders usually visit two sites: Pothamendu and Eravikulam National Park. After reading several trip reports stating that birding the crappy spot behind the toilet of the too crowded Eravikulam NP was not mandatory to see all target species, we decided to give up this place and focus on Pothamendu area. Staying two night at the Shamrock Holiday Home (rather cheap and nice hotel, 20 USD/night/pers.). We spent most of our time birding the last 500m of the access track to Deshadan Mountain Resort. It turned out to be the right decision as we easily found all the target species: Palani Laughingthrush, White-bellied Blue nivalisbirding.com 6 Western Ghats 2019 Robin, Black-and-Orange Flycatcher, Nilgiri Flycatcher, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Indian Black-lored Tit, Square-tailed Bulbul, Indian Blackbird, Black Eagle, Malabar Whistling Thrush, etc. We walked up to the grassy ridge above Deshadan Mountain Resort (access path here: 10.055814, 77.073108) early morning where we easily saw the usually difficult Broad-tailed Grassbird coming to the playback just as we went out of the forest (10.055977, 77.073391). As we climbed higher to a big boulder with a nice view (10.057692, 77.073935) we spotted several Nilgiri Pipits and Tickell’s Leaf Warbler and a family of Painted Bush Quail. Although most birders go for Eravikulam NP early morning and try the Grassbird in the afternoon, we suggest to do the opposite (or to even skip Eravikulam NP) as the Grassbird might be easier early in the morning.