28. Bird watching in Masinagudi

Spending a fortnight with our friends Ajit and Anu in Chennai – yes, leaving Pune for Chennai in March not a good idea, but Ajit lured us with a bird-watching trip to Masinagudi (Karnataka)– 29 kms beyond Ooty. So dutifully we flew in on the 5^th of March and took a train to Coimbatore on the 6^th then early the next morning picked up a pre-hired car and drove off for Masinagudi for a most wonderful trip.

The drive up to Ooty is quite delightful if you rule out some of the ill mannered drivers of SUVs who do not follow the rules of driving on a hill road. (Ajit kept shouting “nai” meaning “dog” in Tamil, while the car windows were rolled up, so unless they could lip read they remained un-chastised). While looking for a coffee shop we chanced upon this chocolate shop in Ooty (which also serves tea and coffee) and ended up tasting and buying every variety of chocolate they had. Fortified with all that chocolate we were equipped to take on the 36 hairpin bends down to Masinagudi.

Tea /pee stop enroute to Ooty

A flash-flood stream

 

Next to the chocolate shop in Ooty

 

 Chocolate ecstasy

The 'idea' of advt.

Getting checked for 'cash' in view of the forthcoming elections

 

Whew! the 30th gone! 6 more to go

Bison viewing point

Saw only this beautiful rock lizard

 

Pictures taken by Amma being reviewed

 

Blue Drongo

Passed through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

WILD HAVEN 

The only marker for the "Wild Haven"

Wild Haven! the forest lodge where we stayed

The place we stayed in was called ‘Wild Haven’ and it certainly lived upto its name because though encircled by an electrified fence (to keep out rogue elephants if required), the animals had the run of the place. The spotted deer and wild boars came in hordes and some slept outside our room at night; once I saw a herd of wild asses too. Notwithstanding the wilderness outside, the rooms are clean and airy, the food very good and the staff friendly. We were quite captivated by the place. Within the first hour itself while we waited for other friends to arrive from other parts of the country, I had sighted a number of birds importantly an iora which I had wanted to see for a long time.

hanging Iora

Peeping Iora!

Long Tailed Shrike

 

Yellow billed Babblers

 

Black Headed Bulbul

Magpie Robin

A Sunbird's live nest - leaves and twigs sewn together with cobweb

Jungle Mynas, Brahminy Starlings and a babbler

A white browed wagtail on its favorite perch

 BANDIPUR TIGER RESERVE

The same evening we drove down to the Bandipur Reserve forest to enquire about the safari the next day. The jeeps were available only to the Government lodge/s so we had to be satisfied with a bus safari – a noisy contraption which kept the animals at bay. We managed to see some sambhars and a striped neck mongoose.

Drive to Bandipur

In forest colours - ready for the safari

"I ride on the roof of the car" at the Bandipur forest reception area

A hoopoe making a pretty picture - inside Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Striped Neck Mongoose

Sambhar

BIRD WATCHING AND OTHER PASTIMES AT THE 'WILD HAVEN'

 We spent the evening and the next morning looking for birds in the Wild Haven campus and had some great sightings. Ravi our new found ornithologist friend saw a Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch and made me really jealous. Anyway I had my own prized sighting of the Iora. We also saw a flame backed Woodpecker but it did not oblige us with a picture.

Silver Bills

Warbler

White Browed Fantail

Plum Headed Parakeet blending with the Lentana

White Bellied Drongo

Vultures in the sky - a rare sight nowadays

Malabar Parakeet

Scarlet Minivet

Scarlet Minivets

Peacock on a tree

White Browed Bulbul

Ravi intently looking at a bird

 

tiny butterfly lying dead at my doorstep

Wild Asses

Spotted Dove

Wild Boar

Don't miss the aloevera plant hung from the roof! To keep the mosquitoes away?

Fair baby

Spotted Deer

The 'lookout' from where we saw Ruoldo

Ruoldo the injured elephant eating sugar cane using both feet and trunk.

Ruoldo has an injured trunk; apparently thanks to poachers. Normally an elephant can even pick up a needle with its trunk but poor Ruoldo cannot fend for himself and uses its foot to pick up its food. The Forest Dept. and also perhaps the Lodge feeds him. 

Langurs at the watering hole - 'that was a satisfying drink'

A Rummy session is always welcome

Chatting around a bonfire

Afternoon siestas were a must

The not so wild - Muncher and babies

Funnelweb Spider web

 THE WAY BACK

The way back was even more picturesque because we took the wrong turn at Doddabetta. In Ooty we found a good eating joint called Amma's Kitchen (NOT of Jayalalitha fame). The owner was sweet enough to get us a cake from a shop in the city as it was Ajit's mother's birthday.
Some of the sights on the way back...

Celebrating Amma's 87th birthday enroute

Amazing bark colour

Tea gardens of Ooty

The wrong turn meant a delay of more than an hour, so we had to cancel our proposed trip to the Isha Ashram. That will require a special trip I guess.