14-Day Endemics of South India with Nikhil Devasar

Meet the guide at Bangalore airport and drive approximately four hours to Mysore. Overnight at Hotel Green.

After breakfast, make the road transfer from Mysore and settle at Kabini River Lodge before the first afternoon safari in Nagarhole. Dry deciduous forest and the Kabini lake edge support raptors, hornbills, parakeets, owls and waterbirds, while elephant, gaur, deer and large predators are possible but never guaranteed.

Take morning and afternoon safaris in Nagarhole, with time to relax in the grounds of Kabini River Lodge between outings. Field priorities follow the previous day’s observations and current wildlife activity.

Join a final morning safari in Nagarhole, then drive to Mudumalai and settle into Jungle Retreat. Use the remainder of the day to rest before the next full birding day.

Explore Mudumalai for dry-forest and Western Ghats birds. Recorded possibilities include Red Spurfowl, Grey Junglefowl, Malabar hornbills, Malabar Parakeet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, several owls, Rufous Babbler and Malabar Trogon. Return to Jungle Retreat for the night.

Take a morning safari, then drive about four hours to Ooty and check in at Fernhill Palace or similar. Use the remaining time for local birding, with possibilities ranging from flycatchers, babblers and bulbuls to Malabar Parakeet, Nilgiri Laughingthrush and Malabar Whistling Thrush.

Leave early with packed breakfast and lunch for the approximately 180-kilometre, five-hour drive to Topslip in the Anamalai Hills. Spend the remainder of the day on forest trails. Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, elephant, deer and gaur may occur here. Accommodation at Banyan Tree is described as basic.

Continue birding around Topslip during the early field period, then make the approximately four-hour transfer to Munnar. The surrounding shola-grassland supports a distinctive montane bird community. Overnight at Copper Castle.

Visit Eravikulam National Park in the high Western Ghats, where rolling grassland and shola forest protect Nilgiri Tahr and support montane birds. Return to Copper Castle for the night. Access and the exact field programme depend on current park operations.

Travel from Munnar to Periyar and take the recorded afternoon boat outing on the lake. Deciduous forest around Thekkady supports mixed feeding flocks of drongos, minivets, nuthatches, woodpeckers, bulbuls and other resident or migrant birds. Overnight at Lake Shore in the confirmed room category.

Bird at Periyar during the morning, then drive to Thattekkad later in the day. Accommodation is arranged at Hornbill Camp, Bird Lagoon or the confirmed equivalent.

Explore Thattekkad, also known as Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, and continue towards Orullathanni for forest specialists. Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Red Spurfowl, Blue-faced Malkoha, flycatchers, Rufous Babbler and Wayanad Laughingthrush are among the recorded possibilities.

Broaden the habitat mix with birding around Edamalayar, the south side of the river, estuary and paddy fields. Woodpeckers, babblers, bee-eaters, hornbills and Black-throated Munia are among the possibilities. Overnight at the birding lodge.

Leave Thattekkad for Kochi and onward departure according to the confirmed travel arrangements.