We arrived at Eravikulam National Park and waited for the ticket office to open from where we boarded the bus for a ride to the second checkpost. Surrounded by magnificent granite mountain scenery and good patches of shola forest naturally we headed straight behind the Gents' toilets! Without going into too much detail, the pipework clearly isn't all that it should be, creating something of a 'stream'. One bird after another was vying for our attention with us seeing a family party of Painted Bush-Quail, a Malabar Whistling-Thrush, another stunning Nilgiri White's Thrush, a White-bellied Blue Robin, an Indian Blue Robin, a party of Kerala Palani Laughingthrushes and a party of Indian Scimitar-babblers. We then walked to a higher elevation finding a Nilgiri Tahr and another pair of Nilgiri Pipits behaving much as typical Pipits today, unlike at Ooty. We went through the motions of halfheartedly looking for Broad-tailed Grassbirds, but as they don't sing in December, needless to say we failed. We caught a bus back to the road and made a brief stop at the Munnar tea museum. In the afternoon we had a productive walk to the Devikolam Resort finding a Grey-fronted Green-Pigeon, a Nilgiri Woodpigeon sat quietly low in a tree, a Malabar Crimson-fronted Barbet and 8 Crimson-backed (Small) Sunbirds.
Eastern Cattle Egret 1
Bonelli's Eagle 2
Black Eagle 2
Painted Bush-Quail 4
Grey Junglefowl 1 male
NILGIRI WOODPIGEON 1
GREY-FRONTED GREEN-PIGEON 1
Vernal Hanging-Parrot 6
Malabar Parakeet 2
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater 2
MALABAR CRIMSON-FRONTED BARBET 1
White-cheeked Barbet 6
Hill Swallow 6
Grey Wagtail 1
White-browed Wagtail 4
Nilgiri Pipit 2
Orange Minivet 8
Red-whiskered Bulbul 20
Square-tailed Black Bulbul 2
Blue Rock Thrush 2
Malabar Whistling-Thrush 3
Indian Blackbird 6
Nilgiri White's Thrush 1
WHITE-BELLIED BLUE-ROBIN 1
Indian Blue Robin 2
Pied Bushchat 6
Black-and-Orange Flycatcher h
Nilgiri Flycatcher 4
KERALA PALANI LAUGHINGTHRUSH 4
INDIAN SCIMITAR-BABBLER 4
Blyth's Reed Warbler 6
Common Tailorbird 2
Tickell's Leaf-Warbler 2
Greenish Warbler 6
Indian Yellow (Black-lored) Tit 2
Oriental White-eye 10
CRIMSON-BACKED (SMALL) SUNBIRD 8
Purple Sunbird 1
Common Rosefinch 8
Ashy Drongo 2
Indian Jungle Crow 1
Eravikulam National Park
the climb through the tea plantations
the first native shola forest
Shola
White-bellied Blue Robin at Eravikulam National Park
Nilgiri White's Thrush at Eravikulam National Park
Kerala Palani Laughingthrush at Eravikulam National Park
Birdlife consider this species Near Threatened as it has a very small global range, and is likely to be declining as a result of habitat loss. However, it is able to persist in some degraded habitats, suggesting that it may not be an imminent risk.
Indian Scimitar-Babbler at Eravikulam National Park
Male Indian Blue Robin at Eravikulam National Park
Female Indian Blue Robin at Eravikulam National Park
Malabar Whistling-Thrush at Eravikulam National Park
the walk to the higher elevations
above the tree line
Nilgiri Tahr at Eravikulam National Park
Male Pied Bushchat at Eravikulam National Park
Blue Rock Thrush at Eravikulam National Park
Hill Swallow at Eravikulam National Park
Black Eagle at Eravikulam National Park
Nilgiri Pipit at Eravikulam National Park
Tea Museum in Munnar
Oriental White-eye at Munnar
Blyth's Reed Warbler at Munnar
Eclipse male Purple Sunbird at Munnar
Pair of Common Rosefinches at Munnar
Grey-fronted Green-Pigeon at Munnar
Nilgiri Woodpigeon at Munnar
Birdlife considers this species qualifies as Vulnerable owing to its small, declining population; a consequence of the widespread destruction of its forest habitat.
Birdlife considers this species qualifies as Vulnerable owing to its small, declining population; a consequence of the widespread destruction of its forest habitat.
