Masinagudi and Nilgiri Birding Feb 2022

Masinagudi is a town abutting the Madhumalai National Park and is a great place to bird around the foothills and the Nilgiris. My visit was exactly 2 days, and I was able to spot close to 135+ birds indicating the diversity and great birding density. Given the unique forests, especially around the hills reaching close to 8000+ feet, it has many endemic species along with unique migrants coming all the way from the Himalayas to winter here. In fact, these forests are so unique that they are called “Sholas” and represent tropical montane forests found around these valleys, with patches of grasslands that makes it distinctive and supports varied avifauna.

Days of travel 25-27 Feb 2022
Guides: Mr. Kurvi Siddan and Mr. Raj Kumar
Stay: Forest Hills Farm, Bokkapuram - https://goo.gl/maps/rwL9MNkKZxjfYEjA7

Schedule:

Day 1: Arrived @ Masinagudi from Mysuru (90 kms, 2 hr drive) at 5PM (note that entry is banned after 6PM – so plan appropriately). I still got about 30 mins of birding around the homestay which was in a forested area.
Day 2: Morning session – birded around the foothills and Masinagudi areas followed by a drive to Ooty (birded along the way) till Botanical gardens and back. This was followed by some more evening birding at Masinagudi foothills.
Day 3: Morning session – Continued birding early at 530 AM to record any Nightjars birded in and around Masinagudi scrub forest areas for local birds and raptors. Left Masinagudi by 4:30 PM to reach Mysuru by 7 PM.

Stayed at “Forest Hills Farm & Guesthouse” which provided a homely stay and food for my travel. Traveled solo. The area around the guesthouse is a great birding spot too but need to be careful as it is within the buffer zone, and I could see wild Elephants and Bears move freely in the evenings (always good to have company of locals). It is generally considered extremely unsafe to step out post dark in Masinagudi due to animal attacks.