Mudumalai National Park is located in Tamil Nadu (fly to Bangalore on a Central Asian award, then take a bus) and adjoins Wayanad in Kerala and Bandipur in Karnataka. The very impressive bird list includes (to name a few) Malabar Trogon, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Large Racket-Tailed Drongos, Spotted Babbler, Green Pigeons, Brown Dove, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Parakeets, Bulbuls, Cuckoos, Hornbills, Scops Owl, Tiny-eared Owl, Black Woodpecker, Mynas, Barbets to name a few. Among birds of prey, the Crested Hawk Eagles, Crested Serpent Eagle, Buzzards, Harriers, Falcons and the King Vulture are predominant. The Mudumalai National Park also attracts a considerable number of migratory water birds. Most tourists come here hoping to see a tiger (and usually don’t) but still enjoy watching elephants and monkeys which are easily seen.
The main Ooty-Mysore road runs straight through both Mudumalai and Bandipur so you may be lucky enough to see wildlife from your car, especially monkeys! If you want to really get into the park, you must take a tour from the park headquarters.
Deer are seen everywhere!
And it was pretty cool to see peacocks!
This is where the main park headquarters is.
We had hired a jeep for the afternoon and he parked here while we walked up to where you buy tickets.
Monkeys hoping for a handout.
Book the safari here. It was around 135 rupees, 25 rupees for a camera and the minibus goes when full. We only had to wait about 20 minutes to get enough people.
Off we went and promptly saw more deer and peacocks.
This was my best find, I saw the flash of green in the trees and knew it had to be parakeets. It wasn’t until I zoomed in that I was able to identify Plum-headed Parakeets. I was the only one in the minibus who was excited to see them, the other (Indian) tourists didn’t even lift their cameras!
Monkeys were of greater interest to the other tourists.
After the safari which lasted about an hour, we were led across the street to see the elephant feeding……………and more monkeys! This is included in the cost of the safari.
