Thanks to Adarsh and Avinash (JLRNTP) for last weekend proved to be the most memorable, in more than one way.  Adarsh had this plan going on for a week till it got finalised.Though I had not met Avinash before, this trip proved to be wonderful for all of us.

Day 1

We started off from Bangalore at 5:00 AM in the morning and reached BR Hills.  On the way we had some very good bird sightings the most prominent of them being the Rufous backed Shrike which got us all very excited.  Though we could not do any safari there as we reached late we were happy to have sighted many birds and of course this being the first trip for both me and Adarsh to BR hills I must say we just fell in love with the sights in BR hills, and I am sure Adarsh would not disagree.  We were lucky to see many birds, butterflies, dragon flies, Kavita (The elephant) and the ever so beautiful Blue Mormon.  We left BR hills in the afternoon and went to Bandipur and were utterly disappointed to see the crowds there so decided to skip the safari both in Bandipur and Madhumalai, a decision which we regretted much later.  Adding on to the disappointment the whole trip from Bandipur to Madhumalai seemed rather dull and dry as we did not spot even a single spotted deer or bird, but as we moved towards Masinagudi we came across many birds and for me having sighted the Indian Roller for the first time definitely made my day.

Day 2

With having a rather dull day 1 we planned to start off day 2 with an early morning trek which again had many surprises in store for us.  The first being having spotted a green snake which I am yet to get an ID for and this again being the first for both me and Adarsh to have spotted a snake in the wild.  As we moved on we were happy to see many birds and butterflies and last but not the least a wild tusker.  We did go for the Madhumalai safari in the evening which proved a little disappointing as not only did we not spot anything, but we later got to know that there had been a leopard and tiger sightings both in Bandipur and Madhumalai the previous day and morning in the normal safari route which we had skipped seeing the crowd.  Though the day proved to be good in a way it was when the evening was coming to a close giving way to the night sky we realized our hopes and Avinash’s gut feeling which was there from day 1 to spot a wild cat was not dyeing afterall, we literally jumped from our seats when we heard the distinct leopard calls in a distance.  This kept our hopes alive and we were there out the whole night patrolling the forest trying to trace those calls just keeping our fingers crossed and not to forget the Black Naped Hare and Spotted Deer’s who always kept us guessing in that flash light. The only thing we knew was the calls were coming from a close distance where there was a water hole.  The night ended with out much happening.

Day 3

It was early in the morning after a cold night with no sleep we were still hearing the leopard calls except that it seemed much closer and closer and then the magic had to happen when Avinash out of no where rushed outside with me keeping close behind him towards the water hole.  All we had with us was a flash light although we were sure the calls were coming from near the water hole which was just a few feet away.  All we could see through the flash light was the fire flies and then there it was the unmistakable look, the fearsome eyes, the call, and yes it was the leopard indeed.  We had it literally staring at us directly from that distance and the experience just cannot be put in words, the very sight seemed frighteningly beautiful and makes one realize how powerful and beautiful this animal is.  Though we could not manage to take any pictures we just have no regrets what so ever. The only sad thing being Adarsh was not as lucky this time around.

With having had such an exciting morning of having spotted a leopard in the wild to start with we never knew when day 2 ended and day 3 started for us.  We decided to take the Bandipur safari way back on our last day and as lady luck would have it we were lucky again. what were we to spot there oh yes Wild Dogs again first time for all the three of us just as one might think what else could one ask for we came across many birds, gaur, barking deer, sambar, spotted deer and yes how can I miss wild elephant with a baby.

Now this is not all we ended our trip with a visit to Ranganthittu and yes we had a river tern posing for us for a long time with the croc's close behind and other birds too.

As we headed towards the city we were just left speechless with the amazing experience we had in the last three days and this will remain as a wonderful memory for all of us.

And here is the list of all the birds and mammals we saw on the trip.

1)      Barn Owl

2)      Black Drongo

3)      Black Headed Bulbul

4)      Brahmini Kite

5)      Brahmini Starling

6)      Cattle Egret

7)      Common Myna

8)      Darter

9)      Greater Cormorant

10)  Hoopoe

11)  common Ibis

12)  Indian Robin

13)  Indian Roller

14)  Lesser Flame Back WP

15)  Little Egret

16)  Oriental Magpie Robin

17)  Marsh Harrier

18)  Night Heron

19)  Paraiah Kite

20)  Pied KF

21)  Indian Pond Heron

22)  Purple Moorhen

23)  Red Vented Bulbul

24)  Red Wattled Lapwing

25)  Red Whiskered Bulbul

26)  River Tern

27)  Rose Ringed Parakeet

28)  Rufous backed Shrike

29)  Spotted Dove

30)  Spotted Owlet

31)  Stone Plover

32)  Tickel's Blue Flycatcher

33)  White throated KF

34)  Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

      35)Jungle babler

      36) Cormorant

      37) House Sparrow

      38) Shikra

      39) Jungle Fowl

      40) White Breasted water Hen

      41) Jungle Myna

      42) White Browed Wagtail

      43) Coucal

      44) Indian Hawk Cuckoo (call )

      45) Common Hawk Cuckoo ( call )

    46) Purple Heron

    47) Blue Rock Pigeon

    48) Indian Peafowl

    49) Green Bee Eaters

    50) Streak Throated WoodPecker

Others

·                                 Panthera Pardus ( Leopard )

·                                 Wild Dog ‘s

·                                 Tusker

·                                 Chital / Spotted Deer

·                                 Sambar Deer

·                                 Barking Deer

·                                 Bonnet Macaque

·                                 Langur Macaque

·                                 A snake (Species Unknown)

·                                 Marsh Crocodile

·                                 Fruit Bats

·                                 Blue Mormon

·                                 Black Naped Hare