Bamboo Banks Farm is situated at the very edge of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary & National Park offering a plethora of opportunities for game viewing and photography. The deciduous forests of Bandipur National Park are also easily accessible.
The habitat ranges from semi evergreen, moist and dry deciduous, thorny open scrub and also includes swamps, dry grasslands and cultivated teak plantations. This variety of habitats are home to many species of animals, both predators and prey. The imposing white-socked Gaur and hundreds of Chital grazing in the grasslands, the majestic elephant foraging in herds, wild boar rooting by the road side - can all be witnessed here - and if lucky, you could even see a Tiger or Wild Dogs hunting in a pack. The calls of the Peacock, Jungle Fowl and Partridge merge with the song of the Mynas, Parakeets, Barbets and Cuckoos to fill the air.
Early morning and evening Safaris / elephant rides into the jungle are organized by Government agencies and our Travel Desk will make the necessary arrangements for your convenience.
On your drive to Bamboo Banks many animals are sighted on the main road in the jungle area. We earnestly request you to please;
· remain in your vehicle at all times,
· not feed the animals and
· keep the forest litter free
MUDUMALAI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY & NATIONAL PARK
Mudumalai, meaning "ancient hill range", was declared a sanctuary in 1940. Spread over an area of 321 km2, it is situated in the north eastern slopes of the Niligiri Range of the Western Ghats descending to the Mysore plateau and is at the trijunction of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states. It is bounded by the Moyar River and spectacular Gorge (as deep as 260 m in some places) to the north. Bandipur NP is north of this gorge and the Wynaad Wildlife Sanctuary is to the west.
BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARK & TIGER RESERVE
The 880 km2 park adjoins Mudumalai WLS to the north. To the northwest of Bandipur is Nagarhole NP. The park has one of the country’s first Tiger Reserves with a core zone of 523 km2 .
NILIGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE (UNESCO and the Indian Government)
These protected areas form a part of the Niligiri Biosphere Reserve (5500 km2), which is arguably the best remaining stretch of habitat for the Asiatic elephant.
The Garden and grounds of Bamboo Banks offer some excellent birding. Two hours in the early morning before breakfast should reveal the best part of 50 species.
The small coffee plantation behind the dining area is particularly rewarding, being home to the Indian pitta, paradise flycatcher, orange headed thrush, and Tickell’s blue flycatcher. It is regularly visited by roving parties consisting of woodpeckers, minivets, nuthatches, leaf birds, the black headed oriole, the coppersmith and the Southern endemic white cheeked barbet, together with a good variety of other species. Patience and a measure of luck may also reveal other flycatchers such as the Nilgiri and white bellied. The orange headed thrush favors the small fresh water conduit near the office building and can be joined there by the blue capped rock thrush and the Eurasian blackbird. The latter surprises Europeans who are more familiar with it in temperate London.
The flower garden near the Tank, occasionally visited by kingfishers, holds a large population of purple rumped sunbirds with the giant cherry tree in this garden hosting resident koels, with the Indian blue robin, emerald dove and blue bearded bee eater being occasional visitors.
To the North of the Coffee plantation in the field behind the stables it is easy to find two endemics of South India, the green billed malkoha and the white headed babblers. Other babblers are possibilities here, namely the Indian scimitar, the yellow eyed and the tawny bellied.
To the South of the coffee plantation the white browed bulbul and cuckoo shrikes frequent the bushes and are easier to find here than on the field to the North.
If birders find it difficult to reach the 100 mark after a day or so at Bamboo Banks, this can be rectified by a few forays to the adjacent areas such as the Marvakandi Dam, and the Singara Plantations with their large trees. The Dam has a resident population of spot billed duck and others such as cinnamon bittern, marsh harrier, and stork billed kingfisher can be seen. The Singara Road can add spangled and racket tailed drongos, fairy bluebird and crimson fronted barbet. The white bellied woodpecker, another Southern endemic, is easily found here.
At the time of writing, the vulture is making a comeback at Bamboo Banks, after nearing extinction in India, a flock of 35 white rumped vultures has recently been circling over Bamboo Banks and its nearby village of Masinagudi.
Contributed by:
P Ll Gwynn–Jones CVO,
Garter Principal King of Arms,
The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4BT. garter@college-of-arms.gov.uk
