Mukkurthi - Photographer's Paradise

45 Km from Ooty, Mukurthi is located on the high altitudes of the Nilgiris. Primarily grassland, characteristically interspersed with Sholas & loads of beautiful brooks.

There are 7846 hectares of reserved forests all of which has been declared as a National Park. Entry is possible only with permission from the forest dept. For more details contact the Wildlife Warden, Mahalingam buildings, Coonoor Road, Udhagamandalam – 643 001.

We reached Ooty at 4am in the morning, got a jeep & proceeded to Upper Bhavani, thats where the restricted area starts, We had in the jeep a forest guard & 2 watchers who doubled as cooks. Stay was at the bangitapal forest rest house. Other stay options includeForest Rest House at Avalanche, Pykara and trekking sheds.

There is a lot of wildlife in these areas, but dont expect any great sighting if you can stay only for a day or so. If you are lucky then you might spot.

We had direct sighting of Boars, Bisons, Sambhar deer, Spotted Deer. Birds sighted included the Nilgiri Laughing Thrush, Pied Bushchats, Red Whiskered Bulbuls, Drongos, Grey headed flycatcher, Oriental white eye, Kestrels, Black shouldered kite, Black kite, Common Buzzard and a lot more I couldn't identify.

I will be posting more details of my trip soon. For now, here's a link to pictures from Mukkurthi