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4 Days around Mudumalai The mad rush in buses and trains ensured that I cannot go home to parents for the long Deepavali weekend. So I packed up and spent the 4 days at Masinagudi. I visited Ooty, Needle Rock View Point near Gudalur, Bandipur, Mudumalai, Kalhatty road for birding and bird photography. Especially the Needle Rock View Point was the best. The 4 hours that I spent there before tourists started arriving yielded good sightings of Nilgiri, Verditer and Paradise flycatchers. Some photographs of the first two species were also made possible. It was a memorable session. A highlight is that I had good sightings of Asian Paradise Flycatcher on three days at three different places, and at one place both the male and female were observed. Another major highlight is the sighting of a black panther at Mudumalai near Kargudi. It was a fleeting glimpse, and my subsequent discussions with experts confirmed the presence of a Black Panther around Kargudi in the Mudumalai forests. Birds observed were Verditer Flycatcher Asian Paradise Flycatcher (3 different sightings, male & female) Nilgiri Flycatcher Asian Brown Flycatcher Greater Coucal Grey Wagtail White Browed Wagtail Bay Backed Shrike Rufous Tailed Shrike Common Iora Banded Bay Cuckoo Black Eagle Crested Hawk Eagle Common Kestrel (Male and Female) Black Drongo Ashy Prinia White Browed Fantail Oriental Magpie Robin Pied Bushchat Indian Robin Oriental White Eye Red Whiskered Bulbul Red Vented Bulbul Chestnut Headed Beeeater White Throated Kingfisher Grey Junglefowl Peafowl Jungle Babbler Shikra Purple Sunbird Purple Rumped Sunbird Spotted Dove Jungle Myna Common Myna House Sparrow Large Billed Crow House Crow And animals - Gaur Elephants Common Langur Bonnet Macaque Wild Boar Sambar Chital Malabar Giant Squirrel Black Panther (Theppakkad - Gudalur Road - fleeting glimpse - 13th Nov 2004 - 1400Hrs)