Painted Stork and spotted deer, Nagarhole National Park, South India— Photo: K. David Bishop

VENT's tours to south of the Indian subcontinent have surprised participants with the richness of birds and other wildlife, the splendid accommodations, and the exquisite cuisine. Our Grand Southern India tour has been fine-tuned to increase our chances of a few of the more difficult endemics. This will permit a more relaxed pace and the opportunity to watch at length some of India's most magnificent mammals, including tiger, Asian elephant, Asian wild dog, gaur, sloth bear, Nilgiri langur, and, if we are very fortunate, the endangered lion-tailed macaque.

Our accommodations range from beautifully renovated British regimental barracks in Ooty, a classic hill station, to a Maharaja's palace in the graceful city of Mysore, and Kabini Lodge, located within roaring distance of Nagarhole National Park and some of Southern India's richest woodland and forest areas. The Western Ghats, a dramatic series of granitic mountains, extend along the entire western edge of the peninsula, rising from emerald-green lowlands garnished with paddies of ripening rice and a mosaic of deep, little-known forests. Here, a large number of species reside that are found nowhere else in the world (some are shared with neighboring Sri Lanka). We will make a special effort to locate as many of these species as possible, including Gray Junglefowl; Malabar Parakeet; Nilgiri Wood-Pigeon; Malabar Trogon; Malabar Gray Hornbill; White-bellied Treepie; Yellow-browed, Gray-headed, and the very local Yellow-throated bulbuls; Dark-fronted Babbler; Wynaad, Nilgiri, and Gray-breasted laughingthrushes; Black-and-Orange Flycatcher; Nilgiri Pipit; White-bellied Shortwing; and Loten's Sunbird.

Southern India is distinctly different from the north; life is more genteel, caressed by a balmy tropical winter and nurtured by frequent rains. Exotic Dravidian temples punctuate the lush countryside and add a special element to our journey. Our explorations will take us to the finest reserves in Southern India including Nagarhole and Periyar national parks, which contain the best concentrations of wildlife in the peninsula. In addition to the large number of endemic birds, we will also encounter a number of species rarely, if ever, recorded on our Northern India tours: Red Spurfowl, Pompadour Green-Pigeon, White-bellied and Heart-spotted woodpeckers, Indian Pitta, the rare White-bellied Minivet, Indian Scimitar-Babbler, Indian Blue Chat, Forest Wagtail, and Black-throated Munia. We will also encounter a large number of mammals ranging from the spectacular Indian giant squirrel to the impressively common leopard.

Excellent to very good, delightfully comfortable accommodations throughout, many located in the heart of the birding areas; travel by coach and jeep; climate generally very pleasant tending to warm in the middle of the day, and cool in the early morning and at night.