Mundanthurai part of the Kalakkad mundanthurai tiger reserve is accessible to general public from morning to evening but we decided to stay for the night in one of the forest rest houses to roam around the forest roads.

Monkeys are curious animals and have great deal of individuality. We were roaming around the river when we had this group of monkeys who wanted to cross the river and the leader chose this path. While he jumped easily and crossed , it was not the same for others. Some chose to swim across and some chose to jump the 7 feet gap. For around 20 minutes it was absolute fun to watch them as they jumped and missed , jumped and crossed and swam across. I kept on clicking the jumps from various angles.

Mushrooms growing after a rain show the health of the soil. Since fungi are the most important decomposers their presence indicates that the soil is well conditioned.

This juvenile monitor lizard was clinging on to a tree for dear life because of some stupid tourists who kept throwing stones at him. I went ahead and gave everyone a piece of my mind and got them dispersed. We waited in the place for another 20 minutes to make sure that they did not return. It felt good to protect the little guy 🙂

Servalar dam is one of the three dams in Mundanthurai area. The dam stores water and produces electricity for few hours in a day. The sandy area is barren because water is not released but once the power generation starts the whole river is filled with fast flowing torrents.

Our best moment in the Mundanthurai visit. The Lesser fishing eagle (Haliaeetus humilis) is not an every day sighting. They are restricted to forest areas and are seldom found. We were lucky to find him 🙂

Memecylon plant is commonly known as ironwood and anjani in tamil. We are still discussing whether it is Memecylon umbellatum or the much more rarer Memecylon which is endemic to agasthyamalai.

Graphium nomius nomius – Indian Spot Swordtail was mud puddling near the river along with other butterflies. The Male butterflies do this activity to get minerals that help them in breeding.

The vernal hanging parrot (Loriculus vernalis) is a small parrot which is resident of India. This little parrot is mathi’s favorite bird as they do the most cute things like hanging upside down from a flower and are very talkative.

Just below the dam , a steady current ensures crystal clear water. The water was filled with fishes , so I decided to take a dip and use the snorkels to get a closer look.  We had got some underwater gears like snorkeling mask and an underwater camera  that we bought for our Anadaman island trip, so we decided to put it in use. Though I could not get the Needle-shaped fish, the rest were friendly enough to have a peek 🙂 I have uploaded a small clipping here.

The Jungle owlet, or Barred jungle owlet, (Glaucidium radiatum) is a small owl that resides in dense jungles. This little guy was sitting close to the road and watching the other side. We silently clicked and moved away.

This is not inside Mundanthurai. It is the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats characterized by dry vegetation and red soil. This particular picture was taken enroute to Mundanthurai and the mountain is part of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR).