Nature watching in Matheran

I was last here 4 years back with a BNHS birding group and it felt great to be back in this amazing retreat from the madness of life in Mumbai. Matheran is one among the few successful examples of eco-friendly tourism developments in the country. Most of this tiny hill station has been declared pedestrian and that has really helped not only maintain its ecology but also its charm!Here's a few of photos of some local wildlife.. starting with the Mammals :

Starting with the Indian Palm Squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) also known as Three-Striped Palm Squirrel.. although these guys are all over the place here its not easy to get a decent photo of them, they are extremely wary of humans and move around too much - which in the tree covered light of Matheran can get tricky to shoot.

Next is a bunch of Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) , these fellows are notorious for harassing visitors - from stealing food, to biting to running away with your mobile phone these guys do it all given the chance.

a curious youngster..

the alpha male..

the thinker..

the cuddlers..

the scary (sleepy guy)..

one more of him from another angle.. and last but not the least

.. the guy who gives them all a bad name!! the guy who stole my Kurkure Crisps..

Walking around the various tree shaded trails of Matheran is a great experience

but every now and then the trail ends at breath taking panoramic points

offering amazing views of the surrounding hills!
Moving on here's a couple of Birds I managed to click decent pics off:

Before I left for Matheran, there was one bird I really wanted to see here again ... in a way to me seeing it was probably the best excuse to visit this place ... So you can imagine by delight when I was able to take a couple of decent photos of this sweet songster, here's the White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus)
and another angle!

An Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica)
Here's a few Butterflies:The Glassy Tiger (Parantica aglea)

A dry season form of the Common Evening Brown (Melanitis leda)
and a bunch of Common Bluebottles (Graphium sarpedon) (ironically the photo shows them mud-puddling next to a blue-coloured mineral water bottle cap!)

Next are the Dragonflies and Damselflies:A female Ditch Jewel (Brachythemis Contaminata)

A mating pair of Coromandel Marsh Dart (Ceriagrion Coromandelianum)
A Tricoloured Marsh Hawk (Orthetrum Luzonicum)

One more Tricoloured Marsh Hawk...

and an Ant:and to end this post about this magical place a few 'habitat' photos :

I hope to be back here soon ... Or probably during the Monsoons.. : )