Himalayan Birding with NatureClicks - Part 2
Day 4 (18-Feb-2018)
Today’s plan was to get
into the jungle for some specific species of birds. We intended to start early
as usual. Quick tea in the morning and we were out to a different location.
Little further from our resort, our guide spotted an Asian Barred Owlet. Barely
spent 10-15 there as we could not be late at the intended spot.
This was little far off
and we reached there after about an hour’s drive. Our target in that cold
weather was “European Goldfinch” but it seems we were little delayed in
reaching there and hence they could not be seen at the expected spot. We did see
them a little later but at some distance and had to remain content with record
shots.
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| European Goldfinch |
But around that place,
we could capture some other verities like “Yellow Breasted Green finch”, “Green
tailed Sunbird”, “Grey bushchat”, and few others. The mountains did offer us a
lovely vista as a bonus. The whole surrounding was looking magical in the
morning sun.
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| Green Tailed Sunbird |
We then moved towards
another hill area but on the way, we had breakfast at a roadside place.
Samosas, Chole-Puri and multiple rounds of tea made it a lovely breakfast in
that weather. Just outside on the road, we could also see
From there we moved on to another location in the hills. We did a small trek by descending about 2 to 3 hundred feet on a plain but failed to get any significant catch.
Getting down on that plane was a task but then coming up was an altogether different challenge. In that low-oxygen zone, even the 300 odd feet was a big trek. Carrying heavy lens along with tripod made it even more difficult. That was just that one occasion throughout our trip when we were sweating (and huffing and panting). At least for a few minutes, the jackets were off.
Till afternoon we could
get some more Thrushes and Tits. We then decided to head back to resort for
lunch. In-between, we kept seeing few more varities of birds, some we could
take good photos of and some we could just observe or listen. Either way, it is
anyway enjoyable. One of the species was “Bar Tailed Tree Creeper”, this bird
actually keeps moving on the tree bark (as if it is walking on it). And it’s
coloration allows it to gel seamlessly on the bark.
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| Treecreeper |
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| Roadside Action |
On the way, there was discussion
(between Abhay and Mikma on the possible spots) about the after-lunch trail. By
now, Abhay had got some information from his sources about sightings at one
other hide location (studio setup). This was also at a place close to our
resort (but in different direction from yesterday). That place had some local
disputes because of which it was closed some time ago but it seemed they just
opened again. We decided to take that chance after lunch.
Just as we were about to
have lunch, we saw a nice Wagtail inside the compound, there was no time to be
lost, the cameras came out immediately and we followed it’s movements for the
next 10 minutes.
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| Wagtail |
Around 3 o’clock we
ventured out of the resort, and did get an entry into the new hide. This was
more congested than the one we used earlier. There weren’t any charging
facilities either. We anyway had a couple of hours more before the day-end, so
thought of taking our chance.
The setup didn’t look
very promising but Abhay had some inside-info that he was banking on. First few
minutes, we could see the usual suspects “Leiothrix” and “White Throated Laughingthrush”.
But our luck was about to turn gold that day.
Within a few minutes, we
could see a group of the lovely “White Crested Laughingthrush”. That was
definitely a scene worth waiting. They came and just won our hearts
immediately. But wait, that was not all! Within next 10-15 minutes there
entered the “Rufous Throated Partridge”. Another set of colors, another rarity and huge round
of clicks followed.
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| White Crested Laughingthrush |
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| Rufous Throated Partridge |
We could observe both
the verities to our heart’s content.
Besides the two we could
also snap the “Chestnut Headed Laughingthrush” before day-break. All-in-all,
the decision to come here was just too good. Immediately we decided to come
here for another session tomorrow morning. Our plan actually was to check-out early
tomorrow and shift base to Pangot. But this location was just too juicy to miss
another go.
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| Chestnut Headed Laughingthrush |
We were back in the
resort by 6. Usual hot tea and snacks were waiting there. Dinner today was at 9
and then we headed to the rooms to pack our bags as we would be leaving this
place in the morning.
Day 5 (19-Feb-2018)
We had packed our bags
in the night and were now ready for the morning setup. With yesterday evenings
session going well, we thought of spending an hour again and then be back in
Hotel for breakfast and leave for Pangot.
Although we had seen
most of the target species here. The Green Magpie was still not seen and we
hoped to see it here.
We were once again
greeted by the White Crowned Laughingthrush and once again we had the fortune
of seeing another flock of “Kalij Pheasants”. Quickly following were the
Partridges. So the decision of having an additional session here was definitely
working for us.
Within next couple of
hours, we could see the usual Leiothrix, Woodpeckers and also the Slaty-Headed
Parakeets. Very soon even a Black-headed Jay made an entry there. Today we
could also get some nice images of the Himalayan Bulbul. Evem the
Blue-Whistling Thrush gave us some nice poses there. Around 10am, we could get
some photos of “Rufous Chinned Laughingthrush”, which we realized was another
rate variety.
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| Slaty Headed Parakeet |
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| Rufous Chinned Laughingthrush |
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| Himalayan Bulbul |
All of us knew we had to
make a move and start for Pangot, but everyone kept quiet (as we all wanted to
continue in this paradise). Finally by about 10:30 (we were there from 7 am),
Abhay signaled us for moving back. With heavy heart we started packing
things (and we probably were heavy as the makeshift table that was created for
seating inside the hide-out gave way to our weight, luckily there wasn’t any injury to
anyone).
We quickly had our things
moved into the vehicle and went for breakfast. Quick bite and we were on our
way to Pangot via Nainital. We said goodbye to our guide Mikma as we were to
have another local guide in Pangot.
We passed Nainital town
without stopping there but from one of the hills on the way, we had a nice view
of the Naini lake (from which the name Nainital is derived). Even the Himalayan
Mountain View was surreal.
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| Naini Lake |
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| Panoramic view of the Vallew |
By around 2 pm we
reached Kafal House in Pangot, our stay was arranged there. Since it was
already late, we immediately had our lunch. That place had a heritage
kind of look with old British style chair/dinning-tables.
One area I have
consistently missed during this tour is to take pictures of the places where we
stayed or had our meals that would have given a better feel while reading this
blog. Hope to rectify this mistake in next outings.
Our local guide (Mr.
Puran Joshi) was already waiting for us to finish our lunch. Our evening
session was at another hide (studio) located in the valley just below our
hotel. We had to walk down some 200 odd steps to reach there. This hide was
much smaller in size (could barely fit 4 of us there), and we could not stand
upright (as the ceiling was very low). We somehow made ourselves comfortable there
and eagerly waited for some new sightings.
For first half hour it
was Black-Headed Jays that occupied the field in front of us. One
mother/juvenile pair of barking deer made a quick visit but didn’t stay long.
The bird activity was very sporadic and we were fast losing interest. That’s
when our able guide located a few monkeys on the adjoining trees that was the deterrent
for the birds. He then rushed and managed to move the monkeys away thereby clearing
way for the birds to come in.
Slowly and steadily we started seeing "Streaked LaughingThrush", The Chestnut-crowned LaughingThrush. We soon had
the entry of Kalij Pheasants again.
At around 4:30, another barking
deer family was seen on the horizon. Their approach was very cautious and we
all kept complete silence, we even stopped making any movements during that
time. Within 10 minutes, they came ahead to drink the water.
And as the evening was
approaching, we got an additional bonus. In quick succession, our field had
visits from “Pink Browed Rosefinch”, “Hume’s Leaf Warbler” and one more bird that
we could not identify. The fascinating part was at every hide/studio, we could
see some different varieties (“Lifers” as they are called in birding parlance).
As the sun was setting
down, the visibility was dropping quickly, we ascended our steps back towards
our hotel. But the valley and the setting Sun made us stop there. We decided to
have our evening tea/biscuits in the lawn itself overlooking the nice hills. There
was just no way, we could have missed taking the Sunset pictures. And each
location has it’s own characteristic Sunset. Pangot was no exception.
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| Abhay taking selfie with the setting Sun |
The light dropped
quickly and pretty soon we were once again discussing about the nuances of photography. The usual chore
of taking HDD backups and so on. This place was even colder than Sattal. The temperature
after dinner (at about 10pm) was 3 degrees. But good part was, the rooms had a
heater and made it very comfortable really.
Day 6 (20-Feb-2018)
This was practically
going to be the last day of our trip (as tomorrow we would only be spending time on the airport and then in
the flight back home). The tea was served right at 6am on the doorsteps but some
of us were little delayed. We had planned to start by 6:15, ended up moving out by
6:45 instead. The bags were packed as such for check-out as we were to come
back from the trail and immediately start our return journey. We had packed our
breakfast for the trail too.
On the way, Puran (our
local guide) and Abhay made us aware that today’s target were the elusive “Koklass
Pheasant” and if we were super-lucky then the “Cheer Pheasant”.
We started from Pangot
and continued on way to a place called Vinayak. This place has the best chance
to see these rarities. The entire patch was hilly and very soon, there were
very few vehicles on the road (and all those were probably like us). Our guide
had asked us to keep all windows open (in that cold weather) as he did not
want to miss out on any bird-calls. On the way, we found a team of European
birders who had got down on the road and pointed there spotting-scopes towards
the deep ravine below. Their local guide asked us if we saw the Koklass as he
had heard the call coming from our direction. Our guides actually thought this
was a bluff as he did not want us to go further on the road and disturb their
chances of seeing one ahead. (But he wasn’t and in reality the vehicle that was
behind us, did see the Koklass crossing the road, and it waited there for 7
full minutes!! That's luck!!).
On one of the road
turns, we saw a different bird perched on the valley side, being in front-seat (with
Puran) it was difficult for me to take a photo but did that with help of Abhay.
The “Upland Pippit” remained there for a minute or so but by the time we
managed to get out of the vehicle, it flew away quickly.
We went further ahead
but there weren’t any calls audible. At one point, Puran got down and said he
will scout the further area on foot while we wait inside. We did get down there
though, not for stretching legs but Abhay had observed some bird activity at a
nearby water hole.
It was really a nice scene as all of sat-down on the road right on the edge of the ravine with our camera pointing towards the tiny water hole. One foot on the wrong-side and we could have had a fatal fall there but the excitement was amazing. We settled in that place and had just taken a few shots of “Coal Tit” and “Black-faced Babbler”, immediately there was a hushed cry from Puran who was literally running in our direction. He had sighted a Koklass Pheasant little further down. Immediately all of us started running on the road (luckily there were no other vehicles on that narrow road), as less noisily as possible we made it to the place but alas, the pheasant had disappeared in the valley below. We waited patiently for 10 more minutes but there weren’t any signs of it again!
It was really a nice scene as all of sat-down on the road right on the edge of the ravine with our camera pointing towards the tiny water hole. One foot on the wrong-side and we could have had a fatal fall there but the excitement was amazing. We settled in that place and had just taken a few shots of “Coal Tit” and “Black-faced Babbler”, immediately there was a hushed cry from Puran who was literally running in our direction. He had sighted a Koklass Pheasant little further down. Immediately all of us started running on the road (luckily there were no other vehicles on that narrow road), as less noisily as possible we made it to the place but alas, the pheasant had disappeared in the valley below. We waited patiently for 10 more minutes but there weren’t any signs of it again!
But that wait was not
entirely futile, we sighted another new variety, “Mistle Thrush” there. We saw
a pair little further down as well.
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| Coal Tit |
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| Black Faced Babbler |
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| Mistle Thrush |
We moved still further
and after about a km or two, Puran heard one call. We once again stopped the
vehicle, and listened intently. There were more calls, and our hopes suddenly
increased. All of tip-toed on one side of the vehicle (opposite to the hill
side as the calls were coming from up there). Puran went little ahead,
Bali-bhaiya backed a few steps and went in another direction. The setup was
ready and we were waiting eagerly for the show!!
Minutes went by but there
was no sign of the Koklass making its prized entry. After some time, Puran
asked us to come ahead one-by-one. The excitement was so much, we actually
thought we were moving ahead noiselessly (which was not possible with the
tripods and heavy cameras in that cold weather). He then showed us the Koklass
pheasant hiding behind a bush, it was definitely there (and as a proof we have
a record shot) but was not moving out at all. It has obviously seen us. Abhay
even attempted a stunt by going up from the far end (assuming the pheasant will
come down towards us). High Hopes!!! It quickly moved further up and wasn’t
seen at all anywhere.
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| Our guide waiting patiently |
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| Koklass Pheasant |
There was no point
waiting any further. All of a sudden, we realized the amazing Himalayan Mountains on
the other side of the road. In our excitement, this was completely missed.
We then decided to
return back as there was no further hope of sighting (as the day progresses,
the sighting becomes impossible). On way back, we waited at a small open area
and decided to have our breakfast there. While we were waiting, the European
team and their guide passed by, their guide also told us about their sighting
of Cheer Pheasants down below.
After breakfast, we
moved to the location from where they had seen Cheer. That valley was so deep,
there was no way to sight any bird in that dry grass. But Puran did find them
for us and we could get another record shot there.
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| 3 Cheer Pheasants visible in this picture |
Journey back to hotel
had its moments as well. We did sight some more birds on the way like the
plain-backed thrush. Every now and then we waited for photos but time was now
running out. We had to check-out from hotel and then head for the Kathgodam
station. Our train was in the evening but sometimes there are jams on the road,
it was therefore safer to start early.
Back to hotel and the
packed bags were moved to the vehicle quickly. Abhay had instructed not to pack
camera yet and that was a very wise move. This time while passing Nainital, we
did not wait for photos but further down we had to make a stop. There were
spangled drongos on show along with Slaty headed parakeets, black bulbuls and
so on.
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| Spangled (Hair Crested) Drongo |
Little further down,
Sanjay shouted a loud "wait...." pointing to a tree. There were times in this trip,
when Sanjay had asked us to wait but we ended up seeing something common. So
Abhay naturally ignored it saying its large-billed crow but Sanjay was
incessant this time, and he was right. There was Steppe Eagle seating on a tree
at eye-level, not more than 20 feet from the road. We had to get down once
again. Very soon we realized there were not 1 but 3 eagles in the vicinity and
all were perched very close to us.
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| Steppe Eagle |
Our cameras were still
not packed. It seems our lunch stop was at a small Dhaba where we were to see the
White crested Laughingthrush and possibly Green Magpie. By the time we reached
there it was about 3pm and they did not have any meals left. The only option
was to have tea and Maggi. But before we filled our stomachs, the White crested
show-stoppers made their appearance. Even the group of Leiothrix were very lively
there. It was a simple road-side Dhaba over another dep valley but the bird
sighting (right near the noisy traffic) was amazing.
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| Red Billed Leiothrix |
Now we finally got
orders to pack our bags including cameras there. Which meant this beautiful
trip was over.. what now remained was the tiring journey back home.
It was so boring for us
that there is no point going into it at length…. To Kathgodam by 6pm à train journey from
8:40pm to 4am next Day à Taxi to Delhi Airport à Long wait at Airport à Reached Mumbai on time
by 11:40 and back home by 1:30pm…
That was the end of a
memorable birding trip. Long but absolutely beautiful outing!
There were a few misses
this time but hope to make another trip there and correct the mistakes
then.. till then.. Bye!
