Birding and photography tour of North-East India

 

Rufous necked hornbill

 

DURATION: 9 days

DATES:  Mar 5^th – 13^th 2015

*Departure as per client’s convenient dates possible for groups of 4 or more.

From the grasslands of Kaziranga National Park, to the foothills of the Himalayas at Nameri, to the Eastern Himalayas in Eagles Nest, you will have an opportunity to view rare birds that are endemic to this region.

GETTING THERE AND AWAY: The trip starts and ends at Guwahati, capital of the state of Assam in the North-East region of India. Guwahati is connected to major metros of India by flight, and by rail.

DAY BY DAY ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrive at Guwahati, leave for Kaziranga, along the way stopping at water bodies to do some birding – you will be able to spot the Greater Adjutant stork. Arrive and check into hotel.Overnight: Kaziranga

Day 2:  Kaziranga National Park – with a trained naturalist guide you will scour the marshes, grasslands and woodlands of the National park, exploring for Bengal Florican, Grey-headed Lapwing, Kaleej Pheasant, Swamp Francolin, Pied Harrier, Pallas Fish-Eagle, Blue-naped Pitta, Slender-billed Babbler, Black-breasted Parrotbill and Spot-winged Starling. Greater Adjutant storks and other birds of this region. Kaziranga has about 500 bird species, we expect to spot around 150 during our stay. Kaziranga is more famous the world over for its mammals – the Indian Rhino, Swamp Deer, Wild Buffalo, Asian Elephant and
Hoolock Gibbon are some of the endangered mammals which are guaranteed in the national park. The tiger is also a possibility.

Day 3:  To Nameri (2 hours) – After breakfast, we drive to the Eco-Camp at Nameri. It is a well managed, comfortable, tented lodge with large and airy double tents with attached bathrooms (hot water in the taps, regular toilets) and an inviting
dining room which serves outstanding food. Nameri and Kaziranga share some birds but many forest birds are more easily seen in the mature evergreen forests of Nameri.

Eco-Camp is a good location for Oriental Hobby, Amur Falcon (only on passage), Daurian Redstart and a symphony of night birds comprising Asian Barred Owlet, Oriental Scops Owl and Brown Hawk-Owl. There have also been sightings of the Green
Cochoa, Pied Falconet and Chestnut-winged Cuckoo around the camp site. Nameri is one of the best sites for the White-winged Duck, our principal target there. The roosting sites of Great and Wreathed Hornbills provide an awesome spectacle of dozens of these birds settling in for the night. Large-tailed and Savannah) may be observed at dusk.

Day 4, 5, 6,7 : On the way up to Eaglenest on Day 4 (and on a subsequent downward excursion) we will stop at various locations up to 1000m to pick up the foothill specialties and reach the camp site inside Eaglenest by dusk. The use of jeeps provides us with a great deal of flexibility in choosing the altitudinal range to bird on any given day, depending on the weather, the degree of success on previous days and priorities of the visitors.

Sample list of birds: Rufous-bellied Hawk-Eagle, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-throated Hill-Partridge, Chestnut- breasted Hill-Partridge, Blyth’s Tragopan, Temminck’s Tragopan, Oriental Cuckoo, Himalayan (Tawny) Wood-Owl, Ward’s Trogon, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Golden-throated Barbet, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Darjeeling Pied- Woodpecker, Greater Yellownape, Bay Woodpecker, Grey- chinned Minivet, Mountain Bulbul, Maroon-backed Accentor, Scaly Thrush, Lesser Shortwing, White-browed Shortwing, Golden Bush-Robin, Rufous-breasted Bush- Robin, Blue-fronted Robin, Slaty-backed Forktail, Purple Cochoa, Bhutan (Streaked) Laughingthrush, Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler

Full list of birds that are targeted is below.

Day 8:  After breakfast drive from Eagles nest to Nameri (2 hours). Take a stop and do some gentle river rafting.  Late afternoon drive back to Guwahati and check into your guest house.

Overnight Guwahati

Day 9: Departure.

For details on cost etc. please leave a comment here or send us a mail on contactus@gypsyfeettravels.com

A brief note on the Eagles nest camp:

Eaglenest since April 2004 we has hosted 500+ visitors (more than half were foreign birders) and their experience and trip reports are a testimony to the comfortable campsites. Given the abundance of birds, and many special birds at that, our past experience is that visitors are loathe to return to the camp site between dawn and dusk. So the camp is organised to ensure that birders wake up each day with the requisite energy and enthusiasm to face another full day – with abundant and tasty food, hot
water baths, spacious walk-in tents with cots bearing warm mattresses, blankets, sleeping bags and hot water bottles (!).The toilet complex comes with bath cubicles, Western- and Indian-style lavatories, water tanks and improvised wash-basins – all portable to ensure that no visible trace at the end of the tour. The facilities are deliberately kept at a basic level to reduce our footprint in the wilderness, but without ignoring any of the essentials which detract from a full birding experience.

Bird list for Eagles nest:

Rufous-bellied Hawk-Eagle, Mountain
Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-throated Hill-Partridge, Chestnut-
breasted Hill-Partridge, Blyth’s Tragopan, Temminck’s
Tragopan, Oriental Cuckoo, Himalayan (Tawny) Wood-Owl,
Ward’s Trogon, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Golden-throated
Barbet, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Darjeeling Pied-
Woodpecker, Greater Yellownape, Bay Woodpecker, Grey-
chinned Minivet, Mountain Bulbul, Maroon-backed
Accentor, Scaly Thrush, Lesser Shortwing, White-browed
Shortwing, Golden Bush-Robin, Rufous-breasted Bush-
Robin, Blue-fronted Robin, Slaty-backed Forktail, Purple
Cochoa, Bhutan (Streaked) Laughingthrush, Blue-winged
Laughingthrush, Scaly
Laughingthrush, Bugun Liocichla, Coral-billed Scimitar-
Babbler, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Long-billed
Wren-Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler, Rufous-
throated Wren-Babbler, Bar-winged Wren-Babbler,
Spotted Wren-Babbler, Wedge-billed Wren-Babbler,
Golden Babbler, Black-headed Shrike-Babbler, Cutia,
Streak-throated Barwing, Gold-breasted Fulvetta,
Yellow-throated Fulvetta, Brown-throated Fulvetta,
Rufous-backed Sibia, Beautiful Sibia, Long-tailed Sibia,
White-naped Yuhina, Fire-tailed Myzornis,
Greater_Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Chestnut-headed
Tesia, Yellow-bellied Bush-Warbler, Broad-billed Warbler, Chestnut-crowned
Warbler, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Large Niltava,
Rufous-fronted Tit, Sultan Tit, Beautiful Nuthatch,
Brown-throated Tree-Creeper, Yellow-bellied
Flowerpecker, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Crimson-
browed Finch, Scarlet Finch, Grey-headed Bullfinch,
Gold-naped Finch and Yellow-billed Blue-Magpie.Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler
Wedge-billed Wren-Babbler