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From floodplains of the Brahmaputra river
to the Eastern Himalayas – Kaziranga National Park, Nameri
National Park (Assam) and Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary
(Arunachal Pradesh)
Suitable time: November to early May
Owing to its unique position at the confluence of the
Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese and Indian biogeographical regions
and its varied physiography north-east India supports rich
biodiversity. Compared to north India the area has been
poorly explored by birdwatchers. On this tour we will visit
Kaziranga National Park, one of the finest parks in Asia,
Nameri National Park and Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary,
a “hot spot” from where a new species of Liocichla was
found recently.
Kaziranga National Park
Kaziranga National Park is situated in the floodplains
of river Brahmaputra and is known for its three big mammals,
Indian Rhinoceros, Wild Water Buffalo and Asian Elephant.
Other speciality mammals of Kaziranga are Swamp Deer and
Hoolock Gibbon. Birdlife is diverse and we will be looking
for Bengal Florican, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Pied Falconet,
Great Myna, Finn’s Weaver, White-throated Bulbul, and Black-backed
Forktail. We will be birding from jeep or elephant (one
ride mainly to watch Bengal Florican). During our stay
we will be visiting various ranges of the park and forest
of Panbari so that different habitats in the park – grasslands,
marshes, jheels and forests are well covered.
Nameri National Park
Nestled on the foot of the eastern Himalayas on the northern
edge of Assam plains are the beautiful forests of Nameri
National Park, accessible only after crossing the river
Jia Bhareli. This underestimated birding site has an impressive
bird list of more than 375 species. We will visit a part
of the park after a boat ride across the river and explore
this interesting area on foot. Specialties that we will
be looking for include rarities like White-winged Duck,
White-cheeked Partridge, Blyth’s Kingfisher, Oriental Hobby,
Black Baza and Blue-naped Pitta. Nameri and Kaziranga share
some birds but many forest birds are easily seen in Nameri.
Ibisbill is quite regular between November and early April.
We will take a rafting trip on the river to check up this
interesting wader. The rafting also gives opportunity to
see Great Thick-knee, Wreathed Hornbill, White-capped River-chat
and the rare Long-billed Plover.
Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary
After Assam the focus of our tour would be Eaglenest
Wildlife Sanctuary, nestled in the Dafla Hills of the eastern
Himalayas. Eaglenest and adjoining areas (Sessa Orchid
and Pakhui Sanctuary) are among the last large tracts of
contiguous wilderness in India and part of the East Himalayan
Bird Area. An advantage Eaglenest has over other areas
in Arunachal Pradesh is a jeep track cutting through the
park from the pass at 2900 m down to the floodplains of
Assam at 100 m. Our strategy would be to watch birds at
different altitudes, therefore, we will camp at least at
two sites. We will watch birds in tropical and semi tropical
forests, broadleaved temperate forests (1800-2800 m) and
coniferous temperate forests (above 2800 m). Birding is
on foot along the jeep track but we will frequently use
our vehicles to cover distance. Our target birds would
be Temminck’s and Blyth’s Tragopan, Rufous-necked Hornbill,
Ward’s Trogon, Lesser and White-browed Shortwings, Beautiful
Nuthatch, Wedge-billed Wren Babbler, Fire-tailed Myzornis.
There is a possibility of finding Bugun Liocichla near
Lama Camp, a new species to the science. We will look for
woodpeckers (14 species) Barbets (6 species) Tits (8 species)
Laughingthrushes (12 species) Barwings (3 species) Minlas
(3 species) Fulvettas (7 species) Parrotbills (4 species)
and good variety of leaf warblers and yuhinas. The sanctuary
also has interesting mammals including Clouded Leopard,
Red Panda, Pallas’s Squirrel, Southern Serow, Himalayan
Goral. Elephants occasionally also appear in the sanctuary.
Day 1: Delhi to Guwahati
The tour begins with the morning flight to Guwahati from
Delhi . Leaving Guwahati airport we will travel by road
to Kaziranga. Our journey will take about six hours and
follow the course of the Brahmaputra river. We will stop
to watch Greater Adjutant and Lesser Adjutant Storks on
the way and explore a suitable habitat for White-vented
Myna and Eastern burmanicus race of Baya Weaver.
If we are lucky, we may spot the elusive Finn’s Weaver
in the mixed weaver flocks.
Night stay at a wildlife lodge at Kaziranga.
Day 2 to 4: Kaziranga National Park
We will go for open-top jeep drive (walking is restricted)
to see the birds and mammals in the park in the morning
and evening. One morning we will walk in the Panbari forest
and adjacent tea plantation to find woodland birds. To
watch the rare Bengal Florican we will use an elephant
to find the bustard in the grassland. Indian Rhinoceros,
Indian Elephant, Wild Water Buffalo, Swamp and Hog Deer
can not be missed in the park. Hoolock Gibbon, Capped Langurs
and Smooth Indian Otter are the other mammals of the park.
There are good numbers of Tigers in the reserve but due
to high grasses one generally needs a good amount of luck
to come across one. We will look for Grey-headed Lapwing,
Kaleej Pheasent, Swamp Francolin, Pied Harrier, Pallas’s
Fish-Eagle, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Green-billed Malkoha, Lesser
Coucal, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthush,
Chestnut-capped Babbler, Pale-chinned Flycatcher, Ruby-cheeked
Sunbird, Green Magpie and more birds during three full
days.
Night stay at a wildlife lodge at Kaziranga.
Day 5: Kaziranga to Nameri
In the morning we will drive to Nameri National Park via
Tezpur on the bank of the Brahmaputra river. There is a
good possibility of adding a few more forest birds during
our stay in Nameri including the rare White-winged Duck.
After lunch we will explore the area around the camp and
species we may encounter include Oriental Hobby, Red-breasted
Parakeet, Greater Yellownape, Lineated and Blue-throated
Barbets and Orange-bellied Leafbird.
Night stayat a wildlife tented camp.
Day 6: Nameri National Park
We will cross the Jia Bhareli river in a small boat in
the morning and walk in the forest and woodland habitats.
Our main target would be White-winged Duck. In the open
areas of the park we will look for the threatened Pallas’s
Fish-Eagle and widespread species like Oriental Honey-Buzzard,
Crested Serpent Eagle, Common Kestrel and Peregrine Falcon.
Nameri is a good place to look for raptor specialities
like Oriental Hobby and Pied Falconet. Forest species we
are likely to encounter include Red-breasted Parakeet,
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Greater
Yellownape, Lineated and Blue-throated Barbets, Great Pied
Hornbill, Lesser Coucal, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Maroon
Oriole, Streaked Spiderhunter and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker.
There will also be variety of doves and pigeons - Barred
Cuckoo-Dove, Oriental Turtle, Spotted and Emerald Doves,
Wedge-tailed, Pin-tailed, Ashy-headed Green (split from
Pompadour) and Green Imperial Pigeons. In mixed hunting
parties we would see Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Pied Flycatcher-Shrike,
Long-tailed and Scarlet Minivets, Large Woodshrike, White-throated
Fantail, Common Iora, Sultan Tit, Yellow-browed, Greenish
and Grey-hooded Warblers and Chestnut-bellied and Velvet-fronted
Nuthatches. Other species that we should find include Himalayan
Swiftlet, Asian Palm-Swift, Himalayan Black Bulbuls, Asian
Fairy Bluebird and Ashy and Spangled Drongos. We will take
a rafting trip on the river Jia Bhareli to look for the
elegant Ibisbill and Great Thick-knee.
Night stay at a wildlife tented camp.
Day 7: Nameri to Eaglenest Wildlife sanctuary via Bhalukpong
After breakfast we will drive to Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary
in Arunachal Pradesh via Bhalukpong check post (restricted
area permits of foreigners are checked here). The drive
beyond Bhalukpong is relatively unexplored and full of
surprises and it is possible to watch birds from the road
up to Tenga as this passes through eastern border of the
Eaglenest and Sessa sanctuaries. Birds like Rufous-necked
Hornbill, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Spotted Wren Babbler,
Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbill and Fire-tailed Myzornis
can turn up on this drive. We should reach in time for
lunch at Lama Camp (around this camp there are good possibilities
of Bugun Liocichla). Birding around the camp is usually
excellent. Other specialties near the camp include Long-tailed
Thrush, Bhutan Laughingthrush, Lesser, Oriental and Hodgson’s
Hawk Cuckoo, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Red-headed and Grey-headed
Bullfinches.
Night stay at Lama Camp.
Day 8 to 12: Eaglenest (600-2900 m)
During our full five days in Eaglenest we will be mostly
walking/birding on the jeep track passing through temperate
cloud forest, patches of broadleaved evergreen forest and
dense stands of bamboo in the sanctuary covering large
altitudinal range. The road descends from Eaglenest Pass
(highest point on the track circa 2900 m) close to the
northern border of the sanctuary (Lama Camp) to the Brahmaputra
plains (100 m) in the south and Sunderview, Bompu and Sessni
are the camps that lie along the track in a descending
order of altitude.
The camp sites in Lama Camp (2350 m), Bompu (1940 m) and
Sessni (1250) offer basic but comfortable tented accommodation.
We will use at least two camp sites during our stay. During
our stay we can encounter birds like Rufous-bellied and
Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-throated and Chestnut-breasted
Partridge, Blyth’s and Temminck’s Tragopans, Tawny Wood-Owl,
Specked and Ashy Wood Pigeons, Rufous-necked Hornbill,
Ward’s Trogon, Chestnut-winged and Indian Cuckoos, Bay
and Pale-headed Woodpeckers, Grey-chinned Minivet, Blue-fronted
Robin, Golden Bush-Robin, Spotted, Grey-sided, Scaly and
Black-faced Laughingthrushes, Red-faced Liocichla, Coral-billed
and Slender-billed Scimitar-Babblers, Wedge-billed, Eye-browed,
Bar-winged, Long-billed and Spotted Wren Babblers, Golden
Babbler, Black-headed Shrike-Babbler, Cutia, Black-eared
and Green Shrike-Babblers, Red-tailed and Blue-winged Minlas,
Golden-breasted, Brown-throated, Streak-throated and Yellow-throated
Fulvettas, Beautiful and Rufous-backed Sibias, Rufous-vented
and White-naped Yuhinas, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Red-billed
Leiothrix, Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Hoary-throated,
Streaked-throated and Rusty fronted Barwings, Chestnut-headed,
Slaty-bellied and Yellow-bellied Tesias, Yelow-bellied
Bush-Warbler, Broad-billed and Chestnut-crowned Warblers,
Vivid and Large Niltavas, Ultramarine, Sapphire, Slaty-blue,
Dark-sided and White-gorgeted Flycatchers, Mrs Gould’s
and Fire-tailed Sunbirds, Yellow-browed, Rufous-vented
, Fire-capped, Rufous-fronted and Sultan Tits, White-tailed
and Beautiful Nuthatches, Rusty-flanked and Brown-throated
Treecreepers, Yellow-bellied and Fire-breasted Flowerpeckers,
Collared and White-winged Grosbeaks, Scarlet and Gold-naped
Finches, Grey-headed and Brown Bullfinches and Yellow-billed
Blue-Magpie.
Night stay in tented accommodations.
Day 13: Eaglenest and drive to Nameri
After morning session of birding around our camp site
in Eaglenest, we will bird our way down to Nameri for the
night.
Night stay at a wildlife tented camp.
Day 14: Drive to Guwahati
After morning birding around the camp site at Nameri,
we will drive for 5 hours to catch our flight to Delhi.
Accommodation
We will use comfortable wildlife lodge at Kaziranga, permanent
and comfortable wildlife tented accommodation at Nameri
and tented accommodations at two campsites at Eaglenest.
Transport
Domestic flights from Delhi to Guwahati and back to Delhi.
In Assam and Arunachal Pradesh we will use cars or jeeps
and on the game-drives in Kaziranga we will be in 4 x 4
jeeps. At Nameri we will use boat to cross the river. At
Panbari, Nameri and Eaglenest we will be walking. To avoid
any discomfort, at Eaglenest where all our birding is on
foot, vehicles will be kept handy.
Climate
Kaziranga and Nameri are expected to be warm and moderately
humid in the middle of the day. During jeep rides in morning
and evening it is expected to be cool. Eaglenest would
be cooler depending on the altitude of the camp. Rain protection
is recommended at all locations.
Photography
Kaziranga offers excellent opportunities of photographing
big mammals. Nameri and Eaglenest are great places for
bird photography, though the light conditions can vary
depending upon weather.
Extensions
A four days extension to Dirang (1500-4500
m) can be arranged. Areas around Dirang and Sela Pass (4500
m) are very good for certain specialties. Himalayan Monal,
Blood Pheasent, Grandala, Long-billed Plover, Spotted Laughingthrush
and Beautiful Rosefinch are quite regularly encountered
in this area.
There is option of visiting Dibru-Saikhowa near
Tinsukhia in eastern Assam for a four day extension. The
sanctuary encompasses a mosaic of seasonally flooded forest,
grassy areas between shallow wetlands and arms of the river
Dibru. We can get specialized grassland and swamp forest
birds such as the threatened Marsh and Jerdon’s Babbler,
Black-throated Parrotbill, Rufous-vented Prinia and Jerdon’s
Bushchat in the sanctuary.
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