INDIA - CLASSIC HIMALAYAS TOUR REPORT 2022

Well, despite our bus driver arriving apparently when he wanted (some 40 minutes late) we had a good day. The drive towards Ramnagar and Corbett NP took around 8 hours but Sarus Crane, Bronze-winged Jacana, Temminck’s Stint, being seen on the drive. We arrived at the Serenity Resort and enjoyed a fine lunch, with Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrikes in the garden before driving just down the road for 10 minutes to the Kosi River. This is a massive, wide, boulder-strewn river where each winter a few Ibisbills spend the winter. It’s a bit like looking for the proverbial  ‘needle in a haystack’ and yet, 3 minutes after starting our scan we picked one up, then two, oh no three Ibisbills. Wow! The setting of rolling, forested, Himalayan foothills all around, the rushing, rocky Kosi River provided a dramatic backdrop to view this iconic wader. We spent over an hour soaking up the views and it was brilliant. A pair of Crested Kingfishers were fabulous too, and there was White-browed and Masked Wagtails, Plumbeous and White-capped Water-Redstarts, Grey-breasted Prinia, Indian Robin, Lineated Barbet and Grey Bushchat to add to the mix. What a great start!

Just half an hour or so along the road is an area called Kumeria and we spent the morning birding along a quiet track and beside the Kosi River. Walking down to the river we found a pair of Whistler’s Warblers beside the track and scoped a Lesser Fish-Eagle perched in a large tree across the rtiver. Perhaps the star bird along the fast flowing river was the apir of Crested Kingfishers we watched for some time and were able to get quite close to, even watching one bird catch a fish right in front of us. With Mahendra and Pawan searching the forest for owls we didn’t give it much hope, but unbelievably they found a cracking pair of Tawny Fish-Owls not that far up the slope from us. Quite some time was spent scoping and photographing them in the early morning sunshine. And then we made it a double whammy with a roosting Brown Fish-Owl a few hundred metres further along! Also here was Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Grey-hooded Warbler and Small Niltava. A quick stop for our packed breakfast found us along a side road where a flock of White-crested Laughingthrushes were showy, Rufous-bellied Niltava and Snowy-browed Flycatcher were nice sightings along with Cinereous and Himalayan Black-lored Tits, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. 

After lunch we went back into Corbett NP for another jeep safari and had Blue-bearded Bee-eater, many Yellow-footed Green-Pigeons, Bengal Bushlark, Tawny Pipit, Eurasian Wryneck, And good sightings of Asian Elephants, Sambar, Spotted Deer and Wild Boar.

Headed out at 6am and drove towards Cheer Point, stopping along the ay to watch 2 Black-throated Thrushes and a Grey-winged Blackbird feeding in the gloom along the road. Another pair of blackbirds were further up the hill and then we saw a flock of around 20 flying past. Once we reached high enough a flock of Altai Accentors appeared, and then we scored big-time with a male Koklass Pheasant calling back at us from his perch in a tree and then from a moss-covered rock, allowing fantastic looks through the scope. We followed this with arguably the most beautiful woodpecker in the world – Rufous-bellied Woodpecker feeding close by. However, try as we might, we just couldn’t locate any Cheer Pheasants at their usual spot, although Steppe Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, more accentors and a Himalayan Ghoral were seen. Driving lower we had a flock of Altai Accentors feeding beside the road. Once in the forest we had a busy time with Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Maroon Oriole, Spot-winged Coal Tit, Goldcrest, White-tailed Nuthatch, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Either side of lunch back at the lodge was enlivened by new sightings of Striated and Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Himalayan (Striated) Prinia and Common Rosefinch. 

In the afternoon we paid a visit to the Brown Wood Owl stakeout and had crippling looks at this giant of a bird. We followed this with a nice walk seeing a pair of  Blue-capped Redstarts, brief Himalayan Fantail, some showy Striated Laugingthrushes, Blue-fronted Redtsart, a tree of 52 Black-throated Thrushes with a further 6 scoped in a distant tree, 6 Kalij Pheasants crossing the road

Headed down to lower elevations and enjoyed a cracking 3.5 hours pre-breakfast birding session beginning with several Kalij Pheasants on the road. Once we began walking we had a pair of Grey-faced Woodpeckers, followed by Asian Barred Owlet and a superb Scaly-bellied Woodpecker that remained motionless on a branch for ages. We followed this with Himalayan Shrike-Babbler posing at the top of a tree below us, Red-breasted Parakeet (something of a rarity here), Blue-throated Barbet, flocks of Slaty-headed Parakeets, Himalayan Griffons, Eurasian Sparrowhawk,

We left after brunch and drove to Sat Tal stopping to search a small river for forktails, and finding Spotted Forktail,

Well, what can I say about today? Awesome, amazing, exciting, adventurous…. We began at a hide in the hills around Sat Tal where a feeding station has been set up attracting a good variety of species. Arriving at 6.30am it was still a little too dark and gloomy but already Grey-headed Woodpecker had arrived and was quickly followed by Green-backed Tit and a whole flock of Grey Treepies. A  bunch of Red-billed Blue Magpies joined the feeding frenzy and during this commotion of activity a lone Rufous-chinned Laughingthrush appeared low down amongst the foliage to our left. It remained there quietly on a log but never came in to feed and only hung around for a couple of minutes before flying across in front of us and disappearing into the forest below. Wow what a bird!

Over the course of the next 2.5 hours we enjoyed a veritable feast of scintillating close ups of some really spectacular birds. Both Greater and Lesser Yellownapes appeared frequently, a flock of Oriental Turtle Doves spent ages feeding in front of us, a single female Red Junglefowl came in briefly and some Russet Sparrows came in twice to feed. Other star birds included a bunch of Kalij Pheasants that hung around, a group of Red-billed Leiothrix looked stunning, Steaked Laughingthrush and Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babblers also came back repeatedly and a flock of White-crested Laughingthrushes added to the melee. A personal favourite were the two male Black Francolins that came in separately, with one individual showing nicely, whilst a female also loitered in the vegetation further away. A fine male Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch fed on one of the tree stumps in front of us, Grey-winged Blackbird, Blue Whistling-Thrush, Blue-winged Minla, Himalayan Bulbul, Brown-fronted Woodpecker and Indian White-eye completed the picture. Outside in the gadens, a few Green-tailed Sunbirds were seen along with a fine male Slaty-blue Flycatcher.

So we returned to the hotel for brunch before packing up and setting out on the long 7 hour drive to Gwaldam. Now things were getting interesting as we headed off into the wilds of the Himalayas , travelling to a really remote area and passing through spectacular scenery with the mightiest Himalayan peaks glowing in the late afternoon sun. We eventually reached our hotel at 7.00pm and settled in for a cold night!

Headed back down to the same area as yesterday afternoon, and as it was early morning we found a Himalayan Forest Thrush feeding quietly in the leaf litter. We jumped out of the csrs and scoped it and enjoyed decent views. Further down only the first car saw a Long-billed Thrush perched beside the road and despite a search we couldn’t relocate it. Moving further down the road we saw so many Spotted Forktails and Blue Whistling-Thrushes before arriving at our intended spot. This time we found Golden Bush-Robin, and saw all the same species as previous but couldn’t locate Black-throated Accentor no matter how hard we tried. However, a group of 6 female and a single bright red male Scarlet Finch were amazing and another contender for bird of the trip. We stayed with the group for ages as they fed on flowers a lot closer to the road than normal.

Driving up the road I scoped a Long-tailed Thrush up a tree but unfortunately no-one else saw it and we also had a flyby form Long-billed Thrush. Moving higher we saw a close Mountain Hawk-Eagle perched on a dead stump at eye level, and some flocks that held some nice birds such as our first Green Shrike-Babbler, Black-faced Warblers, Black-throated Bushtits, several Yellow-browed Tits, and other common species. We followed by our first Himalayan Monal was spotted on the hillside below us and positively glowed in the sun. A Lammergeier at the same spot flew over and then we had a line of Himalayan Griffon Vultures flew across the hillside, followed by Golden Eagle and a Black Eagle.

In the afternoon we stayed around camp and had a flock of White-throated Laughingthrushes feeding behind the kitchen, Ashy-throated Warbler, and Carmine had a Common Hill Partridge and he also got Pete onto his Scaly-bellied Woodpecker. A walk down the road didn’t provide much apart from a flock of White-collared Blackbirds and a Grey-winged Blackbird, Yellow-billed Blue Magpies, and some common species. Meanwhile back at camp Pete and Roberta had a pair of Variegated Laughingthrushes  coming to the drinking pool beside the kitchen to drink. What a day!

With a later breakfast we had a chance to bird the camp’s surrounding area and this proved rather successful as everyone caught up with Chestnut Thrush, and a Common Hill-Partridge was also seen by most of the group.. A pair of Variegated Laughingthrushes came to feed at the back of the kitchen, along with Scaly-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie. Leaving here we drove for just over an hour and began our search for one of the Himalayas most enigmatic and rarest birds – Yellow-rumped Honeyguide. We walked along a narrow slippery trail above a rushing torrent for some 400m to some bees nests on a cliff opposite us. Unfortunately the bees had deserted and we waited for a while but nothing showed, so walked back to the minibus and scanned the river from a bridge. A Spotted Forktail appeared, along with Brown Dipper but no honeyguides. According to recent Ebird reports the birds had been seen only a couple of days ago so we walked back up the slippery trail, but this time a little further up the narrow valley. Again nothing so we decided to check the bees nests again. Amazingly, as we starerd forlornly across the valley we could hear one calling and it was above us. And yes, there it was just 20 feet overhead on a bare branch through the canopy. Wow! We spent ages watching it and taking photos before leaving it well alone. A flock of Plain Martins at the river bridge were also new for the trip. And then we left on the long drive to Rikishek arriving well after dark. Along the way a Red-headed Viulture was seen…..