India, Raptor Wonderland

Home , Collared falconet, Crested serpent eagle, Eastern imperial eagle, Lesser fish eagle, Pied harrier, Sea eagle

India has a great diversity of bird persecuted or hunted. Thus many life, with some species being of individuals are relatively tame. We will get Palearctic origin, others African, to watch many Indian raptors up close, and still others originating in southeastern and with a little luck, a Tiger! Asia. There is even a greater diversity of diurnal raptors—an impressive 69 species, Tour visits Elephanta Island, Little Rann of of which we should see 50 or more, as well Kutch, and Velavedar, Kaziranga, Keoladeo, as many species of other animals. and Corbett National Parks, among other places, to maximize species coverage. While most of India is now under Don’t miss this once in a lifetime cultivation, some areas remain essentially opportunity to explore India for three natural; these areas are where we are weeks in search for raptors along with Bill going to ﬁnd our raptors. Clark and Sergio Seipke!

Indians have had a great reverence for Brahminy Kites are stunningly animal life; as a result, few animals are handsome. © R. DeCandido

White-bellied Sea Eagle © S. Seipke

Day 1 | 24 NOVEMBER Day 3 | 26 NOVEMBER

Arrive in Mumbai at Mumbai, India Fly early morning to Rajkot in Gujarat. We go (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, to the Little Rann of Kutch, where we may IATA code: BOM). Transfer to our hotel. see Imperial Eagles & Peregrines, and on the way, Red-headed Falcons. We should Day 2 | 25 NOVEMBER also see Tawny Eagle & Long-legged Buzzard. Kavery Hotel, Rajkot. All-day trip to Elephanta Island. We will travel by boat approx. an hour through Bombay Day 4 | 27 NOVEMBER harbor to this undisturbed island. Here we will climb to a peak and watch the all day Travel by road to Velavedar National Park, procession of ﬂying raptors (chairs are arriving at this wonderful grassland in the available to be carried to the top for a small afternoon in time to observe hundreds of fee). There is a pond on the nearby ridge harriers coming to roost. We will see Crested Serpent Eagle, juvenile. where many come to drink and loaf. We will Montagu's, Pallid, & Marsh Harriers © R. DeCandido see many Brahminy and Black Kites, as well perched and ﬂying by close. as Common Buzzard, Shikra, Black- Dinner and overnight in Bhavnagar. shouldered Kite, Booted Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, and others. Here is our best chance Day 5 | 28 NOVEMBER to see the White-bellied Sea Eagle. There is a nice restaurant on the island for lunch. Morning drive through Velavedar, then drive to Desert Coursers. After lunch we will drive into the Little Rann of Kutch to see wildlife,

Tour Map 0 200 400 kilometers

0 200 400 miles

30° N N C H I N A A Corbett NP T & Dhikala I S New Delhi BHUTAN K N A Gajuraula E P P A Agra L Bharatpur Kaziranga Guhawati Little Rann Desert & Keoladeo NP of Kutch Coursers NP A BANGL.

Ahmadabad I Rajkot Velavedar NP D MYANMAR Bhavnagar (BURMA) N Bay Arabian Mumbai & I of Sea Elephanta Bengal

75° E 90° E

Copyright © Raptours, L.L.C. 2014–2016. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without Raptours, LLC’s express consent. 2 especially Wild Asses, but also many raptors. observed in several hours. After lunch and a TARGE T SPECIES Desert Coursers. short rest, we continue with afternoon excursions into the park. We should be able 1. Osprey Day 6 | 29 NOVEMBER to see Spotted Owlet, Collared Scops Owl, 2. Black-shouldered Kite and Dusky Eagle-Owl. Perhaps we might 3. Brahminy Kite Morning drive through the Little Rann, then see a Brown Hawk-Owl. Bharatpur Forest 4. Black Kite on to Ahmadabad, where we catch our flight Lodge. 5. Black Baza to New Delhi. Dinner and overnight in New 6. Jerdon’s Baza Delhi. Day 13 | 6 DECEMBER 7. Crested Honey Buzzard 8. Crested Serpent Eagle Day 7 | 30 NOVEMBER Morning drive to Agra for a visit to the famous Taj Mahal. After lunch we start for 9. Short-toed Snake Eagle Early morning flight to Guhawati, then drive Corbett National Park, stopping for the night 10. Western Marsh Harrier to Kaziranga National Park. We should see at Gajuraula. 11. Eastern Marsh Harrier some raptors en route. 12. Montagu’s Harrier Day 14 | 7 DECEMBER 13. Pallid Harrier Day 8 | 1 DECEMBER 14. Pied Harrier Continue to Corbett National Park by vehicle, 15. Eurasian Sparrowhawk In Kaziranga we will see species more with stops to see interesting raptors. Quality 16. Shikra representative of southeastern Asia, such as Inn. 17. Crested Goshawk Jerdon’s & Black Bazas, Crested Goshawks, 18. White-bellied Sea Eagle & Pied and Striped Harriers. We will also see 8–9 DECEMBER Days 15–16 | 19. Pallas’s Fish Eagle Grey-headed Fishing Eagles, and maybe a 20. Lesser Fish Eagle Tiger. Excursions outside the park and up to the mountains to the north. We can expect to 21. Gray-headed Fish Eagle Day 9 | 2 DECEMBER see many of the species already observed 22. Long-legged Buzzard and in addition, see Changeable & 23. Common Buzzard Return to Guhawati to catch flight back to Mountain Hawk-Eagles, Rufous-bellied, & 24. Booted Eagle New Delhi. Dinner and overnight in New Black Eagles, Osprey, Eurasian 25. Tawny Eagle Delhi. Sparrowhawk, several species of vultures, 26. Steppe Eagle and Hen Harrier. Lunch at hotel or picnic 27. Eastern Imperial Eagle Day 10 | 3 DECEMBER lunch. Quality Inn. 28. Bonelli’s Eagle 29. Lesser Spotted Eagle Morning drive to Bharatpur, site of the Days 17–18 | 10–11 DECEMBER 30. Greater Spotted Eagle famous Keoladeo Park. Here we shall stay for 31. Indian Black Eagle a few exciting days. Bharatpur Forest Lodge. Inside Corbett Park to Dhikala. Here we 32. Changeable Hawk-Eagle should see Osprey, Lesser Fishing Eagle, & 33. Mountain Hawk-Eagle Days 11–12 | 4–5 DECEMBER Red-thighed Falconet, as well as many 34. Rufous-bellied Hawk-Eagle mentioned above, and maybe also a Tiger. Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur). We will 35. Collared Falconet We may see a Brown Fish Owl or other owl, continue to explore all corners of this 36. Common Kestrel if we are lucky. Forest Rest House, Dhikala. fascinating raptor concentration area. We 37. Eurasian Hobby should see many individuals of many Day 19 | 12 DECEMBER 38. Red-necked Falcon species, including Greater & Lesser 39. Peregrine Falcon Spotted, Pallas’ Fishing, Bonelli’s, Booted, Drive back to New Delhi. Claridge's Hotel. & Short-toed Eagles. Peregrine Falcon is MAMMALS almost always resident in winter. After Day 20 | 13 DECEMBER morning outings, we will return to the lodge 1. Tiger to sip tea or soda and watch the soaring Catch flights back home. 2. Greater One-horned Rhino raptors. Often as many as 12 species can be 3. Indian Elephant 4. Swamp Deer

Bill has been observing, studying, and photographing raptors for over 50 years. He TOUR LEADER coauthored the recently revised Hawks, the raptor field guide in the Peterson series and A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors. He has also published numerous articles on identification, migration, and distribution of birds of prey. Bill Clark Bill has traveled extensively in Mexico and is familiar with the raptors and other birds there. He has almost finished a raptor field guide for Mexico and Central America!

Bill speaks English and Spanish.

Sergio has observed and photographed raptors for the past 20 years. He was born in Argentina, and TOUR CO-LEADER enjoys helping others to search for and identify raptors.

Sergio is currently working on Raptors of South America, to be published by Princeton University Press, and the ﬁrst ﬁeld guide to the raptors of the Sergio Seipke region.

Sergio is the owner of Raptours, L.L.C. and carries on Bill Clark’s legacy of raptor touring.

Sergio speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese.

SUGGESTED FIELD GUIDES

ALI, S. and S.D. RIPLEY. 1983. A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Oxford U. Press, Bombay.

GRIMMET, R., C. INSKIPP, and T. INSKIPP. 2012. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. Helm Field Guides.

Make a difference!

RAPTOURS®, L.L.C. will make a ﬁnancial contribution to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary for every member that signs up for this tour. Join us on this tour and make a lasting contribution to raptor conservation.

Copyright © Raptours, L.L.C. 2014–2016. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without Raptours, LLC’s express consent. 4 Tour Details NEED TO KNOW TOUR PRICE WEATHER & CLOTHING

Tour price per person (to be announced) includes By November the monsoon has passed and very TOUR DATES & hotels (double occupancy), meals, soft drinks, tips, little rain is expected. It has probably the most AVAILABILIT Y entry fees, ground transportation, domestic pleasant weather all around, with cool evenings. flights, and guide services. Average temperatures reach highs around 24 Nov. – 13 Dec. 2015 90 °F / 32 °C, and average lows around Extra nights in Mumbai, alcoholic beverages, items 75 °F / 23 °C. The climate overall is sunny and dry. BOOKING CLOSES ON of personal nature, and insurance of any kind are not included. Hat and sunglasses are highly recommended for 1 September 2015 this tour. Sunscreen is also essential. DEET SINGLE SUPPLEMENT (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) is effective against GROUP SIZE LIMIT mosquito bites, and is highly recommended. Single supplement price is to be announced. 8 participants Single rooms will be subject to availability. HEALTH TOUR PRICE Roommates will be assigned to those participants There is no risk of yellow fever in India. The Indian willing to share a room. If a roommate is not government only requires proof of vaccinations To be announced against yellow fever if you are arriving from a available, you will be required to pay the single country with risk of yellow fever. supplement. SINGLE SUPPLEMENT Travel medical insurance is strongly COUNTRY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS To be announced recommended. Visit Government of India’s India Visa Online R APTOR SPECIES For detailed information on health precautions website to learn about entry requirements EXPEC TED and vaccines recommended for India visit CDC’s according to nationality and country of residence. website 6 weeks before departure. 50 DIFFICULT Y LOCAL CURRENCY COUNTRY ENTRY The level of difficulty of this tour is easy. No REQUIREMENTS Local currency in India is the Indian rupee, and strenuous hikes are involved. exchange rate is nearly 60 Indian rupees for Varies according to The only difficulty of this tour is keeping the count U.S. dollar. nationality and country of of the numbers of raptor species watched! It is recommended to start the trip with Indian residence rupees cash for expenses such as souvenirs, COMFOR T DIFFICULT Y drinks or phone calls. Accommodations range from good to excellent. Easy We will drive in a comfortable van. COMFOR T Guide-to-passenger ratio will be 1:4 or better. Good to Excellent

Mountain Hawk-Eagle WEATHER & CLOTHING © S. Seipke Mostly pleasant, with cool evenings | Bring a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. DEET recommended.

HEALTH

No risk of yellow fever but proof of vaccination may be Email Raptours, L.L.C. required upon arrival ([email protected]) to reserve your place in this tour, or book online LOC AL CURRENCY at www.raptoursllc.com. Indian rupee

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