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Ultimate Northeast India We had great views of the endearing Golden-breasted Fulvetta (Hannu Jännes). ULTIMATE NORTHEAST INDIA 31 MARCH / 2 - 23 APRIL 2019 TOUR LEADERS: HANNU JÄNNES This year’s Birdquest epic 24 day tour to the remote northeast corner of the Indian subcontinent was very successful and amassed nearly 500 species. The pre-tour extension to the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya proved a good start with both Dark-rumped Swift and Tawny-breasted Wren-Babbler. The grasslands and semi- deciduous forests of Orang National Park produced a magnificent Tiger and a pair of Brown Fish Owls, and from the Himalayan middle lands to the snowy heights of the Dirang Region, we enjoyed Snow Partridge, Blood Pheasant, Himalayan Monal, Black-tailed Crake, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, the first Naumann’s Thrush for India, a big movement of Fire-tailed Sunbirds and many gorgeous Grandalas. The magnificent Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary never disappoints, and we saw such gems as Rufous-necked Hornbill, Hodgson’s Frogmouth, Ward’s Trogon, Beautiful Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Rufous- 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Ultimate Northeast India www.birdquest-tours.com throated and Long-billed Wren-Babblers, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler and Bugun Liocichla. Briefly side tracking into Nagaland was rewarded with Yellow-throated Laughingthrush, a Birdquest lifer, whilst at the world famous Kaziranga National Park we were rewarded with Indian Grassbird, Slender-billed Babbler, Finn’s Weaver, Swamp Francolin and Greater Adjutant. The Assam Plains close to the Dibru Saikhowa National Park and mosaic of the floodplains on route to Roing brought us Bristled Grassbird, Marsh and Jerdon’s Babblers, and Black-breasted Parrotbill. In the remote Mishmi Hills we tracked down, amongst many other eastern Himalayan specialties, Sclater’s Monal, Cachar Wedge-billed Babbler, Rusty-throated Wren-Babbler, and Gould’s and Rusty-bellied Shortwings. The tour ended with a short visit to Digboi oilfields, where we were entertained by a gorgeous Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush. Mammals are also an important part of this tour and we had great encounters with Asian Elephant, Indian Rhinoceros, Swamp Deer, Asian (or wild Water) Buffalo and Red Goral amongst many others. Mammals are also an important part of this tour and we had great encounters with Indian Rhinoceros. The journey began with a pre-tour extension to the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, where we based ourselves in a comfortable guest house close to Cherrapunjee. After securing our first target bird, the range restricted and little-known Dark-rumped Swift at a scenic waterfall, we ate a quick lunch in a local restaurant before heading out again. The next target bird was Tawny-breasted Wren-Babbler, which we located easily in scrub and ferns along a side-track, but then getting acceptable views of it for everyone was another matter altogether! Whilst chasing the wren-babbler a massive rainstorm with heavy thunder hit and forced us indoors for almost the remainder of the day. Bad news as we only had one afternoon and one morning scheduled for Meghalaya. It was still raining when we woke early the next morning, but luckily the sky started to clear up and we were back in business. A busy morning in the Cherrapunjee area yielded a few more Tawny-breasted Wren- Babblers, Flavescent Bulbuls, Mountain Tailorbird, a couple of Black-throated Prinias (of the subspecies khasiana, a future split from the nominate subspecies, which occurs north of Brahmaputra) and Grey Sibias among other commoner species. Later we stopped at the Shillong ridge but didn’t see a great deal as it was already late in the day and the birds had gone quiet. According to the itinerary we were to drive back to 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: Ultimate Northeast India www.birdquest-tours.com Guwahati for the night and pick up the rest of the group for the main tour from the airport next morning, but, as there were no more participants joining in Guwahati, we decided to drive directly to Tezpur for the night as this would give us a chance to hit the Orang NP the next morning, instead of the afternoon visit as scheduled. Fire-tailed Sunbird along the Phudung road near Dirang (Hannu Jännes). We reached the gates of Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, close to the Brahmaputra River in the Assam plains, early in the morning, and saw interesting birds such as Black Baza, Plaintive and Indian Cuckoos, Common Hawk-Cuckoo and a Blue-bearded Bee-eater entering its nest hole on a bank of a shallow ditch, before being allowed to drive inside the park at 07.30. A miniature version of the better known Kaziranga, the site is dominated by open and semi-open grasslands that are managed primarily for the protection of the endangered Indian Rhinoceros. During our morning safari we explored various habitats of the national park spending most of our time scanning the vast grasslands. The absolute highlight of the morning was a male Tiger spotted by Romney, which provided us with prolonged scope views and even showed us Tiger hunting techniques. However, on this occasion the Hog Deer it chased was way too fast for it! The best birds of the drive were Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, a pair of Brown Fish Owls, several Asian Barred Owlets, two Brown Hawk-Owls, Grey-capped Pygmy and Fulvous-breasted Woodpeckers, Lesser Yellownape, Black-rumped and Greatear Flamebacks, two White-rumped Shamas and an Abbott’s Babbler. On the way back to Tezpur we had a roadside stop where we saw Pacific Golden Plovers, Bengal Bushlark and Richard’s and Paddyfield Pipits. After an overnight stay at a hotel in Tezpur, we headed into Arunachal Pradesh. Due to the ongoing massive road construction project along the traditional route to Dirang via Bhalukpong, we chose another, much less used route via Balemu and Rupa. Despite the long drive we made time for birding along the way, and during the day we had a good selection of East Himalayan birds at various altitudes. The birding highlights were a very vocal and showy Yellow-vented Warbler, great views of two Black-tailed Crakes at a minuscule roadside marsh, a male Pygmy Flycatcher, Golden Bush Robin, the only Ashy Bulbuls, Black-chinned Yuhinas, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch and Crested Kingfisher of the trip, and a Long-billed Plover on a stony riverside. With only two full days at our disposal in the Dirang region, it was not possible to wait for the ideal weather conditions to visit the lofty Se La pass at 4170m asl. As we began our high-altitude assault at 03.30 the next morning, the conditions, with heavy cloud cover, were less than ideal, but luckily, when we got close to the pass, the clouds became thinner and we even enjoyed long periods of sunshine during the day. We were extremely lucky with most of the target birds during the early morning and saw a magnificent pair of Blood 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: Ultimate Northeast India www.birdquest-tours.com Pheasants, a male Himalayan Monal (with great scope views), and a group of three very close Snow Partridges all before seven am! Later in the day we had really brilliant close-up views of Grandalas, which included many shiny blue males, Snow Pigeons, Red-billed Chough, Eurasian Wren, Alpine Thrush, Alpine Accentors, White-browed Bush Robin, Hodgson’s and White-throated Redstarts, Fire-tailed Sunbird, White- winged Grosbeak, Brandt’s Mountain Finches and Himalayan White-browed Rosefinches. Unfortunately, the Solitary Snipe we managed to find was very skittish and gave only fleeting glimpses for some. In the afternoon, on our way back to Dirang, we managed to add Little Forktail, Tickell’s Leaf Warbler, Bhutan Laughingthrush and Arunachal Macaque on our list. We had great views of Snow Partridge at Sela Pass (Hannu Jännes). The next site in the Dirang region, was Mandala and Phudung Roads, with their wide-ranging elevations and associated habitats, where we spent one full day and one morning. The cool upper levels with mixed oak, rhododendron and coniferous forests yielded Spotted Nutcracker, Yellow- billed Blue Magpie, Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-fronted Bushtit, Black-faced Laughingthrush, Brown-throated (or Ludlow’s) Fulvetta, Scaly-breasted Cupwing, Hume’s and Grey-sided Bush Warblers, Spotted Laughingthrush, and Rufous-vented and Stripe-throated Yuhinas. In addition, in a small clearing there was an amazing collection of thrushes, which included Alpine, several White-collared, a single Chestnut, five Black-throated, one Dusky and three birds showing a suite of Naumann’s Thrush features. Later I learned that two of these Naumann’s type birds were considered intermediates between this species and Dusky Thrush, but one of them was deemed to be ‘pure’ Naumann’s Thrush and represented the first documented record of the species for India! In an area of flowering rhododendrons, we managed to locate, after much searching, a beautiful Fire- tailed Myzornis, and the same area also held a large number, we estimated at least one hundred, Fire-tailed Sunbirds. Lower elevations of the Mandala road gave us Crimson-breasted and Rufous-bellied Woodpeckers, Blyth’s and Green Shrike-Babblers, Slender-billed Oriole, Eurasian Jay, Russet Bush Warbler, White-tailed Nuthatch, Tickell’s Thrush, Grey-winged Blackbird, Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher, 4 BirdQuest Tour Report: Ultimate Northeast India www.birdquest-tours.com Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Rufous-chinned Laughingthrush, a flock of six Spot- winged Grosbeaks, and Yellow-breasted Greenfinches. Rufous-fronted Bushtit along the Phudung road (Hannu Jännes). From Dirang we drove to Lamacamp in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary for a two night stay, stopping on route at a cliff face, where we saw a splendid Yellow-rumped Honeyguide and a riverside with a family party of Brown Dippers.
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