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There are several good hotels
at Guwahati. On our tours we use the Brahmaputra Ashok, The Bellevue, and
the Raj Mahal
You need one night transit halt, at Guwahati with half a day for birding.
Kaziranga National Park &
Panbari Reserve Forest


The World Heritage Kaziranga
National Park is a highly reputed wild life protected area, located in
Assam. The Park has more than 70% of the world's one-horned rhino.
Population, 70% of the world population of the Eastern Swamp Deer and 75% of
the world's wild Asiatic water buffalo. It has a significant population of
the Asian Elephant. You are not allowed to walk inside the reserve. Birding
is by jeep and Elephant.
The Park also has more than 450 species of birds,18 of them are globally
threatened species. Because of the varied habitat types that the Park
comprises of, as also of the strict protection accorded to them, birding in
Kaziranga is very special. The varied terrain provides habitat for wet land,
grassland, and woodland species The Bengal Florican is the main attraction.
You should also be able to see a good variety of raptors.
The Eastern Range of the park is good for water birds such as Falcated Teal,
White-eyed Pochard and spot-billed pelican (a colony of 200 pairs is located
in this range). For grassland birds the Western Range is ideal. The Bengal
Florican can be seen during the elephant ride in the Central Range. The
nearby Panbari Reserved Forest is good for woodland birds such as
yellow-vented Warbler, great Hornbill, and redheaded Trogon. .Other
interesting birds include Green-backed Heron, White bellied Heron (rare),
Lesser and greater Adjutants, Black-necked Storks, Spoonbill, Grey-headed
and Pallas's Fish-eagle (common), Swamp Francolin (common), Grey-headed
Lapwing, Black-bellied tern, Marsh Babbler, Jordan's Bushchat (rare)
White-throated Bushchat and many more.
Other birds recorded by us: Lineated Barbet, Blue-eared Barbet, Blue-bearded
Bee-eater, Spotted Redshank, River Lapwing, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Pied
Harrier, Spot-billed Pelican, Black-necked Stork, Rosy Minivet, Spot-winged
Starling, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Streaked
Spiderhunter, Forest Wagtail, Blyth's Pipit, Yellow-breasted Bunting..
The best time to visit is Nov to Mar.
To get to Kaziranga, you have
to fly in from Delhi, Bagdogra or Kolkotta to Guwahati. or Jorhat. Kaziranga
is 220 Kms East of Guwahati ( 04.30 hours). It is 89 Kms from Jorhat (02
hours) You get to the birding sites by jeep, on elephant and by walking.
For birding, a minimum of 04 days is suggested.
Manas National Park &
Tiger Reserve
Manas national
Park located in Assam state is a fascinating and scenic sanctuary. It is a
world heritage site, a project tiger reserve and a biosphere reserve.
The park straddles two rivers, the Manas and its tributary the Hakua, along
the Assam-Bhutan border at an altitude of 61m to 110m. Both countries have
cooperated to create 3500 square kilometers of protected forests. The
core-zone, the Manas National Park, is a pristine wildlife habitat of 520 sq
Kms. There is a buffer of 2317 sq kms. The habitat comprises sal forests,
both virgin and degraded, moist-deciduous forests, isolated patches of
evergreen forests, riverine forests, grasslands of both Savannah and Terai
types, and miscellaneous forests.
Manas habitat provides an excellent abode to the tiger as well as to its
prey species The tiger population was estimated to be 89 during the 1997
tiger census.
Top
Manas has a very special biosphere. 374 species of dicots and 139 species of
monocots have been recorded in the National Park. The Park hosts more than a
100 mammal species. Some of the highly endangered species listed in the IUCN
Red Data Book are; the rare Golden langur, Hispid hare, and Pygmy hog. Other
species include the one horned Rhino, Wild Buffalos, Elephants, Gaur, Swamp
Deer, Capped Langur, Clouded leopard, Marbled, Fishing and Leopard cats,
Various Civets, Eurasian Otter, Slow Loris, Black Giant Squirrel, three
striped palm squirrel, five striped palm squirrel, Malayan giant squirrel,
Assamese macaque, Indian fox, Red fox, Himalayan black bear, Sloth bear,
Yellow throated marten, Chinese badger, Yellow bellied weasel, Indian
pangolin, Indian porcupine, and River Dolphin.
The park, boasts a rich and diverse avian population with a check- list of
over 380 species. It has the largest population of Bengal Florican in the
World. Other notable grassland birds are Swamp Florican, Pied Harrier, Black
Francolin, Blunt winged warbler, Pale –footed Bush Warbler, White tailed
Ruby throat, Finn’s Weaver, Bright headed Cisticolas, Striated and Chesnut-
capped Babblers, Rain and Blue - Breasted Quails, Lesser Coucal, Bengal
Bushlark, Grass Owl, and Black-headed Munia..
Forest birds
include, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Collared Falconet, Ashy Wood pigeon,
Mountain Scoops Owl, Spot belied Eagle Owl, Brown & Tawny Fish Owl, Red
Headed Trogon, Blue - Bearded Bee - Eater, Wreathed, Oriental Pied and Great
Hornbills, Long - tailed Broadbill, Indian, Hooded and Blue Pitta, Himalayan
Flameback, Maroon Oriole, Rosy Minavet, Scaly Laughing Thrush, Pygmy Blue
Flycatcher,Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, Grey-winged Blackbird, Black throated Tit,
Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Ruby cheeked and Mrs Gould’s sunbird,
Rufus-vented laughing thrush, and others.
Along the Manas River you are likely to spot, Little Heron, Ruddy Shelduck,
Commom Merganser, Osprey, Great Thick Knee, River Lapwing, Small Pratincole,
River and Black belied Terns, Crested and Pied Kingfishers, and Ibisbill.
To get to Manas,
you have to fly in from Delhi, Bagdogra or Kolkotta to Guwahati. And then
drive to Barpeta Road – the entry point. This is 32 Kms North West of
Guwahati and the drive takes about 04 hours. Mothunguri Forest Rest House
inside the Sanctuary is another 40 Kms away along a forest track.
Barpeta Road lies on the main highway connecting North Bengal with Assam and
can therefore be accessed from Kalimpong, Darjeeling or Phuntsholing.
To enter the sanctuary you need permits from the Field Director Manas
Project Tiger, located at Barpeta Road.
The best
accomodation is at Bansbari – just outside the Park at the
privately run Golden Langur Resort. However it is preferable for birders to
stay at the Mothunguri Forest Rest House – Simple clean rooms.
Birding is by jeep, and on Elephant. It is also possible to walk within
the park with permission from the Field Director and accompanied by a forest
guard. A boat trip down the Manas River is a good way to spot mammals and
birds in river and swamp habitats.
For birding, a minimum of 04 days is suggested. We arrange for stays inside
the park, with birding and wild-watch trips by jeep, elephant, on foot and
by boat, accompanied by local guides.
Nameri
National Park
Located in the state of Assam,250 kms from Guwahati and
80 kms from Kaziranga, and 38 Kms from Tezpur, the sanctuary lies astride a
25 kms stretch of river Jai – Bhoroli, on the edge of a huge wilderness
area. It is a treasure house of sub-tropical flora, on the border of Arunachal Pradesh. It preserves, Leopard, Tiger, Bison, Elephant, Wild Boar,
Himalayan Bear, capped Langur, Giant Squirrel, and the endangered Hispid
Hare. To get to the sanctuary one has to cross the fast flowing snow-fed
Bhorelli river The habitat is diverse. It has 350 species of birds. Known to
be a good place to sight the rare white-winged
woodduck ( out of a world population of around 700, 50
are residents here), Ibisbill, Ruddy. Kingfisher, wreathed hornbill,
Blue-eared kingfisher and green cochoa(very rare). Other species in
abundance are Mainas, Bee eaters, Barbets, Babblers, Bulbuls, and Plovers,
You can also see King Vultures, Fishing Eagles, Black necked storks and
other migratory birds. Birding is on foot or by boat.
You can reach the park by car from Kaziranga in 02 hrs and from Guwahati in
4.30 hrs.
Accommodation is in a well run tented camp with modern toilets.
Suggested duration of stay for birding is s two days.
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