HALDIBARI:

This picturesque camping spot, just 5 kms away from Deban, lies across the Noa-Dehing River and can be reached by boat. An overnight stay here is enjoyable experience in jungle camping.

BULBULIA:

This is an enchanting camping site overlooking a large aquifer and derives its name from its several natural springs.

Covering almost 2000km², Namdapha, one of India’s largest National Parks, contains some of Asia’s most luxuriant and poorly explored forest and contains some of the region’s most sough-after birds.

Namdapha National Park is located a few kilometres away from Miao and along the turbulent Noa-Dehing River.

Namdapha was declared as Tiger Reserve by the Government in 1983. Namdapha harbours all four Asian large cats: Snow Leopard, Common Leopard, Clouded Leopard and Tiger; and Hoolock Gibbon and Asiatic Elephant.

Little known birds here include Grey Peacock-Pheasant, White-cheeked Partridge, the diminutive Pied Falconet, Ward’s Trogon, Oriental Bay-Owl, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Pale-headed and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, Silver-breasted and Long-tailed Broadbills, Blue-naped Pitta,Black-breasted Thrush, Sapphire Flycatcher, Collared Treepie; Green Cochoa, Coral-billed&Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Spotted Wren-Babbler; Rufous-necked, Chestnut-backed& Rufous-vented Laughingthrushes, Black-browed & Rufous-headed Parrotbill, the extremely localised Snowy-throated Babbler, Rufous-throated Fulvetta and the aptly named Beautiful Nuthatch.
It is not frequented by birdwatchers due to its inaccessibility, however with proper planning, it is possible to enjoy this most unusual of the Indian National Parks. Though it has more tigers and other wildlife than many more famous reserves, it is so well preserved that it is actually difficult to see anything here. The only large animal we managed to see was a Large Indian Civet.

Birds seen here during our trip:

Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Indian Pond-Heron, White-winged Duck, Common Merganser, Pallid Harrier, Pied Harrier, Black Eagle, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Pied Falconet, White-cheeked Partridge, Kalij Pheasant, Grey Peacock-Pheasant, Ibisbill, Small Pratincole, River Lapwing, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Dove, Pin-tailed Pigeon, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Mountain Scops-Owl, Jungle Owlet, Jungle Nightjar, Himalayan Swiftlet, Red-headed Trogon, Crested Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Dollarbird, Great Hornbill, Brown Hornbill, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Great Barbet, Lineated Barbet, Blue-throated Barbet, Blue-eared Barbet, White-browed Piculet, Lesser Yellownape, Greater Yellownape, Grey-faced Woodpecker, Greater Flameback, Pale-headed Woodpecker, Bay Woodpecker, Long-tailed Broadbill, Blue-naped Pitta, Rufous-winged Bushlark, Plain Martin, Barn Swallow, White Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Large Cuckoo-Shrike, Black-winged Cuckoo-Shrike, Short-billed Minivet, Scarlet Minivet, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Red-whiskered, Red-vented Bulbul, White-throated Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Blue-winged Leafbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Common Iora, Blue Whistling-Thrush, Rusty-bellied Shortwing, Lesser Shortwing, Zitting Cisticola, White-browed Shortwing, Swamp Prinia, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Tickell’s Leaf-Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Greenish Warbler, Large-billed Leaf-Warbler, Blyth’s Leaf-Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Grey-cheeked Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Rufous-faced Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Striated Grassbird, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, Sapphire Flycatcher, Large Niltava, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Pale-blue Flycatcher, Pygmy Blue-Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, White-capped Redstart, Plumbeous Redstart, White-tailed Robin, Blue-fronted Robin, Slaty-backed Forktail, Green Cochoa, Common Stonechat, Yellow-bellied Fantail, White-throated Fantail, White-crested Laughingthrush, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Rufous-vented Laughingthrush, Spot-throated Babbler, Red-billed Scimitarbill, Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Streaked Wren-Babbler, Pygmy-Wren-Babbler, Golden Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Snowy-throated Babbler, Silver-eared Mesia, Red-billed Leiothrix, Black-headed Shrike-Babbler, White-browed Shrike-Babbler, White-hooded Babbler, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Red-tailed Minla, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Nepal Fulvetta, Beautiful Sibia, Long-tailed Sibia, Striated Yuhina, Whiskered Yuhina, Black-chinned Yuhina, White-bellied Yuhina, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Yellow-browed Tit, Sultan Tit, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Beautiful Nuthatch, Black-throated Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Plain Flowerpecker, Black-hooded Oriole, Maroon Oriole, Grey-backed Shrike, Ashy Drongo, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Green Magpie, Grey Treepie, Collared Treepie, Large-billed Crow, White-vented Myna, Jungle Myna, Common Myna, Asian Pied Starling, Chestnut-tailed Starling.

DAILY LOG

Thursday 20 February

Our trip started with an Austria Airlines flight from Brussels via Vienna to Delhi. We landed at the airport around midnight (3½ hours time difference with the Netherlands), where Major General (Retired) Shandy Gupta already was waiting for us. We were transferred to Harry’s Guesthouse, where we spent the night.

Friday 21 February

Next morning we left Delhi at 10.30 for our three hours spectacular flight along the southern flank of the Himalayas to Guwahati, the bustling hub of northeast India in Assam. Peter Lobo was waiting for us at the airport. En route to our hotel in Guwahati we had our first lifer of the trip, a grotesque Greater Adjutant languidly flapping across the highway, one of the world’s rarest storks.

After we had put our luggage in the plush Raj Mahal Hotel in dusty, noisy Guwahati we had enough time to visit the local fish market, where we had excellent views of 23 huge Greater Adjutants, picking through the rubbish. We then drove to a marshy area in the centre of the town and here we spent the rest of the afternoon noting amongst others White-breasted Waterhen, Dark-throated Thrush, Common Tailorbird, Brown Shrike and White-vented Myna.

Saturday 22 February

After a refreshing night’s sleep at the Raj Mahal Hotel we started early on our second day and after a quick visit to the fish market, counting no less than 45 Greater Adjutants, we headed eastwards to Kaziranga.

An easy crossing of Assam afforded us some birding time and amongst the numerous tea plantations there were roadside paddies and marshes producing amongst others Black-headed Ibis, Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant and Black-shouldered Kite. A coffee stop was notable for Purple Sunbird and we also had good views of an acrobatic male Pied Harrier quartering a stubble field.

In the early afternoon we arrived at Kaziranga and checked into our very comfortable rooms in the Wild Grass Lodge.

After a late lunch we ventured out from our hotel to the nearby tea estate. Quite a variety of birds frequented this attractive area amongst them Red Junglefowl, Asian Barred Owlet, Lineated Barbet, Smoky Warbler, Rosy Pipit, Large Cuckoo-shrike, Daurian Redstart, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush and Striped Tit-Babbler.

Sunday 23 February

After a comfortable night at the lodge we had a pre-breakfast excursion in the tea plantation. Here we added Yellow-footed Pigeon, Black-rumped Flameback, Scaly Thrush, a group of noisy Rufous-necked Laughingthrushes, Crimson Sunbird, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Black-hooded Oriole to our trip list. Best of all however was the telescope view of a beautiful male Siberian Rubythroat in the top of the tea bushes, which turned out to be the only one on our trip.

After breakfast we headed by open-topped jeep and an armed guard to the little-visited eastern range of Kaziranga, probably the most attractive area of the reserve and certainly the most productive for birding.

Sohola Beel, a large shallow wetland, was teeming with large flocks of waterfowl. Wintering Bar-headed Geese made up the bulk of these flocks but there were also plenty of ducks, including Cotton Pygmy-geese and Ferruginous Ducks, however we did not find our “target duck”, Falcated Duck.

On the lake were groups of the localised and endangered Spot-billed Pelicans and along the edge were small groups of wintering Grey-headed Lapwings and further back, in the first trees, both the majestic Pallas's and Grey-headed Fish Eagles and a Peregrine Falcon. We also had good views of a soaring White-eyed Buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle and Imperial Eagle.

In the afternoon we visited the western part of the reserve. The elephant grass was rather long here and large areas were burned off this time of year. Despite the fire and the smoke we saw many birds amongst them Black-necked Stork, the vociferous Swamp Francolin, Kalij Pheasant, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Green Imperial-Pigeon, Greater Coucal, Savanna Nightjar, Chestnut-capped Babbler and a large group of the very restricted-range species, Spot-winged Starling.

Large mammals were everywhere in Kaziranga and we had great views of Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Elephant, Wild Water Buffalo, Swamp Deer and Hog Deer. We came across an Indian Rhinoceros by the roadside – just a wonderful photo opportunity - although our guard warned us not to approach the rhino too closely. To emphasise his words he showed us his horrible scars from a rhino attack three years ago.

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Gurudongma Tours & Treks