NORTHERN INDIA TOUR REPORT A Wildlife & Birding Tour of Northern India December 3rd-17th 2019

Participants:- Richard & Janet Lobley, Neil & Sheila Barnes, Andrew Slack

Tour guides for Norfolk Birding – Chris Mills, Sumantha Ghosh, Brijendra Singh & Jaypee

OVERVIEW OF THE TOUR

This tour took in the amazing sights and sounds of Northern India’s wildlife and birds.
The tour included a wide and varied cross section of habitat. Our first location was Bharatpur with a vast array of wetland species, an amazing heronry with hundreds of Storks, Egrets, Ibis and Cormorants, plus plenty of exciting passerines, raptors and waders. We then spent 3 full days in the primary forest areas of the famous Corbett National Park staying in the middle of the park at the Dhikala camp. Next we spent 2 full days into the beautiful surroundings of the Vangat camp in the buffer zone of Corbett NP. Vangat is set in a secluded river valley alongside the Ramganga river, an area of primary and secondary forest, we enjoyed truly wild and amazing, on foot birding, slightly curtailed on this occasion by an unusual onslaught of heavy rain! Finally we finished the trip with the forest and mountain areas of Sattal in the foothills of the Himalaya’s, due to an early and unusual heavy snow fall were unable to reach Pangot and we modified our plans, birding all the areas around Sattal.

ACCOMMODATION

All of the accommodation is of a good standard with hot water, western style toilets and a good range of food. At Bharatpur we stayed in the very nice Birders Inn, in Corbett NP we stayed at Dhikala camp, where the rooms have all been upgraded. We then moved on to the award winning Vanghat Lodge, we also stayed 2 nights in Tiger Camp and finished the tour up in the Sattal hills and the lovely grounds at Birders Den.

TOUR IMAGES – All images in this report are copyrighted and should not be reused without our permission.

Tuesday 3^rd December 2019 – London Heathrow to Delhi

The group should have consisted of 6 members but unfortunately just a few days before departure one person had a serious cycling accident and was unable to travel. So the four travelling from the UK, all met up with myself at Heathrow airport, the other member of the group, Andrew Slack travelling from the US arrived and met us in Delhi.

At Heathrow everyone was soon through security and boarding our BA direct flight. The flight departed at around 11.40am, the flight was comfortable with good food and drink and the economy seats were relatively comfortable.

Outbound flight time is around 8 hours and we arrived in Delhi at a local time of 1.30am. We got our money changed into Indian rupees in the airport and headed out into the sight, sounds and smells of Delhi! We met our local guide just outside the airport he escorted us to our minibus and driver. The luggage was loaded into the 12-seater minibus and we were soon tasting the hustle and bustle of Delhi. We soon arrived at the Hotel Ashok Country Resort, everyone was shown to their appointed rooms. The Hotel Ashok Country resort had good rooms with a mix of Indian and English breakfast.

Overnight at Hotel Ashok Country Resort.

Wednesday 4^th December 2019 – New Delhi to Bharatpur

Before a 9am breakfast we had time for a quick bit of casual bleary-eyed birding around the hotel and nearby gardens before departing for Bharatpur.

The well attended and mature gardens yielded a nice mix of “introductory” Indian birds, the highlights were – 20 Indian Peafowl, 50 Feral Pigeon, 20 Black Kite, 20 Ring-necked Parakeet, 10 Black Drongo, 4 Rufous Treepie, 10 House Crow, 3 Barn Swallow, 5 Red-vented Bulbul, a Red-whiskered Bulbul, 1 Hume’s Warbler, 2 Common Tailorbird, 5 Oriental White-eye. 20 Jungle Babbler 2 Oriental Magpie-Robin 2 Indian Chat 2 Asian Pied Starling, Bank Myna & 5 Purple Sunbird.

We then loaded up the minibus and starting heading for Agra and the Taj Mahal, though we made steady progress this was interrupted by couple of stops for birding!

We were treated to several stunning Black-winged Kites, Indian Peafowl and hundreds of Black Kite from the moving mininbus. Another stop at some small pools produced a lovely selection of waders with 3 Temminck’s Stint, 4 Marsh Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Greenshank,  Black-winged Stilts, Ruff, Common Snipe & Citrine Wagtail the highlights.  Also Marsh Harrier, and nearby 2 Sarus Cranes, these our first Sarus Cranes standing at 1.5m high were truly wonderful enigmatic birds.

We then made another fantastic stop by the Yamuna river bridge. We risked the busy traffic as there was a mass of birds below us in the shallow waters.

Great selection of birds here:- 10 Knob-billed Duck 1 Northern Shoveler, 20 Gadwall, 20 Indian Spot-billed Duck, 2 Mallard, 20 Northern Pintail, 40 Eurasian Teal, 3 Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe, 20 Collared Dove, 20 Eurasian Coot, 3 White-breasted Waterhen, 6 Sarus Crane, 40 Black-winged Stilt, 80 Red-wattled Lapwing, 3 White-tailed Lapwing, 10 Greater Painted-Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 Spotted Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, 2 Common Redshank, 15 Brown-headed Gull, 15 River Tern, 3 Asian Openbill, 3 Woolly-necked Stork, 2 Painted Stork, 12 Spoonbills,  Little Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron,  Purple Heron, 2 Great White Egret, Intermediate Egret 200 Cattle Egret 2 Indian Pond Heron, 2 Red-naped Ibis, 12 Black-winged Kite, 2 Western Marsh Harrier, 2 Shikra, 4 Black Kite, 6 White-throated Kingfisher, 20 Ring-necked Parakeet, 20 Black Drongo, 2 Rufous Treepie, Indian Hoopoe, 10 House Crow, 100 Grey-throated Martin, 12 Barn Swallow, 5 Red-rumped Swallow, 10 Red-vented Bulbul, 2 Plain Prinia, 10 Jungle Babbler, 1 Siberian Stonechat, 1 Pied Bushchat, 12 Asian Pied Starling, 20 Common Myna, 100 Bank Myna, 3 Purple Sunbird, Western Yellow Wagtail, 10 Citrine Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail and 2 Indian Silverbill,

Possibly the stand-out bird was picked out by Richard, a superb Great black-headed or Pallas’s Gull! Though this award maybe reserved for the ‘larus’ aficionados!

Just before reaching Bharatpur we were treated to two, close Sarus Cranes, even a bit of dancing!

We were soon comfortably settled into our rooms at the Birders Inn. Evening meals were a buffet style mixture of Soup & various curries, with good choice of rice & Indian breads. Puddings were a largely a variation on rice puddings, semolina and milk puddings.

Birders Inn has large comfortable en-suite rooms with hot showers set in nice lawned grounds and is just a short distance of 200m to the Park entrance.

Overnight at Birders Inn, Bharatpur

Thursday 5th December – Bharatpur

We all arrived for an early breakfast served at 6.00am. Immediately after breakfast just after 6.30am we met up with our local guide Brijendra and our rickshaw drivers who accompanied us over the next two and half days whilst visiting the park.

Brijendra Singh is very knowledgeable on all the flora and fauna. He has excellent knowledge of the parks birds and wildlife and I highly recommend him. The park is a haven for storks, egrets, ducks, waders and also good for raptors too.

The birding in the park was immediate, intense and very exciting!! It was slow progress through the park, as the birds came thick and fast. Over the next few hours we saw an amazing array of birds, exploring the main and side track to the nursery area.

The highlights in the morning were as follows:- 30 Indian Peafowl, 8 Grey Francolin, 20 Laughing Dove, 2 Greater Coucal, 2 Common Hawk-Cuckoo, 2 Common Moorhen, 1 Grey-headed Swamphen, 5 White-breasted Waterhen, 8 Black-winged Stilt, 2 Red-wattled Lapwing, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Greenshank, Common Redshank,  Painted Stork, Little Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 3 Purple Heron, 5 Great White Egret, 2 Intermediate Egret, 10 Little Egret, Cattle Egret, 12 Indian Pond Heron, 15 Black-headed Ibis, 4 Eurasian Spoonbill, 30 Egyptian Vulture, 10 Black Kite, Oriental Honey-buzzard, 6 Spotted Owlet, 3 Eurasian Hoopoe, 2 Indian Grey Hornbill, 3 White-throated Kingfisher, 1 Coppersmith Barbet, 1 Brown-headed Barbet, 2 Black-rumped Flameback, 100+ Ring-necked Parakeet, 2 Long-tailed Shrike, 5 Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, 5 Rufous Treepie, 20 House Crow, 2 Large-billed Crow, Barn Swallow, 1 Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, 20 Red-vented Bulbul,  White-eared Bulbul, 5 Hume’s Warbler, several Siberian Chiffchaff, 2 Greenish Warbler, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warbler, 1 Common Tailorbird, 10 Ashy Prinia, 5 Plain Prinia, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Common Babbler, 2 Large Grey Babbler, 6 Indian Robin, 8 Oriental Magpie-Robin, 3 Bluethroat, 3 Red-breasted Flycatcher, 2 Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Eastern Black Redstart,  2 Orange-headed Thrush, 25 Brahminy Starling, 30 Common Myna, 5 Purple Sunbird, 2 Grey Wagtail, 4 Citrine Wagtail, 6 Indian Silverbill and 6 Scaly-breasted Munia.

By midday it was getting hot and we had enjoyed a wonderful morning’s introduction to the birds, we headed back for a break and lunch. We then headed back out into another area of the park in the afternoon, heading towards the main Egret and heronry area for dusk. A lot more wetland birds this afternoon.

The highlights in the afternoon were as follows:- 70 Lesser Whistling-Duck, 3 Knob-billed Duck, 2 Cotton Pygmy-Goose, 2 Garganey, 10 Northern Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, 50 Eurasian Teal, 100 Eurasian Coot, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 20 Painted Stork, 12 Oriental Darter, 50 Little Cormorant, 30 Great Cormorant, 50 Indian Cormorant, Black Bittern, 4 Purple Heron, 6 Great White Egret, 4 Intermediate Egret, 10 Little Egret, 20 Indian Pond Heron, 3 Striated Heron, 20 Black-crowned Night-Heron, 20 Glossy Ibis, 15 Black-headed Ibis, 10 Eurasian Spoonbill, Bronze-winged Jacana, Black-winged Kite, 3 Greater Spotted Eagle, 2 Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Black Kite, Dusky Eagle Owl, 4 Common Kingfisher, 10 White-throated Kingfisher, 1 Pied Kingfisher, 1 Coppersmith Barbet, 100 Grey-throated (Plain) Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, 3 Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, 6 Hume’s Warbler, 10 Common Chiffchaff, 2 Greenish Warbler, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warbler, 10 Ashy Prinia, 10 Plain Prinia, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 12 Common Babbler, 5 Large Grey Babbler, 4 Red-breasted Flycatcher, 5 Asian Pied Starling and 3 Grey Wagtail.

The main colony area was good with plentiful Egrets, Purple & Grey Herons, Indian Darter, Little and Indian Cormorants, Painted Stork, Asian Openbill, Spoonbill, Black-headed Ibis and Glossy Ibis. This amazing spectacle across the water was complimented by the overhead activity of Plain Martins and Barn Swallow and a Wire-tailed Swallow. We also had good scope views of the Dusky Eagle Owl at it’s nest area.

As well as the avifauna we also saw Spotted Deer, Sambar, Nilgai, Rhesus Macaque and Golden Jackal. We headed back after a fantastic first full day on the reserve. After dinner and a log call, everyone was tired and off to bed for a well earnt sleep and rest.

Overnight at Birders Inn, Bharatpur.

Friday 6th December – Bharatpur

After a 6.00am breakfast we departed around 6.40am for the park again aboard the rickshaws. The visit was split into two visits, morning and afternoon. We arrived back at Birders Inn for lunch at around 12.30pm and then headed back out into the park at 2pm till dusk.

in the morning we visited the central and west areas and in the afternoon we reached the most Southerly point, known as Centre Point and then walked East along the track

Highlights and new trip species today as follows:- Greylag Goose, 20 Lesser Whistling-Duck, 6 Knob-billed Duck, 20 Northern Shoveler, 30 Gadwall, 100 Northern Pintail, 30 Eurasian Teal, 12 Common Pochard, Whiskered Tern, 2 Black-necked Stork, Yellow Bittern, 5 Purple Heron, 10 Great White Egret, 2 Intermediate Egret, 2 Glossy Ibis, 30 Eurasian Spoonbill,  White-tailed Plover, 1 Black-winged Kite, 20 Egyptian Vulture, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Indian Spotted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, 3 Western Marsh Harrier, 2 Shikra, 2 Black Kite, 2 Indian Grey Hornbill, 4 Common Kingfisher, 3 White-throated Kingfisher, 2 Pied Kingfisher, 2 Coppersmith Barbet, 2 Brown-headed Barbet, 1 Black-rumped Flameback, Yellow-crowned Woodpecker, Indian Golden Oriole, 1 Common Woodshrike, 1 Bay-backed Shrike, 3 Long- tailed Shrike, 4 Rufous Treepie,  Grey-throated Martin, 3 Red-rumped Swallow, 10 Hume’s Warbler, 15 Common Chiffchaff, 5 Greenish Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, 2 Clamorous Reed Warbler, 10 Yellow-eyed Babbler, 2 Common Tailorbird, 20 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Oriental White-eye, 4 Jungle Babbler, 4 Indian Robin, 6 Oriental Magpie-Robin, White-browed Fantail 4 Bluethroat, 10 Red-breasted Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, 4 Eastern Black Redstart, 4 Asian Pied Starling, 3 Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail and 10 Citrine Wagtail

We got back had tea and biscuits, showered and finished with dinner and the log call. The group total already topped 150 species, aleady!

Overnight at Birders Inn, Bharatpur.

Saturday 7^th December – Kwardiya farmland and Bharatpur

After 6.30am breakfast we departed for a different habitat, an area of farmland near Kwardiya, it looked like being a very difficult morning, as there was thick dense fog as we dove to our destination. The first hour of birding was amusing as we searched for any birds that were within 2-3m of us, as beyond that we couldn’t see anything! We did manage to find Tawny Pipit and Ashy crowned Sparrow-lark. Eventually around 930am it lifted and suddenly the birding gathered pace.

This year there was a large area of uncultivated dry weedy farmland and it was packed with a select group of birds, 20+ Ashy crowned Sparrow-larks, Indian Bushlark, numerus Greater short-toed Larks, Tawny Pipits several stunning Desert Wheatear and 2+ Isabelline Wheatear, Southern Grey Shrike (race “lahtora”)and 2 Isabelline Shrikes. We then continued a little further and joined another group of birders, and had great views of 12 Indian Courser – possibly the most sort after of the birds in the area.

We also came across Hoopoe, a foraging group of Large Grey Babblers othermain highlights were Grey Francolin, 5 Laughing Dove, Red-collared Dove, Black-winged Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Common Kestrel,  1 White-throated Kingfisher,  Indian Roller, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet, 1 Long- tailed Shrike, 2 Black Drongo, 1 Rufous Treepie, 2 House Crow, 2 Crested Lark, 2 Ashy Prinia, 2 Plain Prinia, 3 Large Grey Babbler, 2 Jungle Babbler, 2 Siberian Stonechat, Pied Bushchat, 3 Indian Chat, 2 Asian Pied Starling. We were about to leave the area, when a few Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse flew overhead, fortunately we followed 2 Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and managed to get nice scope views on the ground.

Just as we were approaching the road a real nice surprise were close views of a perched Wryneck, showing really well. We rounded off the birding in this area with several Yellow-wattled Lapwing. On the way back we also made a short detour to some small pools in a village ear to Bharatpur. The main target Greater Painted-snipe were soon found, sat tucked up amongst the vegetation. There was also 20 Black-winged Stilt, Ruff, 10 Common Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Citrine & White-browed Wagtails, along with two showy Little Green Bee-eaters.

After a great morning’s birding, we headed back to the Birders Inn and reached there at 1.30pm just in time for lunch! After lunch we headed back out for our final visit into the park.

We first took in a group of roosting Greater Indian Fruit Bat (Indian Giant Flying Fox).  We then explored the far Western track and wetland areas.

A real final Bharatpur treat was standing on the raised viewpoint with sunset views, watching over a fantastic roost of wildfowl, waders and raptors. Numerous Bar-headed Geese, Lesser Whistling Duck, 100 Northern Shoveler, 200 Northern Pintail, 100 Eurasian Teal, 20 Gadwall, 2 Ferruginous Duck,  Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, 10 Black-headed Ibis, 2 Black-necked Stork, Grey-headed Swamphen, hundreds of Egrets also good raptors with Eastern Imperial Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Marsh Harrier and Crested Serpent Eagle.

We left the park and bid farewell to our wonderful rickshaw drivers and headed into the Hotel for tea and biscuits.

After a filling curry, rice pudding and a beer plus an epic systematic list roll call we were off to bed. Bharatpur had served up 171 mind-boggling species in our 3 day visit!

Overnight Birders Inn – Bharatpur

Sunday 8^th December – Bharatpur to Corbett NP

After a slightly later breakfast we packed cases and said farewell to the Birders Inn staff and loaded the minibus with our gear and then headed for Delhi. The journey was uneventful and we arrived early afternoon and headed to Delhi railway station, to catch the train up to Ramnagar. The train journey proved rather arduous as always and it ran late, as seems to be the norm with this train! We eventually arrived at Tiger Camp, Corbett NP area around half past midnight and we had a very late dinner and headed for bed.

Overnight at Tiger Camp, Corbett NP

Monday 9th December – Ramganga river & Corbett NP

After the long late journey of the previous day, we all manage to surface around 7.30am, after a quick cuppa we headed out. The motivation, the lure of potentially seeing a very special bird. There hadn’t been any Ibisbill seen this winter until 2 days ago and only yesterday we had been given word that two were back in their chosen wintering spot. We headed to the river bridge just to the North and after a short period of searching we were watching this highly sought after bird, the Ibisbill was feeding in the mid-river amongst the rocks. We watched on and we had lovely scope views and I even managed some nice video too. A steady wander upstream also saw new and notable birds:- 12+ River Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Striated Heron, 2 White-throated Fantail, Red-billed Blue Magpie, 1 Grey-headed Canary- Flycatcher, Hume’s Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Oriental White-eye, 2 Plumbeous Redstart, 2 White-capped Redstart and 5 White-and browed Wagtail. Plus a brief Wallcreeper – another crowd pleaser, prolonged views came along later in the trip!

We arrived back for mid-morning breakfast, it went down very well after an adrenaline fuelled couple of hours birding along the river. After a great filling breakfast, we then departed for the Corbett park.

On entering the park we were soon ran into several roving flocks, the birds were coming thick and fast, it was difficult to know which bird to look at first! A real bonus was a Tawny Fish owl seen soon after entering the park, it had been seen for around 10 days, but we had great views of it perched out in the open.

There were lots of birds on the route in to the park, the highlights an new birds were:- Red Junglefowl, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Streak-throated Woodpecker, 2 Lesser Yellownape, 10 Lineated Barbet, Plum-headed Parakeet, 1 Blue-throated Barbet, 20 Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, Crested Kingfisher, Shikra, Lesser Fish Eagle, 2 Pallas’s Fish eagle, Asian Barred Owlet, Chestnut-bellied hawk-eagle, Coppersmith Barbet, Lineated barbet, Black-hooded Oriole, Maroon oriole, Scarlet & Long-tailed Minivet, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, White-throated fantail, Bronzed Drongo, Common Woodshrike, Common Iora, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, White-tailed Nuthatch, Cinereous Tit, Pale-rumped Warbler, Whistlers Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Grey-breasted Prinia, Black-crested Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Himalayan Bulbul, White-crested laughing-thrush, White-throated laughing-thrush and Blue Whistling Thrush,

The highlights weren’t limited to birds either, good views of 3 Indian Elephant, Spotted & Samba Deer, Mugger & Garial crocodiles and Wild Boar were all seen! Plus good views of some large Golden Mahseer, a beautiful freshwater fish, below us in the river.

We eventually reached Dhikala camp, we settled into our rooms, admired the fantastic view rom the restaurant area, stretching across the grasslands to the large water body.

Overnight at Tiger Camp

Tuesday 10th December – Dhikala area Corbett NP

We were up at 6am and after tea and biscuits we were soon heading out into the grassland area. We were watching a passing ringtail Hen Harrier, Oriental Skylarks and Siberian Stonechats when JP suddenly shouted TIGER!! Sure enough about 500m away a Tiger was on the track in front of us, it was steadily heading towards us and even better – we were the only jeeps watching it!! This didn’t last too long and soon several jeeps on the other side of the Tiger were creeping up along the road, it was a Tigress from the grassland and somewhere she had 2 well grown cubs. The Tigress then sat down briefly and after a few minutes disappeared into the long grass, giving intermittent views as many more jeeps arrived an scrambled to get a view!

We waited for a while to see if she would reappear, when one of the jeeps pointed to the raised bank area where one of the cubs had appeared, a second Tiger….the jeeps were a little noisy and a bit of tail lashing indicated the youngster was clearly irritated, we watched as it appeared and disappeared, eventually for good. Wow, what an amazing 30 minutes!

We carried on birding after the Tiger event, feeling elated and relaxed after one of the big targets being seen so well early on at Corbett. New birds before 10am breakfast were:- Black Francolin (spooked out the grass by the Tiger cub!), 2 Lesser Coucal, Common Hawk-cuckoo, 12 River Tern, Hen Harrier, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, 3 Bluethroat, Black-throated Thrush and Oriental Skylark

We headed back to the lodge a 10a and had a nice filling leisurely breakfast and then birded around the camp from 11 till 12.30 best and new birds:- 30+ Crested Treeswift, 10 Alpine Swift, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, 2 Collared Falconets, Common Woodshrike and 2 Indian Chat.

As we enjoyed nice views of a Collared Falconet, there were suddenly very close Spotted Deer alarm calls coming from just outside the camp gate. So we took up position look straight down one of the southerly tracks, it proved a very worthwhile decision. A few minutes later the head of a young Leopard appeared, and it very swiftly crossed the track, giving us conclusive if brief views. Asian Leopards are difficult to see so this combined with the earlier Tiger sighting meant we had been rather blessed!

After lunch we were back in the jeeps and headed to the Samba road, it was a little quieter, early afternoon often is, but new birds and highlights still came eventually with:-  Spotted Dove, Osprey, Lesser Fish Eagle, Rufous Woodpecker, Scarlet Minivet, Maroon Oriole, Lesser racket-tailed Drongo, a single Black-throated Thrush probably bird of the day went to a jaw dropping male Himalayan Rubythroat that appeared twice on the end of dead log,

Overnight at Dhikala Forest Lodge. This is the most simple of the accommodation we use. Though the food is very good and the rooms have now all been improved, with new showers and mattresses. The location in the middle of the Corbett National Park is just wonderful.

Overnight Dhikala Camp, Corbett NP

Wednesday 11^th December Dhikala area Corbett NP

We headed out at 6.30 for a pre-breakfast drive arriving back at 10.00am for breakfast. We then breakfasted and headed back out aboard the three jeeps at 10.30 and then back for lunch at around 12.30PM. We then headed out again from 2-5.30pm for the afternoon safari.

The early morning session we headed for the Samba road, and it wasn’t too long before we were hearing alarm calls, a group of several Spotted Deer all alert and staring towards the grassland. It went quiet for a while, but more alarm calls and then a Tiger appeared, tricky to see initially as it was at distance and moving stealthily in out of the taller grassland. It eventually appeared, still at distance but out in the open, it kept moving steadily and a few minutes later it melted away back into the grassland. It was great to have seen a 3^rd Tiger albeit, the views were much better the previous day.

The jeep safaris, morning and afternoon produced plenty of nice birds too, the best birds today as follows:- First really good views of Red Junglefowl, plus a Brown Crake, great views of Blue-bearded Bee-eater, 2 Blue-throated Barbet, in the afternoon we did well with Woodpeckers seeing 3 Grey-capped Pygmy, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, 3 Streak-throated, 2 Black-rumped Flameback and the highlight a Himalayan Flameback. We also had a Peregrine of the race ????????. At lunchtime 3 Common Woodshrike were around the camp, as well as new trip birds – White-bellied Drongo and a Large Cuckooshrike. The Samba road gave us 8 Long-tailed Minivet, Maroon Oriole, Black-crested Bulbul, Jungle Prinia, whilst out in the grassland, 7 Black Storks were circling plus a much larger group of 17 Black-throated Thrush and also in this area a Crested Bunting and 4 Common Rosefinch, plus a Barbary Falcon that went hammering past s at pace. Another great day with another Tiger, plus the bird list was now standing at 255 species.

Overnight Dhikala Camp, Corbett NP

Thursday 12th December – Corbett NP departing to Vanghat

Our last morning in the park and we headed out again early for a pre-breakfast jeep safari. The highlight early morning was 2 Green Magpies, with one giving good views.

After breakfast we took a steady drive out of the park, we had good views of Red Junglefowl, Kalij Pheasant, White-crested Laughing Thrush, Lesser Yellownape, Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, an Emerald Dove shot across our path. A Long-billed Thrush was glimpsed and then frustratingly took to the air before we could improve on the views, however a Lesser racket-tailed Drongo provided wonderful views both perched and in flight, sporting a full set of adorned rectrices! The Drongo was amongst a nice flock, that had Long-tailed, Scarlet and 2 Rosy Minivets new for the trip, Chestnut-bellied and Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Pale-rumped Warbler, Humes Warbler, Black-throated Tit, Black-lored and Cinerous Tits.

We then took the winding road to the wonderful remote Vanghat camp alongside the Ramganga river. Once at the river we took the suspension bridge and path to the camp during a very enjoyable 2km walk to the camp, we were soon watching many new birds. A Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Crimson Sunbird and Mountain Hawk-eagle were all very notable birds.
Along with 10 Himalayan Griffon, 1 Common Woodshrike, 10 Red-vented Bulbul, 10 Himalayan Bulbul, 3 Grey-hooded Warbler, 10 Oriental White-eye,  10 Plumbeous Water Redstart. Next, we all had fun crossing the river on the wooden raft. We were all fitted up with life-jackets & hard hats! There was also plenty of birds around the river 10+ White-capped Water Redstart, 10+ Plumbeous Water Redstart, Long-tailed Shrike and c20 Bronzed Drongo.

We arrived at the camp mid afternoon, had a cup of tea and sat enjoying a nice array of birds coming to the bird feed area close by. There was lots of Grey Treepie, great views of a flock of Red-billed Leiothrix, Jungle Babblers, Himalayan Bulbuls, Blue Whistling Thrush and Cinerous Tits. We then took a short walk through the camp and in the bushes there were Great, Lineated and Blue- throated Barbets. We also found Buff-barred Warblers, Grey-hooded Warbler, Great Barbet, Grey- headed Woodpecker and Slaty-headed Parakeet.

We then headed along the river, we took in last nights Tiger pugmarks! Then as the light faded we watched 2 Lesser Fish-Eagle, 2 Common Kingfisher and Pied Kingfisher. Just before dusk JP found us a real target, a Little Forktail feeding alongside the Plumbeous and White-capped Water Redstarts, Grey Wagtails and White-browed Wagtails. All to a backdrop of flocks of Bronzed Drongos hawking insects over the trees.

We had a lovely meal and a beer by the camp fire before retiring for our thatched cottages. Overnight Vangat River Camp.

Friday 13th December – Vanghat

I think most of us were woken in the night, to the sound of a rumbling and intensive thunderstorm, followed by torrential rain, it was quite simply, beyond anything I had ever seen in India at this time of the year. It was still pouring with rain at 7am and I sent word to everyone to stay put in their rooms. By 8.30am things had improved, the rain had stopped and we had breakfast. The skies were still leaden grey and looked to promise more rain!

We got out birding and managed two 2 hour sessions in between two more heavy showers. The birding was good despite the weather, we had Blue-throated Barbet, Great and Lineated Barbets in good numbers, Black-lored Tit, Black throated Tit, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, a Dusky Warbler eventually gave itself up, 3 Black-crested Bulbul, 12 Red-vented Bulbul, 2 Red-whiskered Bulbul, 1 Lemon-rumped Warbler, 5 Grey-hooded Warbler, 10 Grey-breasted Prinia, 30 Oriental White-eye, 10 Black-chinned Babbler, 20 Jungle Babbler, 15 White-crested Laughingthrush 2 Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babblers, Common Rosefinch, a White-capped Bunting, new for the trip and 3 Yellow-breasted Greenfinch along the trail amongst the scrub. Out along the river a Grey-backed Shrike flashed by and a Wallcreeper gave us cracking scope views.

We arrived back for lunch and sadly it then started to pour with rain again, torrential for the next 3 hours and we were forced back to our rooms. At around 3pm I braved the rain and checked the river level, unsurprisingly it was rising. After a telephone call confirming that more rain was expected, I took the decision that we really needed to leave as we may have struggled to have left as scheduled the next morning.  Just before rounding everyone up I couldn’t believe it when a Himalayan Bluetail appeared on the path right next to the eating area! Sadly, just myself and our Indian guide Jaypee were there to see it!

By 430pm everyone was packed ready and we left in the half light, it was an arduous walk in the pouring rain, but despite getting very wet, we all eventually made it to the bridge. Andrew managed to take a tumble but fortunately he was okay, his pride and hip a little bruised! We were all pleased to eventually arrive at dry rooms and hot food at Tiger Camp, where the rain, was now making local news as it continued hammering down into the early hours!

Overnight Tiger Camp

Saturday 14th December – Tiger Camp to Sattal

We were up for breakfast at 8.30am, and at last the rain was abating, and there was either hints of some blue patches in the skies!

After breakfast we were now bound for Sattal and we stopped off at Ramnagar for the dam area, which usually adds a few more birds. Highlights and new birds here were:- 300+ Ruddy Shelduck, lots of Little and Great Cormorants also Red-crested Pochard which was a new trip bird and lots of water birds around Little and Intermediate Egrets, a nice Purple Heron, plus Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Spot-billed Ducks. There was lots of aerial activity and new birds were several Crag Martin, Himalayan Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swift, these mixed in with House Swift, Crested Treeswift and Red-rumped Swallows.

We then started heading up towards Sattal, an Indian Roller and several Black-winged Kites were on roadside wires in the lower flatlands, before we started the rising and winding mountain road. The road up gave us views of Steppe Eagle and Himalayan Vulture. We broke the journey up after a couple of hours for teas and coffees, and a glance at a local newspaper showed pictures of Nainatal well and truly snow covered. The heavy rain we had witnessed had fallen as snow higher up and we heard that the road to Pangot was blocked and not expected to open for 2-3 days, this meant a change to our plans and I decided that we would probably just bird the Sattal area, rather than risk any drama trying to reach Pangot.

We reached Birders Den at Sattal late afternoon and were greeted by a lovely Green-tailed Sunbird feeding on nectar just outside the rooms. We then immediately visited the hide area, which pulls in lots of good birds. It was late pm so activity was lower than early morning, but we still had a nice slection of birds:- Striated Laughing-thrush, White-throated Laughing-thrush, Buff-barred Warbler, White-tailed Nuthatch, Chestnut- bellied Nuthatch, Green-backed Tit, Black-lored Tit, Russet Sparrow and a superb Greater Yellownape were at close quarters.

This was the first time we had used Birders Den. The food was good at lunch and evening meals, breakfast was simple, Porridge and/or Omelettes but acceptable. The rooms were well appointed, clean with hot showers. The birding was very good around the grounds and the hide early morning a real treat, especially for the photographers!

Overnight at Birders Den, Sattal

Sunday 15th December

We had a 630am breakfast and left for Sattal town and birding area at just after 7am

We walked and birded the well known area at the southerly end of the town, which consists of a steep sided ravine and scrubby mainly secondary habitat. It has to be said, the habitat is vastly degraded compared with 20 years ago, but most of the species are still here, albeit in smaller numbers these days.

The key species seen this morning were good views of a  female Siberian Rubythroat, nice flight views of several Red-billed Blue Magpie, small flock of tits, with Black-throated Tit, Green-backed Tit, Black-lored Tit, Cinereous tit, several groups of Rufous Sibia, 6+ Olive-backed Pipits, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler was heard, I also had a White-browed Scimitar babbler but it was brief and was the only one to see it. We had frustrating brief views of Rufous-bellied Niltava, we heard Scaly-breasted Wren-babbler but failed to see it, also more numerous were Aberrant Bush warbler, White-throated Laughing-thrush, Pale-rumped Warbler and Hume Warbler. We headed back around 11am and split birding between the hide and wandering the grounds until lunch.

The area just below the timber cabins proved very fruitful with a showy Rufous-bellied Niltava and a Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher in close proximity. The hide was still producing nice views of Striated Laughing-thrush, 40+ White-throated Laughing-thrush, Buff-barred Warbler, White-tailed Nuthatch, Chestnut- bellied Nuthatch, Green-backed Tit, Black-lored Tit and Greater Yellownape,  as well as Speckled Piculet in nearby trees and a Yellow-crowned Woodpecker.

After lunch in the afternoon we set off to forested area slightly lower down along a long, boulder strewn fast running river section and birded some of the secondary habitat below this. It was a great afternoons birding, as the birds just kept coming! We hadn’t been birding very long at all, when 2 Slaty-backed Forktails appeared, we then walked downstream and found a Small Niltava showing very well, soon after a Spotted Forktail appeared this was joined by 2 others and incredibly just alongside a Little Forktail appeared as well! A Scaly-breasted Wren babbler was calling and close, though very elusive and the only views were in a short flight. Further downstream the river opened from the forest into scrubby secondary habitat. There was Crested, Pied, Common Kingfisher and Water-redstarts etc, plus many of the species we had already seen along this section, we failed on Brown Dipper and we decided that this area would be good to visit early the following morning.

Overnight at Birders Den, Sattal

Monday 16th December – Sattal area

We started early where we had finished the previous day. The first notable birds were several Red-billed Blue Magpies that showed well along the forest edge, a Rusty-tailed Flycatcher also gave reasonable views near the parking area. A smart male Shikra was perched and gave good scope views. We soon found a Brown Dipper perched on rocks along the river, a notable omission from the previous day! We eventually reached a suitable area to look for accentors, but without success, though the second prize was a fantastic male Himalayan Rubythroat that hopped right out in front of us! As we walked back up the track, there were several mixed flocks and we eventually locked on to 2-3 Bar-tailed Treecreepers, as well as Chestnut-bellied and Velvet-fronted Nuthatches. We also had our best views of Aberrant Bush warbler, and a Striated Prinia another new trip bird posed well, also a nice group of 5 Black-throated Thrushes. The Forktails were less active this morning as we reached the wooded section, but a Slaty-backed Forktail did put in an appearance.

After lunch we headed to another area in Sattal known as the “studio”. There is a big pool amongst the forest, fed by a stream and some smaller pools – perches have been put in and birds often come to drink here. The studio yielded a nice Rufous Niltava and another if brief Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher. Our main target here though were further along the track and adjacent to the main pool. Jaypee went ahead and then beckoned us over, up in one of the mature older trees on one of the big horizontal limbs sat two majestic Brown Fish Owls, we took some pics and then moved a little closer. The two huge owls occasionally looked down and gave us that scornful look that only Owls give!

We then headed deeper into the forest and soon hit a nice mixed flock of Minivets, tits, warblers and Nuthcatches all stuff we had already connected with but good views of Buff-barred warbler and Bar-tailed Treecreeper as well. Along the path edge a Chestnut-headed Tesia played mind games with us, it sounded like we could almost touch it but seeing cleanly was another thing altogether! It appeared to move the vegetation and be invisible, I managed to see it’s head and back all too briefly! The water level was low this year and there was no sign of Forktails, albeit we had a clean sweep of those already.

We headed back to the main road and then headed higher up the valley for the last 2 hours of light at a viewpoint area. It was a known site for Rufous-chinned Laughingthrush and although we didn’t score with this bird, we did have several new birds. A small group of Nepal House Martin passed overhead, a Mountain Bulbul perched in full view – a bird we had failed to see well earlier. Next a beautiful Golden-fronted Leafbird sat atop a nearby tree. The final bird of the day was a real stunner and a poser! There were quite a few birders at the watchpoint and one group had just found a Collared Owlet that had perched up close by in a dead tree. It allowed close approach and then showed off both its real eyes and the amazing false ones on the rear of the head! (see the pics inset over page).

Overnight at Birders Den, Sattal

Tuesday 17th December – Sattal Birders Den – transfer to Kathgodam, train to Delhi.

After breakfast we had enough time for 3 hours in and around the camp. This was our first opportunity to see birds coming into the feed and drinking pool area early in the morning. The area was soon teeming with birds coming in. There was 10+ Red-billed Leiothrix, Russet Sparrow, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Black-lored and Cinereous Tit and 20+ Oriental Turtle Doves were the early visitors. Then a Grey-headed Woodpecker perched out in front of us, 2 Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babblers gave the best views of the trip, soon to be joined by 2-3 Kalij Pheasant and then a superb male and female Black Francolin. Shortly followed by the truly incredible and stunning 5-6 Red-billed Blue Magpies, up this close they are absolutely sublime!

The nearby bushes also held Grey-hooded and Pale-rumped Warbler, the Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher and the Green-tailed Sunbird were still around as well in the grounds.

After lunch we said farewell and headed down the valley towards Kathgodam and the railway station, just enough time for one more nice moment. As we came down the mountain, the misty, cool conditions had left the Steppe Eagles searching for thermals, they were super low and we had wonderful eye to eye views from the roadside, 1-2 birds just metres from the minibus.

We arrived early at Kathgodam railway station had coffee and then the group took the train back to Delhi. Where after dinner everyone was dropped off at the airport for their flights back.

Systematic list of birds recorded

Mammals & Others recorded

Future Tours

If you are interested in joining us in India then we have a tour in December 2020 please contact us for details.