Mandala Road was our destination for this day. Luckily, we didn't have to get as early. I think it was about 5AM. One of the hotel staff gave Willie and I a cup of tea made with ginger and black pepper. It was wonderful! We headed out for another road full of switch-backs and some very nice birds. It was a bit of a climb to Mandala Top which is about 10,000 feet.
The weather was wonderful, with bright sun and an almost clear sky. As we drove up the road we were thrilled to see the snow-covered Himalayas. I am not sure if these mountains were in India or Tibet, but we were really lucky to have a clear day to see them. We stopped several times to take photos. We also started seeing birds pretty quickly. Russet Sparrows, Gray Bushchats, Blue-capped Rockthrush, and a Common Cuckoo were seen before 6AM. There were a number of Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds, a stunning bird that I had seen in Thailand but was extremely happy to see again. Verditer Flycatchers, which remind me of Mountain Bluebirds, and an Ultramarine Flycatcher, which reminds me of a Black-throated Blue Warbler, perched up for us.
I was particularly happy to see a couple of Eurasian Nutcrackers, a bird Martin saw in Belarus, but I missed. A Short-billed Minivet put on a nice show, flashing a lot of red. A Chestnut-tailed Minla was very cooperative. And then there were the warblers. I have to admit I have a very hard time getting excited about phylloscopus warblers. I have a terrible time determining which are which. Luckily, Mike loves them and was good at IDing them.
We reached Mandala Top by mid-morning. Prayer flags surrounded a stupa, which is a Buddhist mound housing relics. This part of India is heavily Buddhist instead of Hindu. I have to admit I am a typical American, ignorant of other cultures, but from my little exposure to Asia, this put me in mind of Tibet or Nepal. I really hate feeling like an ugly American. We ate our box breakfast, prepared by the hotel, and, as always, I gave my hard-boiled eggs to some sweet dogs.
There was a small cafe and we had tea. We were going to have our lunch there and they asked us what we wanted, either chicken or yak. Mike and I immediately said "YAK!" Willie wasn't as enthused, but when do you get a chance to have yak for lunch? We left to do some more birding. I was really looking foward to my yak lunch!
The birds continued to delight. My favorite sighting was a Slender-billed Scimtar-babbler. Isn't that a great name? It was a great bird, too. It sat out in the open for a few seconds and sang. I was able to get a video, which isn't great quality, but scimtar-babblers were very skulky, so I was more than happy. Hill Partridges were calling all along the road. Then we heard an even better bird, a Temminck's Tragopan. Tragopans are pheasants, and I badly wanted to see one. It was calling down-hill from where we were standing. We jumped in the car and drove down, but were unable to re-find it. We did have several laughing-thrushes, a number of Blue-winged Minlas, and more sunbirds.
We drove back to the cafe for lunch. The yak was tasty, but extremely tough. I was offered a bowl, but just put it on my plate with rice and dal. I realized later I should have taken the bowl and eaten the broth. The meat itself was on the bone and was chewy, to say the least. Would I order it again? Maybe. I love eating foods that almost nobody else I know has eaten!
We birded our way back down the road to Dirang. I have to be honest, my memories are bit fuzzy. I remember the birds, including Beatiful Sibia, but not much else. The sibia is not flashy, but on reflection, it is rather beautiful, I do recall seeing a couple of very creepy scarecrows, which Mike said he thought were to protect the fields from evil spirits, rather than crows. I regretted not getting some photos. We got back to the hotel and discovered that the elevator was not working, so we walked up four flights to our room. At least we were spared from more Kenny G! We had a couple of celebratory whiskeys and went to dinner.
Photos from the day, most of which suck! https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72177720299090551
Bird list for the day:
1. Hill Partridge *
2. Temminck's Tragopan *
3. Oriental Turtle-dove
4. Large Hawk-cuckoo
5. Lesser Cuckoo *
6. Himalayan Cuckoo *
7. Common Cuckoo
8. Mountain Hawk-eagle
9. Himalayan Griffon
10. Great Barbet\
11. Short-billed Minivet
12. Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike
13. Green Shrike-babbler *
14. Ashy Drongo
15. Long-tailed Shrike
16. Gray-backed Shrike
17. Yellow-billed Blue-magpie *
18. Eurasian Nutcracker *
19. Large-billed Crow
20. Green-backed Tit *
21. Brown Bush-warbler *
22. Red-vented Bulbul
23. Black Bulbul
24. Ashy-throated Warbler
25. Buff-barred Warbler *
26. Lemon-rumped Warbler *
27. Buff-throated Warbler
28. Whistler's Warbler *
29. Greenish Warbler
30. Large-billed Leaf-warbler *
31. Blyth's Leaf-warbler
32. Chestnut-crowned Bush-warbler *
33. Brownish-flanked Bush-warbler *
34. Black-browed Tit *
35. Brown-throated Fulvetta *
36. Striated Yuhina *
37. Whiskered Yuhina
38. Stripe-throated Yuhina *
39. Rufous-vented Yunina
40. Rufous-capped Babbler *
41. Bar-winged Wren-babbler *
42. Slender-billed Scimtar-babbler *
43. Streak-breasted Scimtar-babbler *
44. Bhutan Laughing-thrush *
45. Black-faced Laughing-thrush
46. Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush *
47. Beautiful Sibia *
48. Blue-winged Minla
49. Chestnut-tailed Minla
50. White-collared Blackbird
51. Dark-sided Flycatcher
52. Verditer Flycatcher
53. Indian Blue Robin *
54. Slaty-blue Flycatcher
55. Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
56. Ultramarine Flycatcher
57. Blue-fronted Redstart
58. Chestnut-bellied Rockthrush
59. Blue-capped Rockthrush
60. Gray Bushchat
61. Fire-tailed Sunbird
62. Mrs. Gould's Sunbird
63. Green-tailed Sunbird
64. Russet Sparrow
65. Olive-backed Pipit
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