We had another day planned at Kaziranga. I again woke up very early, so I went outside and walked around. White-breasted Waterhens were poking around on the shore of the little pond next to our cabin. A Koel called incessantly and a couple of White-throated Kingfishers zipped around. I had an argument with a Rhesus Macaque. Willie came out and told me the macaque was going to bite me if I wasn't careful. I gave it a dirty look and we walked up to meet the driver.
Mike was not able to get a room at the same place as us, so we stopped by the home stay he was at to pick him up. A few Chestnut-tailed Starlings were along the road there. We also found some nesting Baya Weavers. Their nests are amazing feats of avian engineering. We piled in the jeep and headed off to the central Bagori range of the park.
When we arrived at the park and waited to get our entry passes. I eyed some hand crafts at a little open air shop and wondered if I could fit a giant carved wooden rhino in my luggage. I decided it might be better to resist. I ate my box breakfast and shared the hard-boiled eggs with a couple of street dogs. Then I fed my banana peels to one of the goats standing there. I was becoming very popular with the animals there.
I had been completely distracted by the mammals the day before. This day was more about the birds, though we certainly didn't ignore the elephants and rhinos. A gorgeous male Red Junglefowl strutted and crowed. (Our barnyard chickens are descendants of these birds.) We had some shorebirds, aka waders, including a breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank, a bird I would very much like to find in Texas someday. Two Dark-necked Tailorbirds put on a great show, with one flying within six feet of us. We had several species of babblers, including Chestnut-capped, Puff-throated, Striated, and Pin-striped Tit-babbler. A Lesser Coucal, a type of cuckoo, was very cooperative.
Then there was a little incident. We came across a group of birders looking at something in the tall grass. One of the group was Peter Kaestner, who has the largest life list of any birder in the world, with over 9,000 species.They had a Slender-billed Babbler, a new bird for Peter, and not an easy bird to get. Mike and Willie got on the bird pretty quickly, but I had no clue where it was. Describing the location of a brown bird in tall brown grass is not easy. The babbler retreated and I missed it. I wish I blew it off and didn't mind, but that was not the case. My frustration squeaked out with a few snippy words.
We stopped at one of the park towers to scan. There were several Indian families there and we had our photos taken again by several people. I walked to the edge and looked down and was stunned to see a sand-colored cat getting a drink of water on the side of the tower. I knew there were a number of wild cats found in this area, including Jungle Cat, which is sand colored. I started yelling "CAT!" and pointing. Our driver came over, looked down and said it was a house cat. I have never seen a house cat that color. He said it probably had some Jungle Cat genes in its background. Needless to say, I was embarrassed. Luckily, Willie found some butterflies coming in on some mud, so I spent some time photographing a few.
We went back to the resort for lunch, which was great, and then came back to the Western range of the park. We did well with raptors, including Himalayan Griffon, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, both Pallas's and Gray-headed Fish Eagle, Shikra, and two gorgeous Pied Harriers. An Asian Emerald Dove strolled around in front of the jeep. There was a flock of over 100 Spot-billed Pelicans. I was delighted to see a couple of Pied Kingfishers, which are one of my favorites. A River Tern cruised up and down. We got fantastic looks at another babbler, a Yellow-eyed, which actually has orange eyes. Who names these birds?
Of course there were elephants, including a young one crashing through the woods looking for the rest of his herd. He did end up finding them. Luckily we kept out of his way. It is worth mentioning, elephants are very dangerous animals. We have a rather romantic idea of them in America, but they kill more people than tigers do. They are beautiful animals, but you do not want to tangle with one.
We went back to the resort for our final night there. I had been told that Kaziranga was not to be missed. That is absolutely right. It is an amazing place! It was a wonderful introduction to the birds and mammals of northeast India, much better than the Guwahati dump!
Photos for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72177720298940717
Bird list for the day:
!. Lesser Whistling Duck
2. Ruddy Shellduck
3. Gadwall
4. Indian Spot-billed Duck
5. Red Junglefowl
6. Swamp Francolin
7. Rock Pigeon (feral)
8. Oriental Turtle-dove
9. Spotted Dove
10. Asian Emerald Dove
11. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
12. Greater Coucal
13. Lesser Coucal *
14. Asian Koel
15. Indian Cuckoo
16. House Swift
17. White-breasted Waterhen
18. Gray-headed Lapwing
19. Red-wattled Lapwing
20. Bronze-winged Jacana
21. Spotted Redshank
22. Common Greenshank
23. Wood Sandpiper
24.River Tern
25. Asian Openbill
26. Black-necked Stork
27. Lesser Adjutant
28. Greater Adjustant
29. Oriental Darter
30. Little Cormorant
31. Spot-billed Pelican
32. Gray Heron
33. Purple Heron
34. Grat Egret
35. Little Egret
36. Cattle Egret
37. Indian Pond-heron
38. Black-headed Ibis
39.Himalayan Griffon
40. Crested Serpent-eagle
41. Changeable Hawk-eagle *
42. Pied Harrier
43. Shikra
44. Pallas's Fish-eagle
45. Gray-headed Fish-eagle
46. Oriental Pied Hornbill
47. Stork-billed Kingfisher
48. White-throated Kingfisher
49. Pied Kingfisher
50. Blue-bearded Bee-eater
51. Green Bee-eater
52. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
53. Indochinese Roller
54. Coppersmith Barbet
55. Linneated Barbet
56. Blue-throated Barbet
57. Streak-throated Woodpecker
58. Eurasian Kestrel
59. Alexandrine Parakeet
60. Rose-ringed Parakeet
61. Blossom-headed Parakeet
62. Red-breasted Parakeet
63. Large Cuckooshrike
64. Black-hooded Oriole
65. Ashy Woodswallow
66. Common Iora
67. Black Drongo
68. Hair-crested Drongo
69. Rufous Treepie
70. Large-billed Crow
71. Cinereous Tit
72. Bengal Bushlark
73. Common Tailorbird
74. Dark-necked Tailorbird
75. Plain Prinia
76. Striated Grassbird
77. Gray-throated Martin
78. Barn Swallow
79. Black-crested Bulbul
80. Red-vented Bulbul
81. Red-whiskered Bulbul
82. Yellow-eyed Babbler *
83. Chestnut-capped Babbler
84. Pin-striped Tit-babbler
85. Puff-throated Babbler
86. Striated Babbler *
87. Common Hill Myna
88. Asian Pied Starling
89. Chestnut-tailed Starling
90. Common Myna
91. Jungle Myna
92. Great Myna
93. Oriental Magpie-robin
94. White-rumped Shama
95. Pale-chinned Blue Flycatcher
96. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
97. Golden-fronted Leafbird
98.Baya Weaver
99. Scaly-breasted Munia
100. White-rumped Munia
101. Eastern Yellow Wagtail
102. Citrine Wagtail
103. Rosy Pipit
Life birds marked with *
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