After my fitful night being kept awake by the Indian Cuckoo, I got up around 4 AM and wandered the grounds of the camp. I was excited to see a Red-vented Bulbul feeding young. There were a couple of phylloscopus warblers, Greenish and Dusky, which I tried to be excited about, but that was in vain. The Indian Cuckoo was STILL calling. I heard some other bird song and tracked down a couple of Oriental Magpie-robins. They have an amazing repertoire of songs!
We were only staying at the camp one night, so I threw my stuff in my suitcase and grabbed my leech socks. The rest of the group was waiting for me, so I was rushing. I put on my leech socks, but they were a little uncomfortable, as I had on heavy wool socks. I didn't want to dig around in my suitcase looking for lighter weight socks, so I decided to forego the leech socks. After all I hadn't needed them the previous morning. (Can you guess what is coming?) I ran out to the car and joined our group.
We stopped at the headquarters to get our entrance permit and pick up the forest guard. As always, this took a bit of time. While we were waiting several Indian dogs came up and we made friends with them. All of the dogs I met in India were incredibly sweet. Mike made over them and they about turned themselves inside out with happiness. After the guard joined us and we drove down to the river the dogs followed us all the way there. If I were to get a dog, I would definitely want one of these! Almost every dog we saw in Assam looked alike, very similar to Basenjis. Coat colors varied, but most were tan or red. Some of them were black and tan. They are medium size dogs with short coats, pricked ears, and tightly curled tails. They always look like they are smiling. I was surprised at how healthy all the street dogs looked.
When we got to the river our canoe was waiting. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have very poor balance, and am always afraid of falling. The thought of getting into one of these canoes was daunting, but I was able to do it. I worked my way back to the very narrow board seat and bent my rickety knees to sit down. I promptly went over the board and landed on my ass on the floor of the canoe. Mike and Dorjee hauled me up and I planted myself on the seat, a little bit embarrassed.
We crossed the river and walked through the grasses on the edge. A Golden-headed Cisticola sang, and Bengal Bushlarks were displaying. Our armed guard walked in front of us. This was the first time I had ever birded with an armed guard! Most people would think the danger would be tigers, but actually elephants are much more likely to kill you. The guards are also there to protect the animals against poachers.
We entered the woods and I was determined to not look at butterflies, even though they were everywhere. You really have to chose if you are going to concentrate on birding or butterflying. We walked the forest path heading to the pond where we might see White-winged Duck. The birding was great and we were delighted to see a Black Giant Squirrel, a species we saw in Thailand. Who doesn't love a giant squirrel?
As we approached the pond where the White-winged Ducks are seen I felt something on my foot. I looked down and saw something brown and squishy looking where my shoe met my ankle, a leech. I decided to ignore it, knowing from experience in Australia that it would drop off when it was full. I pressed ahead with the group. We turned off of the main path and then walked a path I found a bit precarious on a mud bank. The ducks were no where to be seen, but we got great looks at Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, which were building a nest. There was some movement at the far end of the pond and two Guars, very large wild cows, came in to drink. The ducks did not show, but the Guars were a great consolation prize. I pulled off several more leeches.
We headed back to the camp to get ready to go north into Arunachal Pradesh. I found even more leeches. I had at least ten bites, thus the subtitle to this post, LOL = Lots of Leeches. When I pulled off my socks I was covered in blood. I put some antibiotic cream and slapped on a bunch of band-aids. A few years prior I would have flipped out, but this time I just felt like they were a bit of a hassle. The bleeding was no fun, but they didn't hurt. The worst part is pulling them off, as they are really squishy feeling.
We arrived on the border of Arunachal Pradesh and Dorjee and the driver went into an office to get our permits to enter. This province requires special permission to enter, as there have been border conflicts with China for years. We had a bit of tension before the trip when the government had quit issuing permits. While they were hashing out the bureaucratic details, Mike and Willie ran into a "wine shop" to get some libations to help us get through the cold evenings. I am not sure why they are called wine shops, as they don't have wine. They also didn't have gin. (Hello! Have they not heard of Bombay Sapphire?) We had to settle for whisky. Dorjee and the driver finally returned and the gate opened for us to enter.
Our first destination in Arunachal Pradesh was Dirang, where we stayed for four nights. We birded along the Sessa River, where we had a gorgeous Red-headed Trogon. We had seen this bird in Thailand, but you can't possibly see too many trogons. We picked up a few river birds, like Plumbeous and White-capped Redstarts. It was a beautiful drive. We arrived at our hotel, the Mandela, in Dirang. We were on the fourth floor. The elevator music was classic Kenny G! The food at the restaurant was really nice. We had a very early start the next morning, going up to Sela Pass, so we made it an early night.
Photos for the day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72177720299008122
Bird list:
1. Indian Spot-billed Duck
2. Kalij Pheasant
3. Red Junglefowl
4. Rock Pigeon (feral)
5. Oriental Turtle-dove
6. Spotted Dove
7. Green Imperial Pigeon
8. Greater Coucal
9. Asian Koel
10. Square-tailed Drongo-cuckoo
11. Large Hawk-cuckoo
12. Indian Cuckoo
13. White-breasted Waterhen
14. River Lapwing *
15. Red-wattled Lapwing
16. Little Ringed Plover
17. Common Sandpiper
18. Little Egret
19. Cattle Egret
20. Striated Heron
21. Crested Serpent-eagle
22. Black Kite
23. Asian Barred Owlet
24,. Spotted Owlet
25. Red-headed Trogon
26. Wreathed Hornbill
27. Common Kingfisher
28. Ruddy Kingfisher *
29. White-throated Kingfisher
30. Pied Kingfisher
31. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
32. Indochinese Roller
33. Dollarbird
34. Great Barbet
35. Lineated Barbet
36. Blue-throated Barbet
37. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
38. Lesser Yellownape
39. Rose-ringed Parakeet
40, Red-breasted Parakeet
41. Vernal Hanging Parrot
42. Scarlet Minivet
43. Rosy Minivet *
44. Black-hooded Oriole
45. Large Woodshrike
46. Common Iora
47. Ashy Drongo
48. Gray-backed Shrike
49. Large-billed Crow
50. Cinerous Tit
51. Bengal Bushlark
52. Common Tailorbird
53. Golden-headed Cisticola
54. Gray-throated Martin
55. Red-vented Bulbul
56. Red-whiskered Bulbul
57. Dusky Warbler
58. Greenish Warbler
59. Pin-striped Tit-babbler
60. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch *
61. Chestnut-tailed Starling
62. Common Myna
63. Jungle Myna
64. Great Myna
65. Oriental Magpie-robin
66. Blue-whistling Thrush
67. Plumbeous Redstart *
68. White-capped Redstart
69. Blue-capped Rockthrush *
70.Siberian Stonechat
71. Golden-fronted Leafbird
72. Eurasian Tree-sparrow
73. Paddyfield Pipitb
Life birds marked with *
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