Well, that's a little creepy...

 We had another "late start". I don't think we left the hotel until after 500AM. The elevator was still out, but walking down four floors at the beginning of the day wasn't as bad as walking up at the end of the day. We really hoped it would be fixed by the time we got back. We grabbed some more tea and took for Thembang Road, a location that Dorjee knew well, but isn't on the regular birding circuit. It was a good choice!

We had not gone far at all when we saw a Crested Bunting sitting on a wire singing. It is a striking bird, rufous and black, with, believe it or not, a crest! We were really surprised to find it there as it did not seem to be the right habitat. It was accompanied by some Russet Sparrows, which didn't surprise us at all, as they are all over the place. A few other birds were nearby, a Long-tailed Shrike, Black Bulbuls, Ashy Drongo, a Blue Whistling-thrush, and some other common species.

We quickly turned onto Thembang Road and started picking up birds right away. Most of the birds were ones we had seen before, but Gray-hooded Warbler was a new one for me. We had a Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, which is such a great name! We had seen them in Thailand, but it was a new bird for India and a real looker. We had a little blue theme going on with Blue-winged Minla, Blue-capped Rock-thrush, and Verditer Flycatcher, which is almost the same color as our Mountain Bluebirds.

As we moved up in elevation we found more and more species. The blue theme continued with Ultramarine Flycatcher and Indian Blue Robin. A Yellow-breasted Greenfinch was a nice addition to my life list. Some swifts flew overhead and I was very happy to see White-throated Needlettails.  I was extremely excited when a Himalayan Cutia flew into the top of a tree. This was another of my most wanted birds. I got good looks at it, but I didn't try to photograph it, ,as the bird guide we had talked to a couple of days previously told us they were all over Eaglenest, where we were heading the next day. A rather disreputable looking Black-throated Prinia popped up, one of the few birds I actually photographed on this day.

I did take a lot of photos of different shrines and memorials along the road. We came across some prayer wheels, which Mike and I turned. I kind of expected to be hit by lightening, but nothing happened. I also found a few butterflies, including a stunning Indian Tortoiseshell. I also photographed some really spooky looking scarecrows in a field. We had seen a couple the day before on Mandala Road, but one of these was even scarier looking. 

After lunch we drove to Sangti Valley to look for Long-billed Plover, which is found along rocky river banks. There were a couple of spots where they are normally seen. We parked along the river and walked and scanned. I mistook a White Wagtail for a forktail and felt a little dumb. Common Sandpipers caught me out a couple of times, but we couldn't find a plover. We stopped at another spot which involved climbing down an extremely steep slope. I know my limitations so I said I would have to stay up top. Mike said that was fine, as he and Dorjee would go down and find one and Willie and I should be able to see it from where we were. They scrambled down and did find one pretty quickly. Willie saw it right away, but I could not find it anywhere. Dorjee came up to help me. I was getting extremely nervous. Finally, I was able to get on it. It was almost exactly the same color as the sand it was standing on.

We drove back into town. Unfortunately Mike had not been able to get a room at the same hotel we were at for the night. We dropped him at a home stay that looked very nice. I noticed a pond with reeds across from the place and said we needed to look for Black-tailed Crakes in the morning. Willie and I went on to the hotel, where we discovered the elevator was still broken, so we trudged up the four flights of stairs. Maybe Mike was actually lucky to be staying where he was!

The few photos I took this day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72177720299114331

Bird list for the day: 

1. Large Hawk-cuckoo

2. Himalayan Cuckoo

3. Common Cuckoo

4. White-throated Needetail *

5. Blyth's Swift

6. River Lapwing

7. Red-wattled Lapwing

8. Long-billed Plover *

9. Common Sandpiper

10. Great Barbet

11. Golden-throated Barbet

12. Long-tailed Minivet

13. Slender-billed Oriole

14. Maroon Oriole

15. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike

16. Ashy Drongo

17. Long-tailed Shrike

18. Gray Treepie

19. Large-billed Crow

20. Gray-headed Canary-flycatcher

21. Green-backed Tit

22. Black-throated Prinia *

23. Russet Bush Warbler *

24. Striated Bulbul

25. Red-vented Bulbul

26. Black Bulbul

27. Mountain Bulbul

28. Buff-barred Warbler

29. Buff-throated Warbler

30. Whistler's Warbler

31. Greenish Warbler

32. Large-billed Leaf-warbler

33. Byth's Leaf-warbler

34. Gray-hooded Warbler *

35. Russet Bush-warbler *

36. Black-throated Tit

37. Whiskered Yuhina

38. Indian White-eye

39. Streaked-breasted Scimtar-babbler

40. Himalayan Cutia *

42. Bhutan Laughingthrush

43. Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

44. Blue-winged Minla

45. White-tailed Nuthatch *

46. Verditer Flycatcher

47. Indian Blue Robin

48. Blue Whistling-thrush

49. Slaty-backed Flycatcher

50. Ultramarine Flycatcher

51. Plumbeous Redstart

52. Blue-capped Rockthrush

53. Gray Bushchat

54. Fire-breasted Flowerpecker *

55. Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

56. Orange-bellied Leafbird

57. Rufous-breasted Accentor

58. Russet Sparrow

59. Gray Wagtail

60. White Wagtail

61. Paddyfield Pipit

62. Olive-backed Pipit

63. Common Rosefinch *

64. Brown Bullfinch *

65. Yellow-breasted Greenfinch *

66. Crested Bunting *

67. Little Bunting *

Life birds marked with *