Our trip was in the far northeastern part of India, starting in Assam and going up into Arunachal Pradesh. There are challenges to visiting this area. Arnunachal is claimed by both India and China. India has control now, but it is not settled. I have marked the area on the map above. Bhutan and China are to the north, Myanmar (Burma) is to the east, Bangladesh is to the south. This part of the country is attached to the rest of the nation by a thin strip of land. A special permit is needed to enter. Luckily, Mike Prince of Bubo Birding and Asian Adventures were able to secure what we needed, though it was a little tense, at one point looking like it was not going to happen. I hope through my writing I can dispel some of the stereotypes people hold of India.
We started our trip at the Infinity Resort near Kaziranga National Park in Assam. We arrived in the dark the previous night, so we only had a rough idea of the grounds. The room was lovely, with a nice balcony overlooking the gardens. After the 36 hour journey I was out like a light. My sleep came to an abrupt end at about 4AM, when a big racket on the roof woke me up. It was already light. India has one time zone, so the sun rises ridiculously early in the northeast! I slipped into some clothes and stepped outside. I quickly discovered the source of the noise. A troop of Rhesus Macaques were scrambling around. We gave each other dirty looks and I proceeded to explore quietly. The gardens were full of bird songs. I struggled to see much, as everything was pretty skulky, a problem everywhere we went with many of the birds. Of course, I would be skulky, too, if people had been trying to hunt and eat me and my kind for eons.
I returned to the room to get ready for the day. We were starting our exploration of Karizanga NP. The park is best known as a refuge for One-horn Rhinoceros. Other animals protected there include Indian Elephants, Tigers, Water Buffalo, Wild Boar, Smooth-coated Otters, Swamp Deer and many other animals and birds. It is spread across the flood plains of the Bhamaputra River, with swamps, grassland and forests. It has been a protected area since 1905. The park can only be visited between November and the end of April, as in May the risk of flooding increases. Tourists are limited to taking jeep or elephant safaris. (There is a lot of controversy about taking the elephants. I won't go into it, but I would not recommend it for ethical reasons.) There are only a few places you are allowed out of the jeeps, due to the risk from wildlife. Believe it or not, the tigers are not the main danger. Elephants and buffalo are far more likely to kill you.
Willie and I packed up our stuff for the day. We went outside to meet Mike, our jeep driver and guide. I was a little nervous about climbing in and out of the back of the jeep, but was able to do it, though I had a few tense incidents due to my lack of confidence. We got our box breakfasts, which were not the best part of our culinary experience, and took off for the eastern range of the park. We stopped for our camera permits and to get the paperwork in order. I slipped the street dogs part of my breakfast. I will be writing more about the dogs later. I fell in love with them!
There were plenty of birds to look at, too. We saw more adjutants of both species, Open-billed Storks, Black-necked Storks, Wooly-necked Storks, ducks of various kinds, Pheasant-tailed and Bronze-winged Jacanas, egrets and herons of various species scattered across the grassland. The background noise consisted of calling koels, various barbets, and other birds. We drove into drier grasslands, and the forest, where we added even more birds. A heavy rain came in, so we put the canvas top up and drove to one of the towers, where we were allowed to get out. Some Fox-tailed Orchids, the state flower of Assam, hung from one of the trees.
The rain stopped and we drove on. We had Pallas' and Grey-headed Fish-eagles, Spotted Owlets, several species of bee-eaters, including my favorite, Blue-bearded, and several new parakeets for me, Alexandrine, Blossom-headed, and Red-breasted. Rose-ringed were new the day before, at least new in the wild, as I had bred them back in my cage-bird days. I love psitticula parakeets, so I was very happy!
We returned to the resort for lunch, which I did not share with the street dogs! It was excellent. As we were walking into the resort grounds a photographer asked if we wanted to see a snake. I love herps, so of course I said yes. It was a Golden Flying Snake, and completely adorable! Don't worry, they aren't venomous. We "rested" after lunch before our next foray into the park. I was able to photograph a few butterflies and see some birds in the garden.
After lunch we entered the Central Bagori Range part of the park. We added Smooth-coated Otters to the mammal list, though all we saw were heads swimming across the river. I spotted a Great Hornbill flying across the tops of the trees. A Brown Hawk-owl, aka Brown Boobok, showed well. We had a few birds that were heard only, but I am not too proud to count those! (Don't judge me.) We had some very exciting encounters with the rhinos and elephants, and really nice sighting of a buffalo swimming very close to the car. But the best sighting for me, was a scope view of a Bengal Florican at the end of the afternoon. At first we could only see its head and neck, but eventually we could see the entire body. The bird was doing a partial display. As we were watching a couple of Wild Boars came in to sneak some of the food from the domestic cattle, who didn't seem too put off by them.
Here is a link to my photos for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72177720298884336
Bird list for the day:
1. Lesser Whistling Duck
2. Ruddy Shelduck *
3. Gadwall
4. Indian Spot-billed Duck *
5. Red-junglefowl
6. Swamp Francolin *
7. Rock Pigeon (feral)
8. Oriental Turtle-dove
9. Red Collared-dove
10. Spotted Dove
11. Asian Emerald Dove
12. Yellow-footed Green-pigeon *
13. Green Imperial-pigeon*
14. Bengal Florican *
15. Greater Coucal
16. Green-billed Malkoha
17. Asian Koel
18. Indian Cuckoo *
19. Asian Palm-swift
20. White-breasted Waterhen
21. Red-wattled Lapwing
22. Pheasant-winged Jacana
23. Bronze-winged Jacana
24. Green Sandpiper
25. Common Greenshank
26. Whiskered Tern
27. River Tern *
28. Asian Openbill
29. Wooly-necked Stork *
30. Black-necked Stork
31. Lesser Adjutant
32. Greater Adjutant
33. Oriental Darter
34. Little Cormorant
35. Spot-billed Pelican *
36. Gray Heron
37. Purple Heron
38. Great Egret
39. Intermediate Egret
40. Little Egret
41. Cattle Egret
42. Indian Pond-heron *
43. Himalayan Griffon *
44. Crested Serpent-eagle
45. Pallas's Fish-eagle *
46. Gray-headed Fish-eagle *
47. Spotted Owlet
48. Brown Hawk-owl *
49. Great Hornbill
50. Oriental Pied-hornbill
51. Stork-billed Kingfisher *
52. White-throated Kingfisher
53. Pied Kingfisher
54. Blue-bearded Bee-eater*
55. Green Bee-eater
56. Blue-tailed Bee-eater
57. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
58. Indochinese Roller
59. Lineated Barbet
60. Blue-throated Barbet
61. Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
62. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker *
63. Streak-throated Woodpecker *
64. Gray-headed Woodpecker
65. Alexandrine Parakeet *
66. Rose-ringed Parakeet
67. Blossom-headed Parakeet *
68. Red-breasted Parakeet *
69. Black-hooded Oriole
70. Common Iora
71. Black Drongo
72. Hair-crested Drongo
73. Brown Shrike
74. Gray-backed Shrike
75. Rufous Treepie
76. Large-billed Crow
77. Cinereous Tit*
78. Bengal Bushlark *
79. Common Tailorbird
80. Dark-necked Tailorbird
81. Plain Prinia
82. Zitting Cisticola
83. Striated Grassbird
84. Gray-throated Martin *
85. Red-vented Bulbul
86. Red-whiskered Bulbul
87. Dusky Warbler
88. Indian White-eye
89. Chestnut-capped Babbler
90. Pin-striped Tit-babbler
91. Puff-throated Babbler
92. Abbott's Babbler *
93. Aisan Pied Starling
94. Chestnut-tailed Starling
95. Common Myna
96. Jungle Myna *
97. Great Myna
98. Oriental Magpie-robin
99. Pale-chinned Blue Flycatcher *
100.Purple Sunbird
101. Crimson Sunbird *
102. Golden-fronted Leafbird
103. Chestnut Munia
104. House Sparrow
105. Eastern Yellow Wagtail
106. Citrine Wagtail
107. Paddyfield Pipit
108. Rosy Pipit
Life birds marked with *
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