Birdtour Asia North-East India Report April 2010

North-east India:

Arunachal Pradesh & Assam

2nd - 18th April 2010

Leader: James Eaton

Participants: Andy Bunting, Simon Cockayne, Andy Deighton, Martin Flack,
Clive Garland, Martin Kennewell, Ian Merrill and Volkert van der Willigan

Himalayan Monal, Sela Pass @ James Eaton / Birdtour Asia

This region and ‘Eaglenest’ in particular have become a hot birding destination over the last few years but it is still difficult to convey in words the excitement of this largely unexplored, ornithological wilderness. We recorded a grand total of 500 species including 16 heard only, surely the largest species count possible on any 17 day Asian birding tour. Though this actual number (including 16 laughingthrushes, 6 parrotbills, 32 warblers, 10 galliforms and 26 raptors actually seen) seems largely irrelevant considering that it was the great views of nearly all of our target species which left the most lasting memories.
Starting in rain-soaked east Assam a visit to the highly threatened grasslands at Dibru Saikhowa was rewarded by a raucous pair of feisty Black-breasted Parrotbill, along with Jerdon’s Babbler and Ganges River Dolphin. Digboi Oilfields is a rather odd setting for a birding visit but nevertheless turned up several rare Chestnut-backed Laughingthrushes, along with Rufous-necked Laughingthrush, White-hooded Babbler and Collared Treepie before we headed south-west to the famous Kaziranga National Park. Once we had had our fill of Rhino’s, Elephants, Swamp and Hog Deers the birds came to the fore; the highly prized Slender-billed Babbler showed in the nick of time along with Swamp Francolin. Other species included grotesque Greater Adjutants, Blue-naped Pitta, a surprise Rufous-rumped Grassbird, Pale-chinned Flycatcher and a Bengal Florican from elephant back.
Moving into Arunachal Pradesh our first three nights based at Dirang produced plenty of highlights while exploring a range of habitats; a flock of Grandala, swirling flocks of Snow Pigeon, rosefinches, Spotted Laughingthrush, Black-tailed Crake and best of all, at least six Himalayan Monal.
The focal point of the tour – Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary situated in western Arunachal Pradesh – did not disappoint. By the end of our first afternoon the recently discovered Bugun Liocichla had put on quite a show and the remainder of the ‘big four’ showed themselves in equal glory; Ward’s Trogon, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler and ‘bird-of-the-trip’ Beautiful Nuthatch along with a supporting cast including Rufous-necked Hornbill, Rufous-vented Laughingthrush, Long-billed Wren Babbler, Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler and Himalayan Cutia.

After meeting up in Delhi we had an hour to kill before our flight to the north-east so we exploreda nearby patch of wasteland which held Indian Bushlark and Rufous-fronted Prinia and an assortment of bemused-looking locals. Arriving in Dibrugarh in east Assam, we were greeted by a group of White-rumped and Himalayan Griffon Vultures, heavy rain and the information that it had rained for 12 continuous days.
We soon found out that our local guide was not kidding when instead of the usual hop, skip and jump over a small channel at our first port of call, Dibru-Saikhowa we were greeted by two boats, 4 umbrella’s and a Ganges River Dolphin!
The torrential torrent lying ahead prevented us from searching for Swamp Prinia, though unless it’s a strong swimmer we wouldn’t have had a hope anyhow. Fortunately the birds were well concentrated in the few islands of vegetation; Both grey-backed and black-backed (Tibetan Wagtail) races of Citrine Wagtail were much in evidence, a couple of Black-breasted Weavers showed themselves, a Black Redstart sheltered under the roof of a small structure, and of great satisfaction was the close-up views of a Pale Martin, flashing its frosty, scaled rump at us. A brief, wet foray to land secured views first of Striated Babbler and our first big target, Jerdon’s Babbler in the gathering gloom.

White-hooded Babblers and Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush © James Eaton

Our first full day saw us in the unusual location of Digboi Oilfields, the oldest oilfield in the world and still in operation. Walking through the heavily-logged forest that has an open-museum feel about it, was generally a wet experience in the morning. A short celebration kicked the day off in style with Ian’s 6000th species, some roadside Rufous-necked Laughingthrushes. Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush, a species ranging in a thin line from here to the Burmese border was surprisingly easy to locate and tease out early on in the morning, occasionally singing from open perches when not moving through the thickets and tangled canopies. By 8am our three reasons for visiting the site had been accomplished as a pair of Collared Treepie perched up on the opposite side of a marsh – the first of several pairs throughout the day.
Whenever the rain decreased the birds tended to sit out, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Asian Drongo-Cuckoo, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Asian Barred Owlet and more Collared (and Grey) Treepie all had the same idea. Fortunately a brief sunny spell just before lunch coincided with a great feeding flock containing two dazzling Sultan Tits in front of us.

After a great, garlic-naan filled lunch, we headed back to the oilfields with the sun shining sweetly above us. A pair of Chestnut-backed Laughingthrushes popped out to enjoy the sun, moving more openly through the bushes than before. Raptors began springing up; Himalayan Buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard and a Jerdon’s Baza were noteworthy. Keeping an eye to the sky led us to a number of Silver-backed and Brown-backed Needletails too. A surprise Violet Cuckoo popped up, perching out and singing for some time while further into the forest a Blue-eared Kingfisher favoured a swampy area and a pair of Red-headed Trogon sat quietly close-by, and just as we contemplated calling it a day a pair of White-browed Scimitar Babbler led us to five showy White-hooded Babblers who couldn’t get enough of sitting out on exposed branches!
Numerous other species popped up during the day including numerous Blue-throated Flycatcher, Speckled Piculet, Greater Flameback, Golden-fronted and Orange-bellied Leafbirds, singing Greenish Warblers, a bonus Rufous-faced Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Rufous-fronted Babbler, Nepal Fulvetta, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Large Woodshrike and several Black-backed Forktails enjoyed the soaked roadside verges.
The birding was so good that we struggled to leave the place as twice Kaleej Pheasants got in our way as did a party of Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, feeding openly along the tracks and road.

Before heading further west along the Brahmaputra we returned to Dibru-Saikhowa and boarded our boat to chug along the overflowing River Dibru. Our quest for Sand Lark would have to wait a further two weeks as we failed to find a grain of exposed sand. On the way we flushed several flocks of duck including some wild Mallard. Within five minutes of hitting relatively dry-land we had a pair of Black-breasted Parrotbills circling us, perching up in view periodically in the tall elephant grasses in the rain. Next up was Marsh Babbler; though the water-levels wouldn’t allow us to enter the heart of their territories we managed to coax one out to the water’s edge only for it to dive back into cover once it had been located. After a couple of hours we admitted defeat, though a singing Spotted Bush Warbler and Thick-billed Warbler softened the blow slightly along with repeat looks at the pair of parrotbills, now enjoying the mid-morning sun along with a Jerdon’s Babbler passing through and inspecting us.

Our next destination was a three night stay at Kaziranga World Heritage Site, a long drive west, although travelling through rural Assam was full of birds, a complete contrast for those of us used to birding further east. Excitingly we found a few Greater Adjutants feeding in a roadside rice field giving us excellent looks and rendering a visit to the dump at the end of the tour unnecessary.

Greater Adjutant and Slender-billed Babbler, Kaziranga © James Eaton

Kaziranga is justly renowned for its huge number of mammals, in particular Indian Rhinoceros, Swamp Deer and Asiatic Water Buffalo, we also enjoyed a huge variety of birds along with the umpteen Rhino photo opportunities.
Our first morning was mildly disrupted from a visit by the Minister of Forestry who decided on the same itinerary (meaning all the areas were strictly off-limits!) but in the end this worked to our advantage as we opted for a visit to the local tea estate. Maybe not the location one would normally choose for a ‘jewel of the forest’ but Blue-naped Pitta does seem to be particularly partial to it. Walking through the plantation a pair of Brown Fish Owl looked across sleepy-eyed peering down at us and a pair of Chestnut-winged Cuckoo perched out calling, while groups of Rufous-necked Laughingthrush bounced around before we heard a pitta calling down a bamboo gulley. A bit of careful manoeuvring and a strategic plan and the pitta popped up right where most of us had hoped as it sat motionless attempting to conceal itself against the leaf-litter before heading further down the gulley to disappear.
As the Kaziranga gates do not open until 730, well after the sun is shining, we spent the morning picking up our first big game; armour-built Indian Rhino’s, Asian Elephant and Hog Deer all lined up for the cameras. Our first Pallas’s and Grey-headed Fish Eagles perched out prominently. Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Asian Barred Owlets, Red Junglefowl dust-bathing and Kaleej Pheasants all favouring the woods though a Black-rumped Flameback flew out of the woods, circling our vehicles for the invisible intruder and an adult Greater Spotted Eagle circled overhead.
In the afternoon we journeyed over to the Eastern Range where the large lake still held plenty of wildfowl including Bar-headed and Greylag Geese, Ferruginous Pochards a family of Smooth Otter, quartering male Pied Harrier, Greater Spotted Eagle and good numbers of Black-necked Stork. At the forest edge a large flock of roosting vultures took some time to work out what was going on until it dawned on us that it was a large concentration of immature White-rumped with a sprinkling of the required Slender-billed Vulture. Over 30 immature White-rumped Vultures is a significant discovery as the species continues to tumble towards extinction.

As the Minister had departed overnight we got our second day just as we wanted. A most enjoyable start to the morning birding on elephant back produced point-blank looks and hundreds of photos of the larger game, displaying Bengal Bushlark, Oriental Skylark and Golden-headed Cisticola while in the distance a much-wanted Bengal Florican fed with the Swamp Deer. We managed to get moderately close to the florcian, watching it feed but taking off and giving us a prolonged fly-by. As we entered the tall grass we were amazed to flush up a beautifully marked Rufous-rumped Grassbird. The elephants did a fine job flushing it up for us , they simply ate away all of its habitat until it had nowhere to hide! In the process we had some fun with a pair of Blue-breasted Quail that kept running away and failing to conceal themselves.

The rest of the day was spent in and around Kaziranga once more but we enjoyed a much more successful day; a Pale-chinned Flycatcher sang away for as long as we wanted by the roadside; admiring the footprint of a Tiger was a good move as a pair of Blossom-headed Parakeet were peering down at us (or the Tiger!). A glimpse of a Swamp Francolin halted us in our tracks and as we waited patiently a group of our main target suddenly appeared as four Slender-billed Babblers began circling and teasing us ending in joy and then to finish it off in style, out popped a pair of Swamp Francolin to feed along the track in the glorious late afternoon sunshine. The targets completed we sat back for the final watching of thousands of Grey-throated Martins, hundreds of Red-breasted, Alexandrine and Rose-breasted Parakeets all going to roost.
As Clive and Simon had missed the pitta the previous day they returned to the tea estate during our final afternoon to obtain prolonged views of a pair presumably nesting. Not only that but as dusk began to fall a pair of Oriental Scops Owl started mating in their spotlight! Fortunately the rest of us managed to pull that species back later the same evening as one sat above us in the grounds of our lodge.

Our Kaziranga bird list is always huge and highlights are many but some of the species that we were particularly pleased to come across included Red-headed Vulture, Spot-billed Pelican, Chinese Pond Heron, Spotted Owlet, Grey-headed Lapwing, River Tern, Oriental Turtle Doves, Lesser Coucal, Great Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Streak-throated and Grey-faced Woodpeckers, Red-throated and Rosy Pipits, singing Bluethroat, Black-hooded Oriole, Common Woodshrike, Baya Weaver and a surprise Yellow-breasted Bunting.

Snow Pigeons, Sela Pass © James Eaton/Birdtour Asia

A full day drive the next day took us over the Bramhaputra River at dawn, watching Capped Langur over breakfast, and across the state border into the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, twisting our way up the windy roads into the beautiful vistas and untouched forests. As the scenery became more spectacular we made occasional birding stops picking up some useful species en-route. The short roadside birding stops included a showy pair of Slaty-bellied Tesia, flocks of White-naped Yuhina, singing Small Niltava, singing Yellow-vented and Grey-hooded Warblers and a pair of Yellow-throated Fulvetta. After lunch a scan around some cabbage patches turned up a couple of Bhutan Laughingthrush and two unusually co-operative bush warblers, first a Brownish-flanked quickly followed by a Russet Bush Warbler sat out calling for well over five minutes. We reached our hotel situated in a deep, scenic gorge shortly after nightfall – we would have to wait three days before we could actually confirm this though thanks to some early starts and late finishes!

At a lofty 4200m above sea level, the Sela Pass gave us one shot at a variety of species occurring above the tree-line. A fine sunny morning amid spectacular views made for a great days birding. With the number of passerines by the roadside it took some time to get to the top. White-collared Blackbirds, Russet Sparrows, Blue-fronted Redstarts, hulking White-winged Grosbeaks and rosy Himalayan White-browed Rosefinches fed around the flowering rhododendrons as Red-billed Choughs, Pacific Swifts and Large-billed Crows played above us. A huge immature Northern Goshawk perched up until the crows pushed it away.
Right at the tree-line several species perched up on the dwarf conifers, Dark-breasted Rosefinch, Coal, Grey-crested and Rufous-vented Tits, Hodgson’s Treecreeper and great views of a shaken White-browed Bush Robin that tried its best to get as close as possible, though a male Rufous-breasted Bush Robin only showed itself to those who had seen them previously! A pair of Blood Pheasants appeared below us whilst a couple of female monal flew away before we had the chance to appreciate them.

At the pass we spent a little time admiring the views, the Snow Pigeons, and taking some scenic photographs before it was back down to business. Grandala’s were picked out sallying across the most distant of hillsides and as this was the most wanted species we drove towards them at speed only to screech to a halt as we sighted a couple of spanking males at the roadside. With males and females either side of us it was a great experience – Digiscoping cameras literally can’t handle the dazzling bluehues of the male! As the Grandala began to drift away Martin’s eagle-eyes picked out a small flock of Brandt’s Mountain Finches feeding quietly on the upslope. Further down careful scanning revealed two more groups of Blood Pheasant totalling 11 birds.
Back up at the pass Ian’s derogatory remarks about my chosen lunch-spot were soon thrown out the window as within a minute he excitingly announced that he had a monal! Over the course of the next hour we had the pleasure of watching, stalking, and photographing four Himalayan Monal, at times down to 20 metres while trying to fit in the time for lunch, and to almost take the gloss off our luck Simon jammed in a brief Gould’s Shortwing!

Bar-winged Wren Babbler and Ludlow’s Fulvetta, Mandala © James Eaton

Another full day birding out of Dirang took us in a different direction, this time toward the village of Mandala. Our first roadside stop proved fortuitous as a swarm of Black-throated Parrotbill numbering over 50 birdsbuzzed through the bamboo around us. Sticking with the bamboo a couple of Broad-billed Warblers were confiding. Flocks of smaller species buzzed around us at regular intervals throughout the day with Green-tailed and Mrs Gould’s Sunbirds always leading the way shortly followed by Blyth’s Leaf Warblers, Hume’s Treecreepers, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, a pair of Pygmy Blue Flycatcher, White-tailed Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked and Yellow-browed Tits and both Green and Black-eared Shrike Babblers.
In the canopy a few larger birds hung-out; a Large Hawk Cuckoo - the ‘brain-fever bird’ - called from an open perch, Golden-throated Barbets fed nearby, Grey-winged Blackbird, Spotted Nutcracker as well as diminutive but dazzling Ultramarine and Sapphire Blue Flycatchers.
Finally snatches of a fruity song in the undergrowth led us to a Blue-fronted Robin, one of the most elusive species in the Himalaya. The bird came in to view a couple of brief times for most of us in the morning but a return in the afternoon was slightly better for some of us as the bird perched up on a couple of occasions. Much more co-operative was an initially distant Black-headed Shrike Babbler that suddenly flew in unexpectedly at eye-level as we were expecting to find it in the canopy. After a short while he was joined by a female and began displaying to her, raising his crown feathers, spreading his wings while uttering presumably seductive tunes into her ears when a group of White-throated Laughingthrush diverted our attentions.
Along the burnt out ridge-top a few flowering rhododendrons prevented the landscape looking like something out of a Vietnamese war-movie and once again our choice of lunch-stop was hot discussion until shortly after a Bar-winged Wren Babbler, arguably the finest looking wren babbler, came hopping down the slope inquisitively jumping around us and singing away. The feeding flocks in this habitat showed a shift in species composition; Rufous-vented and Stripe-throated Yuhinas, Buff-barred, Simla Leaf and Whistler’s Warblers appeared in numbers with gorgeous Ludlow’s Fulvetta, Rusty-flanked Treecreeper and Hume’s and Grey-sided Bush Warblers making appearances, as did a pair of the sought-after Rufous-fronted Tit.
The flowering bushes played host to several striking Gold-naped Finch, Pine Grosbeak-like Crimson-browed Finches, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Dark-breasted and a single Dark-rumped Rosefinch, and finally a couple of pairs of humungous Spotted Laughingthrushes - a personal favourite - whistling away. A pair of Slender-billed Scimitar Babblers showed themselves though the distance prevented us to truly admire this freak of nature, their time would come...

Before departing the Dirang Valley, we spent the early morning at Sangti Valley, a secluded, fertile valley tucked away behind a deep, narrow gorge. The fertile pastures here are a wintering ground for a small number of Black-necked Crane. Though these had long gone our main reason for a visit certainly hadn’t as two pairs of Black-tailed Crake fed out in the open for as long as we needed. Heading to the rivers edge a pair of Long-billed Plover fed cautiously nearby, looking like they were ready to breed again after we discovered the first breeding record for the subcontinent at this location two years ago.

The focal point of the tour was our 7-nights camping inside Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. An old logging trail cuts through the heart of the sanctuary and by utilising this road we camped at two different spots, covering a range of altitudes. This area shot into fame in 2006 with the discovery of a new bird to science, the Bugun Liocichla. Obviously locating this bird was a major aim of our visit but the wonderful forest here offers so much more than this single species.
Our first camp - Lama Camp - is a largely degraded, logged-over area but this is the preferred habitat for the liocichla. Following our first of many excellent outdoor meals, our first foray into the forest was excellent. Initially the birding was rather quiet we spotted a group of Himalayan Cutia in the glorious sunshine feeding amongst the mossy branches close-by, then a pair of barwings, one Hoary-throated, the other probably a hybrid with Streak-throated. Before we had time to really take in a close pair of Scaly Laughingthrush some Rusty-fronted Barwings got the pulses racing as we know what usually hangs around with the barwings at this particular spot... Bugun Liocichla, and a pair promptly perched up - with impeccable timing - right behind the barwings. We watched this new species in awe as the pair fed in view for 15 minutes before moving away from the road and our view, just a shame that everyone had allocated themselves only one beer per day and with it being the first day nobody dared touch the reserves!

Spotted Wren Babbler and Rufous-throated Wren Babbler, Eaglenest © James Eaton

With the pressure of that one bird now off we relaxed slightly and sought out the other 110 new species on offer! although we did sneak in a return visit to the Liocichla spot where we managed more views of the pair in better light. Birds kept moving through our gulley; Scaly Laughingthrush perched up in the scope, a pair of confiding Slender-billed Scimitar Babblers grabbed our attention, a pair of Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbills moved through (often split off as White-breasted Parrotbill now), Grey-headed Bullfinches fed quietly nearby, as did more Gold-naped Finch and Straited, Chestnut-crowned and Grey-sided Laughingthrushes made appearances. Moving into the forest a powerful song from the undergrowth drew our attention to a tiny Rufous-throated Wren Babbler that eventually stood still and sang its heart out after running rings around us at arms length for the previous ten minutes.

The next area to cover was the upper limits of the sanctuary. Here bamboo dominated undergrowth, rhododendrons and burnt forest held much smaller numbers of feeding flocks and birds to previous years, presumably because of the lack of flowering rhododendrons and magnolia.
Feeding flocks contained much the same as our visit to Mandala; warblers, yuhinas, tits, more Ludlow's Fulvetta and Rufous-fronted Tits but we also added a few new species to the list, particularly when we came across the medium-sized birds feeding flock comprising 15 Brown Parrotbills, Red-billed Leiothrix, several Black-faced Laughingthrush and a pair of Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler. The latter proved great fun, showing us why they have the bill that they do, peering through cuts in the bamboo before poking their bills inside to obtain their food.
We did obtain many great studies of both Streak-throated and Hoary-throated Barwings along with some intermediates pointing towards a hybrid swarm in this area. Spotted Laughingthrushes played hide-and-seek with us but sat up eventually, admiring their territories. Other species up here included some frustratingly brief sightings including a vocal Fire-capped Tit, Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker and Collared Grosbeak. Just as frustrating but nice to hear none-the-less were the crying babies of the mountain; at least 3 male Temminck’s Tragopans were heard and a further 4 Blyth’s Tragopans. It was our local guide, Abid, who struck lucky as he had a female Blyth’s strolling by which had typically vanished by the time he had found us and returned. Fortunately every cloud has a silver lining and while pondering our next move the unmistakeable call of a special trogon made us movequickly, and before we knew it a pair of Ward’s Trogon were perched directly overhead! A couple of hours later we located another pair that proceeded to fly-catch just metres from us at eye-level giving mind-blowing views of this Himalayan jewel.

With such quick successes in the higher reaches of Eaglenest we had lots of time to explore the lower half of the sanctuary and we made the most of the next three days as we birded below our campat Bumphu all the way down to the river outside of the parks border.
Bumphu itself was typically on the quiet side. A Green Cochoa sat up in the early morning sunshine, unfortunately it must have been over a kilometre away! Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler, surprisingly made its only appearance of the tour as did a Grey-bellied Tesia, a Steppe Eagle migrated over, and prolonged views of a Small-billed Scaly Thrush. On our drive down excitement and frustration set in as unfortunately the lead-car syndrome kicked-in as a Grey Peacock Pheasant strolled off the road before the other vehicles latched onto him, unbelievably round the very next corner a pair of Chestnut-breasted Partridges scrambled up the slope and away. Typically the pair of Kaleej Pheasants weren’t so nervy!

Lower down, around the old Sessni Camp the wet, vegetated gullies were the hiding places of many skulkers and we needed a full morning to tease out all of the possibilities. The first gulley held a pair of skulking Blue-winged Laughingthrush and, excitingly, a pair of Crimson-faced Liocichla that popped up a couple of. Jumping-in the bush we managed to pull out a pair of kiwi-like Long-billed Wren Babbler though it was just a little too dark for some of us. Fortunately we located another later in the day giving mind-blowing views down to a couple of metres at times, though a little too quick for Martin’s video (like most of the wren babblers!).
We finally found a gulley that heralded a response from one of the very best eastern Himalayan birds, the Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler. The species took some time to coax, it must have been over 30 minutes before we suddenly noticed movement, having been quiet for so long, even then it was difficult and having almost exhausted ourselves the bird decided to hop right out and climb up a liana, and in case we missed that one, another chose the same route!
Rufous-necked Hornbill, another mega, turned up right enqueue as five birds favoured a clearing giving numerous good flight views and occasional perched views.

Blyth’s Kingfisher and Long-billed Wren Babbler, Eaglenest © James Eaton

Feeding flocks here had a completely different species composition; White-naped and Whiskered Yuhinas, Short-billed and Grey-chinned Minivets, Black-throated Sunbirds, Lesser Racket-tailed and Bronzed Drongos, a pair of Grey-headed Parrotbill, and more Yellow-vented Warblers all joined in on the fun. Asian Emerald Cuckoo was regularly located calling from dead trees and a flock of stunning Scarlet Finches kept the pulses racing. Bird-of-the-tour by a country mile eventually appeared by the roadside as a pair of exquisitely marked Beautiful Nuthatches were found quietly feeding low-down on mossy branches and put on a great show over the next half hour, just a shame none of my 200 photos do the bird any justice!
Further highlights in this area included another brief Blue-naped Pitta, a stunning pair of confiding Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, a pair of Long-tailed Broadbill, Rufous-backed Sibia, our final wren babbler; Spotted Wren Babbler finally showed after hearing many with this bird obviously a ‘tape-virgin’ as he sat out singing for ages.

In the degraded forest and bamboo around the park’s entrance just about every hoped-for species turned up as hoped. As last year the Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbills were associating with the more conspicuous White-hooded Babblers and White-browed Scimitar Babblers, this year though the flock also contained a Red-billed Scimitar Babbler. White-browed Piculet was a nice bonus, a pair of Rufous-throated Partridge, playing clay-pigeon shooting with the cameras on an excited Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo, then another Collared Treepie turned up. Grey Nightjar sallied around us at dusk but best of all was the exciting discovery of 3 Rufous-vented Laughingthrush that led us a merry dance until we eventually pinned-them down and after some clever play we got them to sit out, all on the same branch for some time before they vanished again. To top things off, right down at the bottom, where a pair of Chesnut-bellied Nuthatch making a nest completed our nuthatch possibilities, the fast-flowing river took all of 10 seconds of scanning before we found the rarely-seen Blyth’s Kingfisher perched on an open rock. I have no doubt missed out several noteworthy species but the birding is just too good to fit everything into the paragraphs!

Leaving Eaglenest and Arunachal Pradesh behind, we spent our final night in the lowlands at Nameri Eco-camp with a welcome hot shower (well, for some of us!), and proper bed. We jumped out a few kilometres before the lodge and slipped into our dinghies for a gentle cruise along the river; River Lapwings were as noisy and conspicuous as ever though only a few Small Pratincole and several River Tern were in attendance of their nesting islands and both Indian and Great Thick-knees showed up. Jumping out at one point led us to a Sand Lark, a species guaranteed two weeks ago had it not been for the rain.
After a quick change we entered Nameri Tiger(-less) Reserve for a march along the riverside. Time was running short as we hoped to reach a secluded, forest pond for the increasingly rare White-winged Duck. Unfortunately our luck had dried out by this time as the ducks had been flushed off the ponds by an earlier bird group, ho hum.
Our final dinner was memorable, not so much for the actual food but Martin and Clive’s impressive attempts at eat the hottest chilli known to man, the Bhut jolokia. I don’t think any of us realised that a chilli could get so hot that your ears would actually hurt!
A bit of birding the following morning produced a roosting Brown Boobookskilfully found by Andy D, Pin-tailed Green Pigeon and Oriental Hobby before we set off for Guwahati Airport and sort out the Volcanic Ash episode that was awaiting some of us in Delhi. It was time to say good-bye to this wonderful region, and what better way to end such a wonderful tour with amazing birds and spectacular scenery? A visit to Guwahati dump to observe the hundreds of Greater Adjutants loafing and looking for scraps with the local community!

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