I visited the wonderful Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh in January this year. I've done a relatively brief description of the tour below:
As the sun highlighted the snow-covered peaks of the mighty Himalayas on the horizon, a small group of birders were waiting patiently alongside the road in what we christened Magic Mountain. Deep within Arunachal Pradesh, this is a new destination on the rapidly growing birder’s circuit in these parts and is sure to be a must-visit site in the future. All of a sudden, the first Fire-tailed Myzornis of the day appeared feeding on a moss-encrusted branch not far away from us and we were all entranced by the beauty of this truly enigmatic and much-wanted species. Indeed, we were to see up to 11 of these little beauties throughout the day, which must be something of a record. We were unable to reach the higher elevations of this mountain due to snow and ice, so we could not discover if the tales of numerous pheasants and tragopans from the local villagers was true, but the birding action was fast-paced and didn’t let up at all. Flock after flock appeared and it was hard to keep up with everything and our first flock of Grey-sided Laughingthrushes hid a couple of near-invisible Spotted Laughingthrushes. We were to see this latter species at point-blank range in a few days time, and were amongst 11 species of laughingthrush seen throughout the trip. Other good sightings on this day included Plain-backed Thrush, White-browed Bush-robin, a flock of Rufous-fronted Tits, Rusty-flanked Treecreeper, and a party of Brown Parrotbills. The nearby Sangti Valley is also worth a visit at this time of year, and we had several Wallcreepers, Ibisbill, Crested Kingfisher, flocks of Rufous-breasted Accentors, and 3 Black-tailed Crakes, but best of all were 5 Black-necked Cranes. These majestic birds spend the winter here from December to mid-February, although just how much longer they continue to arrive in this remote wilderness remains to be seen as numbers are falling every year. We also attempted to reach Se La Pass, where the promise of Himalayan Monal beckoned (and Sclater’s Monal has been seen), yet heavy overnight snow rendered the route impassable, so we contented ourselves with exploring other sites where Bhutan Laughingthrush was common, flocks of Snow Pigeon flew overhead, and we also recorded White-collared Blackbird, Brown-throated Fulvetta, Tibetan Siskin, and both Gold-naped and Crimson-browed Finches. A return to Magic Mountain that afternoon failed to locate the calling Ward’s Trogon from the previous day, although Grey Nightjar, Black-chinned Yuhina, yet more Fire-tailed Myzornis, and a possible Gould’s Shortwing seen late in the day enlivened the visit.
So eventually we had to leave this area and head into Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, full of expectation and excitement. We had already scored heavily with some major birds a few days previously in the Sessa Wildlife Sanctuary, with Jerdon’s Baza, Pygmy-blue Flycatcher, White-spectacled, Rufous-faced and Yellow-bellied Warblers, Long-tailed Sibia, Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Long-billed Scimitar-babbler, Indian White-hooded Babbler, and Mountain Tailorbird. So we could concentrate our efforts on finding some more key species.
We arrived at Lama Camp just in time for lunch, amidst clear blue skies and sunshine which would set the tone for our entire stay, apart from a couple of misty afternoons. This spot is famous for the discovery of the Bugun Liocichla, first seen by some Swiss birders a few years ago. Unfortunately, this bird was going to prove to be our nemesis, only showing briefly on a couple of occasions and we could understand how such a brightly coloured bird could remain undetected for all these years! However, there were plenty of other species to keep us entertained and the thrill and excitement of all those mixed-species flocks really creates a huge adrenalin rush! The gullies close to camp came up trumps on every visit, with such stunning birds like Cutia, Black-headed Shrike-babbler, Vivid Niltava, Sapphire Flycatcher, a confiding Rufous-throated Wren-babbler, Yellow-throated and Golden-breasted Fulvettas, Golden Babbler, Rufous-breasted Bush-robin, and both Scaly and Blue-winged Laughingthrushes. Mouth-watering birds all of them, but even better was to come! We drove over Eaglenest Pass to the next camp at Sunderview, and from our base here we connected with Collared Owlet, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, a couple groups of Spotted and a few Black-faced Laughingthrushes, Eye-browed Thrush, Indian Blue Robin, the distinctive race (or future split) of Spotted Nutcracker with a dark, chocolate brown belly, a beautiful Bar-winged Wren-babbler, plus a whole range of commoner birds. This latter category includes Beautiful Sibia, Golden-throated Barbet, Red-flanked Bluetail, Large Niltava, Rufous-capped Babbler, Black-eared Shrike-babbler, Rusty-fronted and Streak-throated Barwings, as well as a good variety of leaf-warblers and yuhinas. But it was the specialities we were after, and by a combination of expert local knowledge, patience, team-work and good field skills we pretty well cleaned up!
The area from Bompu down to the lower elevations of Sessni holds some of the best birds, and we saw Rufous-necked Hornbill, Ward’s Trogon, flocks of Beautiful Nuthatches, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Rufous-backed Sibia, flocks of Black-throated Parrotbills, a couple flocks of Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbills, a flock of 30+ Coral-billed Scimitar-babblers, Red-faced Liocichla, Brown Bullfinch, and Collared Treepie. Other notable sightings included Bay Woodpecker, Grey-cheeked Warbler, flocks of Red-tailed Minla, more Fire-tailed Myzornis and Cutias, Striated Bulbuls, numerous flocks of Grey-sided and Red-headed Laughingthrushes, Sultan Tit, many White-naped Yuhinas, and numerous Golden-breasted and Yellow-throated Fulvettas. In all, we saw 7 species of wren-babbler, with good views of Long-billed, and a pair of extremely confiding Sikkim Wedge-billed Wren-babblers that proceeded to sing and display on a fallen log in the shadows right next to us! But it is best to remember this is a wild area, and the presence of an Indian Elephant beside our camp one evening had the camp crew stoking the bonfires to keep this huge beast away! We also saw numerous pug marks from Golden Cat and Clouded Leopards throughout our time here, which just shows the richness and diversity of the forests. In fact, it is totally awe-inspiring when there are numerous densely forest-cloaked mountainsides as far as the eye can see, and in every direction.
The lower elevations from Sessni towards Nameri were also brimming with birds and in a couple exploratory visits we found Spot-winged Starlings to be common, along with Wreathed Hornbill, Pied Falconet, White-browed Piculet, Yellow-vented Warbler, White-browed Scimitar-babbler, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Whistler’s Warbler, and Grey-chinned Minivet. As with any ground-breaking trip of this nature there were ‘the one’s that got away’, and in that category we only heard Grey Peacock-pheasant, Mountain Scops-owl, Himalayan Wood Owl, and Eye-browed Wren-babbler. There was also a large, broad-winged and long-tailed nightjar with no apparent white in the wings that we spotlighted at Sessni which may well have been a Great-eared Nightjar, but it never came close enough to confirm. Oh well, you should always leave something for next time!
So that was our Eastern Himalayan adventure and in all we recorded over 350 species. To visit Arunachal Pradesh it is necessary to have good ground agents to organise the relevant permits and organise a crew to service the camps and take care of you. It is not the sort of place to just turn up and visit, and we were fortunate to have a 14 day permit, rather than the standard 10 day permit due to our contacts. And we have not even mentioned our brief visit into Nagaland, where we were the first British group to see the recently split Naga Wren-babbler! Other highlights include Mountain Bamboo-partridge, Black-breasted and Dark-sided Thrushes, Crested Finchbill, Grey Sibia, Striped Laughingthrush, Spot-breasted Scimitar-babbler, and a flock of Rusty-capped Fulvettas. There was also an odd looking pitta seen independently by 3 of the group, which showed dark, chocolate brown upperparts from the crown to tail and a distinct dark eye-stripe. But that’s another story!
The north-east of India is a fascinating place, and there are many other sites to visit. Kaziranga is world famous for its population of Indian One-horned Rhinoceros, as well as a wide variety of mammals. It is also one of the best places to see Swamp Francolin, Bengal Florican, Blossom-headed Parakeet, Slender-billed, Abbott’s and Spot-throated Babblers, and Blue-eared Barbet. Dibru-Saikhowa has the endemic Marsh Babbler, Black-breasted Parrotbill and Swamp Prinia, Digboi has Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush, whilst the endemic Tawny-breasted Wren-babbler and Dark-rumped Swift are relatively easy in Meghalaya – weather permitting. And Namdapha has been on the ‘regular’ circuit for many years, although can only be birded up to 900metres, whereas you can reach 4500 metres doing the Eaglenest run. More areas are opening up to ‘western’ birders, and exciting destinations such as Mizoram and the Mishmi Hills are all possible to visit now!
Hello there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum
Hi Nick
many thanks for posting this
missed it at the time
we are off there in four weeks!