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Tour
Experience Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, India.
January 28th – February 11th 2006-02-23 |
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 3:46 AM
Subject: Re: Our trip!
Hello
again from England.
At last
I have the trip report prepared and am
attaching it to this mail. Please feel free to
use it as you will in your website or to send
it to any person interested in it. You can use
any of our letters as an endorsement of your
excellent service.
I
hope you can use the trip report and look
forward to your feedback on it.
regards
Monica and John Kirby
This trip was organised through an Indian company based in Jaipur that I found through the Internet. The company is:
Indo Vacations
(Tour Operator & Holiday Planner)
312 / 6, Valmiki Marg, Pushpawali, Raja Park
Jaipur-302004, INDIA
Tel.: 0091 141 4013241 & 0091 94143 12872 Fax:
0091 141 4013241
www.indovacations.net
We told them the places we were interested in visiting and they arranged an itinerary for us to include
these. After a little adjustment we agreed on this and
were quoted a price of $1010 (approx £580) per person to include all transportation in India and accommodation with breakfast, the services of a driver with
a Toyota Qualis car and an experienced bird guide. Also included were airport transfers and a full day sight-seeing in Delhi.
All the arrangements went very smoothly and we would recommend this company for their flexibility and organisational skills. The driver we had, known to
us as Paul was really good. He had to drive on the most testing of mountain roads as well as endure the traffic jams in the cities and he did this all without
complaint or the slightest sign of road rage that we all get from time to time. He was great and, once he got used to mad birders asking him to stop at the
slightest sighting of a new bird, he joined in with us.
Our bird guide was Raju (Jagdish Bhatt). This young man is from Binsar and works as a guide at the Binsar Tourist Rest House. He had good eyes and ears
and with the mountain birds he was invaluable. He knew the places we needed to go to see the birds and was excellent. Raju was so friendly and such a
pleasure to have with us. He seemed to enjoy the trip as much as we did! We were very sad to leave him at the end for his 100k journey back to Binsar (a lot
of it to be covered on foot!!)
Flights were arranged through Lastminute.com with Virgin Atlantic for £515 each. This was a direct flight which arrived in Delhi at 11.30 am and back in
London at 5.30pm approx. We liked these flight times and even though we could have got a cheaper price the flights were either via a European or Middle
East airport and/or arrived in Delhi around midnight and left about 2am for the return journey. We felt it was worth the £30-40 pounds extra to get this flight
and it certainly proved to be true.
Our itinerary was as follows.
Day 01 – 29.01.06 – Arrival in New Delhi, transfer to the Hotel / Hotel Metro Heights
Day 02 – 30.01.06 – Drive to Saatal / Saatal Tourist House
Day 03 – 31.01.06 – Full day birding in Saatal / Saatal Tourist House
Day 04 – 01.02.06 – Excursion to Pangot
Day 05 – 02.02.06 – Drive to Binsar / Binsar Tourist House
Day 06 – 03.02.06 – Drive from Binsar to Ranikhet / Hotel West View
Day 07 – 04.02.06 – Drive to Corbett National Park / Hotel Tiger Camp
Day 08 – 05.02.06 – Full day Sightseeing in Corbett National Park / Hotel Tiger Camp
Day 09 – 06.02.06 – Drive to Nainital / Hotel Claridges Naini Retreat
Day 10 – 07.02.06 – Full day in Nainital / Hotel Claridges Naini Retreat
Day 11 – 08.02.06 – Full day in Nainital / Hotel Claridges Naini Retreat
Day 12 – 09.02.06 – Drive to New Delhi / Hotel Metro Heights
Day 13 – 10.02.06 – Full day Sightseeing in New Delhi / Hotel Metro Heights
Day 14 – 11.02.06 – Flight to London
January 29th:
We arrived in Delhi at around 11.30 am and were met by our driver from Indo Vacations. We had changed some money at the airport so were ready to go
straight to our hotel. Hotel Metro Heights is in the Karol Bargh area of Delhi not far from Connaught Place. We really wouldn’t recommend it although it was
adequate. The rooms were ok and had everything we needed including a “ minibar” which contained 2 bottles of water and 3 soft drinks! It is in a “motor
trade” area and there are no local restaurants you can walk to so we used the hotel restaurant which was interesting!. The food I have to say was excellent.
We were puzzled however by the fact that most of the dining chairs were actually computer chairs on wheels. The dining room staff were great and real
whizzes with a spoon which they used to open beer bottles and also to change channels on the TV!
In the afternoon we took a taxi from the hotel to Okhla Barrage on the Yamuna River. Due to new road construction and also to the fact that the driver
probably wasn’t a registered taxi (our hotel reception called him) we got lost taking an hour and a half for the journey. We eventually found Khalindi Kunj
Park and in desperation got out of the taxi there. Don’t bother with the park itself but bird along the tracks leading off the road to the left of the park. The
return trip back to our hotel took 30 minutes!
Birds
Seen
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Ruddy
Shelduck |
Bluethroat |
Plain
Prinia |
Painted
Stork |
Long-tailed
Shrike |
River
Lapwing |
Green
Bee-eater |
Eurasian
Starling |
Pied
Starling |
Red-vented
Bulbul |
Gull-billed
Tern |
Citrine
Wagtail |
Purple
Heron |
Purple
Swamphen |
Black
Drongo |
Scaly-breasted
Munia |
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January 30th - 1st February Saatal:
After leaving the tour company’s office at around 10am we set off on the long drive to Saatal. This took most of the day with a little birding along the way.
We stopped at a restaurant for lunch after about 4 hours. After this we set off again along the road following the Kosi River. We stopped between markers 36
and 37 just past a large temple. Along the river and on the sands we saw:
Himalayan
Rubythroat
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Brown
Dipper
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Plumbeous
Redstart
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White-crowned
Water Redstart |
Rufous
Treepie |
Himalayan
Griffon |
Russet
Sparrow |
Jungle
Babbler |
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It was dark when we arrived in Saatal and very cold. We stayed at the KMVN Tourist Rest House. There is very little accommodation in this area and this
lodge is very basic. There is no heating or hot water (although they will bring a bucket of hot water to your room on request) and meals have to ordered in
advance. As we arrived around 7.30 pm it was too late to get dinner there but a local opened his café for us and we all went down there for a delicious meal
at about £1 each! We found out in the morning that a cow had been taken from behind this café by a Leopard during the night! You will need plenty of
warm clothing at night in this place. It is built to be cool in the summer so in winter is freezing! 4 layers including a padded shirt were not enough till we
added hats and sock! Day times the weather was pleasant – clear and sunny and around 16C.
We birded behind the tea stalls and then through the fields. No Golden Bush Robin seen. (When was the last one seen at this site behind the tea stalls?) Next
we went along the road around the lake and into the Saatal Estate. Lastly we walked along the track through the Windrift Tented Camp.
Birds Seen
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Red-Gorgeted
Flycatcher |
Orange-flanked
Bush Robin |
Spot-bellied
Eagle Owl |
Grey-winged
Blackbird |
Red-billed
Leothrix |
Black-chinned
Tit |
Great
Tit |
Green-backed
Tit |
Black-lored
Tit |
Great
Barbet |
Red-throated
Barbet |
White-crested
Laughing Thrush |
Streaked
Laughing Thrush |
Red-billed
Blue Magpie |
Black-headed
Jay |
Rusty-cheeked
Scimitar Babbler |
Speckled
Piculet |
Grey-hooded
warbler |
Kalij
Pheasant |
Grey-headed
Woodpecker |
Greater
Yellownape |
Lesser
Yellownape |
Red
Junglefowl |
Slaty-headed
Parakeet |
Himalayan
Bulbul |
Blue
Whistling Thrush |
White-browed
Fulvetta |
Fire-breasted
Flowerpecker |
Chestnut-bellied
Nuthatch |
Grey
Treepie |
Scarlet
Minivet |
White-browed
Fantail |
Blue
winged Minla |
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The drive from Saatal to Binsar was again a long one.
The roads were mostly reasonable but involved a lot of
hair-pin bends and sheer drops. Not the best
of journeys for a nervous disposition! We arrived
mid-afternoon at the KMVN Tourist Rest House. This
was a nice place, where the rooms were much warmer
as they were lined with wood and wooden floors.
Lighting was by candle as there was no electricity and
again no running hot water. Large buckets of hot
water were delivered to the room in the morning for showers.
There was a viewing terrace for the sunrise with
unobstructed views of the Himalayas including Nandi
Devi, the Annapurnas and Fishtail Mountain. We
birded around the lodge in the evening and morning
before setting off to Ranikhet. |
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Birds Seen
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Dark-sided
Thrush |
Himalayan
Woodpecker |
Blue-capped
Redstart |
Eurasian
Jay |
Hill
Pigeon |
Black-throated
Thrush |
Rufous-naped
Tit |
White-tailed
Nuthatch |
Black-naped
Tit |
Brown-fronted
Woodpecker |
Mountain
Bulbul |
Upland
Pipit
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On the road up to Binsar inside the National Park there is a temple (Binsewar Temple) with a field in front and a muddy area to the side. This had Spotted
Forktail, Blue Whistling Thrush and Plain-backed Thrush.
3rd February Ranikhet:
On the drive to Ranikhet we again had good views of the Himalayas although the cloud cover comes over early in the morning. We made several stops
along the way to view overhead raptors and one of these proved to be a Golden Eagle. Ranikhet itself is an army town with several barracks. We stayed at
West View Hotel, an old colonial style hotel with very large rooms. A little faded in its glory but warm and comfortable with electricity AND hot water!
The area looked good birding habitat but we saw very little apart from
Asian Barred Owlet and Himalayan Griffon.
4th – 5th February. Tiger Camp. Corbett’s National Park:
The journey to Corbett’s took about half a day and we arrived at Tiger Camp in time for lunch. This is a very comfortable lodge with two roomed bungalows.
The food at this place is buffet style but plentiful and delicious! On our arrival the resident ornithologist/organiser had his scope set up on a pair of Collared
Scops Owls close to the restaurant. After lunch we drove back along the Ranikhet road for a few kilometres. We stopped by a bridge over an almost dry river
bed. Walking up the river bed we were looking for Slaty-backed Forktail but were unlucky. We did see
Small Niltava, Rufous-bellied Niltava and Crested Kingfisher.
The resident “organiser” arranged our visit next day to the Corbett’s reserve with the permits, guide (obligatory), jeep included. Total cost was approx 4500
rupees for 5 people (included Raju our bird guide). Also 1500 rupees for an elephant ride. The elephant ride was just that – a 2 hour trek through the forest
with little chance of seeing anything!
The reserve guides are geared up to finding a tiger (we failed although there was plenty of evidence of tiger activity) and to get them to stop for birds is
quite difficult.
We went to Bijrani Camp and saw most of the birds around this area. While we ate our packed lunch here we also saw a Jackal.
Biggest failure here was not seeing Slaty Woodpecker.
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Best Birds
Seen
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Lesser
Fish Eagle |
Crested
Serpent Eagle |
Changeable
Hawk Eagle |
Small
Niltava |
Black
Redstart |
Black
Stork |
White-browed
Wagtail |
Grey-sided
Bush Warbler |
Oriental
White-eye |
White-backed
Vultures |
Grey-breasted
Prinia |
Yellow-bellied
Prinia |
Red-breasted
Parakeet |
Grey
Bushchat |
Pied
Bushchat |
Rufous
Woodpecker |
Great
Hornbill |
Pied
Hornbill |
Lineated
Barbet |
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6th – 8th February Nainital
On the way from Corbett’s we passed through Ramnagar. We crossed the Kosi River at the barrage and parked by the road. We walked along the almost dry
river bed. No Ibisbill seen and there have been no reports of any here for some time!
Birds seen. Egyptian Vulture. Hair-crested Drongo. Pied Bushchat. Indian Robin. Pied Kingfisher, Lesser Whitethroat.
From Ramnagar we stopped after 4kms at a very wide river bed, just past the village of
Chhoi. Here we saw
Ashy-crowned Sparrowlark, Common Kingfisher and Plain Martin.
We
came to a place called Corbett’s Falls and paid a small
entry fee. The drive down inside the entrance was through a
forested area to a car park. It’s a very scenic spot with
some birds. Black Bulbul, Crested Bulbul. Tits and
Warblers |
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Another long drive along winding mountain roads to Nainital.
We stayed at Claridges Naini Retreat which was almost
luxurious compared to Saatal and even gave us hot water
bottles! A stop at a ravine by a sign for Nainital Zoo and
Hotel Aroma was very productive. Spotted
Forktail, Rufous Sibia, Bar-tailed Treecreeper. White-capped Water
Redstart, Plumbeous Redstart, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Pink-browed
Rosefinch, ,Rufous-naped Tit and a little further on by a sign
for Himalayan Botanical Gardens, and some rather curious
statues of Hindu Gods, we had wonderful close views of a
Lammergeier.
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A trip to Pangot from Nainital took about 45 minutes. Unfortunately by the time we were on the road the mist had rolled in and we didn’t get to see the
mountain views. This happened each day and you really need to be at the viewpoints for sunrise or you wont see anything. After Pangot the metalled road
turned into a dirt track to the village of Gugukan. Here, near the school, we saw a party of 20 White-throated Laughing Thrushes.
Other birds seemed scarce (no accentors) and we returned to Pangot and had lunch at the Jungle Lore Lodge (a good birding base with guides).
In the garden we saw Black-headed Jays, Streaked Laughing Thrushes, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Stonechat, Green-tailed Sunbird,
Red-rumped
Swallow and Grey-backed Shrike Taking the road downhill to Bagar. We passed over a stream said to be good for Slaty Forktail but there were a lot of
workmen shifting boulders so no forktails at all. The trees had a lot of Phylloscopus warblers but we could only identify
Blyth’s Leaf Warbler and Lemon Rumped Warbler. |
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9th – 10th February Delhi:
We left Nainital to head back to Delhi and on leaving the town we noticed a large number of raptors on what looked like a rubbish tip on the left of the road.
Most of these proved to be Steppe Eagles, probably 30+ .Once again the road was terrifying with lots of hair pin bends. Thank goodness for a steady driver!!
We heard on our return to Delhi that the Nainital – Delhi bus had gone off the road and down into the ravine the same day.
The road crosses several rivers and stops can be made at these. A walk along one wide river (name unknown) produced
Wire-tailed Swallow, Ashy Prinia, Hoopoe, Greenshank, Redshank, Snipe, Ruff, Indian Cormorant and Black-winged Stilt. Black-tailed Godwit, River Lapwing. Spotted Dove, White-throated
Kingfisher.
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We spent most of the day on the 10th on a city tour taking in the sights of the temples and mosques and the Red Fort and Gandhi’s Cremation site. In the
afternoon we went to Tughlaqabad.
The fort here covers 6 km2 and was very interesting and would have been well worth a longer visit! We went in through the main entrance at a cost of 100
rupees and birded the scrub inside the walls. Birds Seen
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Common
Babbler |
Long-billed
Pipit |
White-throated
Munia |
Bluethroat |
Brown
Rock Chat |
Crag
Martin |
Purple
Sunbird |
Laughing
Dove |
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Mammals seen on the trip.
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Black-faced
Langur Monkey |
Rhesus
Macaque |
(Wild)
Elephant |
Wild
Boar |
Jackal |
Yellow-throated
Marten |
Barking
Deer |
Sambur |
Spotted
Deer |
Many
Tiger footprints seen in Corbett’s |
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Conclusion:
A good trip with a total of 202 birds (60 lifers). Some of the raptors were very difficult to identify as were the Phylloscopus warblers.
Disappointments included missing Accentors, Great Slaty Woodpecker and Ibisbill. We didn’t see any “green” pigeons throughout the trip.
Don’t forget your warm clothing!!!
References:
We got some information from a website
www.delhibird.org but I have been unable to access this since our return.
Northern India Trip Report by Gruff Dodd (found on the BirdTours website) This was very useful!
Birds of Northern India by Grimmett and Inskipp
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Complete
Trip List
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Little
Grebe |
Little
Cormorant |
Grey
Heron |
Purple
Heron |
Great
Egret |
Intermediate
Egret |
Little
Egret |
Indian
Pond heron |
Cattle
Egret |
Painted
Stork |
Black
Stork |
Greylag
Goose |
Ruddy
Shelduck |
Mallard |
Spot-billed
Duck |
Black-shouldered
Kite |
Black
Kite |
Lesser
Fish Eagle |
Lammergeier |
Egyptian
Vulture |
White-rumped
Vulture |
Himalayan
Griffon |
Cinereous
Vulture |
Red-headed
Vulture |
Crested
Serpent-eagle |
Shikra |
Steppe
Eagle |
Golden
Eagle |
Booted
Eagle |
Changeable
Hawk- eagle |
Mountain
Hawk-eagle |
Eurasian
Kestrel |
Black
Francoling |
Red
Junglefowl |
Kalij
Pheasant |
Indian
Peafowl |
White-
breasted Waterhen |
Indian
Swamphen |
Common
Moorhen |
Common
Coot |
Bronze-winged
Jacana |
Black-winged
Stilt |
River
Lapwing |
Red-wattled
Lapwing |
Pin-tailed
Snipe |
Black-tailed
Godwit |
Common
Redshank |
Common
Greenshank |
Green
Sandpiper |
Wood
Sandpiper |
Common
Sandpiper |
Ruff |
Brown-headed
Gull |
Gull-billed
Tern |
Rock
Dove |
Hill
Pigeon |
Spotted
Dove |
Laughing
Dove |
Rose-ringed
Parakeet |
Slaty-headed
Parakeet |
Red-breasted
Parakeet |
Greater
Coucal |
Collared
Scops Owl |
Spot-bellied
Eagle Owl |
Asian
Barred Owlet |
Himalayan
Swiftlet |
Crested
Treeswift |
Common
Kingfisher |
White-throated
Kingfisher |
Crested
Kingfisher |
Pied
Kingfisher |
Green
Bee-eater |
Eurasian
Hoopoe |
Indian
Grey Hornbill |
Oriental
Pied Hornbill |
Great
Hornbill |
Ashy-crowned
Sparrow-lark |
Lineated
Barbet |
Blue-throated
Barbet |
Speckled
Piculet |
Brown-fronted
Woodpecker |
Himalayan
Woodpecker |
Rufous
Woodpecker |
Lesser
Yellownape |
Greater
Yellownape |
Plain
Martin |
Greater
Flameback |
Great
Barbet |
Grey-headed
Woodpecker |
Dusky
Crag-martin |
Eurasian
Swallow |
Wire-tailed
Swallow |
Red-rumped
Swallow |
Asian
Martin |
White
Wagtail |
White-browed
Wagtail |
Citrine
Wagtail |
Grey
Wagtail |
Oriental
Pipit |
Long-billed
Pipit |
Chestnut-bellied
Rock Thrush |
Olive-backed
Pipit |
Upland
Pipit |
Scarlet
Minivet |
Bar-winged
Flycatcher-shrike |
Black-crested
Bulbul |
White-cheeked
Bulbul |
Red-vented
Bulbul |
Mountain
Bulbul |
Black
Bulbul |
Brown
Dipper |
Tree
Pipit |
Blue
Rock Thrush |
Blue
Whistling Thrush |
Plain-backed
Thrush |
White’s
Thrush |
Dark-sided
Thrush |
Grey-winged
Blackbird |
Black-throated
Thrush |
Striated
Prinia |
Grey-breasted
prinia |
Yellow-bellied
Prinia |
Ashy
Prinia |
Plain
Prinia |
Grey-sided
Bush-warbler |
Common
Tailorbird |
Siberian
Chiffchaff |
Pale-rumped
Warbler |
Greenish
Warbler |
Blyth’s
Leaf-warbler |
Grey-hooded
Warbler |
Lesser
Whitethroat |
Rufous-gorgeted
Flycatcher |
Verditer
Flycatcher |
Small
Niltava |
Rufous-bellied
Niltava |
White-tailed
Rubythroat |
Bluethroat |
Red-flanked
Bluetail |
Oriental
Magpie-robin |
White-throated
Shrike-babbler |
Blue-capped
Redstart |
Black
Redstart |
White-capped
Redstart |
Plumbeous
Water Redstart |
Spotted
Forktail |
Siberian
Stonechat |
Pied
Bushchat |
Grey
Bushchat |
India
Chat |
White-browed
Fantail |
Bank
Myna |
White-crested
Laughingthrush |
Streaked
Laughingthrush |
Rusty-cheeked
Scimitar-babbler |
Black-chinned
Babbler |
Common
Babbler |
Jungle
Babbler |
Red-billed
Leothrix |
India
Robin |
Blue-winged
Minla |
White-browed
Fulvetta |
Rufous
Sibia |
Black-throated
Tit |
Black-breasted
Tit |
Great
Tit |
Green-backed
Tit |
Black-lored
Tit |
Chestnut-bellied
Nuthatch |
White-tailed
Nuthatch |
Eurasian
Treecreeper |
Bar-tailed
Treecreeper |
Purple
Sunbird |
Gould’s
Sunbird |
Green-tailed
Sunbird |
Pink-browed
Rosefinch |
Fire-breasted
Flowerpecker |
Oriental
White-eye |
Black-hooded
Oriole |
Long-tailed
Shrike |
Grey-backed
Shrike |
Black
Drongo |
Ashy
Drongo |
Hair-crested
Drongo |
Eurasian
Jay |
Black-headed
Jay |
Blue
Magpie |
Rufous
Treepie |
Grey
Treepie |
House
Crow |
Large-billed
Crow |
Jungle
Myna |
White-throated
Laughingthrush |
Common
Myna |
Asian
Pied Starling |
European
Starling |
House
Sparrow |
Russet
Sparrow |
Nutmeg
Manikin |
Black-headed
Munia |
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