Other goodies we encountered were Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Spot-throated Babbler, Golden Babbler and White-bellied Yuhina. In the late afternoon we were back in Deban Village.

Thursday 6 March

The break of dawn found us on the tracks in the forest surrounding Deban. One of the first birds we saw was an adult Rufous-bellied Eagle flying across the Noa-Dihing River. Nearby the rest house several Olive-backed Pipits allowed excellent views on the ground. Further searching produced a good variety of birds including Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Black Bulbul, Lesser Shortwing, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Beautiful Sibia and best of all a Green Cochoa.

All too soon our time at Namdapha ended and we had to leave this pristine forest. We made a stop near the entrance of the reserve and walked the 500 metres across the fields to the Noa–Dihing River. I desperately needed the Ibisbill and this was my last chance. Strolling through the fields we saw our only Dollarbird of the trip, a few Bengal Bushlarks and a Swamp Prinia. We also had good views of a flock of more than 150 Small Pratincoles on the exposed sandbars.

Vital and I had to wade through a tributary river (and got soaking wet) before we found a feeding group of five Ibisbills. This time I had a good look at these wintering Himalayan specialities.

Hereafter we headed to Miao, got tea at Japang’s home and then left Arunachal Pradesh. On the long drive towards Digboi a couple of stops added Emerald Dove to our trip list.

We arrived after dark at the Indian oil complex in Digboi. Here we checked into a nice accommodation, the IOC Guesthouse.

Friday 7 March

In the early morning we headed to the head office of the IOC. We did not get permission to enter the complex, because they could not supply enough police protection and we returned very disappointed to the guesthouse.

We then spent most of our time on the nearby golf-course. We explored the small valleys with secondary forest and amongst the birds seen here were White-cheeked Partridge, Plaintive Cuckoo, Eurasian Hoopoe, Dark-throated Thrush, Clamorous Reed-Warbler and Black-hooded Oriole.

Following lunch we headed to the IOC forest and after a long talk with an officer we got permission to make a short walk with armed guards in the forest. It was hot and we did not see many birds. Amongst the birds seen were Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Rufous Woodpecker, White-crested Laughingthrush, Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush, Sultan Tit, Collared Treepie and Baya Weaver.

The last hours of the day we spent in the marshy area between the golf-course and the railway. This area produced Pintail Snipes; a group of Blyth’s Pipits, a beautiful male Black-breasted Thrush, Dark-throated Thrush, Brownish-flanked Bush-Warbler and Striated Grassbird. However, the undoubted highlight of the day was a Solitary Snipe flying away only two metres before our feet. When we returned to our hotel a pair of Collared Owlets was roosting in a tree at the entrance of our hotel complex.

Saturday/Sunday 8/9 March

During the night Assam separatists had attacked the refinery in Digboi and black smoke was all over town. When we headed to the IOC forest we saw flames of more than 100 metres height at the IOC complex.

We made a short stroll at the same area as yesterday, but did not see anything special there.

After breakfast we made another stroll in the marshy area between the railway and the golf-course and most noteworthy of the birds seen were Pintail Snipe, Besra, both Black-breasted & Dusky Thrush, Dark-throated Thrush and a group of Grey-breasted Prinias, the last addition to our birdlist.

We then left the burning oil installations of Digboi and reluctantly we eventually headed back to Dibrugarh for our Air Sahara flight to Delhi. In the mid-afternoon we arrived at Dibrugarh and flew via Guwahati to Delhi. In India's capital we had dinner with the daughter and son-in-law of General Gupta.

In the middle of the night we said goodbye to India, returning after a very long stopover at Vienna in Brussels at 18.00 hours, where Willemien and Riet were waiting for us.

For Vital and me the highlight of the trip was the trek through the wonderfully undisturbed forests of Namdapha National Park. Amongst a host of good birds seen in Northeast India, highlights for me were Greater Adjutant, White-winged Duck, Ibisbill, Dusky Thrush, Rusty-bellied Shortwing, Swamp Prinia, Blue-fronted Robin, Marsh Babbler, Jerdon’s Babbler and Beautiful Nuthatch. We had a fairly successful trip and all in all we saw most of our target species, however we still failed to find a bunch of good birds, e.g. White-bellied Heron, Bengal Florican, Blyth’s Kingfisher, Ward’s Trogon and Black-breasted & Grey-headed Parrotbill.

We recorded 354 species of birds during our 16-day trip, including some of the most sought-after birds in Northeast India and I finished the trip with 54 lifers.

Full bird and Mammal list

Chaam, 20 April 2003,
If you need any help or further information, contact me at the following address and I'll try and help if I can!

Jan Vermeulen
Bredaseweg 14
4861 AH Chaam
The Netherlands
Telephone: (031) – 161 – 491327
E-mail:jem.vermeulen@wxs.nl
Web: http://home.planet.nl/~verme860

Previous

Top  

Gurudongma Tours & Treks