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| Capped Langur |
Full of anticipation we were off out at 5.30 am after a cup of tea and biscuits. We were on the south side of the river near Mariani and heading for the Hollonga Par Gibbon Sanctuary.
Birds were a decided challenge to catch up with and we had many heard-only birds. Golden-fronted Leafbird was seen at the car park of the sanctuary, with Long-tailed Minivet, Black-hooded Oriole, Pale-chinned Flycatcher and Grey-cheeked Warbler were eventually added to the list, Bronze Drongo was heard only.
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| Malayan Squirrel |
Our guide pointed out a tree stump with several Flameback nest holes. Then the large casts of earthworms whose owners are 1 metre long were pointed out - sadly we did not see the worms themselves. Hume's Warbler was difficult to see but we got there in the end. Next up was a Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, then first a female then male Ruby-cheeked Sunbird. A Striated Tit-Babbler called but proved impossible to see. Common Iora was my next spot, then Abbot's Babbler finally gave himself up. Blue-bearded Bee-eater sang, Red-breasted Parakeet were calling as they flew overhead, but remained staunchly out of sight. White-rumped Shama was seen well, and Asian Palm-swift came through in a tight flock, feeding between the trees. Rosy Minivet and Smokey Warbler completed this part of the list.
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| Archduke (female) |
Butterflies were a great distraction when the birds were not co-operating, with Three-spot Grass-yellow, Great Mormon, female Arch-duke, Great Orange-tip and Popinjay all identified. Huge cicadas were whistling away, and the two-banded variety were seen well with their diaphragm pumping as they called. Capped Langurs were the only mammals found, although we did hear Gibbon and Northern Pig-tailed Macaque. Malayan Squirrel gave us a great show just before we left.
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| Large-billed Crow |
One last stop at a wetland area gleaned us a good haul of birds including Lesser Whistling-duck, Fulvous Whistling-duck, Cattle Egret, Purple Swamphen, Indian Pond-heron, Bronze-winged Jacana and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. A Shikra flew over our heads at one point, grazing cattle were surrounded by White-vented Myna and Intermediate Heron, Citrine Wagtail and Grey-headed Lapwing completed this part of our day list.
Once back on board the boat, we had lunch and then the captain pulled away from the mooring and finally we were underway.
Birding along the river for the afternoon we found Lesser Whistling-duck, Open-billed Stork, Great Cormorant, Grey-throated Martin, Ruddy Shelduck, Bar-Headed Goose, Peregrine Falcon, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Pallas's Gull, Spot-billed Duck and our old friends from home, Greylag Geese were the final addition of the day.
We were now on the other side of Majuli Island on the north side of the river.
