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| Bhorelli River, Nameri NP |
A long drive to the national park where we spend nearly 45 minutes in the process of going to the loo and arranging our tickets. Whilst this went on we bird watched in the garden and found Greater Flameback and some Red-vented Bulbul.
This done, we went off in the buses for a walk on the other side of the river. We were dropped off by the river bank and then had to wait some time for five tardy boatmen and guards with guns (there are elephants in this area). We were split into those wanting a longer walk and those wanting a slower and/or shorter
walk. Along the river we found three Goosander, Great Cormorant, Little Cormorant and Ruddy Shelduck.
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| Juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle |
Once on the other side the first boatload did some birding and found Red-whiskered Bulbul to add to the Red-vented, Grey-backed Shrike and some soaring Himalayan Griffon Vultures.
Unfortunately the slowness of the boatmen in getting us all over the river - it took three crossings to complete the task - meant that we only started walking as a group around 10.45 am - far too late for meaningful birding.
Still, we decided to make the most of it and off we went looking for any new species. A Lineated Barbet called but remained unseen. We walked through damp meadows where wooden bridges had been built with bamboo handrails. A juvenile Serpent Eagle perched on a branch overhanging the track ahead of us
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| Moving the cattle |
giving everyone the opportunity to view in the telescope. Meanwhile a flock of Short-billed Minivet noisily fed nearby. We continued along the track until we reached a watchtower, on the way we saw a broken branch which had been pulled down by an elephant only minutes before as we walked - our armed guard had heard the crack and warned us not to stay away from the group.
As we rested around the watchtower a Large Woodshrike flew past, not stopping to give us any decent view.
Now it was time for us to return to base and the slower walkers began first, the rest of us following some minutes later. The heat of the day made the going slower than on the outward journey, but we all reached the shade of the reserve centre and discussed the best way back. The stony short walk or the sandy
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| Red-breasted Parakeet |
trek. Even though by now it was getting very hot, we decided on the sand as that would mean less time in the boat and should generally make the process slightly quicker. Once back over the river the first bush load went off to the centre for lunch, the others joining us there some little while later.
After lunch we split into two parties: one going rafting the second electing to stay around the centre birding in the grounds. As we had done precious little 'real' birdwatching in the last few days I chose the birdwatching. Firstly we found a White-tailed Flycatcher, then Greater Flameback gave great views with
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| Greater Flameback |
two birds calling high in the tree top in the car park. A small flock of Oriental White-eye, Yellow-vented Warbler, Hume's Warbler and Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher took our attention for quite a while as we managed to get everyone to see each species. We moved back towards the garden, but our driver was keen to show us some more birds and found the Flameback again, then insisted that we went down the lane outside the centre for a few years to see a monkey - this was in fact a Capped Langur. His next trick was to find a Hoary-bellied Squirrel which he pointed out with the help of Richard's laser pen (this delighted him and we struggled to get it back!) another Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher was thrown in for good measure.
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| The drivers enjoyed the birdwatching too |
Buoyed with success he brought in support in the shape of other drivers who were keen to show us what they could find and more flycatchers, pigeons and shrikes came out of the woodwork. Eventually he wandered off with Richard's telescope slung over his shoulder looking quite the professional!
We wandered back into the garden where Common Hill Myna was found, a White-tailed Flycatcher caused some confusion in bad light and a Blue-throated Barbet put the cat among the pigeons as the bill was pale and the field guide showed it should be dark!
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| Sunrise over the Bhorelli River |
Eventually those rafting returned and we all boarded the bus for the two hour journey back to the boat which had moved back to its mooring of two days ago so that we can go to Kaziranga NP again tomorrow.
