Assam: Kaziranga and Nameri National Parks Mar 21—30, 2006
Posted by Susan Myers
Susan Myers
Susan Myers absolutely loves birding and traveling in Asia. As she says, "The combination of incredible and diverse wildlife, ancient and fascinating cultures, and the...Related Trips
Every aspect of this excellent tour was successful and enjoyable! Notwithstanding cold showers, rhinoceros charges, irate mother elephants, and allergic reactions (or maybe because of all these), I think we can categorically state that we had a ball. An unexpected change to our itinerary, necessitated by the decision of the powers-that-be to conduct a rhinoceros census in the middle of our stay, saw us splitting our time at Kaziranga and staying at a new place close to Nameri. This turned out to be the proverbial blessing in disguise, as the Wild Mahseer Lodge in the Balipara Tea Estate was an absolute delight with fine dining every evening, and a level of service that was unexpected, to say the least. There were many highlights, some of them mentioned above, but in terms of the birds we did extraordinarily well, with most of our target birds seen very well.
The long drive from Gauhati was punctuated with fascinating scenery, amazing sights of incredible India, and nesting Great Adjutants in the middle of a very busy town. Our short visit here saw us interrupting a very serious cricket match as our schoolboy entourage followed us around and kindly pointed out the birds to us! We arrived at the delightful Wild Grass Lodge after dark, and settled in with a very pleasant meal and a glass of Indian wine.
The next morning we made our way by jeep to the park entrance at Baguri in the park's western quarter. Waiting for the park to open, we birded on foot along the road bisecting the grasslands just beyond the entrance gate. Scanning the extensive grasslands, we couldn't miss the lumbering hulks of the Indian one-horned rhinoceroses as they quietly grazed. We soon found a distant Bengal Florican strutting around; Rosy Pipits were in abundance, in company with some Citrine Wagtails and Black-breasted Weavers. In some scrappy streamside reeds we found some goodies in the form of Blunt-winged Warblers, Indian Reed Warblers, and Dusky Warblers. Kaziranga is known for its Big Five—Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Asian elephant, Asiatic wild buffalo, tiger, and swamp deer. Moving further into the park to the Sohola Beel, we encountered many large mammals—in fact, all of the Big Five except tiger. This was the morning of the never-to-be-forgotten rhinoceros charge! Needless to say, two animals the size of large military tanks bearing down on us in our jeeps (which are only a fraction of the size of a rhino!) at high speed, are not to be taken lightly. Our driver yelled loudly, we joined in, and our tracker unhooked his rifle. A thrilling experience and, funnily enough, not all that scary! Notably we saw five species of stork on this memorable day—Asian Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Black-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, and Greater Adjutant—as well as over 80 grazing Bar-headed Geese and four superb Swamp Francolins. Happily, we found the impressive and scarce Pallas's Fish-Eagle to be very visible.
The tea plantation surrounding our lodge may seem an unlikely birding spot, but the small patches of forest left standing amongst the crops provide great habitat for some different woodland species, and we soon had some high quality ones under our belts—a gorgeous pair of Crimson Sunbirds, a Brown Fish-Owl being harassed by a young Changeable Hawk-Eagle, and a shy Rufous-necked Laughingthrush. We moved on to Nameri where we spent much time trekking in the forests in search of the very rare White-winged Duck in the forest beels, as well as other forest and grassland birds. A pair of ducks found sheltering at the far end of a small beel was greeted by us with great joy! At the end of the day a tired but happy group came away with many great birds, but not much could rival a mobile flock of more than 50 Great Hornbills feeding on fruiting fig trees. While at Nameri we took the opportunity to take a boat trip down the Bhorelli River. It was a wonderful experience to be on our own on the river, marveling at close views of hundreds of Small Pratincoles, Great Thick-knees and, best of all, six stunning Ibisbill—at eye level and close range.
Returning to Kaziranga we arranged to travel to Debeswari in the far reaches of the central part of the park. Our quarry here was the rare Black-breasted Parrotbill, which makes its home in the tall elephant grass that is a feature of this area. As we were just about to give up our search, we heard the bird and, after much effort, we had outstanding looks at three birds as they emerged from the grass to pause briefly before crossing the track. Brilliant! A pair of Kalij Pheasants en route was most welcome, as was a striking Pied Harrier. We completed our stay in Assam with a morning elephant walk that proved to be immensely enjoyable, as well as great for the wildlife. We were able to approach some of the large mammals, especially the rhinos, very closely, and had some memorable encounters with a perched Himalayan Griffon, a super Bengal Florican, and quartering Western Marsh-Harriers.
Assam is truly a great birding and wildlife destination. I've heard Kaziranga described as the Serengeti of India; there is no doubt that it offers one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles in Asia or, for that matter, anywhere in the world. India is always an incredible experience and this memorable trip was made even more enjoyable with the wonderful hospitality we found everywhere we went. Our local guide, Jintu, was an absolute joy to work with, and my thanks go to him in particular, as well as to Pravat and our other cheerful drivers who also worked very hard to help us find our birds! Thank you Stephen, Martha, and Caroline for your most enjoyable company. I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Of course, it goes without saying that I look forward to VENT's return to this wonderful part of Asia.