Assam: Kaziranga and Nameri National Parks Apr 05—14, 2007
Posted by David Bishop
David Bishop
David Bishop loves his vocation and cannot imagine anything better than exploring wild and beautiful places in Asia and the Pacific in the company of friends and clients. H...Related Trips
Kaziranga, with its rich mélange of swamps and marshes, grasslands, and forests, supports teeming numbers of mega-charismatic birds and mammals, and, as such, the ephithet, "Asia's Serengeti," is well-deserved. Nowhere else in Asia can you sit atop a superbly trained elephant and watch great one-horned rhinoceroses at barely a few meters while herds of wild Asian elephants rumble and splash nearby, globally threatened Bengal Floricans exhibit their brief display, and decidedly ugly Greater and Lesser adjutants lumber away in ungainly flight?and all this against a backdrop of towering, snow-capped Himalayas. Kaziranga is a gem of a park that provides a rare opportunity to see what the wild lands of Asia were once like.
Albeit relatively small at ca. 900 square kilometers, Kaziranga, located on the south bank of the mighty Brahmaputra, hosts the highest density of Bengal tigers anywhere in the world. A recent count garnered approximately 90 of these magnificent creatures. It is quite astonishing to enumerate just the globally threatened species that make their homes here. In addition to those species mentioned above, Swamp Francolin, Spot-billed Pelican, Pallas's Fish-Eagle, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Asian water buffalo, swamp and hog deer, and Hoolock gibbon to mention but a few, are all resident here and regularly seen on our Assam tour.
I doubt that any of the participants on our 2007 tour will ever forget our afternoon at lovely Baguri Bheel (freshwater marsh in this neck of the woods). As we headed out to a watch-tower overlooking Baguri Bheel, a huge?simply huge?Great Hornbill flew right over our heads and perched in a nearby tree, illuminated by the sun glowing on an increasingly thunderous background. Barely had we time to exclaim than our attention was drawn to a small group of very attractive, migrant Gray-headed Lapwings competing for space with ten or so immense rhinos. The thin strand of woodland through which we could discern vast numbers of waterbirds and large mammals was tantalizing, but as much as we tried to push on to the tower to get a better view, bird after bird interrupted us! A pair of somber Brown Fish-Owls were unavoidable, as were hordes of lusciously-hued Red-breasted Parakeets. Super! But oh that watch tower; spread out before us in a 250-degree arc were birds and mammals everywhere. Skeins of delightfully dapper Bar-headed Geese shifted and squabbled while the dramatic, thunderously black afternoon sky lit by an orange sun from behind us turned Ruddy Shelducks dappling in the shallows into the richest imaginable colors. And all the while there was the soft susurration of busily feeding animals. We easily counted 20 rhinos, many with young calves. Leviathan Black-necked Storks scuttled out of reach of a pack of playful smooth-coated otters while a wintering Peregrine caused immediate panic amidst the ranks. We knew?we just knew there had to be a big cat sitting there out of sight, and later we heard the unmistakable call of a large and territorial male tiger. Tantalizing. Every minute seemed to add another species to an already impressive tally, but it was the sheer spectacle of the scene, the lighting, and the appreciation by our clients of what we were seeing that made it all so special. Kaziranga is truly a wonderful place and my year never feels complete unless I spend some time there.
I need hardly tell you how much I love Assam, so it is hard to enumerate the highlights, as I'm sure everyone had their favorites. Nevertheless, here goes:
? There was that crazy day in the rain and mud out to Sohola Bheel and Debansari when our jeeps became so deeply bogged that it seemed they would never get out?happily our drivers prevailed. Amazing!
? Great views of the very localized, difficult to find, and striking Black-breasted Parrotbill.
? At least 70 or so Great Hornbills going to roost at Nameri and joined at dusk by a flock of 25+ Wreathed Hornbills. Our guard told us that he had counted as many as 300 or more back in February.
? Fabulous scope views of a very vocal and obliging Ruddy Kingfisher in the forest at Nameri.
? The male Hoolock gibbon ululating in the midst of Panbari Forest, Kaziranga.
Assam is truly a great birding and wildlife destination. There is no doubt that it offers one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles in Asia or, for that matter, anywhere in the world, and the addition of Nameri really enhances and rounds-out our experience here. India is always an incredible experience, and this memorable trip was made even more enjoyable by the wonderful hospitality we found everywhere we went. Our local guides, Jintu and Palash, were an absolute joy to work with, and my thanks go to them in particular, as well as to our cheerful drivers who also worked very hard to help us find our birds! Thank you for your support and for sharing in the fun?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.