Bhutan Apr 14—May 09, 2008
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
This was the twenty-first VENT bird tour to Bhutan since 1994 when we first began operating in this magical kingdom. We regularly offer two tours a year and they always fill very quickly. So what is it that makes this particular VENT tour so attractive? Quite simply, Bhutan is in a class of its own. Yes, it's an expensive tour, largely because the Bhutanese have decided (in my opinion quite rightly) that they would rather not compromise their culture and spectacular natural environment to hundreds of thousands of tourists, and, in consequence, they charge a princely sum for being among the privileged few to visit their country. Similarly, we at VENT feel that we have a very special product to offer, and while we could make it shorter and thus less expensive, we feel that that would diminish the experience. By taking more time in Bhutan we can literally take the opportunity to "smell the roses" or rather the daphnia, and imbibe the various serendipitous cultural opportunities that offer themselves, as well as really enjoy the birds, mammals, butterflies, and flowering plants that are so profuse in spring in the eastern Himalayas. Many of these species and experiences require time and we don't want to short-change our valued clients. How often have you heard on tour after tour that one wishes one had been here 40 or more years ago? In the case of Bhutan, we are there 40 years ago, but with all the joys and comforts that a good infrastructure brings.
Bhutan is literally everything we had hoped it would be and more. And it just gets better and better. Our ground agent, Gangri Tours and Travel, treats us like royalty and is absolutely professional, sometimes to the point of this leader's amazement. Our ground crew, from Wangdi, our truly world-class bus driver, to the newest dining room recruit, contributes immensely to the fun, happiness, comfort, and enjoyment everyone derives from this special tour.
On our Bhutan tour we typically record 415 to 455 species of birds and 15 to 25 species of mammals, although it has to be said that our mammal list seems to be getting better and bigger each year, perhaps a reflection of Dion's and my personal interest in the mammalian critters of Asia and, in particular, the Himalayas—and, perhaps, the enthusiasm of our clients and our driver for night-drives and spotlighting! While clearly everyone wants to see such megacharismatic species as Satyr Tragopan, Ward's Trogon, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Himalayan Monal, Ibisbill, Beautiful Nuthatch, and a host of other specialties, there is always a tremendous sense of excitement at experiencing the unknown on VENT's Bhutan tours. Some years we have done very nicely with the enigmatic and globally critically endangered White-bellied Heron, while in other years no one has seen it. Sometimes we struggle with Satyr Tragopans while in other years, such as this year, they behave like a dream and males show off to us (even charge at us!) in all their regal finery.
Migration adds enormously to the excitement of Bhutan tours; for example, sometimes you can go for several days without seeing a species you would typically expect to find fairly easily, and then you bump into a migrating flock of 200 or so. And then there is the real thrill of something completely off the wall such as this year's Spectacled Finch—another first for Bhutan—a female casually bouncing along the roadside foraging on seeds within the enchanting fir forests of Cheli La. Flowering plants are a constant distraction and the more you get into them the more you see. A spray of orchids gracing lichen-dappled rock, and mountainsides ablaze with as many as 8 to 10 species of flowering rhododendrons—most of them in giant, tree-like growth-forms—merely hint at the floristic joys of the "kingdom of the thunder dragon."
This then is Bhutan, a place as wondrous and enchanting as you can imagine and with more real birds than you could ever hope for!
I consider myself very privileged to have traveled so often and so extensively throughout the kingdom of Bhutan (1994 to the present). To have the opportunity to regularly explore such an incredible and special destination, and in company with my wonderful Bhutanese friends, is something I treasure and look forward to every year. The vastness and beauty of Bhutan's forests—a window onto what Asia and the Himalayas once were like—combined with the opportunity to make very real discoveries, never fails to rejuvenate my soul and make me want to return there time after time.
This was a very special tour, one of the very best I have ever had the pleasure of leading to Bhutan. In large part this success was due to a wonderful group of participants and our wonderful, no—change that, fantastic ground-crew. I would like to thank you all for making the entire tour such a great experience.
Our birdlist includes a summary of our daily activities, as well as some of the trip's highlights, together with a list of what we heard and saw. Nevertheless, it only conveys part of the story and can never really express the wonderful sights and sounds of Bhutan, its land, its forests, its wildlife, and its people. I doubt any of us will ever forget the male Satyr Tragopan that stalked all around us in response to my tape, and then a short while later came charging at us out of the fog! And that gorgeous orange apparition on the roadside cliff one night near our Yongkola Camp was one of the world's largest flying squirrels (if not THE largest), and was followed shortly by a Solitary Snipe seemingly lost in the mist.
Of course the birding is always great in Bhutan, and any time you find a Ward's Trogon as well as we did is very special. But, as seems to be a theme on VENT's Asia tours, it was an exceptionally good trip for mammals with a total of 25 species seen including many golden langurs, some at very close range; goral; and an amazing nighttime view of the Himalayan masked civet. All in all, this tour proved a wonderful exposition of the rich biodiversity, landscapes, and culture of this fascinating kingdom. I cannot wait to return!