Day 1: Guwahati to Nameri National Park
Arrivals into Assam’s Guwahati airport this morning. We halt briefly on the outskirts of the city for Greater Adjutant before spending the remainder of the day driving northeast to Nameri for a two-night stay, with time for some late afternoon birding around our lodge.
Day 2: Nameri National Park
A full days exploring Nameri. In these incredible and largely undisturbed sub-Himalayan forests, which we will explore on foot, we will go in search of Pied Falconet, exceptional numbers of Wreathed and Great Pied Hornbills, White-browed Piculet, Abbott’s Babbler, Sultan Tit, Streaked Spiderhunter, White-browed Piculet, Blue-bearded Bee-eater. We will make a special effort to locate the elusive White-winged Duck by trekking to a series of secluded forest pools. If Ibisbill are still here in their winter quarters at the time of our visit, we will also explore the Jia Bhorelli River by rubber dinghy in search of the small numbers of this striking wader that overwinter along the river here. At dusk, we will look and listen for Oriental Scops Owl and Brown Hawk-Owl around our lodge.
Day 3: Nameri to Dirang
An early start this morning will take us on the journey north into the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas as we make our way to the small town of Dirang at 1,495m for a three-night stay. As we cross the state border there will be a noticeable change in terrain and vegetation, and we will spend much of the day birding as we go in a series of elevations as we make the transition from the plains into the hills. The morning will provide a tantalising introduction to the diversity of this region, and almost immediately we can expect to encounter a good selection of the Himalayan specialities we will be seeing during our time in these hills, such as Brown Dipper, Plumbeous Water Redstart, Crested Kingfisher, Bhutan and Grey-sided Laughingthrushes, Black-crowned Scimitar Babbler, Pale-billed Parrotbill, Red-headed Trogon, Himalayan Bluetail, Himalayan Thrush and a variety of warblers, yuhinas, tits and sunbirds.
Day 4-5: Dirang, Sela Pass, Mandala Road and the Sangthi Valley
From our base at Dirang we will visit three sites at a range of elevations, including nearby Sangthi Valley where we hope to encounter Black-tailed Crake in the marshy grass of the valley floor. Among others, we will also be looking for Little Forktail, White-capped Redstart, Wallcreeper, and overwintering Long-billed Plover along the sand and gravel banks of the river We are also likely to encounter a complementary selection of birds in the cultivated fields within the valley and in surrounding pine and broadleaved woodland, perhaps including Himalayan Greenfinch, Russet Sparrow, Black-throated Prinia, Slaty-backed and Rufous-gorgeted Flycatchers, and Fire-capped Tit. Further afield, we will spend a day along the Mandala Road which cuts through a succession of habitats from temperate broadleaf forests to rhododendron and birch scrub towards Mandala Pass at 3,200m. The list of potential species here is extensive, with many birds associating in waves that sweep excitedly through the forest. Key among these will be Slender-billed and Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers, the unmistakeable Fire-tailed Myzornis, Bar-winged Wren-Babbler, Golden Bush Robin, Brown-throated Fulvetta, Black-faced, Ashy-throated and Buff-barred Warblers, Yellow-browed and Rufous-fronted Tits, and a selection of finches and parrotbills. Across the pass, we will look for species associated with the higher elevation and more open vegetation, such as Black-throated and Alpine Thrushes, White-collared and Grey-winged Blackbirds, Spotted Nutcracker, and Red-headed Bullfinch, with Fulvous and Black-throated Parrotbills in stands of bamboo. The highlight of our stay will no doubt be the morning spent at Se La. At 4,176m the pass is one of the highest accessible parts of the Himalayas and hosts an array of unequivocal montane specialities in alpine meadows and barren scree slopes. After a very early pre-dawn start, we will drive up towards and just over the pass, looking for some of the most enticing birds of the tour in this spectacular setting. At and just across the pass, we will look for flocks of the intensely indigo Grandala, Snow Pigeon, Solitary Snipe, Plain Mountain Finch and Alpine Accentor. As we travel up and down, we will also scan the scrubby slopes among the upper forests just below the treeline, prime habitat for the dazzling Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, Snow Partridge, Spotted Laughingthrush, Grey-throated Babbler, White-throated Redstart, Himalayan Beautiful and Himalayan White-browed Rosefinches, and Tibetan Siskin.
Day 6-10: Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (Lama and Bompu Camps)
This morning we will make our way south to Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary for a five-night stay. At Eaglenest, a jeep track winds it way through primary forests from Eaglenest Pass at 2,780m down as far as 750m in the foothills. This allows unrivalled access to these elevations and our nights will be divided between two tented camps at 2,350m and 1,940m to enable a thorough exploration of both the coniferous forest and rhododendrons of higher elevations and subtropical broadleaf forest and bamboo of the foothills. Birding here is exceptional with an extensive list of potential species that includes some of the most sought-after Himalayan specialities, and birdlife will vary noticeably as we move between elevations. We can expect to encounter an impressive selection of birds, such as Rufous-necked Hornbill, Bay Woodpecker, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Ward’s and Red-headed Trogons, Beautiful Nuthatch, Himalayan Cutia, Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler, Himalayan Thrush, a host of bamboo specialists such as Pale-headed Woodpecker, colourful warblers including Broad-billed and Rufous-faced, numerous flycatchers including White-gorgeted and Sapphire, various laughingthrushes most notably Bhutan, Grey-sided and Chestnut-crowned, skulking wren-babblers including Long-billed, the diminutive Pygmy Cupwing, monotypic Spotted Elachura, and Red-faced Liocichla. Also among our key targets will be the recently (2006) discovered Bugun Liocichla, and we will make a special effort to locate this secretive bird, still known solely from this area where it forages in dense undergrowth. We will have the chance of both Temminck’s and Blyth’s Tragopans here, although these are notoriously elusive and more often heard than seen. We'll also no doubt hear and see several night birds around our camps, which may include Mountain Scops Owl, Himalayan Owl, Collared Owlet and Hodgson's Frogmouth.
Day 11: Eaglenest to Kaziranga National Park
We spend a final few hours in the outskirts of Eaglenest before driving back south into Assam and east into the alluvial plains of the Brahmaputra basin to Kaziranga National Park for a three-night stay.
Day 12-13: Kaziranga National Park
Over these two days we will explore Kaziranga by taking morning and afternoon safaris in open-topped jeeps into the park's extensive floodplain grasslands. We will be looking for grassland specialists including Bengal Florican (though increasingly difficult here), Swamp Francolin, Striated Grassbird and Finn’s Weaver among numerous waders and waterfowl in the extensive swampy wetlands known as beels, such as Greater Painted-snipe, Marsh Sandpiper, Grey-headed Lapwing, Bar-headed Goose Indian Spot-billed and Ferruginous Ducks, scanning in search of possible rarities like Falcated Duck. These species will be complemented by a selection of passerines in small patches of mature woodland, perhaps Spot-winged Starling, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Alexandrive Parakeet, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Brown Fish Owl, Dusky Eagle Owl, and a great diversity of birds of prey, with Eastern Imperial Eagle, Indian Spotted Eagle, Pallas's Fish Eagle, Pallied and Pied Harriers, and both Black and Jerdon’s Bazas all possible here. Birding on foot in the tea estates adjacent to our lodge we will look for Greater and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrushes, Chinese and Siberian Rubythroats, Golden-throated and Blue-eared Barbets, Maroon Oriole, Common Green Magpie and the elusive Blue-naped Pitta. Large mammals are positively abundant at Kaziranga, most notably including Indian Rhinoceros, Asian Elephant, Asiatic Wild Buffalo, Assam Macaque and Capped Langur, and with a realistic chance of Tiger.
Day 14: Kaziranga to Guwahati, depart
Depart Kaziranga this morning on the drive back to Guwahati. Departures from Guwahati airport this afternoon.
Pre-tour extension to Meghalaya:
Add this short extension for a chance to add some further restricted range species in the hills around Shillong.
Pre-tour Extension Day 1: Arrival in Guwahati
Arrivals into Assam’s Guwahati airport today.
Pre-tour Extension Day 2: Shillong
We will have a very early start this morning, driving south and up into the hills of the neighbouring state of Meghalaya. We will spend the day birding in patches of broadleaved woodland and sacred forest groves around the town of Shillong. This will give us an introduction to the more widespread northeast Indian species we can expect to encounter throughout the main tour, but most importantly these hills are home to the endemic Tawny-breasted Wren-Babbler, relatively common in the area, as well as several other interesting species at the westernmost boundary of their ranges which do not extend into the Eastern Himalayas. Among the species we have a chance to find during our day here are Assam Laughingthrush, Rufous-necked Laughingthrush, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Grey Sibia, Rusty-capped Fulvetta, Flavescent Bulbul, Crested Finchbill and Dark-rumped Swift. We will return to Guwahati late in the evening.
Pre-tour Extension Day 3 / Main Tour Day 1: Guwahati to Nameri National Park
We will meet up with any remaining main tour group members in Guwahati this morning, and depart together for Nameri.
Linked tour (Nagaland and the Mishmi Hills):
This tour can be combined with our tour of India - northeast: Nagaland and the Mishmi Hills (which follows on from this tour) to create a comprehensive 24 night/25 day Northeast India birding tour that covers the lower and upper Brahmaputra valley, the Eastern Himalayas at Dirang/Eaglenest and at their easternmost extension in the Mishmi Hills, as well as the associated hill ranges of Nagaland, touching the Myanmar border. If combining tours, on day 14 we will start early to drive from Kaziranga National Park to Khonoma in Nagaland.
