Eaglenest trip - a few pics from my phone

Just transferring the thousands of pics off my phone onto hard drive and came across some lovely snaps from our recent Eaglenest trip. Just looking at them makes me so much want to go back.  I am still there in my soul x

Our recent trip to Kaziranga and Eaglenest

Hope that you enjoyed looking at our pics and are now tempted to head off and see the area for yourself. It was a fantastic trip and one that we would definately recommend. Quite strenuous at times with lots of walking, most of it at altitude. But if you want to see the birds, thats the only way to do it. 

Our trip was organised by a good birding friend, Srikanth, who put the trip together for us and fixed us up with the best guides. A big thank you Srikanth. We flew into Delhi and then onto Guwhati, a 2 hour internal flight. A taxi organised by our bird guide picked us up and it was a good 5 hour drive to our hotel in Kaziranga, stopping for lunch along the way.  It was nice to just sit back and chill, especially after a long haul flight, and we just watched the sights and sounds of India pass by.  We saw Indian One-horned Rhino before we even got to our hotel, but distant. We were looking forward to the following day when we would go into Kaziranga with our guide, hopefully to get closer to the rhinos and elephants, and also to start the bird list !  Our bird guide for these few days in Kaziranga was Kushal Boruah, who came highly recommended. He was a brilliant guide that didn't miss a bird, especially the Blue-naped Pitta at the tea plantation ! We stayed at the hotel Iora - the Retreat for 3 nights. A lovely hotel with gardens stuffed with birds, our list was off and running. 

Our guide for the Eaglenest part of the trip was Lakpa Tensing of Blackbird Tours. A fantastic guide and a lovely chap. The driver was Sanjay who drove for most of the bird tours so knew all the birds and sites. We were looked after very well, from western toilets to food and drink that we would like. Lakpa was an excellent guide, if a bird was there he found it. Brilliant. We can't recommend him enough. He specialises in Himalayan birding trips so if you are heading that way, check him out. 

We went from Kaziranga to Lama Camp in Arunachal Pradesh. A visa is needed for this area in India that was taken care of by Lakpa before we got there. Visas are $50 each. Lama Camp was very basic but the birding far outweighed the accommodation. The specialist bird at Lama is the Bugun Liocichla which was only discovered in 2005. We were lucky and saw 3 or 4. We had 2 nights at Lama Camp before moving up and over the Eaglenest Pass at 2780 metres above sea level to our next stay at Bompu Camp. The birding here was outstanding and we had 4 nights here. The tents here were far better quality and the food was lovely. Onion Pakoras to die for !!

From Bompu we went down and out of the Eaglenest Sanctuary to our 3 night stay at Dirang. We stayed at a homestay here, eating at a local hotel. Dirang was our base for our birding to Sela Pass and Mandala Road.  Sela Pass was 4170 metres above sea level and we did struggle a bit to be honest, not leaving the van much and trying not to walk too far. Very out of breath, headache and sick feeling but the birding.....oh my goodness, it was simply fantastic and the scenery was like nothing seen before.....the prayer flags and wheels, the views of Himalaya.....it was mind blowing ! The second day we birded Mandala Road, 3600 metres above sea level and again, fantastic birding and stunning scenery. You must all go....don't leave it too late, its a strenuous holiday that will take all your strength, long days, long walks, altitude.....but the birding is WOW !

Our last stay should have been at Nameri Camp for one night but afraid we couldn't get there as the road was closed. It would have been a 100 mile detour and didn't offer us any new birds so we decided after birding at Sangti Valley we would head back to Guwhati for the last night. We had lots of birding stops along the way and it was nice to be able to eat and relax on the last night ready for our morning flight home. 

It was a brilliant trip, one of our best !  

Grandala, Sela Pass

These are the last birds we have to show you from our trip......saving the best until last !

We had just recovered from seeing the Blood Pheasant when the snow began to fall. 'You will see Grandala today, always see it when it snows' our driver says. It was one of Simon's 'must see' birds so imagine his joy when Lakpa shouts out GRANDALA - a flipping flock of them !  So, altitude wobbles were forgotton as we feasted our eyes on these absolute beautiful birds. There are shades of blue and then there is Grandala blue. We watched them for ages until they flew up and over the pass. Then, luck was on our side as we found more on the other side of the mountain. It has to be one of the best birding days of our lives. 

BOOM - Team Grandala !!

Long-billed Plover, Sangti Valley

Sangti Valley 

Eurasian Cuckoo 

Hoopoe 

River Kingfisher 

The target bird for the day - Long-billed Plover.  

White Wagtail 

Yellow-breasted Greenfinch

The local cafes are called Hotels. This one served us up a lovely chicken chow mein !

Sangti Valley was our last stop on the way back to Guwhati, staying at an airport hotel ready for our flight home tomorrow. It has been a fantastic trip, we have both loved it. The birds, scenery, culture and company - all spot on. Can definately recommend this as a birding trip, one that you must all do. We are going home totally exhausted, birded all day every day from 4am, most at altitude and some at serious altitude ! With around 350 birds seen, 120 of those new, Indian One Horned Rhino and the Himalayas, couldn't ask for any more from a trip. We will certainly do another trip with Lakpa, he is a brilliant guide and we can certainly recommend him.  Now back to reality..........😥