Saturday, April 22, 2017

Mission Monal: A birdwatching trip to Chopta - Tungnath in the Garhwal Himalayas



09 to 14 April 2017


The Garhwal Himalayas

Each one of us is actually different persons existing in one body. What we appear to be, is the personality that is most convenient for our day to day existence. Most of us quietly harbour the other selves, while going through the everyday humdrum existence.

But every now and then we get an opportunity to step into the other self. It is rejuvenating, rather cathartic almost, to forget what we are in real life and enter a parallel universe. One where we are not doctors, engineers, accountants, housewives or salesmen with targets, but rather only spectators before whom the drama of Nature unfolds.

One where  the wake-up call is not the shrill alarm clock but rather the singing of the blue whistling thrush; where time is kept only by the Sun; where there are no remotes to get us entertained on demand, rather the show is put on by Nature herself at the pace of her choosing…. 

One such drama unfolded this April when we embarked upon a birding trip to Chopta-Tungnath in the Garhwal Himalayas. 



We landed at Dehradun railway station on a crisp morning and realized immediately how fortunate we  were. Apparently the previous week was attended by the most vicious rain and hailstorms.
 
Even as we waited for the vehicles to arrive we found a tree hole into which a female Indian grey horn-bill had disappeared. Now it was the job of the male to stand guard and after the chicks were hatched, to keep bringing insects for feeding the young ones. Even this strict fruitarian/vegetarian bird had realized that one needs high class protein during the growth phase.


Shivpuri - the rafting capital of India


White waer rafting in the river Ganga

The road started winding up after Rishikesh as we passed the numerous whitewater rafting camps near Shivpuri. Though they tended to cause minor jams on the road, it was quite heartening to see that youngsters were indulging in outdoor sport/adventure activities.

The road was in a surprisingly pristine condition considering we were in the hills. But the flip side was that the drivers tended to think that it was a plains highway and were driving accordingly!!

Areas of landslides were many, but the government repair machinery was in ample evidence everywhere. Maybe the small state of Uttarakhand had realized that it was all about tourism and those roads were the most important ingredient for a successful tourist experience. Also the famous Yatras were to start next month and lacs of people were expected shortly..

Sangam at Rudraprayag


We stopped for a photo - op of the Sangam area just past Rudraprayag where the rivers Mandakini and Alaknanda meet. One could clearly see the two streams with their different hue of the water based on terrain and precipitation in the catchment areas but still maintaining their unique character for quite a distance even after they joined. Somehow it reminded one of a marriage. Two different people, different backgrounds, different experiences, joining and maintaining their individual hue for some of the way and then imperceptibly merging into one another…


Sadhu on foot carrying his world with him

By midday the Sun was a scorching as we sped up the yatra route to Badrinath and Kedarnath, though we were on a different kind of yatra.
We did come across a number of hermits (Sadhus) who did not seem to be affected by the elements, however, and chose to walk up with all their worldly possessions. No amount of analysis could explain why a human being would indulge in this kind of lifestyle on a permanent basis (I am not referring to the thousands of people who turn Yatris for a month in August in different parts of the country). These sadhus have seemingly renounced the ‘normal’ existence and have transcended to a level beyond what is visible to us. No wonder some foreigners also camp here in search of the elusive...


Breakfast was at the Bhagirathi Lodge which afforded fresh tree pickings of ripe mulberries.


After crossing Chamoli Gopeshwar, we were now headed towards Mandal along a narrow but well maintained mountain road.


The Lodge at Mandal


We drove in to the Gurukrupa Lodge at Mandal by 6 pm but there was still enough light to take in the beautiful views of the trails around the lodge.
Before we could finish the tea and head to our rooms, a rather dramatic moonrise was in evidence.
 

Blue whistling thrush

Next morning, none of us really needed a wake up call as the resident blue whistling thrush did the needful from behind our windows.


The morning trail was on a quaint village path behind the lodge and we were immediately rewarded with sightings of the grey backed woodpecker and the russet sparrow. The redbilled blue magpies were all around. The paper wasps had built huge nests hanging from rocky outcrops resembling the texture of hand made paper.
 

Grey backed woodpecker

The area around the bridge on the stream was quite fruitful with the white capped and plumbeous water redstarts giving good views. The brown dipper also obliged very soon. It clearly displayed its diving behaviour designed to get insects at a level deeper to those picked by the redstarts. Apparently its wings are also specially wax coated for this purpose.
 

Paper wasp nest




In the distance we could witness the Himalayan Tahrs doing their impossible looking jumps on the sheer vertical rock face. It seems they can’t live elsewhere like normal deer because they are not designed for fast running. 

 

Himalayan Tahr





The village primary school was in assembly. Having listenend to so many news reports about schools without buildings and teachers,  it was heartening to see boys and girls benefiting from formal education in this rather remote  area. In fact it is thanks to this basic formal education that our guide Harish managed to land a job as a research assistant to a professor from Cornell University who was doing research on birds in this area.
The mystery of the haystacks hanging from trees was soon solved when we were informed that it is a simple expedient to prevent the hay, meant as cattle feed, from rotting due to the rain.

Wheat fields

Cultivation is primarily of the wheat crop and not rice as one would normally associate with the step farms in the hills.
 

Plumbeous water redstart


Common rosefinch


Turtle dove


Common rosefinches, Himalayan bulbuls, turtle doves were also seen.

Streaked laughingthrush

The streaked laughingthrush seemed to be the commonest bird in the village and quite willing to pose even for amateur photographers without long lenses.

In the post breakfast session we went on the other side of the stream and had good sightings of the grey treepies who were attracted to the ripe mulberries. The great barbet was lazily perched among the fruit laden tree. No wonder that it had the energy to keep calling incessantly all day long. The striated laughingthrush also made a brief appearance. 
 
We had been told specifically to stay away from the stinging nettle, but I managed get stung nevertheless in my enthusiasm for a better shot.
 

Stinging nettle

The afternoon trail was very fruitful going along the Chopta route upto Kanchula Khark. We got spectacular views of one of the smallest birds in India-the firebreasted flowerpecker.  Several mixed hunting parties were spotted consisting of spot winged tits, green backed tits, black throated tits, white tailed nuthatches

Great barbet


Grey treepie


Striated laughingthrush


Firebreasted flowerpecker


Rock bunting



Himalayan Langur

The Himalayan langurs were seen in large family groups and seeing them reaffirmed our faith regarding what we might have looked a million years ago. The rock bunting and ultramarine flycatcher gave brief appearances. 

By the time we reached the forest rest house at Kanchula Khark it was late afternoon and the maple leaves after which the area is named gave a majestic colour to the forest.
 
 

Mistle thrush

The mistle thrush was spotted foraging in the leaf litter and so was the grey winged blackbird. The rufous bellied woodpecker, better remembered as the tomato headed woodpecker was quite a spectacle. It is a sap sucking woodpecker and is responsible for some very neat woodcarvings seen in nature.

The rufous bellied niltava gave a good sighting towards the evening.
 
Neat wood carvings by rufous bellied  woodpecker

Rufous bellied woodpecker


Himalayan woodpecker



Grey winged blackbird


Rufous bellied niltava


Black throated tit



 

Koklass phesant male


Koklass phesant female

Harish was looking especially sad and said that  today we had 0% chance of seeing the Koklass pair which is found in this area as there was roadrepair work going on. No sooner had he finished this sentence he suddenly exclaimed that he had spotted a Koklass pheasant, and all hell broke loose. We finally managed to get some shots of the male and later the perfectly camouflaged female as well.

On the way back as the light was fading, we spotted several pairs of Khalij pheasants disappearing into the bushes along the roads. Some males were even spotted giving majestic displays to apparently unimpressed females.

Khalij phesant

Next day we woke up to a cool and crisp morning and took the path along the botanical research station. The calls of the Himalayan bulbuls were bringing the whole valley to life. The sun - bathed view of the blue capped rock thrush made the photographers go crazy. 
 
Botanical station


Trail down to the bridge

Blue Capped rock thrush


Spot winged grosbeak

This trial led to a bridge where the highlight was the spotwinged grosbeak. So named due to its gross sized beak resembling a parrots bill. As it sat inside a leafy tree, lazily stuffing itself with fruits, a clear view was difficult to get. Later we were rewarded with the sighting of a black francolin in flight in the area past the bridge.

The climb upto Chopta threw up good sightings of the green tailed sunbird, white throated laughingthrush and the oriental white eye.

We had a forced stop at the Monal point valley due to road work. We found several French dudes had decided to do the yatra on Enfield bullets !!
 
 
We reached our destination, the Green Valley resort, about 3 km short of Chopta, by lunchtime.



The afternoon birding was a little dull to start with but we got good sightings of the bartailed treecreeper and the resident woodpeckers. The Himalayan Griffon was spotted at its favourite perch before we reached the meadows where outdoor camps had been set up.
 
Himalayan griffon

The meadow camps off Chopta


Just as we were enjoying close views of the ultramarine flycatcher, the collared owlet was suddenly spotted in the rhododendron tree. The owlet was mobbed by all manner of small birds like grey headed canary flycatchers, ashy throated warblers, buff barred warblers, black lored tits, yellow browed tits and green backed tits.

It was on the way back that we got the first sighting of a pair of Monal pheasants a short distance from our camp. We were assured that this was only a trailer and that more was to follow later. Nevertheless the female gave some very good views, again perfectly camouflaged but with very beautiful eyes. Bijit remarked that even the male had the same eyes, but when it came to seeing the male, who was seeing the eyes. The entire apparition is so ridiculously colourful…
 

Himalayan Monal Pheasant Male

 

Himalayan Monal Pheasant Female

We had to set out very early next morning so as to reach Tungnath by daybreak. Luckily our ponies arrived right on time and we were able to start the climb by 0545. All the briefing about how cold and stiff we will be by the time we reached the top did not turn out to be an exaggeration. There was one pit stop with a welcome cup of tea for us while the ponies were seen enjoying Parle G biscuits!!
 

The decision to avail a pony ride to the top and trek back seemed very sensible when we saw the sheer gradient of the climb. After all we had to do 3000 feet over just about 2 Km.


The tungnath trail

Just as we were nearing the summit and the tree line ended, there was a flurry of activity visible. There were Monal pheasants all around happily pecking at insects in the mud, seemingly unperturbed by all the travelers. We counted at least 20 individuals, mostly males. The impact of seeing this outrageously colourful bird in the wild cannot be adequately put into words. I guess that’s why many birders/photographers come here to watch this as a single point agenda. Though the pheasant is seen in Himachal and other areas as well, the sightings here are nearly assured and plentiful.

Even as we disembarked and were trying to get circulation into our hands we found that there were alpine accentors foraging all around. My decision to go around the corner to answer natures call cost me a very rare sighting of the red fronted rosefinch. Just as I came back, I found Mandar with a camera (a rare sighting these days; he has already photographed everything worthwhile already) in a very excited state with teeth chattering and numb fingers but trying to click away nevertheless. This turned out to be a lifer for all those who managed a look.

The best breakfast location in the world  
 
We moved towards the temple and to the plateau to the right side: the area very aptly described as the best breakfast location in the world. We voraciously consumed the aloo parathas which were, incredulously, still warm. This was followed by the customary photo session.

The Tungnathji temple

I chose to climb up to the temple proper, though it opened for Darshan only on 01 May. And that turned out to be the best part. Sitting atop the peak at 11000 feet in solitude with the morning sun caressing me all over in a moment of meditation somehow seemed to get me closer to the Creator….No wonder all the Rishis and Munis always head for the hills.

We decided to take the trail leading to the medicinal plant research station area. There were a number of plain mountain finches and olive backed pipits on display. Though at this altitude there are no trees, the first vegetation to be encountered are the high altitude rhododendrons. Somehow due to the unusual rains of last week, none of them had flowered as yet. 
 

White browed fulvetta

Despite this, they harboured a variety of birds and we got excellent sightings of the rufous gorgeted flycatcher and the white browed fulvetta, the only one in western Himalayas. The yellow bellied fantail made an appearance and soon we had the Monal sightings that are the stuff of legends. They were there in the open sunshine, foraging, in flight, perching on trees, running….. The photographers literally went crazy this time.

As if that was not enough, Varsha spotted something in the bush, which was initially sought to be dismissed as the fantail. And suddenly this majestic golden bush robin decided to plant itself on a bush in clear sunlight at four feet distance in front of the group. And remained there for a full 3 minutes, seemingly glued to the tree. As if to underline that Chopta is not necessarily all about the Monal only!!

Golden bush robin




The trek down the path from Tungnath was a pleasant affair, which in any case was a better option than being atop a downwardly inclined pony. 

By the time we reached the base, the sun was quite bright and hot, but neither that nor the steep incline seemed to deter this group of professional cyclists who were racing up from Rishikesh!!
 

The post lunch session was spent in the rhododendron forest descending from Chopta. The incessant calls of the rufous sibias could be heard everywhere.

Rhododendron forest

It was in this fading light that there was sudden excitement as someone spotted a black francolin among the underbushes, or so they thought. Finally it turned out to be the common hill partridge, mostly heard and seldom seen!
 

Chaukhamba peaks

 

Mukku Farm

The next morning saw us going past the majestic Chaukhamba viewpoint, past Chopta and onto the Mukkumath axis. The area has the Mukku farm which has a sheep rearing station. This area afforded excellent views of the grey bushchat and the Indian and Eurasian cuckoos which we savoured over field breakfast. The Himalayan rubythroat female was also having a leisurely breakfast in the cattle yard below, but alas the male eluded us.

Grey bushchat male


Himalayan rubythroat female

Moving down towards Mukkumath we stopped for some sinful Samosas at the place where the deity of Tungnath spends the summer.

As we moved further down we saw our driver Naveen gesticulating violently. By the time we reached, it was revealed that the fortunate few in the lead vehicle had seen the black francolin at a few feet distance from the road. Further search for the bird remained unfruitful. The mood dipped further when we heard blaring speakers heralding a marriage ceremony taking place in the village causing us to believe that our feathered friends would stay far away from the festivities.
 
But it seems they are made of sterner stuff and amidst all that cacophony we had good sightings of the spot winged grosbeak and the rusty cheeked scimitar babbler.
 

Black faced warbler

On the way back we had good inflight views of the golden eagle, oriental honey buzzard and the lamargier. A wake of griffon vultures (yes ‘wake’ is the collective noun for a group of vultures feeding) was spotted at a stream nearby. There were excellent views of Mrs Goulds sunbird. The day ended with another spotting of a mixed hunting party led by the black faced warblers and a leisurely sighting of the rufous bellied niltava.

As is usual in birding trips, evenings are the time for reviewing the days activities. We also heard the fascinating story of how Harish came to be a bird guide. Naveen, our boisterous driver tried to regale us with his rustic anecdotes while his quiet brother Nitin looked on indulgently.
 

The Harish story by the fireplace

The last days sessions were again along the Ukhimath axis and were quite rewarding in areas were the deeper red rhododendrons were flowering. Their colour becomes fainter as the altitude increases!! We could not however get another date with the firecapped tit which had been sighted by a few people on the previous day.

We came down to Mandal by late evening and enjoyed a very welcome hot bath. The next day was devoted entirely to reaching Dehradun airport which could take anything between 6 to 10 hours depending on the traffic jams. Luckily we reached well in time with some people branching out to spend an extra day in Rishikesh.

As I boarded my aeroplane to Delhi I must have dozed off  because suddenly I seemed to hear the continuous call of the Great Barbet….

The Group

Tour organizers: Nature India

Camera: Nikon P 600. 
Additional photos courtesy Mr Bijit (Samsung mobile)
 
Travelers tips:

1.       Travel time from T3 terminal of Delhi airport to New Delhi Railway station (Ajmeri gate side) is 19 minutes by Metro @Rs 60 only. Last train is at 11 pm. Frequency is 15 min.
 

Airport Metro

2.       We were informed that the facilities of the executive lounge in the NDLS are excellent and reasonable. Buffet is also available apart from rest and wash.

3.       There is no first class waiting room at Dehradun station, though MCO gets activated at 0630

4.       Rooms at the Gurukrupa Lodge at Mandal at 3500 feet are basic but clean. Electric geyser is installed and more importantly uninterrupted power supply is available. Water is of course in plenty.

5.       Rooms at Green Valley resort Chopta at 8000 feet are even better. No geyser though. Stored solar power is switched on in the evenings and mornings.
 

Mr Shishupal

Mr Shishupal and his ever smiling wife run a tight ship and even announce arrival and departures of guests by the bell.

Warmth at 11000 feet !!

6.       Road journey time is very variable even though the roads are  good. Though the heights mentioned may seem daunting, no acclimatization of any kind is required. Very old people were seen climbing up to Tungnath (at 11000 feet)

7.       The bird sightings mentioned in the text do not do justice to the actual birdlist of about 110 and are limited by the authors inability to photograph and remember well. For a better idea please visit http://birdingdiary.blogspot.in/2016/05/birding-in-western-himalayas-dhanolti.html