THREE BIRDERS AT NAMDAPHA: A TREKKING/BIRDING TRAVELOGUE

THREE BIRDERS AT NAMDAPHA: A TREKKING/BIRDING TRAVELOGUE
14 to 21 Nov 2013
Dr Dattakiran Joshi, Dr Sangeeta Joshi, Dr Ravi Rajagopal, Bangalore
Bird photographs: Courtesy Dr Rajagopal. (Cannon EOS 7D; 100-400mm)
Grid Reference: 27 30 54 North; 96 24 10 East
Elevation 536 m 

14 Nov 13 Day 0
After waking at the unearthly hour of 0300, a gift to all Bangalorean air travellers from M/S BIAL, we managed to catch the morning 6am flight to Kolkata. Landing at Kolkata decimated whatever little respect we had for the overhyped BIAL when we set our eyes on the swanky new Kolkata airport. Spacious, elegant, functional and has successfully done away with the ridiculous carpets at T3 Delhi.
None of the shopping and craziness, but the most comfortable and numerous loos. Thankfully tea is still for Rs 40 and the Shondesh at the Meethai shop is still amazing.
Changing to the Dibrugarh flight brought back all the memories of the microcosm that is the North East. We started playing our game of ‘guess the state’ that this particular ethnic group belongs to….
After a perfectly timed landing, when the aircraft doors opened at Dibrugarh’s Mohanbari airport, self and Raja suddenly went into a reverie, remembering the familiar greenery and the smell of Assam. He kept alluding to the typical smell of the grass which was laced with the smell of tea bush. Being freshly picked, cut and curled at the tea factory somewhere and everywhere. Our memories of Jorhat came flooding back.
We were received and accommodated by a friend staying near the Panitola Tea estate, about 10 Km from Tinsukia.
After a quick lunch, we had tied up with one Mr Bhinandan to a visit to the nearby Magori grasslands which was an hours’ drive away, along the river. A waiting boatman took us downriver towards the other bank. There were some anxious moments when the boat hit a stump… Minutes before, I had been trying to mentally calculate the depth of this seemingly shallow river. As it happened we did not have to find out, and managed to reach the other bank.
Birding was not that great as anticipated since we had already been told that grassland birding is better in the mornings. Nevertheless wading our way into 20 feet tall grass and looking for birds was a first time for me. After playing some calls and a long wait, we finally managed two lifers. The rufous capped babbler and the white tailed rubythroat.
On the way back we were shown the handiwork of the most curious of creatures. A mite sized insect called anthunter. This makes holes in the sand and waits at the bottom of the one cm hole for an ant to fall in. Recovering the insect from the sandhole, our guide also gave us another lifer tip. If you need magnification in the field, simply use the binoculars reversed… All in all, it worked out to Rs 1500 per bird in this 2 hour birding session.
 
15 Nov 13 Day 1
The crisp November morning was announced by Raja getting most excited by the sight of the sunlight filtering through a huge tree and falling on the tea bushes just ouside our accommodation.
The treetops revealed a majestic pair of imperial white pigeons.
The prebreakfast session was reserved for a quick trip around the campus and to the airfield; basically a WW2 airstrip around which there is the most wonderful and pristine forest which definitely deserves further investigation. We did come across a pair of Khaleej pheasants later in the same forest.
There were amazing sunlit views of red junglefowl, looking resplendent in their blood red plumage, and in the background was a 30 strong flock of grey headed lapwings - a lifer for Raja.


 
At nine am, we set course for Namdapha, a distance of 160 Kms escorted by our guide Mr Moshang and the enthusiastic sumo driver. We were to go past Tinsukia, Digboi, Margherita, Ledo, Jagun and then cross over to Miao in Arunachal Pradesh.


The weather was wonderful, the ride smooth and the morale high. But lo and behold. We ran into a massive traffic jam just beyond Digboi. Caused by a Dharna by the locals, protesting the death of a school child. Recently there had been a similar protest when one village boy had run away with a local girl.
Somehow even this could not perturb us. Maybe it was the Assam effect: be stoic in any situation. Or as Sangeeta profoundly remarked, we don’t have to catch a train do we? As usual, wild rumours started flying. That the jam would not be lifted for four hours! We said to ourselves, just chill. Anyhow, as things turned out, we were on course within half an hour. Another reminder that, when in Assam, always prepare for a bandh or two.
Lunch turned out to be an interesting and fulfilling affair at the newly painted Suraj Hotel at a place called Jagun which is the last large settlement on the Assamese side. Just as we got out of the jeep we found a banner exhorting students to join the Manipal education centre, here in the north eastern tip of the country!!!
Our guide was conversing with some ladies, who were distinctly non assamese looking. He revealed that they, like him, hailed from the Nampong area (Burma border) and that he was equally fluent in the language Tangsa ,as he was in Assamese, Nepali, Hindi and English. As we proceeded, the dresses of ladies seen on the roadside villages changed from mehkla to a wraparound. The faces changed to chinky/nepali; what didn’t change, however, was how impeccably dressed and turned out were the pretty young women and schoolgirls, eyeliner and all. Also notable were the disproportionately large number of shops selling ladies accoutrements, including Amway creams!.
Crossing over into Arunachal Pradesh was a smooth affair at the check gate manned by smart women policepersons. Our tour managers, M/S IT Natureclub,
Bangalore had already arranged for the Inner line permit, a document necessary for anyone wanting to visit this state.
We came across a privately owned oilfield at Kharasang. Our knowledgable guide informed that this oilwell, belonging to OIL, was not yielding much and had been sold to a French company. With their technical knowhow (or is it simple willingness to do their job) they are having a bumper yield of oil now.
We proceeded to Miao, which has a Buddhist monastery blessed by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and a Tibetian settlement. It is the place where the honourable minister Jairam Ramesh had laid the foundation stone for the Miao - Vijaynagar road, one year earlier. This is what it looks like now.
One of the most fundamental facts of life is salt - more so in the North East, where it is a very prized commodity. The fact was brought home to us in the unlikeliest of places. Just as we had cleared the traffic jam earlier in the day, a frantic call was received by our guide. Salt had vanished from the market and was selling for Rs 250 a kg.!!! He bemoaned that he had only one kg in stock. A quick calculation by our masterchef, Dr Sangeeta, revealed that it would feed the entire group for a fortnight. Nevertheless the quest for salt continued. Even animal salt stocks were flying off the shelves. As it happened, he managed to find 10 kg of normal iodised salt at the next grocery shop and dutifully deliverd it to his own house at Miao.
Curiously, all the rumours turned out to be true when we came to know that there were salt riots happening at Miao and the DC had to intervene and ration salt sales to 3 kg per person.!!!
Some more entry formalities (and a nominal fee) had to be completed at the forest check gate at a place called Mpen where the reserve forest actually starts.
Namdapha tiger reserve is the thick jungle on both sides of the Noa Dihing river flowing westwards and is bound on the north by the Dapha Bum peak.
Our destination for the day, Deban FRH, was still 25 kms away through a terrible road. The journey which started by us wading through a river , took 2 hours and was punctuated by many bumps touching our underside and mudslides (amazingly in this very dry season) which gave many an anxious moments. The large flocks of forktails at many wayside streams provided some relief from the grind. Finally we reached Deban Forest Rest house at 4 15pm which, in this part of the country, is sunset time.
The welcoming FRH took away the tiredness, while the hunger was mitigated by the lovely ginger tea and biscuits. Most of us relate to past incidents and places by a particular terrain, smell, song or taste. The tea which smelled of the firewood on which it had been brewed, reminded Raja of some memories gone by.
 

16 Nov 13 Day 2
Another fundamental question of life is: What does a man have to do to get good nights sleep? A trip to Namdapha is perhaps the answer. What a wonderful experience it was, to go to sleep at 8 30 in a comfortable warm bed where there
were no unnatural noises, no traffic, no streetlights, no noisy neigbghours, no mosquitoes, no power supply and its attendant curse - the TV, and no landline or mobile coverage and its attendant curse- the internet.
The long evening was actually spent in human interaction and relating of many a birding tale. It was even more ethereal being woken up at 5 am by the call of the magpie robin; which was variously interpreted as blue whistling thrush /shama. The controversy continued to rage throughout the day.
The crisp morning sun shone brightly on the dry tree on top of the rest house showing off the glorious cap of the golden crested maynas who were moving around with the incessantly calling hill maynas and black bulbuls. Nuthatches, sultan tits, minivets, and streaked spiderhunters were quickly spotted apart from huge flocks of the great barbet.

After a sumptuous breakfast we set out along the Miao Vijaynagar road. The exciting bird sightings in the prebreakfast session was alas not followed up with very fruitful birding during the rest of the day. There were calls of laughingthrushes and wren babblers but sightings were few and far between. Notable species found were striped yuhinas and several warblers. The bird of the day was the male slaty bellied tesia who made an appearance after a prolonged jugalbandi with the female hiding in the shrubbery.
The slaty backed forktail gave the most majestic views as he led us along the slushy parts of the road.
Lunch was arranged by the advance party on seating arrangement quickly fabricated out of the banana leaves.
Evening tea was with a tea stall owned by a Lisu tribesman who runs a shop in the middle of nowhere and lives off the few heads of poultry that he has. Water is free and power is solar…

Makes one wonder, how little one really needs in life?!
Tomorrow we head off on a 11 km trek across the river to Hornbill point where we camp for two nights. The trek has already got to Raja. Maybe one feels more tired when sightings are not as expected…. We will find out tomorrow.
 
17 Nov 13 Day 3
The morning started with excitement and trepidation; how would we cope with the long trek that lay ahead of us; given the fact that none of us were trekkers. The bushes outside the camp yielded the first target bird for raja; the green magpie. I couldn’t manage a look though.
The route to hornbill camp, which lies to the north of the Nao Dihing involves many river crossings. Crossing rivers by boats is one thing. Little did we realise we would also be crossing another two rivers by balancing over logs of wood.
The river bank did yield views of the water redstarts and brown dipper apart from a crested kingfisher. There was a majestic pair of river lapwings basking in the sun, even as we were reaching for a second coat of sunblock.
The forest trail starts abruptly as one leaves the river bank. And suddenly it is pitch dark in midmorning due to the very tall trees with a thick canopy. And this was to be the bane of the entire trip. Dark forest and neck extended 90 degrees. Nevertheless very soon we realized that this was not to be one of the effortless birding trips; but rather an arduous trek.
Made even more frustrating by the fact that there were dozens of calls near and far, almost taunting us but none of the birds were coming out. One of the many tiny logistical issues that came up, when the main local guide had dropped out (after the main organiser had already dropped out), ostensibly due to ill health. We three crazy birders from Bangalore were assisted in the quest for bird sightings by the simple Mr Moshang, who had only recently acquired a pair of binoculars and had no playback facility. A simple Tangsa tribal, Moshang had earlier informed us that he had seen a train several times but never had an occasion to travel in one!!


Anyhow we plodded on. The weather was cool and crisp, the birdsongs quite enjoyable in themselves and not much evidence of leeches. We were intermittently rewarded with mixed hunting parties primarily consisting of striated yuhinas, black chinned yuhinas and scarlet minivets. Woodpeckers, leafbirds and great barbets also dotted the way.The lunch break was at Haldibari Camp which had recently been vacated by the forest department staff, represented an amazing study of what one could fabricate out of logs of wood and banana leaves. The bedroom and bedsteads could easily make it to the worlds craziest furniture!!!
The prospect of going another 5 kilometres uphill as it was going past noon seemed very daunting. In fact the forest seemed to have become eerily quiet as we kept moving up, possibly siesta time for the birds as well. After crossing many streams and negotiating fallen logs on the path, we finally reached Hornbill Camp.
The sight of smartly laid out French tents in a neat clearing in the middle of the forest was quite a sight for sore eyes as were the camp table and stools welcome for the sore feet.
Just as we were settling down for a welcome cup of tea, we were rewarded by the cacophonous calling and a good sighting of a flock of white crested laughingthrushes. The tents turned out to be quite spacious and comfortable, apart from being windproof. It helped that the entire camping gear was brand new. Raja came into our tent after tea, since it was 4 30 and already pitch dark and we recounted many a campers stories.
Soup and dinner was announced at 6 30 pm. It is unbelievable how time loses its meaning when one is under the starry sky in the middle of nowhere and with nothing in particular to do. It was just as well that we decided to turn in by 8 pm as the effects of the long 11 Km trek were beginning to be felt. Sleep was not very elusive in spite of the thin mattresses, though the night was punctuated by the peculiar calling in the middle of the night which was, as we were later told, the calling of a gang of Malayan giant squirrels who had come to dine off our leftovers.
 

18 Nov 13 Day 4
The welcome hot cup of tea and a quick visit to the very ingeniously crafted toilet, and we were all set to go.
We chatted up the forest staff, who were camping here, and were informed about the ongoing tiger census. They proudly showed us the camera traps and other equipment which was being set up for this purpose. It did feel rather strange that were walking freely in a jungle where a tiger census was going on; we were somewhat relieved to know that none of them had actually spotted a tiger and last
year only one tiger was photographed in the camera traps – that too in a different sector.
The morning trek was to a place called doodhpani or bulbulia via the so called hornbill point. We did see some in flight but none were seen roosting, a great disappointment. Bulbulia camp is an even more godforsaken perch, where some campers had recently been staying. The name comes from a tiny pond where a stream of white water emanates from a bubbling pool and joins one with clear water.
Though colloquially called as a sulphur spring, we did not see any yellow rocks. The oil slicks nearby suggested that this must be natural gas bubbling out of an oilfield. Our guide confirmed that they had once lighted a match here and the entire water had caught fire.!!! The only thing I could not explain was that there was a smell of LPG. Does natural gas have that smell? I wonder.
The campfire in the evening was very welcome, as it filled the time between tea and dinner. And, as is inevitable, when one sits with hill people around a fire, all the interesting stories start coming out.
The harrowing tale of Moshangs recent recce visit to Kamlang WLS was quite unnerving, especially since we were originally supposed to have gone there. Apparently access is by a rope bridge, which had been recently washed away and even the forest dept people do not venture there. They prefer to pay a local tribesman to clear the paths. He lives by himself on the other side, carries two knives and is in fact mad and decidedly dangerous.
The most fascinating tale was about the aliens who had been apprehended in the jungles of Khonsa district about six months ago. Apparently the elderly female was apprehended while two individuals managed to get away. She has been
taken to Gauhati and there is lot of excitement as she has the head which looks like that of a goat and the body is like a human!
19 Nov 13 Day 5
A short relook at hornbill tree point was planned before going downhill. The hornbills decided not to oblige but instead there was a glorious display of a flock of asian fairy bluebirds, rusty fronted barwings and long tailed sibias.
Notable species seen on the way back were rufous backed sibias and silver eared mesias in large flocks.
The trek downhill seemed comparatively less strenuous and we were making very good time. And then suddenly we realized that a jungle was after all a jungle. There was a full grown sloth bear who crossed our path barely 15 metres ahead. The guides instinct was to get excited and call the sahib with the camera since a mammal had been spotted. Mine was the exact opposite, since I was in front, advising the guide that this was a fierce animal in the wild, and not one to be trifled with. Later on Moshang admitted that this was his first sighting. We waited with baited breath for a few tense moments, hoping that the beast would pass and continue on his original trajectory. We were thankfully informed that bears have poor eyesight and hearing and hence he had passed so close in front of us without getting distracted. Thank God for small mercies.
The welcome sound of the river indicated that we were nearing the end of our trek. One of the galleries here rewarded us with the sight of a flock of white collared treepies and a nice view of the broad billed warbler at very close quarters in good light.
The river crossings, this time by a different route, were equally challenging but we managed without getting our shoes too wet. Lunch was laid out on the riverside as the crystal clear waters of the Debang river sparkled while we had our meal in silence as we pondered over the memorable events of the last few days.


Now that we were safely back from the jungle, we started wondering about the return trip arrangements. As luck would have it, the wireless at Miao, the only way to communicate with the outside world, did not respond. That’s it. We slept without knowing what was to come the next day. We had also been shifted out to the Tourist Huts which were far more spartan than the already quite basic FRH accommodation. But we had already learnt how little one really needs.
 

20 Nov 13 Day 6
It was another glorious morning and the most amazing birding action was on display. Large flocks of minivets and Sultan Tits hovering right over the FRH as we sat drying our socks and were quite glad that the vehicle was late. Then came the icing on the cake; after a hearty breakfast Sangeeta spotted the Rajas most sought after target bird. The green magpie. We chased it into the thickets behind the FRH and got excellent views of a pair of this magnificent bird (A lifer for me). As if that was not enough, she spotted a red headed trogon (a lifer for her) sitting right there sipping her tea. This is not to mention the various olived backed pipits foraging around and the nuthatches, grey treepies, and yuhina flocks on display all around. One wondered if spending three days at Deban FRH itself was not worth a try.
The journey to civilization was uneventful and we were once again thankful to Mother Nature for holding and hiding so many secrets with her, so as to make the lives of eternal seekers so very meaningful. For each of us seeks on this Earth, whatever we consider worth seeking.

 

Travelling tips:
Last place to stock up: Jagun, Assam
Last place for mobile connectivity: Miao, Arunachal Pradesh
At Deban: No power supply for charging any gadget. Solar cells provide one CFL in each room
Leech density was minimal in this season, but leech socks are a good idea, though not very comfortable to wear inside the shoes.

 

 


Detailed Birdlist is as under:
14/11
Dinjan (Near Panitola tea estate)
 Rufous tree pie
 Yellow footed green pigeon
 Asian pied starling
 White wagtail
 Great tit
 Lesser adjutant stork
 Green imperial pigeon
 Greater racket tailed drongo
 Chestnut tailed starling
 Blue throated Barbet
 Grey headed lapwing
 Paddy field pipit
 Indian roller
 Grey wagtail
 Red jungle fowl
 Fulvous breasted woodpecker
 Magpie robin
 Grey wagtail
 Mountain hawk eagle
 Khaleej pheasant
 Scaly breasted munia
 Oriental white eye
 Eurasian tree sparrow
Magori grasslands
 Common sandpiper
 White wagtail
 Citrine wagtail
 Chestnut headed babbler
 Open billed stork
 Kentish plover
 White tailed ruby throat
 Common stone chat
 Yellow bellied prinia
 White breasted kingfisher
 Pied kingfisher
 White tailed myna
 Long tailed (tricolour) shrike
 Red wattled lapwing
 Purple swamp hen
 Common moorhen
 White breasted waterhen
 Northern shoveller
 Spot billed duck
15/11
En route to Deban
 House sparrow
 Black backed forktail
 Blue rock thrush
 Black hooded oriole
16/11
Outside Deban camp
 Sultan tit
 Golden crested myna
 Common Hill myna
 Streaked spider hunter
 Scarlet minivet
 Great barbet
 Blue throated barbet
 Chestnut bellied nuthatch
 Blue whistling thrush
 Olive backed pipit
 Common Green magpie
 Grey treepie
 Verditer flycatcher
En route MV road up to 15th mile
 Slaty bellied Tesia
 Slaty backed forktail
 Grey headed canary flycatcher
 Chestnut crowned Warbler
 Blyths leaf Warbler
 Wreathed Hornbill in flight
 Greater yellow naped woodpecker
 Small niltava
 Rufous bellied niltava
 Red headed trogon
 Long tailed broadbill
 Ashy bulbul
 Black bulbul
 Red vented bulbul
 Red whiskered bulbul
 Black chinned yuhina
 Black drongo
 Greater Racket tailed drongo
 Yellow bellied fantail
 White throated fantail
 White throated bulbul
 Grey cheeked warbler
 Black throated sunbird
 Emerald dove
 Striated yuhina
17/11
River crossing enroute to Hornbill camp
 Crested kingfisher
 Brown dipper
 River lapwing
 Common Sandpiper
 White wagtails
 Large Cormorant
 White capped water redstart
 Plumbeous redstart
17/11 Trek through jungle to Hornbill camp
 Greater flameback
 Golden fronted chloropsis
 Blue winged chloropsis
 Black winged cuckooshrike
 Orange bellied chloropsis
 Spangled drongo
 Greater necklaced laughing thrush
 Thrush ( ? Chinese thrush – sugg by Tim Inskipp)
 Rufous necked hornbill in flight and call heard
 Common Quail
 Rufous faced warbler
 Grey hooded warbler
 White tailed robin
18/11 Hornbill camp to bulbulia
 Asain fairy bluebird
 Rusty fronted Barwing
 Long tailed sibia
 Red billed Leiothrix
 White crested laughing thrush
 Asain barred owlet
 Golden throated barbet
 Wren babbler (unidentified)
 Rufous woodpecker
 Lesser Yellownaped woodpecker
 Whiskered Yuhina
 Pin tailed green pigeon
 Wedge tailed green pigeon
19/11 Hornbill camp to Deban
 Silver eared Mesia
 Green billed Malkoha
 Black lored yellow tit
 Rufous backed sibia
 Red tailed minla
 Blue winged minla
 Maroon oriole
 Broad billed warbler
 Pale headed woodpecker
 Collared treepie
 Ruddy shellduck
 Little ringed plover
 Black stork
 Hodgsons Redstart