INDIA 2010: To Pangot and Beyond

Dec 8 – Armed with coffee and masala chai tea, Pam, John, Bob and I started our day before dawn, journeying to Pangot and beyond. Our goal was to see the most beautiful of pheasants, Koklass and Cheer, in the first hour of daylight. It took us over an hour and a half to travel 25 kms along a climbing, twisting road to reach Kunj Khadak.

Five minutes into our ride, Karan realized that we had left my scope behind. As the van turned around in the dark on the edge of town, the headlights caught a sign (above) with the words ‘Conserve Wild Life Visit Nainital’ and a painting of a Mohan – yet another magnificent pheasant. Pam considered ticking that species right then and returning to bed, but we would not let her!

As dawn broke over the eastern horizon, the first rays of sunlight caught the top of the Himalayas (above) less than a 100 kilometers away, a beautiful sight on this clear day. While most of the range that we could see was actually in the neighboring country of Nepal, we had clear views of Nanda Devi, the highest peak completely within Indian territory at 25,643 feet, and 23rd highest in the world. This breathtaking panoramic landscape would only get better as the morning progressed.

Looking down the slope we searched for any movement amongst the open understory and leaf litter. We heard rustling but couldn’t see what it was. From behind us, a Koklass Pheasant flew across the road and vanished in a blink. Pam now wished she had gambled on just ticking the Mohan and going back to sleep! The woodpecker show was more satisfying with a couple of Brown-fronted and many Rufous-bellied Woodpeckers (above) showing very well.

Working our way back towards Nainital, we stopped to enjoy a picnic breakfast (above) overlooking a valley. We saw both Himalayan and Eurasian Griffon Vultures roosting on an outcropping, but not a single Lammergeier flew over.  Maybe our vegetarian breakfast was not appealing to this bone-loving raptor!

Nepal House Martins were flying over the Vinayak forest checkpoint when we stopped for a brief walk down the trail through the woods (above). We found Eurasian and Black-headed Jays along with several Rufous Sibias. The highlight was a Himalayan Woodpecker adding to our already impressive list of woodpeckers.

We reached the village of Pangot a few kms later and enjoyed a pair of Bonelli’s Eagle soaring overhead as we exited our van. Striated Prinias were calling to each other and there was a great deal of activity around the feeders at the Jungle Lore birding lodge. This consisted mainly of a large party of White-throated Laughingthrushes (above) along with Black-headed Jays and a wonderful Yellow-breasted Greenfinch.

We stopped for our picnic lunch along the Kilberry Road where the tit flocks were most impressive. In particular the ones with Black-throated Tits (above) numbering in the dozens were accompanied by Green-backed, Spot-winged and a couple of Yellow-browed Tits, as well as Bar-tailed Treecreepers and phylloscopus warblers. Overhead a Mountain Hawk Eagle and Black Eagle flew across the hills.

Two wonderful finds included a Green Shrike Babbler, which was a life bird for our guide Karan, and a Black-faced Warbler, seen later as we walked towards the Kilberry Snowview temple. We also saw a pair of Whiskered Yuhinas and 4 Hill Partridges.

We returned back to the hotel around 4pm, joining up with Joe, Kay and Mary Kay who had opted for a little extra sleep before accompanying Vinod on a leisurely mid-morning tour up to Snow View and into Nainital.