BIRDING
IN CORBETT & NAINITAL
There is something indefinable about India that makes westerners
who have been there yearn to return. Perhaps it is the vastness of the country
and its timeless quality; perhaps it is the strange mixture of a multiplicity
of peoples and cultures, so alien and yet so fascinating, which strikes a hidden
chord in us; or perhaps it is the way that man and nature are so closely linked,
co-existing in a way that seems intrinsically impossible. There are just some
places one has to visit in a lifetime, and India is one of them. Our journey
begins in the capital, New Delhi, where at any time of the day literally hundreds
of birds of prey, storks and vultures (the last declining sharply) can be seen
soaring overhead.
From Delhi we travel northwards across the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain
to Corbett National Park. Cradled in the foothills of the Himalayas, Corbett
National Park, India's first, is also widely
considered
one of the finest reserves in the Indian subcontinent. Its vast area encompasses
considerable tracts of grassland and forest centered around the Ramganga River.
In addition, we will spend three nights at the delightful Quality Inn, superbly
located overlooking the pristine Khosi River valley. This is tiger country personified,
and although finding this most magnificent of all cats is never easy, our chances
here are modest. Corbett is so much more, however, with over 50 species of mammals,
530 birds, and 25 reptiles recorded within the reserve.
These include such gems as Asian elephant, leopard, sloth bear, the most peculiar
and endangered gharial (a slender-nosed croc), Kalij Pheasant, Pallas’s
Fish-Eagle, Collared Falconet, Slaty-headed Parakeet, Brown and the very rare
Tawny Fish owls, Crested and Stork-billed kingfishers, Himalayan Flameback,
the exquisite Wallcreeper, and Red-billed Blue Magpie. From Corbett, we will
ascend into the Himalayas proper and ensconce ourselves in the charming, albeit
somewhat shabby, hill station of Naini Tal. The Western Himalayas differ considerably
from the east, being notably drier and colder, and support a distinctly more
temperate range of habitats. These forests support a number of species which
occur only west of the Khali-Ghandaki divide (a major bio-geographic boundary
in central Nepal dividing the west from the east), as well as a large number
of other more wide-ranging species.
The avifauna here is dramatically different from that of the plains and foothills.
Such contrasts are one of the pleasures of Himalayan birding - new species are
constantly appearing whenever when one ascends or descends. Here, at nearly
7,000 feet, and surrounded by the high Himalayas, we will explore pine-clad
ridges and temperate woodlands for such species asLammergeier (with luck we
may be able to actually look down on one of these extraordinary birds as they
sail beneath us), Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Altai and Black-throated accentors,
Blue-capped Redstart, Chestnut Thrush, Red-fronted Serin, Vinaceous Rosefinch,
and Black-headed Jay. En route back to Delhi we will make a special stop at
the Ganges River where, with a bit of luck, we may find the globally threatened
Indian Skimmer, in addition to such species as Great Thick-knee and Black-bellied
Tern.
Our tour concludes with none other than three full days in the world-renown
Bharatpur sanctuary. Bharatpur, home to some of the rarest birds in Asia, is
undoubtedly one of the world's truly great bird sanctuaries.Trumpeting chevrons
of cranes herald dawn as tens of thousands of water birds forage in its life-giving
shallows, back-lit by pastel pinks. Here one can easily see 150 species of birds
in a day, many of which are large, spectacular, and easy to see. In 1999, we
were again treated to marvelous studies of these exquisitely graceful birds
as three of them fed within 200 yards of us. Other species
we
can expect to see include Great White and Dalmatian pelicans; Sarus and Common
cranes; huge numbers of nesting Painted Storks, in addition to the rare Black-necked
and Asian Open-billed storks; tens of thousands of wintering northern ducks,
including the beautifully marked Bar-headed Goose; and large numbers of herons,
egrets, and bitterns.
All of this “food” results in exceptional numbers of wintering birds
of prey, especially large eagles. This will provide a wonderful opportunity
to test our skills at sorting out the challenging Imperial, Tawny, Steppe, Greater,
and Lesser Spotted species. Bharatpur sports a remarkable mosaic of habitats,
which range from semiarid scrub to beautiful mature woodlands in addition to
the wetlands, resulting in a great diversity of birds. In addition to large
numbers of water birds, we can expect to see such species as Indian Peafowl;
Indian Courser; perhaps the increasingly rare Sociable Plover; impressive Dusky
Horned Owls at the nest; the electrifying Indian Roller; five kingfishers; Indian
Grey Hornbill; perhaps the elusive Spotted Creeper; and a good selection of
dry country larks, pipits, and wheatears. These are the focal points of our
revised Northern India tour. However, any tour to India is so much more than
a series of highlights; it is a total experience. Perhaps no other country on
earth provides so rich a panoply of culture, living history intertwined with
nature, literally at our feet. India is a photographer's, a traveler’s,
a historian's, an anthropologist's, and most emphatically a naturalist's dream.
Join VENT and Dion Hobcroft on a visit to the Indian subcontinent--one of the
most romantic and magical places on our planet.
