Birding Itinerary of Eaglenest, Sela-pass, Mandala & Nameri NP
10 Nights / 11 Days
Day 1
Arrival at Guwahati airport – Nameri
On arrival at Guwahati airport transfer to Nameri NP – 08 hours, Nameri National Park lies in the foothills of Arunachal, West Kameng in the Sonitpur District of Assam, about 35 km from Tezpur. Overnight stay in Nameri.
Day 2
Nameri – Dirang
Morning birding in Nameri NP to look for the endangered White-winged Duck (difficult )the state bird of Assam but in recent years no sighting has been reported , but still there are always other bird species to look out for like the Great Hornbill , Wreathed hornbill, Ibisbill , Great Thicknee , Indian Thicknee, Sultan Tit , Blue-eared Kingfisher and many more. Afternoon drive to Dirang, Arunachal (05 hours), Overnight stay in Dirang.
Day 3 & 4
Dirang – Sela Pass – Mandala
Our birding base for the next two days will be Dirang from here we will make a day excursion to Sela- pass ( 4500 meters) for high-altitude birds like the Himalayan Monal, Blood pheasant, Grandala, Snow Partridge, Snow Pigeon, Solitary Snipe, Alpine accentor, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Himalayan White-browed Rosefinch, Plain Mountain Finch, Collared Grosebeak, Spot-winged Grosbeak, Gould’s Shortwing (May ), White-browed Tit-Warbler and many more.
Afternoon session birding in Sangti Valley for Long-billed Plover, Fire-capped Tit, Long-tailed Shrike, Oriental Skylark, Blue-fronted Redstart, Russet Sparrow, Himalayan Greenfinch, Crested Bunting and Little Bunting. The river and streams in Sangti are a good habitat for Crested Kingfisher, Plumbeous Water Redstart, Ibisbill, White-capped Redstart, and Grey Wagtail. Another species that we should find here is the Slender-billed Oriole.
The second day for birding around Mandala 3500m with some of the best habitats of coniferous forest along with bamboo supports mixed hunting flock of Rufous-fronted, Coal, Grey-crested and Rufous-vented tits, Brown-throated (or Ludlow’s) Fulvetta, Stripe-throated and Rufous-vented Yuhinas and Buff-barred Warblers. Other birds inhabiting the area are White-collared Blackbird, Alpine Thrush, Blue-capped Rock Thrush, Himalayan Bluetail, White-browed, Golden Bush Robins, Spotted Nutcrackers, and Hume’s Bush Warbler, rare and beautifully marked Bar-winged Wren-Babbler, Black-faced Laughingthrush, Spotted Laughingthrush, Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, and Fire-tailed Myzornis. The Bamboo forest towards Phudung is very good habitat for the magnificent Temminck’s Tragopan, Great and Fulvous Parrotbills, Rusty-flanked and Hodgson’s Treecreepers, Darjeeling Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker and many more.
Day 5
Dirang – Lamacamp (Eaglenest WLS)
We will drive from Dirang to Lamacamp via Tenga to Lamacamp (2300m). We will spend the afternoon and the next morning in search of the critically endangered Bugun Liocichla (a bird discovered in 2006) which needs scanning and patience to find one.
Day 6
Lamacamp – Bompu Camp (1700 meters)
The day will be spent morning birding around Lamacamp and driving towards Eaglenest Pass with some of the species to look out for are Spotted Laughingthrush, Brown Parrotbill, Green Shrike-Babbler , Broad-billed Warbler , Bar-winged Wren Babbler (if missed) , Streak-throated Barwing, Large-billed LeafWarbler , Whistlers Warbler and beautiful Ward’s Trogon. Overnight stay in Bompu Camp.
Days 7, 8 & 9
Bompu Camp
We will be using Bompu Camp as the base for exploring Eaglenest with an excursion to the Sessnay, Kellong, and Chaku areas of the sanctuary for some of the bird species like Blyth’s Tragopan, Sikkim-Wedged Billed Babbler, Long-billed, Rufous-throated, Eye-browed Wren Babblers, rare Beautiful Nuthatch, White-breasted Parrotbill, Black-throated Parrotbill, Spotted Elechura, Pygmy & Scaly breasted Cupwing, Red-faced Liocichla, Chestnut-breasted Partridge, Large blue Flycatcher, Pale-billed Parrotbill, Pale-headed Woodpecker, White-hooded Babbler, Rufous-vented Laughingthrush, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Long-tailed Broadbill, Black-crowned Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-faced, Yellow-vented and Yellow-bellied Warbler, Black-headed Shrike-babbler, Himalayan Cutia, Yellow-throated Fulvetta, Long-tailed Sibia, White-naped Yuhina, Hodgson’s Frogmouth,Purple and Green Cochoa.
Day 10
Bompu – Assam for onwards journey
After some early morning birding at Eaglenest, we head to the plains of Assam.