Birding in the land of Rhino's - Assam

Assam Wildlife Tour 3-9 April 2015

Pride of Assam

India has been blessed with a vast variety of biodiversity, the lush green forest of the Western Ghats & the Eastern Ghats, the Great Indian Desert, and the mighty Himalayas, the tall grasslands of Assam, coastal belt and tropical green forest of North East. Such habitats are home to various species of birds, mammals, reptiles & insects. Among these hot spots a known wildlife’s hotspot is the state of Assam. The state of Assam is blessed with a wide range of habitats ranging from lush green forest patches at foothills of Himalayas on Indo - Bhutan border to tall grasslands of Kaziranga, a state which is home to some of most elusive species found in wildlife of India. Assam is also a gateway to North East and best place to see some of the threatened species of birds, mammals, reptiles & insects. Great Indian White Horned Rhino, Royal Bengal Tiger, Wild Asiatic Buffalo, Asiatic Elephants, Swamp Deers, Hollock Gibbons, Golden Langurs, Bengal Florican, Slender Billed Vulture & many others are some of the highlight species of Assam’s wildlife. 

It was October 2014, during my tenure with Wildlife SOS, I happen to meet a gentleman from North East, Mr.Das a local wildlife enthusiast and resort owner came to Wildlife SOS facility to see the good conservation work done and life of dancing bears. Being the host I had an opportunity to show him around the facility, working for Wildlife SOS was always an honor and privilege as I got to meet and interact with various wildlife enthusiasts around the world. Mr. Das explained me his background and his passion for wildlife, it was all fascinating. We ended the conversation with me confirming him to visit Assam soon in coming months. And so was it, it was November 2014, normally every year I travel  to various wildlife hot spots to observe the elusive wildlife species of a particular region. The target for 2015 was exploring Assam, research on tour was on by end of November month and I came up with a plan to host this tour in summers just before the monsoons and park closes. With discussion with some of my friends who are wildlife enthusiast we decided to tour Assam in April 2015. Now the question was where to go and what to expect, as a bird watcher the entire Assam was a delight, but just like any other wildlife region, Assam also had it core wildlife zones which were known for its elusive species. We started working on our target species and came to plan to try to observe this species along with commoners. Normally most of my trips are birding orientated, but this was more than that it was a combination of birds as well as mammals. So our work started on finding out the best location to cover in a time period of 8 days, as it was the only time we all managed as time off from work. The plan to visit Assam was finalized and dates were confirmed, we all managed to book flight tickets at a fair and cheap deal. Now the plan was to cover maximum sites in a small time period for which the travel research was on, somehow with help of my some of my mentors and wildlife friends, I managed to come up with a simple itinerary which cover 80-90% of main Assam’s wildlife species . The plan was to cover Manas National Park, Royal Manas Nation Park (only Indo – Bhutan border), Kaziranga National Park and the famous Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in a time period of 8 days.

Manas National Park

It was February 2015 and the plan was finalized, I was thankful to my mentor Adesh Shivkar, friend Risav Pal and other bird watchers who helped me organize all the logistics and permission to visit all this hot spots. The members who were a part of this incredible tour were Kiran Kadam, Ajinkya Brid, Swapnil Kulkarani, Himanshu Tembhekar, Pratik Prabhu,Nayan Nakhare & Sampada Nakhare, Dr. Niraj Dahe and Naresh Kumar friends and enthusiast and best travel mates I had ever come across, some from work in Agra and some from Mumbai. Travelling in group is always beneficial, first it’s fun and secondly you get to share the cost of travelling. With this the plan was on and finalized all the bookings and necessary permissions were gathered and taken.

Delhi Airport

Finally the day arrived and we started our journey, some of our team mates flew from Mumbai and while I along with two others flew from New Delhi airport. Travelling in North east is not easy, one needs to have a good knowledge about local sites and guide to ensure you enjoy best of travel experience. Reaching Guwahati was also a task, we had two best options a flight that takes 2 hours and drops you at right time or a train which takes at least more than 2 days and you are exhausted by the time you reach your destination, so we decided to go for flights. A cheaper flight tickets were available and we reserved it and flew in just 2 hours from New Delhi to Guwahati, our friends from Mumbai did the same, but the travel time was bit more with an hour layover in Kolkata. The plan was to gather at Guwahati airport and later proceed to our first wildlife destination. 

Sky view of Assam

Our flight from Delhi arrived by early afternoon hours and the flight from Mumbai was expected by 15.00 hrs which means a wait for 3 hours. Guwahati airport is just a simple small airport nothing to do much. We just enjoyed some window shopping and decided to wait till our mates arrive, finally after a long wait the flight from Mumbai arrived at Guwahati airport. 

Guwhati Airport

All team mates gathered and we decided to begin our journey, this trip was very important for all of us as it was the first ever trip to North east and also for most of us it was first experience in a air craft, for me it was first domestically , but was great. As we all arrived during lunch time we all decided to stop a local dhaba (local restaurant)   and enjoy some delicious Assamese cuisines, being from hospitality industry I have got an opportunity to cook and enjoy some of best International and National Cuisines in my past and the journey in search of local cuisines was still on. Rice being a staple food there, we also enjoyed some local sweets and the specialty of state, the famous hot beverage the Assam Tea. Being a bird watcher every location has got its own birds, the restaurant location was an ideal birding spot, just next to a river and small plantation just opposite to us, a birder just need some time even though it might be just 5 minutes also, in 10 seconds we spotted our  first bird a Spangled Drongo and than a starling, in just 15 minutes we managed to spot at least 20 species and decided to proceed as it was late evening hours and it is not safe to enter park in late evening due to local wild elephants population .

After a long drive of 5-6 hours we finally entered Manas National Park, we checked in at a local resort located just at border of national park, being a naturalist I always believe in supporting local communities whose lifestyle is supported by tourist like us. The resort was managed by a local tribal community called Bodo’s. The itinerary planned was 4^th & 5^th April  full day safari’s in Manas covering most core areas of wildlife and different habitats like tall grassland, open forest to hilly forest etc and 6^th April half day birding and proceed to our next destination Gibbons sanctuary and carry out a day trail in Gibbon on 7^th April and then proceed to Kaziranga that night only and next day two safari’s in Kaziranga and check out and proceed back home. A total of 8 days tour inclusive of visit to wildlife reserves’ and  travelling from base to destination.

Koklabari Grasslands

The month of April is when North East is hit by monsoon; we were already prepared for this and accordingly managed our travelling plan. Throughout our tour we kept our fingers crossed for monsoon as raining will affect our sightings. As planned we begin our second day in Assam by a full day safari in Manas National Park. The weather was very pleasing and we could hear birding calling and the wild elephants trampling in forest and peacock singing , being in a group of 10 we decided to hire two gypsies and decided to travel in slightly different routes and sometimes same route with long pacing gaps between two vehicles which allowed us to explore in detail. Being a first ever trip to North east and exploring a different setup of wildlife exploration we were all excited and filled with enthusiasm to sight maximum birds and get more lifer and best photographs as much as possible. We covered habitats like open forest where we managed to sight good number of birds and some lifers and a herd of wild elephants and other local wildlife, the second area we covered on our day long safari was a tall grassland patch. This grassland patch was a home one of most elusive and IUCN red listed bird species called “Bengal Florican” and it was on everyone’s wish list as a lifer. Koklabari farm is the area where frequent sightings of florican are observed. We decided to test our luck, as on a previous day our guide Dilip sighted this bird in tall grassland just near forest guard house in koklabari. 

Manas National Park

The search was on, florican species in general are very shy and are reclusive bird species and are very difficult to be sighted. Considering my past experiences with Lesser Florican in Ajmer, I was for sure that it’s not that easy to see this chap and the search was on, as it was late in evening we decided to head back and begin our search on next day early morning. We did not manage to see florican but managed some other species like Bengal Bushlark and Bright headed Cisticola again lifer’s for all of us. The day ended with some of my lifers and some good photographs, everyone in the group including me were happy with the safari and were excited for next morning. We ended the day after a continuous 12 hours of safari with just an hour meal break, tiring though but something I always dreamed of to do as a nature lover. In the evening we decided to have a group discussion session on sightings of the day, photography techniques in such habitat conditions and how to sight wildlife in such habitats and lastly dinner. That day in evening we were informed by our guide and driver on monsoon forecast as it was getting cloudy on our way back to resort, which means heavy poring during night time. It was a good sign as next day morning it would clear and refreshing and the activity would be more due to moist earth surface and also good chances on florican sighting.

Spangled Drongo -just outside our resort (Manas)

Next day morning we left our resort around 5 am, it was dark and we could hear local elephants herd calling, we were excited as today was the day we were trying our luck again on florican sighting, with this in mind without wasting any time we directly proceeded to Koklabari grassland patch. After about an hour driver on muddy road we finally reached the grassy patch, it was 6.30 and we were on right time. Our guide Dilip managed to arrange some healthy breakfast for all of us and was busy searching for florican, suddenly after 10 minutes he shouted “florican – florican” and pointed at a dark colour bird far away in middle of tall grassland. Our gears were out and everyone was busy observing and photographing the bird, but the bird was quite far away and very difficult to be photographed, after 15 minutes another call again “second florican ” by Dilip, the second chap was quite close to us and we all managed to observe and photograph this bird decently. We also managed to observe the rare sight of this species, the mating display, in which the male rise from a ground about a meter in height, the jump is so quick that one can barely capture it in camera’s. Within no time the bird disappeared in dense bushes. We all finished our leftover breakfast and decided to proceed ahead. 

Record short - Bengal Florican (male)

Today’s session was divided into two parts, firstly the search of florican and parrotbill in tall grassland and secondly forest birding along the way to Mathanguri. By now we covered more lifers and some of the best moments of our tour, post lunch we decided to head for another hotspot of bird watcher the Mathanguri forest range, this hotspot is located on Indo – Bhutan border and is a dense forest patch located on foothills of eastern range of Himalayas’. Our first lifer in this patch was Silver breasted Broadbill, as we proceed ahead we came across another beautiful yet elegant cuckoo, “Asian Emerald Cuckoo” just like its name the bird was emerald green in colour and the iridescent green colour was shining in sun light, just a note the bird colour looks completely different in natural habitat than in field guides. 

Silver breasted Broadbill

Asian Emerald Cuckoo

We managed some clicks and decided to proceed, just another mile and I shouted “stop – stop ” I was speechless and was thrilled to see another lifer a Malayan Night Heron male just next our rear right vehicle tyre. Because of our excitement and noise the bird flew away and sat on a branch nearby everyone including me managed some decent clicks. By now we had managed to experience some of our best birding moments and with this we arrived in Mathanguri range.

Malayan Night Heron

Our rest house at Mathanguri was located in a secluded location, Manas river and dense green mountains of Bhutan in background, it was one of those dream location that I always wanted to be. After a quick refreshment we decided to proceed for Bhutan border and carry out birding in small patch and try our luck with Rufous Necked Hornbill, this hornbill is quite rare in this region but also known to be sighted in Bhutan side, unfortunately we were not that lucky to see this rare chap but managed with Great Barbet and 15-20 Great Hornbills and another lifer Sultan tit and back to rest house. That night we stayed at our rest house, our rest house was a brand new house with no electricity supply, the weather was cool enough for us to relax and rejuvenate after another tiring day. 

Great Hornbill (Flying from Bhutan side to India)

After a heavy dinner and bon fire we decided to move around in nearby areas and look for night crawlers, we could hear the Long billed Plover’s call on the banks of river and also the Large Tailed Nightjar, after the night trail we decided to go back to sleep, as the weather was turning chilly and bit stormy, by middle of night we could hear heavy storms and lightning, we were bit scared during this time, as we could hear rain flow like a storm and just prayed for clear weather next morning.  

View from our resort at Indo Bhutan border

Our resort at Mathanguri

Next morning the  plan as per the itinerary was to check out from rest house and proceed to our next wildlife hotspot the Gibbon’s sanctuary, on the way we did some birding and managed to sight Pale Chinned Flycatcher, Black Baza, Crested Goshawk & Northern Goshawk yet another lifer and our journey to Manas Nation Park came to an end with some of best memories of birding.

Red Breasted Parakeet - Male

Great Hornbill

Himalayan Cuckoo

Travelers

In search of Hornbills- Indo - Bhutan border

Group photo with Bhutan in background

I along with our tour coordinator for Manas, Risav Pal

Next stop Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, the sanctuary which is home to the only ape species found in Indian Subcontinent and also home to some of rarest primates species found in Indian subcontinent. Located in the district of Jorhat in south of Assam, one can reach this place from Mariani Junction railway station easily. The plan as per itinerary was to reach Mariani by train from Guwhati, after spending a night in train we reached Mariani by next morning. Various options of fast and slow express trains are available from Guwhati that can drop you at Mariani junction, we decided to pick slow one as we wanted to have a good sleep, as compared to our previous night where we barely slept due to discussion and early morning safaris. Our entire itinerary from Mariani to Gibbon was managed by Diganta Gogai (owner of Gibbon Travels), wonderful hospitality and one of best meals we ever had in our trip to Assam. Diganta was recommended to me by Yuvraj Gurjar sir, thanks to him for his guidance.

Western Hoolock Gibbon- Pair

Malayan Giant Squirrel

We reached Mariani Junction by 7 am in morning, our cars were waiting for us at the station, we drove to sanctuary and reached their by 8 am and after carrying out some forest department procedures, our expedition started. We were escorted by a local guide Deben Bora at sanctuary who was quite knowledgeable and also a known personality who have been associated with Gibbon sanctuary from a long time and known for work with Gibbons and others primates. Deben sir guided us among the corridors of dense forest. We were lucky to see Gibbons and other primates like Stump tailed Macaque and Black Capped Langur. Apart from primate, Gibbon sanctuary is a also know for birds, the specialty being Red headed Trogon, we were not lucky to sight the trogon but were able to hear the bird at various intervals. Our trip ended by afternoon and we decided to proceed for our next wildlife hotspot Kaziranga.

Stump tailed Macaque - Mom with infant

Abbot's Babbler

Crested Goshawk

It took us around  2-3 hours from Gibbon sanctuary to reach our home stay in Kaziranga. We were met by our local guide Babu sir who was recommended to me by my mentor Adesh sir, Babu sir briefed us about the entire plan of next day and we all decided to take rest. The food and stay at home stay was just amazing, good hospitality and feeling of being home made our one night stay a memorable one. Next morning we headed to our first safari in eastern range of national park, being our first time to see the only Rhino species found in Indian Subcontinent “Great Indian One horned Rhino”, we all were very much excited. The eastern range of Kaziranga is known for its good bird life and sightings of elephants and Wild Buffalo’s. 

Asiatic Elephant - Young Male

By the end of our first safari we all managed to see many bird species, wild buffalo’s and few Rhino’s and lot many elephants and various deer species. We all managed to see few rarities like Common Shelduck , Green Imperial Pigeon and few others. For lunch we all returned back to our home stay, after a quick lunch and power nap we headed for our second safari range, the central range. 

The Central Range of national park is a known popular safari range for many tourist  and attract both groups of non wildlifer’s  (normal tourist) and hardcore wildlifer’s, it is a smaller range and has highest density of One horned Rhino’s and Elephants and other mammals. Few days back, a Bengal tiger was sighted in this range and we wanted to try our luck for same. We did not manage to see any tiger but we saw more Rhinos grazing in grassland on both side of our car. After seeing so many Rhinos and baby elephants, we decided to search for a Tusker male elephant, for which our guide Babu sir suggested us to explore tall grasslands next to Pelican watch tower, there is a small river that flows parallel to the tall grasslands and is known for sightings of Spot billed Pelican, Otters, Adjutant storks and others mammals. We were around 500 meters from tower and suddenly we came across a huge herd of elephants which comprised of  a massive male tusker and few calf’s and around 5-6 females. This herd was located on opposite bank of river and we were around 800-900 meters from them and on other side of river.

Herd on the other side of river

 Just when we were about to move ahead, I heard something like a large mammal running in tall grassland approaching the road in my background, I was stunned and we all were ready with our camera’s pointing towards the tall grassland, out of no clue suddenly two large Rhino come out, one crossed the road in front of us around 50-70 meters from gypsy and other one ran back in tall grassland.

Male Rhino running in front of Gypsy

 We suspected this to be a male chasing a female for mating. The male which crossed the road stood on our right side close to our car and was very angry as we came in their way, we all could see the nostrils flickering with rage and Babu sir who was driving the gypsy was quite familiar with such dangerous situation as he had dealt with one in past where a male made him run is gypsy for more than 5-7 km, we had two gypsy of our own, I being in first one we were very close to this aggressive male. Babu sir guided us to settle down in gypsy and be ready for some action as he was quite aware about the next move of raging male, while our second gypsy which was around 200 meters stood still behind us and wait for Babu sir to signal them to move. We all were ready for some action, just as the engine started the rhino was ready and started moving close to us, Babu sir accelerated the gypsy to a higher speed, so did the male who came charging at us, Babu sir in running jeep stood up and shouted "hoor-hoor" which forced the rhino to move away from car. We all took a halt at watch tower and it was a sigh of relief, an experience of life time. By the end of our tours we managed to sight many birds and mammals like Spot billed Pelican, Greater Adjutant, Grey Headed fish eagle and Pallas's Fish eagle and many other birds. Our second gypsy were lucky to see some otters in river. Our safari ended and we all came out of national park.

Red Jungle-fowl (Male)

Emerald Dove

Slender billed Oriole at Manas NP

Since it was our first time to Assam,we all were excited to buy some organic tea, our host Babu sir recommended us the famous organic tea brand "Hathikuli" most of us managed to shop the organic green tea and other varieties of tea. After buying a small sovereign "Wooden Rhino" as a memory of our trip, we all head back to our home stay. It was time to say good bye now to Assam, next morning we were all suppose to get back to our work, so we had our flights booked next day early morning to Mumbai and Delhi. Our birding cum wildlife trip came to an end with memories of life time and great time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my host who hosted us at various areas of Assam. Risav Pal, Diganata Gogoi, Babu sir, Dilip our guide and Deven sir our guide. I would also like to thank Adesh Shivkar sir and Yuvraj Gurjar sir for their help in planning the locations to cover in Assam and finally thanks to Mr. Das without whom the idea to visit Assam was not possible and than thanks to all my birding colleagues who made this tour a memorable one. 

Photos shared above are captured by me and Swapnil Kulkarni.

Checklist of birds sighted during our trip :s
Gibbon Sanctuary list : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22978485
Manas National Park : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22780891
Kaziranga National Park : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29630720

Please get in touch with following members for more details on booking tours in Assam:
Risav Pal : 9903646564 (Feathers India tours)  
Diganta Gogoi : 9435489796 (Gibbon WLS)
Deven Bora : 9613929595 (Gibbon WLS)
Babu sir : 9954953033 (Kaziranga NP)
Dilip : 9954331117 (Manas NP)


You can also follow my other blogs, for more details write to me on prathamthebirdy@gmail.com or +91-9821455643 

Bird watching in Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary (Agra):
http://kheetambirdy.blogspot.in/2014/10/soor-sarovar-bird-sanctuary-black.html

Birding tour in Great Himalayas (Chopta, Makku & Tungnath )
http://prathamthebirdy.blogspot.in/2014/05/folks-birdingin-himalayas-was-always.html

Birding in the land of Lesser Florican (Ajmer)
http://prathamthebird.blogspot.in/2014/09/in-search-of-lesser-florican.html

Nepal Raptor Migration Tour
http://nepalraptorsmigrationvoluntourism.blogspot.in/

Thank you and happy travel blogging !
Prathamesh S Desai