Okhray and Hilley are the two lovely birding areas of West Sikkim where I spent 10 nice days and then I came to Lava--which would be my birding destination for the next one week.
On reaching Lava on 17th May, I immediately contacted birding guide Joseph Lepcha-- whom i had already booked for 3 days. I had a talk with him in the evening and we made our birding plans. I expressed my strong desire to get some specialties of Lava, and he promised me to show the birds.
Next day morning was spent birding on the famed Lava-Algarah road although Joseph couldnt accompany me due to some official works. Luckily I got some lovely lifers including the golden babblers and shirke babblers, and i was more than happy to get close shots of these skulkers.
On 20th we planned to visit the Neora Valley National Park- known for its rare wild denizens. It was an extremely foggy morning, and our jeep climbed up the hill through the dense mist. There was light in few isolated patches and we came down from the jeep from time to time in search of the shy avians. Slowly and gradually the Sun came out and the thick curtain of fog was removed. We got many birds throughout the day including the fidgety Golden-breasted Fulvetta.
After finishing lunch at Chowdaferi Forest camp, I walked down a rough trail until I reached an isolated bamboo forest. My guide was busy chatting with the forest staffs. Some of the rare denizens of this forest announced their presence by their loud calls but refused to come out.
Suddenly the melodious calls of a bird came into my ears, and a small head with a yellow bill and prominent white brows peeped through the bamboo leaves and immediately hid inside the thickets. I identifed the bird and started feeling very excited. I had seen this bird at Ravangla in West Sikkim five years back. but i got some really poor shots with my compact camera.
It is one of the most difficult skulkers of the hills-- the Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler. I sat on a rock quietly for some time...anticipating to get shots of the bird. I could hear its calls emanating from the nearby bushes...but it cudnt be seen. Suddenly I felt that the intensity the call was increasing gradually...and it seemed to me that the bird was coming towards me. I concealed myself behind the bamboo shoots.
And everything after that happened so fast..that I cudnt even realise what i was doing. The bird perched in the open just for a few seconds...and came within a few feet- so that i cud only get full-frame shots. Its so difficult to focus on a bird with a telelens- when the subject comes so close. I kept clicking as many shots as i could. Soon the bird darted into the thickets and continued to call. I had no idea whether I got any decent shot, and it seemed to me that i had failed in my attempt to photograph this lovely bird.
I started to glance through the shots on my camera screen To my utter surprise, I found that few shots turned out good. Its difficult to express how much happy I was at that moment. It was a bird high on my wishlist.....although not a Lifer.
I returned back to the forest camp and showed the images to Joseph daju He was so happy to see that I got shots of this shy denizen of Neora Valley. He said " Aapko to ye bhi mil gaya--- mere upar se ek panchhi ka pressure kam hua". I started laughing at his hilarious comment.
Species: Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler
Location: Neora Valley National Park.
West Bengal hills.
May-2014 Canon 60D
Sigma 150-500mm.
Shantanu Bhattacharya.
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