Suniye suniye suniye, well actually padhiye padhiye padhiye!
Back by popular demand, part 2 of the Nameri-Eaglenest Tour report
It was stated at the beginning of the report that facts, figures (which in various birding and non birding forms appeared in all conversations throughout the trip) and trivia will be shared at appropriate time. However some impatient souls have demanded that we reveal the dates of travel now otherwise the other silent souls will be left wondering "heck how could I miss that I was there 3 months ago and spent a whole month there!" So to put everyone out of their potential miseries, the trip was from 25th April to 3rd May 2015.
So to carry the story forward, suitably enlightened (we now know a system by which we can potentially recognise warblers in and around NCR - yohooo and will be shared with other birders soon) and confused (warbler is babbler and babbler is warbler and this one actually is neither warbler nor babbler but a shrike babbler with the nearest relative living in South America - what?) by the warbler workshop, like good kids we went to sleep early to rise at 4.45 AM which became our standard time for making public appearance each day. After a quick cup of tea and coffee, we were off to Hornbill point to try and catch the bird.
As it turns out and based on our experience as well Guruji's stories (that's how Shashank was referred to in the trip and thereafter) Hornbills are intelligent birds and so the concerned individual managed to give us a slip in the morning as well. Since the park was to open at 6 AM we trooped off to find the guard who was to accompany us. Due to free roaming access given to the elephants, tigers and even buffaloes, all visitors are necessarily to be accompanied. Ours turned out to be a lovely Jeetu who was from a village 120 kms away. Little did the poor fellow know that he would be asked questions about every singly fruit, vegetable, tree, flower… (you get the picture) and what they did with it. Fortunately for him, Guruji kept all of us busy by pointing out sights and sounds - former we strained to see , latter we heard but could not id!
But I digress. So off we went in jeeps to nadi kinara to get into boats to cross the Jia Bhoraili river. Flowing serenely it forms a natural barrier between humans and animals and thank the dear Lord for that. A River Tern and Grey Throated Martins dived and buzzed overhead as we crossed the river. A short trek over sand revealed a Little Ringed Plover in full breeding plumage, a Bengal Bushlark singing and displaying lustily and a common sandpiper lurking amongst the stones. As we reached the guard huts, Soma decided to stay put as Guruji announced a 5 km trek to see the fabled White Winged Wood Duck. Yes you read it right - 5 kms. It may not seem much to others but for me used to birding from the comfort of Wingco and Anandji's car, well, it was a long overdue exercise of the year. And so we walked, talked, photographed everything along the way till Shashank suddenly stopped us and we saw a pair of Wood Ducks flying away from us. They of course didn't know that we were coming and so had decided to perch close by. Since we didn't know that they were close by, none of us was ready for the shot! It was decided to chase the ducks in earnest. The ducks were spotted again one more time but according to Jeetu were scared away by my white shirt which they had spotted even though I was nowhere in their line of sight. Such antaryami birds are now known to take off every time I don white clothes - anywhere in the world. A pair is flying right at this moment as I write the report.
Other key species seen - Great Thicknee, River Lapwing, Pallas's Fish Eagle, Osprey, Asian Barred Owlet and multiple sightings of the glorious Wreathed Hornbills flying majestically overhead. Alas none of them sat on a tree for the photo op :( To help us get over our disappointment, river turtles and plenty of butterflies gave us good shots. Chestnut Headed Beeeaters and Lesser Yellownape woodpeckers helped assuage some misery.
As we had to leave for Eaglenest by late morning, we decided to head back to the guard house. Guess what Soma had seen great no. of birds and butterflies just sitting at the guard house. What began in cool breeze at around 7 AM ended almost 3 hours, 11 kms and 550 kilocalories later. Yes yes just 550 KCal. Once Sanjay announced the piddly figure, no one asked him for such details ever again throughout the trip.
Back at the resort, the ever present Binod was asked "anda milega?" which we quickly learnt was Sanjay's favourite food - for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Not that Jassi and Shashank ever complained. On the contrary I think they were secretly pleased as Sanjay went on to organise and a bhurji, boiled egg, egg curry etc. for them to feast on. Then we asked Binod what would he serve the vegetarians. A confused looking Binod asked "bhejetarian kya khata hai - wohi bread butter" upon being told that one 'bhejaterian' was vegan and he could he make paratha subzi, almost what seemed like an hour later, he turned up with paratha but no subzi and certainly no achar! After a bit of cajoling he managed to produce aloo subzi and we could all eat. Tea preferences were fixed - 3 lal chai and 4 doodhwali chai. Suitably fortified we set off for Eaglenest.
Guruji had promised birding along the way and the warbler/babbler/shrike babbler et al lessons continued. Highlight of the journey was the Blythe's Kingfisher which some of us missed (more of that later) and a long tailed Minivet pair created great excitement. As we climbed higher, it started drizzling and in parts turned into a decent rainfall. We ate a late lunch at Tenga and doubled and tripled back several times before we found the right road to Eaglenest. While one of our drivers - Manoj had made the trip before, Nripen was worried worried sick as this was his first trip (more of this later as well) As the sun dipped behind the glorious mountains, tired, hungry and cold, we thus arrived at Lama Camp just outside Eaglenest.
It seemed some Angrez were in the tents above (we did not meet them - a surprise which shall be revealed at a suitable time), we were assigned tents below which were a nightmare for Soma. What was worse was the sheer callousness of the staff who did not lend a helping hand to her at all. Suffice to say that their attitude left a lot to be desired. Fortunately there's is arrangement of fire at Lama camp. We ate kind of cold tasteless food and stumbled off (because there was no light and the camp guys do not deem it necessary to provide lights on the road or staircases) to our tents.
As we settled down to sleep at 8 PM (remember the magical assembly hour of 4.45AM), I was awakened by a sound of someone softly jumping from the stairs near my tent. It was the first tent and I shared it with Soma. A little later scratches on the tent fabric were followed by furious rustle of the plastic. Switching on the torch revealed no one and nothing. This was repeated once more and then a wet nose bumped by head. I screamed and sat up. My vanity did not permit me to scream loudly and no one came to my rescue boo hoo. By third time when the sound came I immediately flashed the lights from corner to corner and saw a Butterscotch coloured animal, the size of a cat leaving the tent. It had been feasting on Bananas and namkeen in our tent. I only saw its hind legs and tail. Soma woke up with a surprise and simply responded 'achcha achcha" and went back to sleep. I got up re-secured every bit of the tent and left my torch on and went back to sound sleep. Thus ended an interesting day.
So what did we learn:
- When you chase one bird, others may be left out, so make a conscious choice
- In a group people walk at different paces and while this may expand the visual field, not all may see the same bird. Gives you a reason to come back
- Indians beware, all food has been tailored to the palate of non Indians - its bland, very bland and availability of pickle is not a certainty, so carry your own
- Carry plenty of snacks, you'd be surprised how much one can eat - sitting in car, at the dining making the bird list of just waiting for a bird to show up.
- Do not put any food in your tent otherwise interesting and interested animals may pay you a visit at night.
- Secure your tent properly before going to sleep. Soft screams at night yield no results especially if you are surrounded by snore sound
- We must learn to demand for the service that we pay for and train those who work in this industry. There was no excuse for the sheer callousness shown at the first day at Lama Camp.
Baki kahani ke liye milenge isi jagah on popular demand. Hasta la vista
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