Much has been written and so well too, on the two birding hot spots of Khonoma and Benrue in Nagaland . In fact the reports of Atul Jain, Manjula Mathur, Alpa Seth, Bikram Grewal all helped me to do my homework before setting off on this tour that I have been wishing to make over the past one year. In this report I would like to recapture some memorable birding moments during the trip. It was with a fair amount of uncertainty that I left Calcutta on the 25th of September with fears of the retreating monsoons marring it all and also the fact that no birder to my knowledge had gone to these places during the time of the year when I was visiting. I knew I would miss out on some winter birds but would others equally interesting take their place? Angulie Meyase, the proficient bird guide, was going to take me around in this promised land of birds.
On the first day at Khonoma, I had several sessions with the great skulker Rusty-capped Fulvetta and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't photograph one . They would call out loudly, there would be constant movement in the vegetation but one would invariably pop up not where they made me point my camera .....it all seemed like a big conspiracy on their part to delude me ! Though frustrated, at the end of it all I found myself regarding these ghost-birds with a lot of respect for not selling themselves cheap for a snapshot. Thankfully I had taken a good look at one before getting obsessed with trying to photograph them.
After trying for a long time and failing to spot a Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, we were returning to the village, when we decided to make one last stop. I was looking at a Flavescent Bulbul when Angulie excitedly pointed at a nuthatch not too far from us. Its chestnut vent was clearly visible and soon it was joined by another and they flew to a tree even closer and went about to parade themselves in every angle possible. Probably they were trying to make up for the unbecoming behaviour of the Rusty-capped Fulvettas !
On the second day at Khonoma we were a few kilometers short of the famed 'parking lot' ( having just crossed the Charala Ba point from where you take a right to go to Benrue ), when my attention was caught by some Crested Finchbill and we stopped to photograph them. There were a few Oriental Turtle Doves feeding on the road and a casual glance at them found a slightly smaller bird with lanky legs busy foraging. In my excitement and confusion I asked myself what a White-breasted Waterhen was doing in a place like this, knowing fully well it wasn't one and then it dawned upon me that I was looking at a Black-tailed Crake just a few feet away from the car !! Great moment for Angulie too as it was the first time he had seen one ( I had seen it in Manas but nothing to beat this view ). When I tried to get down from the car for a better shot, it flew off to the right of the road. A narrow path led up to where it had vanished ( I have posted a habitat picture ) and I found a grassy area with water and the bird sitting right in the middle of it. It didn't stay for long and we returned to the car happy and leech-laden.
There was more to come and the day ended magically. We had stopped at a place with the possibility of seeing a Pygmy Wren Babbler. There was no response from the bird to the call being played. Suddenly the air was filled with a call that soon captured all our attention for the sheer variety of its notes and scale. We stood for a long time trying to locate the bird but it remained invisible though singing away in 'full-throated ease' like Keats's nightingale. Angulie said that it sounded like a laughingthrush and clambered up the hill slope to go behind all the vegetation and find the bird. In the meantime I stood enthralled listening to its non-stop singing ( I timed it to 14 minutes !) and taping some of it too. And then the music stopped and I realised that the mystery bird must have become aware of Angulie's presence. Immediately after there was a rough coughing kind of sound and I thought some other bird had landed on the tree. There were movements in three different spots and scouring the spots with my binocular, I caught a glimpse of a thrush-like brownish bird with white front and that's it. They were gone. Angulie's face appeared behind the tree all flushed with excitement. I asked him what bird had produced the coughing sound and he said that it was the same as the one that was singing and that the last sounds were the alarm call of a Spot-breasted Laughingthrush !! He had seen three of them and had had a good look at them till he had been spotted ! It is hard to express the feelings of elation that followed. I remembered reading Ramki's report sometime last summer on the three rarely seen laughingthrushes - Moustached, Yellow-throated and the Spot-breasted.
On our way back Angulie looked at a bird ahead on the road and began to comment on it being a strange looking wagtail, which synchronised with my, " that's a Forest Wagtail that I have been talking about " ! This was a lifer for him and he was delighted.
I will always remember Benrue for giving me the Grey-bellied Tesia and the Spot-breasted Parrotbill. The former I had hitherto only heard calls of and really wished to see the tailless little thing.The first sighting of the parrotbill near Benrue will be hard to forget for evening was fast descending upon us and there had been no response for over half an hour though both Angulie and I took turns to play its call. The road is being widened in these parts and Angulie showed me a spot where there used to be an Alder tree behind which Sumit Sen and others had seen the parrotbill. Had BRO ( Border Roads Organisation) evicted the birds ?Then came a moment when a call was heard and a quick mutual glance told us that it was not from our phones ! The heart skipped a beat and soon I was looking at three lovely birds with bills like parrots.
A List Of Birds Seen - Bold Letters denote new birds for me
Dimapur to Kohima
1. Ashy Drongo
2. Grey Wagtail
3. Shikra
4. Little Pied Flycatcher
5. Grey-breasted Prinia
6. Barn Swallow
7. Asian Barred Owlet
8. Siberian Stonechat
KHONOMA
9. Golden-throated Barbet
10. White Wagtail
11. Grey Sibia
12. Blue Rock Thrush
13. Maroon Oriole
14. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
15. Blue-winged Minla
16. Whiskered Yuhina
17. Grey-hooded Warbler
18. Broad-billed Warbler
18. Yellow-breasted Greenfinch
19. Red-vented Bulbul
20. Red-whiskered Bulbul
21. Crested Finchbill
22. Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher
23. Naga Wren Babbler
24. Grey-cheeked Warbler
25. Green-backed Tit
26. Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon
27. Striped Laughingthrush
28. Nepal House Martin
29. Red-faced Liocichla
30. Common Buzzard
31. Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler
32. Great Barbet
33. Rusty-capped Fulvetta
34. Oriental Turtle Dove
35. Hill Prinia
36. Verditer Flycatcher
37. Rufous-bellied Niltava
38. Mountain Bamboo Partridge
39. Grey Bush Chat
40. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
41. Forest Wagtail
42. Olive-backed Pipit
43. Yellow-bellied Fantail
44. White-throated Fantail
45. Spot-breasted Laughingthrush
46. Silver-eared Mesia
47. Flavescent Bulbul
49. Mountain Bulbul
50. Olive Bulbul
51. Black Bulbul
52. Blue-winged Laughingthrush
53. Emerald Cuckoo - female
54. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
55. Dark-sided Flycatcher
56. Black-breasted Thrush
57. Black-tailed Crake
58. Black Eagle
59. Red-throated Flycatcher
60. Black-winged Cuckooshrike
61. Large Cuckooshrike
62. Scarlet Minivet
63. Short-billed Minivet
64. Slaty-headed Parakeet
65. Slaty-backed Forktail
66. Scarlet Finch
67. Rusty-fronted Barwing
68. Streaked Spiderhunter
69. Barred Cuckoo Dove
70. Ferruginous Flycatcher
71. White-browed Piculet
72. Scaly-bellied Munia
73. Long-tailed Shrike
74. Crested Serpent Eagle
BENRUE ( only those not seen in Khonoma)
75. Plumbeous Water Redstart
76. Red-tailed Minla
77. Brown Shrike
78. Speckled Wood Pigeon
79. Grey-backed Shrike
80. Kalij Pheasant
81. Grey-bellied Tesia
82. Spot-breasted Parrotbill
83. Chestnut-crowned Warbler
84. Common Mynah - near Dimapur
Birds Heard
Bay woodpecker, Rufous-throated Partridge, Lesser Shortwing, Hill Partridge, Pygmy Wren Babbler,
After trying for a long time and failing to spot a Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, we were returning to the village, when we decided to make one last stop. I was looking at a Flavescent Bulbul when Angulie excitedly pointed at a nuthatch not too far from us. Its chestnut vent was clearly visible and soon it was joined by another and they flew to a tree even closer and went about to parade themselves in every angle possible. Probably they were trying to make up for the unbecoming behaviour of the Rusty-capped Fulvettas !
On the second day at Khonoma we were a few kilometers short of the famed 'parking lot' ( having just crossed the Charala Ba point from where you take a right to go to Benrue ), when my attention was caught by some Crested Finchbill and we stopped to photograph them. There were a few Oriental Turtle Doves feeding on the road and a casual glance at them found a slightly smaller bird with lanky legs busy foraging. In my excitement and confusion I asked myself what a White-breasted Waterhen was doing in a place like this, knowing fully well it wasn't one and then it dawned upon me that I was looking at a Black-tailed Crake just a few feet away from the car !! Great moment for Angulie too as it was the first time he had seen one ( I had seen it in Manas but nothing to beat this view ). When I tried to get down from the car for a better shot, it flew off to the right of the road. A narrow path led up to where it had vanished ( I have posted a habitat picture ) and I found a grassy area with water and the bird sitting right in the middle of it. It didn't stay for long and we returned to the car happy and leech-laden.
There was more to come and the day ended magically. We had stopped at a place with the possibility of seeing a Pygmy Wren Babbler. There was no response from the bird to the call being played. Suddenly the air was filled with a call that soon captured all our attention for the sheer variety of its notes and scale. We stood for a long time trying to locate the bird but it remained invisible though singing away in 'full-throated ease' like Keats's nightingale. Angulie said that it sounded like a laughingthrush and clambered up the hill slope to go behind all the vegetation and find the bird. In the meantime I stood enthralled listening to its non-stop singing ( I timed it to 14 minutes !) and taping some of it too. And then the music stopped and I realised that the mystery bird must have become aware of Angulie's presence. Immediately after there was a rough coughing kind of sound and I thought some other bird had landed on the tree. There were movements in three different spots and scouring the spots with my binocular, I caught a glimpse of a thrush-like brownish bird with white front and that's it. They were gone. Angulie's face appeared behind the tree all flushed with excitement. I asked him what bird had produced the coughing sound and he said that it was the same as the one that was singing and that the last sounds were the alarm call of a Spot-breasted Laughingthrush !! He had seen three of them and had had a good look at them till he had been spotted ! It is hard to express the feelings of elation that followed. I remembered reading Ramki's report sometime last summer on the three rarely seen laughingthrushes - Moustached, Yellow-throated and the Spot-breasted.
On our way back Angulie looked at a bird ahead on the road and began to comment on it being a strange looking wagtail, which synchronised with my, " that's a Forest Wagtail that I have been talking about " ! This was a lifer for him and he was delighted.
I will always remember Benrue for giving me the Grey-bellied Tesia and the Spot-breasted Parrotbill. The former I had hitherto only heard calls of and really wished to see the tailless little thing.The first sighting of the parrotbill near Benrue will be hard to forget for evening was fast descending upon us and there had been no response for over half an hour though both Angulie and I took turns to play its call. The road is being widened in these parts and Angulie showed me a spot where there used to be an Alder tree behind which Sumit Sen and others had seen the parrotbill. Had BRO ( Border Roads Organisation) evicted the birds ?Then came a moment when a call was heard and a quick mutual glance told us that it was not from our phones ! The heart skipped a beat and soon I was looking at three lovely birds with bills like parrots.
A List Of Birds Seen - Bold Letters denote new birds for me
Dimapur to Kohima
1. Ashy Drongo
2. Grey Wagtail
3. Shikra
4. Little Pied Flycatcher
5. Grey-breasted Prinia
6. Barn Swallow
7. Asian Barred Owlet
8. Siberian Stonechat
KHONOMA
9. Golden-throated Barbet
10. White Wagtail
11. Grey Sibia
12. Blue Rock Thrush
13. Maroon Oriole
14. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
15. Blue-winged Minla
16. Whiskered Yuhina
17. Grey-hooded Warbler
18. Broad-billed Warbler
18. Yellow-breasted Greenfinch
19. Red-vented Bulbul
20. Red-whiskered Bulbul
21. Crested Finchbill
22. Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher
23. Naga Wren Babbler
24. Grey-cheeked Warbler
25. Green-backed Tit
26. Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon
27. Striped Laughingthrush
28. Nepal House Martin
29. Red-faced Liocichla
30. Common Buzzard
31. Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler
32. Great Barbet
33. Rusty-capped Fulvetta
34. Oriental Turtle Dove
35. Hill Prinia
36. Verditer Flycatcher
37. Rufous-bellied Niltava
38. Mountain Bamboo Partridge
39. Grey Bush Chat
40. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
41. Forest Wagtail
42. Olive-backed Pipit
43. Yellow-bellied Fantail
44. White-throated Fantail
45. Spot-breasted Laughingthrush
46. Silver-eared Mesia
47. Flavescent Bulbul
49. Mountain Bulbul
50. Olive Bulbul
51. Black Bulbul
52. Blue-winged Laughingthrush
53. Emerald Cuckoo - female
54. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
55. Dark-sided Flycatcher
56. Black-breasted Thrush
57. Black-tailed Crake
58. Black Eagle
59. Red-throated Flycatcher
60. Black-winged Cuckooshrike
61. Large Cuckooshrike
62. Scarlet Minivet
63. Short-billed Minivet
64. Slaty-headed Parakeet
65. Slaty-backed Forktail
66. Scarlet Finch
67. Rusty-fronted Barwing
68. Streaked Spiderhunter
69. Barred Cuckoo Dove
70. Ferruginous Flycatcher
71. White-browed Piculet
72. Scaly-bellied Munia
73. Long-tailed Shrike
74. Crested Serpent Eagle
BENRUE ( only those not seen in Khonoma)
75. Plumbeous Water Redstart
76. Red-tailed Minla
77. Brown Shrike
78. Speckled Wood Pigeon
79. Grey-backed Shrike
80. Kalij Pheasant
81. Grey-bellied Tesia
82. Spot-breasted Parrotbill
83. Chestnut-crowned Warbler
84. Common Mynah - near Dimapur
Birds Heard
Bay woodpecker, Rufous-throated Partridge, Lesser Shortwing, Hill Partridge, Pygmy Wren Babbler,
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