That Brown Ghost of the Montane Forest
Hope you will enjoy reading my experience of getting this bird.
It was a foggy afternoon at Hilley in West Sikkim. I was lying under the warm quilt after lunch and was lamenting that my afternoon birding session was spoiled due to the bad weather.. The mist was so dense that nothing could be seen outside. The morning was quite sunny and I got many birds while walking along the forest trail. Weather in the hills is very unpredictable. I got up to close the window as mist was entering the room.
I dont even remember when I fell asleep....When I woke up around 4 o clock, it was raining heavily and big hails were falling on the roof the wooden cottage. I opened the door and found glistening white crystals of hail were adorning the cement path. It stopped raining after few minutes and the sky was gradually becoming clear. The forested valleys beneath was resounding with various bird calls. I took my camera and went out after locking the room. The birds had become very active after the rains and they were busy searching insects among the foliage. I walked along the road and reached a bamboo forest beside my resort. A small group of brown birds appeared from nowhere and started calling loudly. They were stripping off the thin bamboo bark with their tough bills. Their behaviour somewhat resembled that of our Jungle Babblers. But i was wondering how could jungle babblers reach a place as high as 9000 feet.
Soon one of those ghostly birds came out of the thickets to reveal its identity...and i found it had the bill of a parrot. I could instantly understand that i was looking at one of those elusive parrotbills., although i was not sure about the exact species. I took few shots of one individual before it dived into the moist bamboo undergrowths. I knew that parrotbills are found in that area...but didnt ever think that I wud get them so close to my resort.
All of them disappeared as fast as they came. I returned to my resort with a happy mind and consulted my bird book to know the ID of the bird. It was a Lifer for me.
Species: Brown Parrotbill
Location: Hilley. Sikkim.
Altitude: 9000 feet.
May-2014 Canon 60D
Shantanu.
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