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THE TRIP (CONTD)
4TH JUNE
After tea and biscuits at the lodge we set off to
Corbett National Park via Naini Tal. Before we left the forest-clad hills
we had seen 35 species of birds and heard our first Red Junglefowl. Lifers
in the hills included ROSY MINIVET, BAR-TAILED TREECREEPER and SPOT-WINGED
TIT. We also had some fantastic views of some hard to find birds that we
had seen in Bhutan.
Once out of the hills we headed to Tiger Camp for lunch.
A very obliging COMMON TAILORBIRD was a lifer here. From Tiger Camp we
headed to our overnight stop at Corbett River Lodge. Originally we were to
stay over at Tiger Camp, but with the presence of the rather noisy group there
Mohit very wisely decided to transfer us to Corbett River instead. We had
great views of Asian Koel in the lodge gardens and PLUM-HEADED PARAKEET,
TICKELL’S THRUSH and RED-WHISKERED BULBUL were life birds here. A lone
Eurasian Golden Oriole was a new bird for the trip.
Later we birded in the indigenous plantations in the Corbett
National Park buffer zone. The plantations are harvested by the local
people and in this way the vegetation within the Park itself is spared.
The birding here was very good and in a very short time we had added RED
JUNGLEFOWL, HIMALAYAN FLAMEBACK, DOLLARBIRD, CHESTNUT-HEADED BEE-EATER,
RED-BREASTED PARAKEET, CRESTED TREESWIFT, ORIENTAL HONEY-BUZZARD, BLACK-HEADED
CUCKOOSHRIKE, WHITE-RUMPED SHAMA and GREY-BREASTED PRINIA to our life
lists.
Our overnight stop at Corbett River Lodge was very enjoyable
indeed and we had a lovely Indian dinner at the open air poolside
restaurant.
5TH JUNE
On the last birding day of our trip we made an
early start from the lodge in order to be at the Amdanda Gate entrance to the
Park before 05:00. Private vehicles are not allowed within the park and
visitors have to travel in four-wheel drive vehicles belonging to contracted
operators only. The visiting times for these vehicles were from 05:30 to
10:30 and 14:30 to 18:30 and only 30 vehicles were allowed in this part of the
park at a time.
Although we arrived at the gate at 04:45 (and our 4x4 vehicle
had got there even earlier than that) we were still quite far back in the
queue. Like many things in India it seemed that total chaos reigned in the
issuing of permits. As always though things took their course and we
entered the park in a surprisingly short time and started our birding for the
day. It wasn’t long before we added BLUE-TAILED BEE-EATER and CRIMSON
SUNBIRD tp our growing life list.
We drove further into the park and made a brief stop at the
very basic Bijrani Forest Rest House where Alexandrine Parrots are allegedly
common. They were certainly not common today and we failed to see
them. We also failed to spot a White-browed Wagtail that Rattan was trying
to point out to us. The bird flew off before we could get on to it - sorry
Rattan! The curio shop here had T-shirts for sale with AFRICAN Elephants
emblazoned on the front of them!
Continuing on into the park we added INDIAN GREY HORNBILL,
SMALL MINIVET, WHITE-BROWED FANTAIL and COMMON IORA to our life lists. We
also had Red Junglefowl coming out of our ears and, much to Elize’s delight (she
has a thing about domestic fowls and was hoping to see a real live wild one) got
really great views of male, female and juvenile birds. The park sounded
like a farmyard at times with all their calls (songs?). Our local
driver/guide called a flash of blue that disappeared into the jungle a
Blue-naped Pitta, but we could not find the bird again.
After leaving the Park we paid a visit to the bridge over the
Ramganga River near Ramnagar. Here we added LITTLE CORMORANT to our life
lists and Pied Kingfisher to our trip list.
All in all we saw 50 bird and 4 mammal species in our all too
brief visit to Corbett. The Park was beautiful and we’d both like to go
back some day. We are sure that given cooler weather and more time in the
Park we would substantially increase our list for the area. Even more than
a Tiger I would like to see a Gharial (a fish-eating crocodile), a Dhole or
Indian Wild Dog and an Asian Black Bear. Perhaps next time we shall stay
overnight in the Park, which offers some basic accommodation
facilities.
We returned to Corbett River Lodge for a late breakfast and
finished our packing for the long journey back to South Africa. On the
manic dice with death on the road back to Delhi we had great views of RIVER TERN
and added Black-shouldered Kite to our trip list. On the way we stopped at
a roadside dhaba or restaurant named Gan Patti after Ganesh, a Hindu
deity. The dhaba was reputed to be well known for the quality of their
food. We were saving up our appetites for tonight’s dinner in Delhi and
did not want to spoil our appetite by having too much to eat here so we settled
for a paratta aloo - a delicious sort of hash brown made with
potatoes.
In Delhi we were able to shower and clean up at the very
comfortable Hotel Sunstar before meeting Mohit and his wife Suchita for a
wonderful dinner at the Delhi-o-Delhi Club. After this plush luxury it was
quite a shock when Anil dropped us off at the Indira Gandhi International Aiport
at around midnight. Here we had to wait until 04:30 for our Emirates
flights to Dubai and on to Johannesburg.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
May/June was definitely the wrong time
of year to visit Bhutan and India. Weather-wise it rained almost every day
in Bhutan and both the UAE and India, especially on the Gangetic Plains, was
almost unbearably hot with temperatures in the up 40 degrees Celsius.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park was almost dry as well as being hot.
Bird-wise many species are winter migrants to the areas visited - some inter- or
intra-continental and some altitudinal migrants summering and breeding in
inaccessible areas at even higher altitudes than those that we
visited.
What we saw of the UAE was disappointing - unbridled
'development' and litter everywhere, even at Khor al Beidah which surely has the
potential of being registered as a Ramsar Wetland of International
Importance. We did not manage to get into the interior of the country,
however and we’d like to go back there some day to see this.
Bhutan was truly a land of superlatives. The scenery
(what we could see of it) was stupendous, the birds great, the people
wonderfully warm and friendly, the architecture amazing and the peace and beauty
of the forest indescribable. Despite the rain we managed to see 194 bird
species in essentially 11 days in the country.
In India we found the squalor and filth quite off-putting at
times, but this was more than compensated for by the sheer magnificence the Taj
Mahal, the beauty of Pangot and Corbett and even the buzz and hubbub of Delhi
with its many parks and green belts. We realise that six short days is far
too little time to spend in the country. It was really just an opportunity
to sample the wonderful food and to visit the Taj Mahal. Even though the
time was so limited we saw 173 species of birds during our lightning. Many
of these we had of course also seen in Bhutan.
In spite of the timing Elize and I saw 324 birds (Jo saw 295
species) and 17 mammals. Of the birds over 260 were lifers for us and we
hadn’t seen any of the mammals before. Elize and I certainly hope to go
back to all three countries at some time in the not too distant
future.
John McAllister
Wakkerstroom
South Africa
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