Arunachal Pradesh-1
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| A Blue whistling thrush on the way. |
When you have a guide like Omkar who knows nooks and corners where specific species of birds are to be found, even a drive which takes 10 hours to cover 100 kms will become enjoyable. The road from Bhalukpong to Dirang was under construction when we traveled in 2014, it was still under construction when we traveled in 2018. It didn't look like much has changed in four years. Apparently this time the work was for widening the road. Hopefully next time when I travel through these roads I would have an uninterrupted drive. We stopped every few miles, walked around and spotted birds before we continued.
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| Beautiful Arunachal; pic credit: S |
The roads were blocked at places for the construction work and were open only at certain times. We didn't know about the times and were wondering at places why the other cars and trucks were in such a hurry. But when we figured out that we will have to wait for an hour before we can pass through a particular stretch we happily turned back and went to the hot spot nearby and continued birding. Our drivers found this stopping for birds a little strange in the beginning, but soon they too got into the groove and started spotting birds, stopping the cars, and urging us to take pictures. They would also insist on me showing the picture taken to them at times and would comment "achcha hei".
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| Look at the picture after imagining a fat, shiny horse. Beautiful Arunachal! |
After 10 hours, 10 stops, 55 species of birds out of which 34 were lifers for me, we reached Tenga by sunset. The roads were pretty bad till then. Suddenly the roads were smooth like some movie star's cheeks and the drivers stepped on the gas. But the fog which descended suddenly spoilt the fun for us passengers. The drivers continued to drive fast taking revenge for the slow driving they had to do through the day, while passengers prayed and held hands and thought about the Wills which are yet to be written. At times they slowed down just enough to figure out where the road ended and the gorge started, through the fog, rubbing their eyes. Finally we reached the hotel which would be our base for the next couple of days.
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| Beautiful Sangti Valley; pic credit: S |
Next day our birding started with Sangti Valley. You don't need to be a birder to enjoy Sangti Valley, it is a really beautiful place. If I was traveling with P and R see the Small blue kingfisher below to see what we would have done for at least two to three in the valley!
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| The best thing to do in Sangti Valley: Small blue kingfisher |
The birding for the rest of the day was mostly done by the side of the Mandala road. After 8 checklists, 45 species out of which 22 were lifers, we called it a day as the light started to fade and went back to the hotel, to start another day of birding with more lifers the next day. Another good thing about birding with a guide like Omkar is not to miss species for the lack of pictures. He was spot on in identifying the birds and of the 230 species we spotted we misidentified only one single species.
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| A tiny beauty at the hotel lobby: Black-throated tit |
Note: All pictures are taken by me, except where credit is given to S
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