Birding ! Driving ! Soul-searching !: April 2022

The super rich birding location that North Bengal is, it is indeed one of the most sought after birding locations. Primarily because of its proximity to Kolkata and connectivity through Bagdogra. Also being the entry point into Sikkim, this location always plays a very crucial role for birding trips. When we decided to stay in Kalimpong for 3 months, our primary objective was to cover all the parts of North Bengal as extensively as possible. So we decided to plan our birding trips covering all the locations one-by-one. We plan to cover the below locations and I will keep updating this post as and when it gets covered.

Singalila, Senchal
Kalimpong (our base camp)
Latpanchar, Shivkhola, Rongtong
Lava, Neora, Dooars, Lataguri

BIRDING IN SINGALILA: (April-2022)

This one is a very famous trekking location and one of the most popular to sight the Red Panda. We did not focus on the Red Panda though, as our objective was only birding. The 4 nights and 5 days that we spent there could have been much better if weather supported a little and if our bird-guide was a little more efficient. All the 5 days were covered with dense fog and there was hardly a window of 1-2 hours in the entire day that we managed to do some actual birding.

I would definitely want to caution my readers about our bird guide, who was not at all effective in his job. He was Sandeep Chakraborty (owner of Passerine retreat in Rishop - Lava) and we had to do this trip as there was nobody else with whom we could go. At the end we regretted going with him for umpteen number of reasons. I can list down all those reasons here, but it will be a waste of my time going through it. Don't get fooled by the pictures that Sandeep and his friend Rishabh post on the facebook. They might be good for amateur and beginner birders but they are definitely not at all good for advanced birders like us. Stay away from them at all cost. Having said that, I realized the best way to do birding in Singalila is to hire a local who can help you with the birding. I will provide the best contact info for whoever is interested in doing birding there, His name is Tashida and his number is 08670972772 (available on whatsapp) He owns a few vehicles himself and knows everybody in Singalila. He will be your best bet to find the best possible place of stay, the best possible local guide, and the best possible itinerary.

The locations that we covered for birding were Tumling, Gairibas, Kalipokhri, Sandakhphu and Senchal enroute to Kalimpong. Our place of stay for all 4 nights was Tumling but we came to know later that even Gairibas has good places of stay.

Green Shrike-Babbler

Red-throated Thrush male

Red-throated Thrush female

Rufous-fronted Tit

Plain Mountain Finch

Hume's Leaf Warbler (lifer)

Alpine Thrush

Black-throated Parrotbill

Rufous-vented Tit

Fire-tailed Myzornis (lifer)

White-collared Blackbird male

Olive-backed Pipit

Common Stonechat male

Yellow-billed Blue Magpie

Hodgson's Redstart male

Hodgson's Redstart female

Griffon Vulture

Eurasian Jay

Bar-throated Siva

Satyr Tragopan male (lifer)

Grey Wagtail (br)

Green-tailed Sunbird female

Grey-crested Tit

Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush male

Common Rosefinch male

Common Rosefinch female

White-throated Laughingthrush

Grey-sided Laughingthrush (lifer)

Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

Hill Partridge male (lifer)

Hill Partridge female (lifer)

Verditer Flycatcher

Green-backed Tit

Eurasian Cuckoo

Hoary-bellied Himalayan Squirrel (Irrawady Squirrel)

Yellow-throated Marten

@ Tumling

BIRDING IN KALIMPONG: (March-22 till May-22)

Please click and refer to this link if you want to know more about our trip to Kalimpong. For this post, I will list below only the bird pics that we clicked staying at Kalimpong. For the rest of the pics and trip details, click the above link.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Lesser Yellownape female

Grey-winged Blackbird male

Yellow-bellied Warbler

Greenish Warbler

Crimson Sunbird male

Crimson Sunbird female

White-bellied Erpornis (lifer)

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher male

Common Tailorbird

Red-vented Bulbul

Himalayan Bulbul

Maroon Oriole male

Jungle Babbler

Oriental Magpie Robin female

Asian Barred Owlet

Red-rumped Swallow

House Swift

Green-billed Malkoha (lifer)

Greater Yellownape female

Black-faced Warbler

Lesser Yellownape male

Oriental Turtle Dove

White-rumped Munia

Yellow-vented Warbler (lifer)

Blue-throated Barbet

Blue-winged Siva

Red-tailed Minla male

Red-tailed Minla female

Chestnut-crowned Warbler

Little Pied Flycatcher female

Large-billed Crow

Whiskered Yuhina

Great Barbet

Common Myna

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (lifer)

Oriental White-eye

Grey-headed Woodpecker female

Taiga Flycatcher male

Blue-whistling Thrush

Long-tailed Broadbill

Scarlet Minivet female

Black Bulbul

Spangled Drongo

Grey Treepie

Orange-headed Thrush

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (lifer)

Grey-hooded Warbler

Grey-headed Woodpecker male

Leopard Cat (lifer)

Common Green Magpie (lifer)

Puff-throated Babbler

Collared Scops Owl

Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher male

Greater Yellownape male

Oriental Magpie Robin male

House Crow

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

BIRDING IN LATPANCHAR: (April-22)

After completing the Latpanchar Trip (which included Mahananda, Rongtong and Shivkhola), I have finally come to the conclusion that the potential of a location is determined not by the birds but by the bird guides. Here in Latpanchar, the guides are all overly complacent with their jobs. We went with one of the best ones there (Parag) but even he comes no close to the likes of the other guides we have been with. He is good no doubt, but as I said earlier, they all are too complacent with the fact that Rufous-necked Hornbill is sitting in their backyard and the entire Indian birding population is visiting their place only because of that. That and a few more of the kind, like Black Baza, Green Cochoa, Hodgson's Frogmouth, etc.

This North Bengal location, especially the Latpanchar area, has such tremendous potential, only if the bird guides were a little more enthusiastic. We finished the trip with some good memories and also with some disappointments to miss out the Cochoa & Frogmouth.

Of late, we have noticed that we usually become a little lazy in picking up the camera, if the bird is something which we have seen before. So we end up getting not-so-good shot of the bird as we know we already have a better shot earlier. Yet, I am compiling below our sightings from this trip. Enjoy the pics below.