Birding Trails of India
India is home to about 10% of the world’s wildlife. Yet not many consider it as a wildlife destination. It has the highest diversity of wildcats in the world, 50% of the world’s bear species can be found here along with close to 1250 species of birds. However, the region is still evolving when it comes to wildlife experiences and luxury lodges are not found everywhere. We have planned this program largely for birding enthusiasts to potentially showcase about 800 species that are found in the two regions in different parts of the country. However, one will have to sacrifice luxury of comfort in order to see spectacular birdlife.
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The regions that we have chosen to showcase are Corbett Tiger Reserve in the state of Uttarakhand in the foothill of the Himalayas and Singalila National Park in the state of West Bengal in the eastern Himalayas.
The Corbett National Park is the first national park in Asia. Although Corbett today offers a spectacular diversity of wildlife, this program has been designed to largely focus on birding, although you will spend some time in the park focusing on finding larger mammals especially the tiger, leopard, and the elephant as well. However, the region is an important birding destination as it is home to half of the bird diversity found in the country (close to 600 species).
Singalila on the other hand is one of the least visited parks for its wildlife, instead of many trek through it to see the magnificent Himalayan range. One can see 4 of the 5 highest peaks in the world from here – Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, and Lhotse. The park is spread over India as well as Nepal and is spread over an elevation of 7000-10000 ft. above sea level. It is home to about 300 species of birds (quite different from what you will find in the foothills) along with the red panda.
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Suggested Sample Itinerary
Day 1
Day 2, 3 & 4
Day 5
Day 6 & 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10,11,12 & 13
Day 14
Arrive in Delhi. You will be received by our team at the airport and shall be transferred to your hotel. Based on your time of arrival a short city sightseeing can be organized based on your area of interest.
Overnight will be in Delhi.
Early this morning transfer by road to Marchula - a village north of Corbett Tiger Reserve. You will be leaving your vehicle here and hiking to the lodge. Your luggage is taken care of by the lodge staff. The walk is not much about 2.5km along with Ramganga River - the lifeline of Corbett Tiger Reserve. The river bends and you will reach a point where you shall take a make-shift raft and pull yourself across the river. Another half kilometer and you should be at the lodge. You now are in the heart of the Corbett forest just outside the park boundaries.
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The next few days are spent hiking the various trails around the lodge. These trails wind through the foothills and in three days one can easily find anywhere from 100 to 200 species of birds. Key species to seek out are Spotted Forktail, Brown Fish Owl, Pallas Fish Eagle, Lesser Fish Eagle, Great Indian Hornbill, a variety of Kingfishers, Barbets, Woodpeckers, Bulbuls, Parakeet, Minivets, Sunbirds, Warblers and Magpies. Mammals found in these hills are tiger, leopard, elephant, ghural (mountain goat), serow (goat-antelope species), yellow-throated martens to name a few.
Overnight will be at Vanghat.
This morning after your morning walk in the jungle you will check out and make your way to the southern periphery of Corbett Tiger Reserve. En-route explore the Kosi Riverfront for Kingfishers and Ibisbill - a species that is much sort after and is only a winter visitor. This afternoon take your first game drive into Corbett Tiger Reserve in search of the big cat.
Overnight will be in Jim's Jungle Retreat.
Continue to explore Corbett Tiger Reserve. We have planned two safaris for each of the two days.
Overnight will be in Jim's Jungle Retreat.
This morning take a nature walk in the buffer forest before breakfast. Afterward, make your way back to Delhi. The remainder of the day is at leisure.
Overnight will be in Delhi.
You check out after an early breakfast and transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Bagdogra (0755/1000). Our team will receive you at the airport. You will make your way into Singalila National Park and to Habre’s Nest – our home for the next few days. After lunch, we begin our search for the red panda and the other denizens of Singalila are all on foot exploring various trails through the park.
Overnight will be in Habre's Nest.
When at Singalila the flow of activities through flexible usually runs as follows – At dawn, the spotters and trackers head out into the forest in search of the red panda. The guests at this time can either take a short hike or spend some time in the birding hide behind the property. The spotters will usually return by 8 am with news on the movement of the red pandas in the region and depending on accessibility (as we are in high mountains) we all embark on the trail to seek the red panda. Ideally, we spend about 15min with the panda so that they are not disturbed however if one is ethical about their conduct more time can be spent. The remainder of the time hiking through these beautiful rhododendron forests one is largely doing birding. On rare occasions, one may come upon a panther or a clouded leopard (this is very rare but it has happened) or yellow-throated martens.
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Typically, you are doing 2 hikes a day – one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. All meals are at the lodge. However, on some occasions packed breakfast is sent along on the morning hike so that one can cover more ground.
Overnight will be at Habre's Nest
This morning after breakfast you make your way back to Bagdogra airport and catch your afternoon flight back to Delhi, from where you connect on to your international flight back home.
End Of The Tour