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Checklist
Triplist
I
shall raise my eyes unto the hills from whence commeth my help
'The Bible'
The annual summer debate
started, in earnest, as early as April. While others wondered where to take
their families for the summer break, Sumit Sen and I laboured, painfully,
over where we could bird in the hot season. Goa, North Bengal, South India
and Andamans were quickly rejected, as the rains would have struck by then.
That only left the Western Himalayas and we settled for a five day trip to
the South-eastern part of Himachal Pradesh. It would be dry, it would be in
the high hills and we had heard that the White-cheeked Nuthatch lurked in
the coniferous forests. It was also from Rampur Bushair that a specimen of
Large-billed Reed Warbler had been described by A.O. Hume in November 1867.
It had remained unseen thereafter for several years till Philip Round found
it in Thailand in 2006 and Sumit and his team in Kolkata in April 2007. I
was privileged to see this bird when I went hot-footing to Kolkata. It was
the last time it was seen in India despite several subsequent searches. The
thought of going to the place where it was first discovered was alluring
and that Sumit had never made a serious visit to Himachal Pradesh clinched
the issue. We scoured the net for birding reports from this area and were
truly surprised by the lack of them. The only 'sensible' reference we got
was that N. F. Frome, in 1946, had visited the area and published a report
called Birds noted in the Mahasu-Narkanda-Baghi area of the Simla Hills in
the journal of the BNHS. We could not, however, lay our hands on this
worthy document.
A date was fixed
and Sumit's ticket booked. The only problem was that Col. Kirori Singh
Bhainsala also thought this was the auspicious day for the Gujjars to lay
siege on Delhi. Sumit's flight, predictably late, arrived only at nine in
the morning and we fled the airport in haste. The first two hours were
tense, but we managed to get away without any major problems. This was
fortuitous for the next day's papers revealed we had missed the road-block
by a mere thirty minutes. Lucky that the Gujjars were late-risers.
Hodgson's Bushchat - 1st winter male
This Himachal vagrant was
identified after
the trip from images and is a key sighting - EDs
Our first stop
was to be the charming and unspoilt hill-station of Kasauli, where we have
a family house. Situated on the first range of the Shiwaliks, overlooking
Chandigarh on the south and Shimla on the north, this cantonment town is
situated at about 6000 feet and the Army's presence here ensures that it
remains untouched by the curse of modernity. I had grown up here and spent
my childhood in the nearby school at Sanawar, and knew the back-lanes
rather well. After travelling on the on the NH 1, full of smoke and heavy
traffic, we decided to veer off at Shahabad, and take the (much) longer but
more scenic route to our first stop. We entered Himachal at Kala Amb,
literally 'Black Mango' and started our serious birding from this point.
Kala Amb is an interesting place, with a large fossil park. It was here
that the early man Ramapithicus roamed. Those with an interest in
pre-history would do well to avail of the services of "Kala Amb Resort" and
spend a few hours investigating the fossil park. We had no such
inclination, and just as we had crossed the border, we espied a White-eyed
Buzzard sitting atop a bare tree, an uncommon bird for the Kolkata based
Sumit. He had been itching to get his camera into action, and this was a
good opportunity to get his eye in. We then drove on to Nahan, the capital
of erstwhile Sirmour State, seeing Chestnut-shouldered Petronia on the way. The
climb really starts from here and we could discern the subtle change in
birdlife.
Russet Sparrows
appeared and we saw the first of the
several Red-billed Blue Magpies. Striated Prinias, with incredibly long
tails, started showing atop tall reeds, singing.
This road is
charming, broad and well metalled with little traffic. It winds its way
through pine forests with patches of Ban Oak. A Himalayan Griffon suddenly
made an appearance and Common Kestrels balanced delicately on the thermals.
A mixed hunting flock produced a pair Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches, a
Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Oriental White-eyes and Great Tits. A
Black-headed Jay was seen briefly, but a Black Francolin who perched on a
pine tree was a perfect model for Sumit's skills.
A pair of Rosy
Minivets was a surprise sighting and we were thrilled to see them. A lone
Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon was also seen, but perhaps the most splendid of
all was to see five soaring Slender-billed Vultures.
Continued....
Mid-summer Birding
