Author: Lakpa Tenzing Sherpa

The Mishmi hill a hill of Edu Mishmi tribe, situated in the Eastern part  of Arunahal Pradesh in the district of lower Dibang Valley. The rugged Mishmi hills have barely been explored ornithologically.  During the post-war expedition led by Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley, to a different parts of the hills, the discovery was made of a bird endemic to the region, the Mishmi (or Rusty-throated) Wren-babbler. Although quite common in this remote hills, it remained unrecorded again until December 2004! To get to the Mishmi hills you need to drive North-east from Tinsukia town in Assam. You will be crossing the huge expense of the Brahmaputra River on a small ferry at Saikhowa Ghat, before continuing across the plane to the state border post, about half an hour’s drive before Roing town. In the river plains, on can get to see some Vultures, as mixed flocks of White-rumped, the very rare Slender-billed and Himalayan Griffon. Our birding area is stretched about 56km along Roing-Mayodia pass road, reaching a maximum elevation of about 2800m. There are extensive areas of bamboo which provide habitat for the superb Blyth’s Tragopan. This high elevation bamboo and road-side vegetations are also home to rarely seen, restricted-range  Manipur Fulvetta and to Bar-winged Wren-babbler. Mishmi hill is incredibly versatile in bird habitat, as it has dry shrubberies and low-land bamboo to moist ever-green forest to high altitude bamboo forest, which makes al land paradise for birders.

Kaziranga National Park, a world heritage site lies partly in Golaghat District and partly in Nagaon District of Assam. It is the oldest park in Assam covers an area of 430 Sq km along the river Brahmaputra on the North and the Karbi Anglong hills on the South. Kaziranga National Park is famous for the Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros as well as many mammals, including tigers, elephants, panthers and bears and hundreds of migratory as well as residential birds like Bengal Florican, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Swamp Francolin etc. All the excursions into the park will be by open-topped jeep, with regular stops at watch-towers and other vantage points, where you will be treated to some superb panoramic views of the grassland, marshes, and lakes dotted with herds of large mammals and an impressive array of waterbirds. The extensive grassland in the park holds some rare and restricted-range birds. You will have a good chance of seeing the threatened Slender-billed Vulture and Bengal Florican, and may also come across more skulking and rarely seen species such as Slender-billed Babbler and Finn’s Weaver.  Scattered throughout the grassland tracts are a series of shallow wetlands which support a good number of waterfowl, waders, and other waterbirds during the winter months, includes the endangered Spot-billed Pelican, Grey, and Purple Heron, Woolly-necked and Black-necked Storks, Lesser and Greater Adjutant etc. The sky will be filled with raptors and you will be on the lookout for Osprey, Black Baza, Pallas’s and Grey-headed Fish- Eagles, Red-headed Vulture, Eastern Marsh, Hen, and Pied Harriers, Greater Spotted Eagle, Changeable Hawk-Eagle and Peregrine Falcon etc. The park is open from November to April and in this period of time, one can enjoy the Elephant ride too, approaching an arms distance of some mammals.