India February 2024: Uttarakhand, Corbett, Birds and Mammals

[xelas]

Just a simple Wow!

[AKR1]

Tiger by the river and pheasants in the rough! Quite a day - thanks for sharing these great memories. 

[janzin]

Wow, great sighting of the Cheer Pheasants! One we dipped on

[michael-ibk]

Fantastic sighting and photos!

[Galana]

As others. What an epic sighting.

Congratulations.

[Treepol]

Great sequence of the pheasant interaction, what striking markings these pheasants have.

[Zim Girl]

Great sighting and sequence of pictures!

[Double Dare]

Looks like you had an incredible trip!  Thank you for sharing.

 

[offshorebirder]

On 5/13/2024 at 11:47 AM, TonyQ said:

This display and fight was very close to a blind bend. One of the local people stood on the corner and stopped any traffic so that the birds did not get run over

 

Wonderful!   What enlightened people.

 

The Cheer Pheasant sighing was incredible @TonyQ and your photos do it justice.    That photo sequence is definitely worthy of posting to the "Birds in a Fight" topic:    :-)

 

https://www.safaritalk.net/topic/22470-birds-in-a-fight-upload-your-photos/

 

[TonyQ]

@xelas@AKR1@janzin@michael-ibk@Galana@Treepol@Zim Girl@Double Dare@offshorebirder

Thank you we were thrilled with the Cheer Pheasant sightings!

 

A bit more about Manila

We were staying at a Homestay type place - very simple. The village is very small - no nearby shops or restaurants

It had four or five rooms I think

Our room -again very simple. The door you can see is to the private bathroom - flush toilet, hot water and a "bucket shower" system. I have to say that it was really cold here at night.

There was no heating and the windows didn't fit particularly well. In bed we wore long thermal underwear under pyjamas, the blankets were thick, and we were provided with a hot water bottle each. We slept well. However I confess that our washing was fairly minimal .

 

Our meals were simple home cooked vegetarian food - a vegetable dish, dal, a paneer dish, rice/chappatis. We really liked it. The people were lovely. They didn't speak any English.

 

Father and son, and wife's sister on the left

View from our window

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

On the first morning we were up early for a cup of tea

View from room before sun up

Sun beginning to rise

We set off with a packe breakfast, driving, stopping, walking, exploring places that JayP knew well

Black-headed Jay

Himalayan Woodpecker

Russet Sparrow

We were also searching for the third of the Pheasant species - the Koklass Pheasant. We spent some time at a likely place, and did indeed get a fairly distant view in a dark woodland

 

JayP was disappointed with this view (although we were pleased to see it!). We would continue to look later in the day.

 

 

[TonyQ]

We stopped for our packed breakfast (paratha, omlette, tea), sitting on a wall admiring the view

 

 

Rhododendron were just coming into bloom

Grey-headed Woodpecker feeding on nectar - we had never seen this before

A scaly-bellied Woodpecker

[TonyQ]

Some more birds from our time around Manila

Himalayan Bulbul showing off wonderful "hairdo"

Himalayan BUzzard in lovely light

A Green-backed Tit

Himalayan Prinia

(edited) Streaked Laughing Thrush

and a tiny, beautiful Black-throated Bushtit

Edited May 20 by TonyQ

[TonyQ]

We had lunch back at the Homestay, and then went looking for pheasants again.

more rhododendons

A Brown-fronted Woodpecker

JayP was asking local people if the Koklass Pheasant had been seen in particular locations. Many were aware of them, and we headed towards one of the places suggested. We were out looking when the family from our Homestay arrived on their motorbike. All of the family on the motorbike, and running along after them was their cow. It was not tied to them, it just chose to follow them!. Anyway they had come to tell us of a site where the pheasants had been seen earlier. They, and another local then helped us to see them

Deep in shady undergrowth

 

A much better view than the first one - we could really see the markings and the colours. One of the men helping asked if he could see the photo. I showed him the back of the camera and he was thrilled - and took a picture of it with his phone. THey see the birds regularly but always at a distance. We take binoculars for granted sometimes.

[TonyQ]

One more night at the Homestay - good meal, hot tea and a good sleep.

(There is electricity here but no wifi, TV etc - we didn't want them anyway but just for information)

Next day we had breakafast and set off towards our next stop birding on the way

 

 

A Common Rosefinch - the male showing the reason for the name

A Female White-browed Shrikebabbler (the male has a white brow)

 

In one bit of woodland we saw a Jackal

 

One disappointing thing about the area was tha rubbish was just dumped in beautiful places - a bottle here, but often bits of plastic. Last time we were in the Himalayas (in Himachal Pradesh), this was much less widespread. Plastic is increasingly used for packaging and is frequently dumped.

 

A Steppe Eagle by the side of the road

and in flight

The last cat of the trip (I think)

Heading to lower altitudes

 

and saying goodbye to our driver Rahul before our next stop. Rahul was a good safe driver and we enjoyed being with him.

 

Final thoughts on Manila. We really enjoyed staying there and were very glad we made that choice. Although the house was cold, we had the clothes to cope and we loved staying there.

We enjoyed the simple food, the family were lovely. BIrding was excellent and we had good views of 2 species of pheasants. The scenery was spectacularly beautiful. I think it would not be for everyone but we were very pleased with our stay.

 

When we spoke to Sumantha (from Rural Traveller) he said that typically Western tourists don't like the cold, and Indian tourists don't like the heat!

 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

Fabulous report and an enviable trip too. Your photos are outstanding Tony, some superb sightings too.

[Galana]

Absolutely. If ANYBODY can induce me to return to India, you can. I did have a similar trip pencilled in , return to Corbet and then uphill to Manila etc., but just as the plans were being finalised India blocked eVisa and then Covid came and the rest is history. With Evisa restored I might yet take the plunge.

 

If I do your report can take the credit (or the blame). Delete as appropriate.

Edited May 19 by Galana

[TonyQ]

@Dave Williamsthank you for those kind comments

@Galana- someone else has heard of Manila! The eVisa was very efficient and easy to do. We really enjoyed this area of North India.

 

On to Vanghat Lodge

Moving on from the Manila, we travelled towards Vanghat Lodge. This is in the Corbett Buffer Zone, and is much lower than Manila. I first heard about it from @Soukous, and he made it sound like a tempting place for a visit.

 

We would spend 2 nights here. We would be dropped off by JayP (who would spend a couple of nights with his family) and picked up again when we were leaving. We took small bags with us, and left our main luggage with JayP.

 

We were dropped at a footbridge over the river where we were met by staff from Vanghat

View from the footbridge

We then had a walk of 1.8km , porters carried our bags. Next we came to a smaller river which we would cross on a small bamboo raft (life jackets and helmets compulsory)

Bringing the raft to meet us

The raft.

Next was another 5 minute walk until we reached the lodge. We were in stone cottages

our cottage

our room

 

We had lunch, unpacked and then were ready for a walk outside the lodge. The lodge is set in extensive grounds, and is fenced. To go walking outside you need to take one of the naturalists as Tigers do pass through the area. There are no vehicle trips here.

 

On our first walk we saw a few birds

Red-billed Leiothrix - a beautiful bird

Plumbeous Redstart was common at the river

Juvenle Plumbeous Redstart

Grey Bushchat

[TonyQ]

When we got back to the lodge, we had tea and snacks in a nice outdoor area. 

Hot water was delivered to our bathroom room in a metal bucket. This was poured into a large plastic bucket and we used a jug for washing.

There was running water, flush toilet in the bathroom. The room had electricity. There was no wifi or phone signal (no problem).

 

We had our evening meal in the open dining area - nice food. There were two other tourists staying there. One of them was Carol Inskipp - one of the authors of our field guide "The Birds of the Indian Subcontinent". She had been travelling for a few weeks in Northern India and would be heading to Nepal for another 5 weeks. She, and her friend, were very nice people. Not surprisingly, Carol had a great deal of expertise about Indian birds - she visits India every year, and frquently stays at Vanghat.

/

They have even named a small library/education room after her!

 

As we ate dinner, staff took hot water bottles to place in our bed.

 

Next morning we decided not to go for a walk. We would stay in the grounds and relax.

The lodge puts food out in the morning for birds, and you can sit drinking coffee watching the birds as it gets lighter. Not a bad way to start the day before breakfast!

 

This is where the food is put out for birds. A stone Buddha Image. There is also water for them

 

We sat and enjoyed coffee, and the visits of different types of birds (just a few of them here)

Emerald Dove

Male Plum-heade Parakeet

Grey Treepie

A couple of Red-vented Bulbuls snuggle up

Rusty-cheeked Scimitarbabbler

And birds we had really wanted to see

White-crested Laughing Thrush

 

[TonyQ]

A few more from the early morning

 

Some more Leiothrix - just because they are lovely

 

 

A Blue-throated Barbet

And delightful Blue-winged Minla

 

 

[janzin]

ohhh lovely birds and photos! Love the Barbet!

 

Wish I'd know about Vanghat! Maybe another trip...

[TonyQ]

After breakfast, we explored the grounds - very relaxing and enjoyable

A few of the birds seen in the grounds

Another Blue-throated Barbet

Orange-bellied Leafbird

A Lineated Barbet (we followed this for quite a while)

Eating from a flower

Oriental White-eye

 

[TonyQ]

In the late afternoon we went on another walk with a naturalist, outside of the fenced area, towards the river

Pied Bushchat

Grey-hooded Warbler

On the steep slopes on the other side of the river we were pleased to see

Himalayan Goral - a small ungulate

 

We were also delighted to have (distant) views of a Wallcreeper

 

On the way back towards the lodge we saw a Barking Deer (Muntjac) going to a pool to drink

 

When we got back to the lodge we saw another one in the grounds. They come in at night where they are safe from predators!

 

[TonyQ]

Next morning we again started with morning coffee watching birds,

Slaty-headed Parakeet

followed by a good breakfast.

 

We had a little time left before we would leave, so we looked for a particular bird weh had glimsped near our cottage the previous day. We were really pleas to get a better view this time.

Himalayan Rubythroat - about 25m away from our room

Showing off the Ruby Throat!

 

So a good stay at Vanghat. (I forgot to say that we found "Rural Traveller", our travel company when looking at Vanghat, as the same people own both.)

 

We walked to the river and crossed again on the raft. This time we got a lift in the jeep for part of the journey back, crossed the footbridge and were greeted by JayP

[Kitsafari]

On 5/13/2024 at 11:47 PM, TonyQ said:

So the day had started with Tigers in the mist, and finished with Pheasants fighting in the middle of the road - a great day for us.

 

 

 

A Big Cheer to that! (couldnt resist it)

Edited May 25 by Kitsafari