Day 13 - 28th Feb - Corbett National Park

Two more trips into Corbett from a different gate. Early morning drive round with a lovely sunrise. We had some stops for Coppersmith Barbet, Scarlet Minivet, Maroon Oriole, Pied and Grey Bushchat, Black-chinned Babbler, Red-vented and Himalayan Bulbuls among others. Again, one or two alarms but no sightings but we did see Jackal and Langur. There were lots of jeeps in the park and it got a bit crowded at times. 

In the afternoon, we returned to the same gate with a stop on the road for Great Hornbill and Indisn Hornbill. We spent time driving around, not always together, which was a bit stressful, looking out for birds, with Oriental Pied-Hornbill in a tree, a little distant but good views. We also saw Peafowl, Red Junglwfowl and Grey Francolin, Himalayan Flameback and Black-rumped Flameback plus streak-throated Woodpeckerand then there was news of a sighting so we drove back to the spot and spent a lot of time moving back and forth and just waiting around in the hope that it would come out on the road. Eventually, we drove off, back to the lodge when, around a corner a tiger was walking down the road, we were in front but the second car was too far back to see, as the tiger turned left and walked into the undergrowth. 

Luckily, it re-appeared and continued walking down the road, the other car had caught up so we all saw it, before it turned into the right hand side and disappeared in to the jungle. Very nice!! A great way to end our trip. We returned to the Lodge to pack for the journey back to Delhi tomorrow. A final walk round at night didn't find the Boobock someone else had heard or any bats.

Day 11 - 26th Feb - Pangot to Corbett Natioanl Park

 Corbett – hotel lovely, with nice grounds, a swimming pool. Birdsi. The garden.

 A wander round the Lodge with Grey-winged Blackbird and Red-breasted Parakeets before a lovely breakfast and then we packed up, loaded the bus and headed back down towards Corbett. We stopped at a spot for an owl. Ranbir went down into the valley with David and started searching. We were called down a steep slope and along a stream, where there was a nice troop of fungj, to see a lovely Brown Wood Owl sitting in a tree.  There was a small stream in the bottom of the valley and in one of the pools was a group of tadpoles, wriggling about.The climb back out was a bit of a struggle but then we set off towards Corbett. 

Further down the road we stopped at a viewpoint where we could see the snow covered Himalayas in the distance. There were also a few Rhodedendrons in flower.

We settled into our lovely hotel and then set off for a place to see Ibisbill. As we walked to the bus we had an unexpected Blue-bearded Bee-eater on the ground near the restaurant.

We parked on the roadside where we spent a bit of time looking at some small birds in the bush which we finally identified as Ultramarine Flycatcher, Common Tailorbird and Yellow-bellied Fantail. We then walked down a track to the river and made our way along the boulders. Nothing obvious to start with then we watched Plumbeous Redstart, as well as a Heron, Wagtail and A Pied Kingfisher with a huge fish.The others went ahead, leaving Brenda, myself and David struggling along the boulders. They started calling us and we tried to catch up. When we got there, there had been two Ibisbills but a photographer had flushed them, they hadn’t gone far and by some standing on rocks and moving back and forth, we all managed some views of them, albeit not close for us and bits out of site for photography.

Night Heron

Pied Kingfisher with fish

Plumbeous Redstart

White Wagtail

Day 9 - 24th Feb - Noida to Pangot

 We met up in the lobby at 6, collected our packed breakfast, with a new van and a new driver. The van was loaded up and then we set off. It was still quite dark but the sun soon came up, showing through the gloom as a red ball. Along the way we saw Cattle Egrets, Greater Coucal and our first Rhesus Macaques.

The trip was broken for a comfort stop and for lunch. 

We stopped at the Corbett House but didn’t go in and then started climbing up to Nainital and Pangot. The scenery was spectacular with steep slopes and openings in the trees giving lots of views. It was also very zigzaggy.

We carried on up and reached the Jungle Lore Lodge. The driver refused to drive his van down the slope so we had to disembark and walk down. We were given our rooms, mostly down steps and among the trees, we settled in and met up for dinner where there was a board welcoming our party to the Lodge. In the distance we could hear a 

 

Day 8 - 23rd Feb - Tal Chappar to Noida

 A more leisurely breakfast at 7.00 before packing the van, taking a photo of the Raptor’s Inn and setting off for Dehli.

We had a short stop for the driver to top up his Urea so we had a quick scan with Large grey Babblers, Black reds, House and Yellow-throated Sparrows, among other things. Along the way we saw Black-winged Kites, Collared Doves etc. There was some roadworks going on which sometimes seemed to involve making your own diversion around them back to the road. We stopped for a comfort break at 11.45 but decided to press on and eat later. 

We stopped for lunch was around 2.00 at a large service area with some nice grounds. We had lunch and the boys went off to explore the grounds. Brenda, Jules and I went to the toilet and had our photo taken in front of the sign.

and then we drove on to the Hotel at Noida

Day 7 - 22nd Feb - Tal Chappar

 We were up at 6.30 for breakfast, then out for a drive round the Sanctuary. We loaded the car and went 5 minutes down the road, before turning into the entrance and driving up the track, which had some nice murals. We went through the gates of the visitor centre and then changed vehicles for two open sided jeeps. The sanctuary is an 800+ hectare grassland protected area mainly for Blackbuck. We drove round the tracks stopping for birds and several Wild Boar. It was quite misty first thing but the sun burnt it off and the light improved.

 One of the first birds was a Rufous Treepie and a Spotted Owlet in a tree hole, asleep, near the entrance, then a Black Francolin was seen among the grass tussocks, which then dashed across the track and disappeared. There were also several Grey Francolin heard and seen amongst the grasses. As we drove along we saw some sounders of boar, as well as Stonechats, which were numerous as well as Greater Short-toed Lark, Long-billed Pipit, Crested Lark, Isabelline Shrike, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Indian Roller and a Desert Wheatear. 

Spotted Owlet

Indian Roller

Black Francolin

Wild Boar

Long-billed Pipit

Stonechat

Large Grey Babbler

We drove around the far side of the reserve and visited a couple of water holes before making our way back to the entrance. On one stop we had Black-winged kite and then a Great Grey Shrike flew in giving both in the same bush.

Black-winged Kite and Great Grey Shrike

We came back to the hotel for Sean to sort his camera out and then went round the back of the sanctuary to the salt pans. The drive was through narrow, tortuous roads between the houses before coming out into a flat, dry area with some water. Stopping at a reservoir on the edge of town, we had Feruginous, India Spot-billed and Knob-billed Duck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Coot and Lapwing with Little Cormorants on and over the water. There was a noisy group of Great Grey Babbler in a bush. 

Great Grey Babbler

Black-winged Stilts and Red-wattled Lapwing

The outflow from the dam attracted Buffalo, Nilgai and Black Buck as well as various waders. 

Buffalo

Black Buck

Indian Roller

We spent some time scanning across the water and surrounding area, checking out a group of lads playing cricket, and then started walking across the salt pans, stopping for an Indian Roller, to be picked up by the van and driven on round more salt pans scanning and checking out various birds, like Grey Francolin, lark …. before driving  back for lunch.

Lads playing cricket

Salt pans.

Grey Francolin

As we waited for the van we had great views of a Bank Mynah and Brahminy Starling.

After lunch we drove to some wetlands looking for a falcon. There were lots of birds, which we scanned from the side of the road, especially ducks on the sandbars, including Garganey, Shoveler, Bar-headed Goose, Ruff, Pintail. We spent a little time checking out a wagtail as it fed along the shoreline and and then some Cranes flew in and landed at a distance so we chose to drive round to find them. 

As we arrived, there was a mongoose working its way along the bank, it disappeared up the ditch. After parking up we walked along a track, with Alan hanging around behind us. The Mongoose popped its head over the bank and he got a cracking shot of it before joining us as we walked towards the area the cranes were in. On the way we checkout a Thicknee, Black-winged Kite, Pied Bushchat and a Bank Mynah. We also stopped for a group of frogs congregating in the ditch. As we were walking closer to the Cranes we saw three White-necked Storks flying a little way away but they landed out of sight. We managed to scope the Cranes and then made our way back to the van. We spent a bit  of time scanning round the area with a flock of Bar-headed Geese on a small pool and then a Black Francolin appeared on the wall giving great views but too quick for photos.

Small Indian Mongoose

Black-winged Kite

Bar-headed Geese

We came back for dinner at 7.30 then caught up on the log, packed and went to bed.