There are few reports of autumn birding from the sub alpine region of Kinnaur in the western Himalayas . Sangla valley situated in this district is one of those regions which are easily accessible and as you drive along this valley you reach a point where you can walk into the sub-alpine landscape by stepping out of your car.
Access:
In terms of access the only way of getting here is by road. It takes 11 hrs of non stop driving from Chandigarh, but a better way is to break journey midway at Narkanda ,which offers good birding at Hatu.
Accommodation:
Accommodation at Narkanda is available at the hotel Hatu run by Himachal Tourism with rooms starting at Rs1300/day(only one room) , Rs 2200/- ,2800/- and suite at 4800/- there is a 25% discount after 15th November. There are other private Hotels and rooms are available at similar rates. At Sangla there is Banjara Camps for those who wish to enjoy there creature comforts @ Rs 6000/ onwards per day , but I strongly recommend Rupin river view at Rackcham priced at Rs 800/ day (heaters @250/- extra), The rooms are comfortable, ,clean and the running hot and cold water is a relief , it has a small library, a reasonable restaurant. The more adventurous can stay at Chitkul Pwd guest house/ other small hotels , The Alpine Valley View just short of Chitkul Village offers rooms @500/-, do carry your own sheets / sleeping bags , heaters are extra @ Rs 300/- There is hot and cold water but remember to fill your buckets in in this season as the water freezes in the taps. The food is basic do ask for the menu before ordering because some of the dishes cost almost as much as the room itself. At the village there are a number of Dhabas but they all shut down by 7 pm. Night time temperature in autumn can fall to -10 deg Celsius.
17th October, 2012.
Mrs Rima Dhillon , Dr. Mandeep Kang, Mrs Sarabjit,Mr. Jasbir Randhawa, Mr. Prabhat Bhatti, and Self decided to explore this area and left Chandigarh at 5.30 am. On 17th October, 2012. We decided to leave early with the intention of going to Narkanda via Kandaghat- Chail-Kufri- Fagu-Theog birding along the way and still being there for afternoon birding at Hatu.
I have always found birding along the stretch between Kandaghat and Chail to be good in terms of species richness In the beginning the habitat consists of a mixed temperate forest giving way to a deodar and rhododendron forest . There are a few deep Nallahs along the way which also have a number of species and warrant a stop.
The area had its fare share of birds which included the Russet Sparrow, House Sparrow, Grey bush Chats, Himalayan Bulbul, Red-vented bulbul, Blue whistling Thrush, Black –shouldered Kite, Great Tit, Black-throated Tit , Black-lored Tit, Striated Prinia, Oriental White eye , Grey-hooded warbler, Large-billed Crow, Grey Treepies , Red billed blue magpies , House Crow, Kalij Pheasant, Red Jungle Fowl, Crested King fisher, Common King fisher, White-capped Water Redstart, Plumbeous Water Redstart , Brown dipper, Spotted Fork tail, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Grey –headed Woodpecker, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Rusty-Cheeked Scimitar babbler, Jungle Babbler, Streaked laughing thrush, White-throated Fly catcher, Dark-sided Fly catcher, Ultramarine Fly catcher, Great Barbet(Himalayan), Long Tailed Minivet, Spotted Dove, Rock Pigeon, Common Mynah, Slaty-headed Parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Brown Rock Chat
The journey from Chail to Kufri was rather uneventful in terms of birds seen, and while one did contemplate stopping at Kufri to see the Caged Koklas , Cheer and Monal ,the long trip ahead and the desire to do a spot of afternoon birding at Narkanda made us push on.
There was an election rally at Theog and we got stuck there for almost an hour which was rather frustrating, but once clear of the town there was very little traffic on the road. 15 Km from Theog we suddenly came across quite a few Himalayan griffons in flight flying almost at eye level and amongst them there were two Lammergiers. This is my sixth trip to Narkanda and on each occasion in and around Narkanda I have come across both these species. Other birds seen along the drive included the Common Kestrel and the Rock buntings. (So few mainly because we were not birding.)
We managed to reach Narkanda by 2 pm and after unloading our heavily loaded cars and a quick lunch we took off for Hatu (by 2.30pm). Afternoon birding is seldom rewarding, but on this occasion it was not disappointing we saw the Green Backed Tit, Spot-winged Tit, Rufous-naped Tit, Green Shrike Babbler, Chestnut bellied Nuthatch, White tailed Nuthatch, White cheeked Nuthatch, Variegated Laughing Thrush, Mistlle’s Thrush, Himalayan woodpecker, Eurasian jay, Black and Yellow Grossbeak (with it’s black shorts), Bar-tailed Treecreeper, Lemon-rumped Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Grey Winged Blackbird.
We came across a Chestnut-bellied Rockthrush on our way back from Hatu in fading light and the photographers amongst us got busy trying out various ISO speeds and aperture settings in an attempt to try and capture the colours of the two males on view, at the end of it I think Prabhat came out tops by sheer perseverance.
18th October 2012
Early morning at Hatu is always interesting; As soon as we were near the PWD Guest house a pair of Jackals crossed our path. The highlight of the day was however the Tawny Owl this despite the fact, that I only got a fleeting glimpse , as it changed its perch from the dense canopy of one golden oak to that of another. We came across the Owl in bad light i.e day break ; 6.15 am, sunrise being an hour away which was not much of a help. The call was loud; A three note call which I was familiar with courtesy the bird call recordings on Xeno canto. Sarabjit, Mandeep and finaly Rima tried to record the call which was repeated a number of times. There was a returning call which was a quavering sound some distance away, so I assume there were two birds. I regret not having had the foresight to carry my trusted cell phone.
As soon as the excitement of the encounter with the Tawny Owl faded we moved on and five minutes later came face to face with a Koklas. On two previous occasions I have come across Koklas pheasant during the early morning drive to the Hatu temple and so this was not much of a surprise. The light had improved by now and Mr. Bhatti was rearing to have a go at photographing the bird which ultimately resulted in an acceptable record shot. Koklas kept calling and by now the ladies had finally figured out a way to record the calls for future encounters with nocturnal owls and so we got the call as well..
The Spotted Nutcrackers and the Black and yellow gross beaks were adding to the early morning Chorous as we moved on. We were discussing the call of the Monal which was heard the previous evening in fading light when Mandeep Went ’Monal !” Bhatti up front first managed to entangle his camera then he realized he had put up the window to avoid the cold. The Monal in the meantime after showing off its iridescent plumage decided enough was enough and glided down to a log some distance away. It just sat there for a while posing so that we could all enjoy the sighting at leisure with our binoculars. Those with superior optics did get record shots of the bird.
Leaving the Group to walk up, I drove up a treacherous section of the road stopping about 300m and some hairpin bends later. While I waited for the others to catch up I came across a large group (Eight)of Chestnut crowned Laughing Thrush, a Himalayan Woodpecker and the Rufous -gorgeted flycatcher.
Sunrise kept time with the clock and by 7.30 am we had a strong sharp sun beating down on us, keeping in view the long drive to Chitkul (7 hrs) we decided to return to the Hotel.
On the drive back we came across a Himalyan Griffon sitting atop a Deodar soaking up the sun. A Common Buzzard and a Long-legged Buzzard , the latter with the cinnamon edging to it’s tail clearly visible, soaring in the clear skies.
For those of you traveling up into the Sangla valley remember to top up your car with fuel at Narkanda and again at Rampur (You will not get a chance thereafter). For those of you whose cars are temperamental 10Km short of Rampur there is a Tata Service Center on the left of the road and in Rampur a Maruti service center, for running repairs. There are plenty of road side mechanics also present here for other Makes. I noticed this as my car was giving a spot of trouble. While I attended to the Car the others walked along the Satlug where they came across some Indian Shags, the river has large deep pools and rapids ideal for Mahaseer Fishing for those so inclined.
The road to Kinnaur is picturesque to say the least , it is cut into a rock face in places. While the views are nice the road is not smooth , it turns into an un-metteled track near Wangtu and the situation does not change much courtesy the Jaypee groups hydal power project on the river Baspa. When the road does improve it is a single narrow (and narrow is narrow)road which winds itself up to the Sangla valley. Along this stretch there were lots of Rock buntings seen along the way.
At Sangla Jasbir went to pick up apples ( from the apple grading center) and we scanned the area around us . Rima spotted a buzzard perched in the distance which appeared to be the Upland Buzzard. Back on the road near the next village called Batseri we got our first sighting of a Chukar. We saw it sitting on a culvert and it was as surprised to see us as we were to see it ; before the confused soul could decide what to do we were able to Photograph it (The light was bad but we were able to get a few record pictures.)
This was what we needed a ‘Good start’.
We took a brief stop at Rakcham where we checked out availability of accommodation at Rupin River View ,(to be on the safe side) and enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea with Naresh (The Owner mob:) which was rejuvenating. This is the last place where Mobiles work so do make your calls back home from here. After Informing Home base that all was well we moved on to our destination of the day ‘Chitkul’ ; under a blanket of stars.
On arrival there was some confusion about permit etc at the PWD guest house (which is always the case). The Chowkidar was reluctantly willing to accommodate us, but the rooms and bathrooms were dirty and we were in no mood to start scrubbing, so we decided to check in at the Alpine View just short of the village. (As Recommended by Mr. Gunjan Arora) Rooms were available and reasonable and hot fresh food was on offer.
Mrs Sarabjit had developed a severe headache and high blood pressure, i.e altitudinal sickness. Luckily during the planning stage we had catered for such a situation and were carrying the required medication, (Do check out medicines required with your doctor before a trip above 11000 ft .) luckily the medication was effective and we did not have to move downward.
19th October 12
The area around Chitkul is a sub-alpine habitat with, rock strewn pastures dotted with buck thorn bushes , trees of wild apple/cherry combined with the occasional stunted conifers. The red berries on the wild apple trees were the main food source and acted like magnets for the birds of the area.
Thanks to Mr. Gunjan Arora’s advice we left our hotel early i.e 5.45 am, to avoid walking into the rising sun while treking towards Nagasthi. (a more or less flat walk). The photographers amongst us positioned themselves near the wild apple trees and were rewarded with excellent light the moment the sun burst forth and were able to take some nice pictures.
It was rather cold (seemed like -4deg Celsius) and plants lining the streams were encased in a layer of ice. All around us there were excellent photo opportunities, and after soaking in the beautiful landscape we settled down to birding. We saw the winter wren (a lifer), It was so common that every few minutes over the next two days we would come across one hopping around amongst the rocks
The species richness of the area was low but the sheer numbers i.e density was high. The main birds seen were the Winter Wren, Rufous-fronted Accentor, Rufous-napped Tit, Blue-fronted Redstart, Beautiful Rosefinch, Variegated Laughing Thrush, Streaked Laughing Thrush, Upland Buzzard, Tickell’s Warbler, Humes Warbler, and the Rock bunting .
The walk back to Chitkul was a nice experience with a covey of 20 Chukars seen in a harvested field (of buckwheat). Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Fire Fronted Serin, Olive-backed Pipit, a lone White Wagtail, Russet Sparrows and a rather trusting Winter wren were seen in the village itself.
Back at the Alpine View Hotel Mrs Sarabjit, who by now was fully recovered had the Red-billed Chough, Yellowbilled Chough , Rock pigeons , Hill pigeon (a lifer)and Snow pigeons all lined up for us.
With a satisfying morning of birding and a stumptuous breakfast of aloo parathas and eggs we were ready for the next phase of birding by 12.30 am. We decided to try our luck on the track leading from Rackcham to Bateseri.
While driving towards Rackcham we heard a few birds near Mastrang (a village midway between Chitkul and Rackcham. Where there is a ITBP camp) Here there were a few Rufous -napped Tits and then suddenly the Kinglet appeared out of nowhere. Mandeep was the first to spot it and the Goldcrest as it is commonly known was the object of everyone’s undivided attention (another Lifer). It is a rather restless bird and the images recorded were not terribly good, but the sighting was, and the view of the golden crest of the Kinglet flashing in the sun shall remain imprinted in all our minds.
The trek to Batseri starts from across the bridge at Rackcham a left turn takes you past a sacrificial alter, through fields (fallow) ,past a telephone tower and a wrought Iron wicket gate into a Jungle which is a storehouse of biodiversity. The forest is populated with Birch, Spruce, Deodar, Juniper, Wild walnuts, Wild apples , Buck thorn ,ferns ,moss and lichen ,as well as fungus growing on trees. The autumn colours of red , yellow and brown contrasting with the dark green conifers and the stark rock faces made the walk rather enjoyable.
On the way out the Rufous-napped Tits, Some Phlyloscopus Warblers high up in the canopy, a pair of Orange-flanked Bush Robins and the Himalayan Woodpecker were sighted.
The Idea was to walk 4Km down to a glacier fed marsh, where there were a number of birds during the trek undertaken by me in June and then double back. The moment we emerged from the forest onto a pasture from where we could see our target ; it seemed too far, specially considering the late start, coupled with ominous clouds building up, so we decide to turn back.
We had not had lunch so we decided to take a short break for Crackers and Chocolates before the uphill trek back to Rackcham. While we were relaxing Rima spotted a very dark raptor with bright rufous underparts , the horizontal barring clearly visible on the lower belly , the bird was engrossed, trying to locate it’s meal which seemed to be hiding under the rock where it was perched. Since the bird refused to look up there was no chance of seeing if it had a mesial stripe. It was pretty far and the telephoto lenses could only bring it that close and no more but we noticed there were no tear marks on the face ,It was an accipiter. We watched hoping the raptor would raise it’s head, but were disappointed when a goat herder with his charges walked right onto the bird. In flight we noticed the tail was dark with darker bands. We were left with Photographic images as well as a visual imprint of the bird which were finally used to come to a consensus – ‘Besra’.
The walk back was uphill and tougher and on the way we came across Spotted Nutcrackers, and Red bullfinches.
20th October
Since we had seen the Goldcrest it was decided that we would go to Mastrang for birding rather than the area around the Forrest Nursery at Chitkul . We left at 6 am and were well in time at the target area, birding was good and the mewing of the White-cheeked Nuthatches made us stop time and again. There were plenty of Winter Wrens, Rufous-napped Tits, Blue-capped Redstarts , Variegated and Streaked Laughing Thrush. Pink-browed Rose Finches ,Beautiful Rose Finches and Fire Fronted Serins were in larger numbers a Cloud of snow pigeons and a parliament of Large-billed crows was seen.
The Goldcrest was again spotted by Mandeep and she enjoyed the bird feeding forgetting in the moment of transient bliss that she had a camera around her neck after she had had her fill she left the bird and walked down to ask me to click a picture ofcourse; the bird was no longer there when I arrived on the scene.
A raptor trying to catch the early morning thermals was clearly not a buzzard from, the under-wing pattern, the wing profile, size and colouration resulted in a detailed discussion followed by references to the field guides finally we all agreed it was the Black Eagle.
I was a little away from the group in an open forest when suddenly two bullfinches landed 6 feet from me the first reaction was to take a record shot which I did, and then I enjoyed their presence at leisure there was no grey mantel and most certainly the were Brown Bullfinches !!(a lifer) The birds took off and were again recorded in some bushes some time later by Prabhat. It was a rather interesting sighting of a not so common species.
On the way back to the Hotel in the alpine scrub we came across a redstart. The white wing patch and the white cap, pointed to the White-winged Redstart a bird that is a fairly common sight at Leh and with which both Rima and Mandeep were familiar. The overnight snowfall on the higher reaches was possibly responsible for this lovely sighting of another lifer for me.
A Lammergeier decided to give us a fly-past and Jasbir was able to get some lovely pictures of this majestic bird. The master of the Himalayan sky !
After breakfast we packed up and decided to move to Rakcham , ( The next day was an early start and my Diesel car could only start up by 11 am at Chitkul.) Before we left the area we decided to explore the alpine scrub adjacent to the Hotel one last time. While some of us braved the Buck thorn and went exploring, the others stayed along the road and were rewarded by the sighting of the Yellow-throated Martin. They were able to photograph it in it’s full splendor ,with a Pica In its Mouth after a successful hunt.
The clouds were gathering in the sky and as we reached Rakcham and we were pleasantly surprised to see trees and bushes full of House Sparrows. They were stuck to the trees like dry leaves. (They were present in their hundreds.) I suppose they were getting together to weather the impending storm.
A lesiurely walk along the left bank of the river towards Chitkul in the evening resulted in the sighting of Variegated Laughing Thrush, Orange-flanked Bush Robin, Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Russet Sparrows, Upland Buzzard, Rufous-napped Tit, Rock Buntings, Brown dipper and the White capped redstart
21st October
We were to leave by nine am for Chandigarh and so decided to checkout an alpine marsh near Rackcham the area had been recced the day previous and we made our way in torchlight at 5.30 am. At day break we started crossing the frozen marsh, and by 7 am it had started thawing making the going tougher. After sinking knee deep Mandeep gave up and retreated she was lucky to have got out with just a muscle strain. These bogs can be treacherous.
Rima and self managed to cross the bog and were walking along the far edge of the forest when a Snipe disturbed by our movement took off silently and alighted 15 feet away it gave a call when it landed. Rima and me were able to take a few photographs of the bird as it tried to merge into the background (to good effect) it finally lost its patience and again took to the air in a flight which could be described as lazy for a snipe. The wings were pointed and the pattern by appeared to belong to the Solitary Snipe (another lifer).
While we were struggling with the marsh Mrs Sarabjit had walked down from the Hotel to the bridge and was able to enjoy the sighting of the Little Forktail.
After washing down a few biscuits with a quick cup of tea we were ready to load up and leave. On the eleven hour drive made longer by a motion sick passenger the ladies came across three Wall-creepers apart from the other species already seen. The wall creeper is always a pleasure to watch specially when the drab looking bird snaps open its wings to reveal its true colours.
Finaly we all reached home –Chandigarh by 9pm tired but satisfied after a nice birding trip .
1. House Sparrow
2. Russet Sparrow,
3. Grey Bush Chats,
4. Himalayan Bulbul
5. Red-vented bulbul
6. Blue Whistling Thrush,
7. Black–Shouldered Kite,
8. Great Tit
9. Black-throated Tit
10. Black-lored Tit
11. Striated Prinia,
12. Oriental Whiteeye
13. Grey-hooded Warbler
14. Large-billed Crow,
15. Grey treepies ,
16. Red-billed Blue magpie
17. House Crow,
18. Kalij Pheasant
19. Red Jungle Fowl
20. Crested Kingfisher,
21. Common Kingfisher
22. White-capped Water Redstart,,
23. Plumbeous Water Redstart ,
24. Brown Dipper.,
25. Spotted Forktail
26. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
27. ,Grey-headed Woodpecker
28. Brown-fronted Woodpecker
29. Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler,
30. Jungle Babbler,
31. Streaked laughing thrush.
32. White-throated Flycatcher
33. Dark-sided Fly catcher
34. Ultramarine Flycatcher
35. Great Barbet(Himalayan)
36. Long Tailed Minivet
37. Spotted Dove
38. Rock Pigeon
39. Common Mynah
40. Slaty-headed Parakeet
41. Plum-headed Parakeet
42. Brown Rock Chat
43. Himalayan Griffon
44. Lammergier
45. Common Kestrel
46. Green Backed Tit
47. Spot winged tit
48. Rufous-naped tit
49. Green Shrike Babbler
50. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch
51. White-tailed Nuthatch
52. White cheeked Nuthatch
53. Variegated Laughing Thrush
54. Mistlle’s Thrush
55. Himalayan Woodpecker
56. Eurasian Jay
57. Black and Yellow Grossbeak (with it’s black shorts)
58. Bar-tailed treecreeper
59. Lemon-rumped Warbler
60. Chestnut-crowned Laughing Thrush
61. Yellow-billed Blue Magpie
62. Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush
63. Grey Winged Blackbird
64. Tawny Owl
65. Koklas Pheasant
66. Monal Pheasant
67. Spotted Nutcracker
68. Rufous -gorgeted Flycatcher
69. Common Buzzard
70. Long-legged Buzzard
71. Indian Shag (Cormorant)
72. Wallcreeper
73. Rock Bunting.
74. Upland Buzzard
75. Chukar
76. Winter Wren
77. Beautiful Rose finch
78. Blue-fronted Redstart
79. Rufous-breasted Accentor
80. Goldcrest
81. Orange-flanked Bush Robin
82. Humes Warbler
83. Tickell’s Warbler
84. Besra
85. Spotted Nutcracker
86. Red Bullfinches
87. Yellow-breasted Greenfinch
88. Fire-fronted Serins
89. Hill Pigeon
90. Snow Pigeon
91. Oriental Turtle Dove
92. Yellow-billed Chough
93. Red-billed Chough
94. Olive-backed Pipit
95. White Wagtail
96. Pink-browed Rose Finch
97. Blue-capped Redstart
98. Brown Bullfinch
99. Black Eagle
100. White-winged Redstart
101. Solitary Snipe
102. Little Forktail
Sangla is a lovely place to visit. Thanks for sharing your trip experience. Check out all beautiful hill stations near Delhi.
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