Bhutan– Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon 

30th March – 14th April 2010

by Eustace Barnes  

Leaders.

Eustace Barnes and Chris Abrams.

Participants.

Ian Barclay, John and Angela Cresswell, Mark Cwynarski, Jeffrey Delve, Alastair Henderson,Michael Henty, Sheila Seed.

All photographs credited with initials of executor, except when by EB when no credit given (As usual).

ITINERARY

30th March: Arrive Delhi. Afternoon at Sultanpur NP. 

31st March:  Flight from Delhi to Paro. We were late leaving and were eventually diverted to Calcutta as the weather was so bad in Paro.

1st April: Flight from Calcutta to Paro at 2485m. Met up with Rinchen, our  local guide. After lunch we birded agricultural areas around Paro. 

2nd April: Dochu La early morning at 3065m.  Then descended to Punakha before climbing the valley to our the Shatem campsite at 1525m.

3rd April: Birding along the MoChu river early morning.  Lunch in Punakha. Afternoon heading over Pele La (3300m) to Trongsa.  Night Trongsa.

4th April:  Today we cross Yutong La (3550m) and on to Bumthang and Ura (3150m). Night Ura. 

5th-6th April:  Today we climb over Thrumshing La (3650m) and descend the Lingmenthang road to Yongkola (1645m), situated in the humid sub-tropics.  Nights at Yongkola. 

7th April:  Today we begin to retrace our steps up to the temperate zone. Explore the rhododendron  forests at Sengor (2790m). Night in tented Camp. 

8th April: Birded the rhododendron forests and the road to Ura before heading to Trongsa (2250m).  Night Trongsa 

9th-10th March:  Explored the road south of Trongsa towards Zemgang.  Stopping at Gansu bridge and Koshuela before reaching Zhemgang. Nights at Tingtibi (850m). 

11th April: Birded our way back to Trongsa and on to Chorten Chendebgi below Pele La at 2400m.  Night Chorten Chendebgi. 

12th April: Birded Pele La for the morning before heading to Dochu La in the afternoon. Late arrival at Paro. Night Paro.  

13th April:  Today we enjoyed some early morning birding before heading to the airport. Flight to Delhi and afternoon at Ohkla barrage. Night Delhi.  

14th April:  Transferred to airport for our flight home.

13th-20th April: EB remained in Bhutan visiting new sites. Records from this period are credited in parentheses thus (.....,EB).  EB then remained on the sub-continent courtesy of the Icelandic dust veil until the 26th April.  (Some remained stranded until 17th May!  They were the ones who did as advised and stayed away from the airport. This seemed counter intuitive to me as where else might one get a flight?)  

DAILY DIARY 

30th March.   Arrived in Delhi after an uneventful flight from Heathrow at mid-day. After being treated to a grand display of Bank Mynas and Jungle Babblers at the airport we headed to Sultanpur National Park. A number of small ponds held good numbers of wildfowl and herons amongst which were Spot-billed Ducks, Garganey, Purple Swamphen, Spoonbill, Black-necked Ibis and Painted Storks.  The scrubby habitats in the vicinity were quite productive and we saw several spectacular Peacocks, a pair of spotted Owlets, a pair of Small Minivets, Coppersmith Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, numerous Little Green Bee-eaters and a couple of Indian Rollers. At a rather unprepossessing site just outside the park we found three Indian Coursers, beautiful creatures that posed well for us.

We also picked up Ashy-crowned Finchlark, Crested Lark, Tawny Pipit, Red-headed Bunting, Red-collared Dove and other dry country species. After this pleasant introduction to the region’s avifauna during the course of which we recorded 87 species we returned to Delhi for a late dinner. 

31st March:  We were in for a frustrating day, this time caused by inclement weather and not the vagaries of Indian bureaucratism. Having arrived in good time at the airport we quickly found that our flight was delayed and eventually diverted to Calcutta. The pilot did try and get us to Paro but the cloud was too thick and as the approach is quite hazardous he did not take the risk. It was with great disappointment that we were forced to suffer a night in Calcutta. The only consolation being that we were in a five star hotel, one of those rather anonymous horrors that are appearing across the planet. 

1st April: By 6am we were treated to magnificent Himalayan mountain vistas  before descending to Paro, Bhutan. We began birding along the braided channels of a wide river near the airport and were rewarded with good views of Plumbeous Waterstart, the  alboidesand leucopsis forms of White Wagtail which are not only  morphologically distinct but vocally as well. A nearby marsh held Rosy Pipit, Grey-backed Shrike, Hodgson’s Redstart and innumerable Russet and Tree Sparrows, while the rather dry little marsh along the roadside produced a single Black-tailed Crake. We then headed to Thimphu seeing a superb Wallcreeper, several Brown Dippers, White-capped Water Redstarts and Plumbeous Waterstart in the process. Later in the day we enjoyed what has become a bird tour ritual with a sewage farm visit. The delights of this may be somewhat obscure to the uninitiated but we found Ibisbill, Ruddy Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Common Merganser and four Bar-headed Geese, the latter being something of a surprise.

  http://www.birding-southamerica.com/Trip%20Reports/images/geese.jpg

We then drove to the Takin preserve, near Thimphu, to see this bizarre goat-cow creature in a suitably confined space. It was time to head to the Cheri valley to see a pair of Yellow-rumped Honeguides, which  performed admirably. We then retired for a well earned drink and sleep in preparation for the ensuing adventure.

2nd  April:  Climbing up out of Thimphu we headed for the eastern slopes of Dochu La, where we were treated to a profusion of blossoming magnolias, and rhododendrons. We connected with several mixed flocks as the morning warmed up, the undoubted highlight of which was a couple of small ‘charms’ of Fire-tailed Myzornis.  They remained in sight for half an hour or so which was somewhat out of character. We then bumped into our first noisy group of Yellow-billed Blue Magpies, several stunning Green-tailed Sunbirds along with large number of others species, including a variety of Yuhinas and Fulvettas.

We picked up Grey-crested Tit, White-tailed Nuthatch, Ashy Drongo and several Red-headed Bullfinches. We then descended to Punakha for lunch, a spectacular location. Along the Mo Chu river we saw Pochard, Common Merganser, Wigeon and a single Grey Heron. We then left for our spectacular campsite at Shatem, finishing the day with a nice pair of Slaty-backed Forktails. After a good meal in our superb camp the evening then developed into a splendid night. Chris self-prescribed a good malt to deal with a stomach complaint (Please don’t try this at home kids). Although conversation was initially entertaining, subsequent events proved rather explosive. Quite unrelated to alcohol abuse we then enjoyed the spectacle of a pair of Tawny Fish Owls courting for over 40 minutes in a nearby tree. It was then midnight and time for a couple of hours' shut eye.

3rd April:  At dawn we were greeted with the cacophonous squealing of numerous Striated Laughing Thrushes and the more ethereal notes of Blue Whistling thrushes around the camp. During the morning we saw a Crested Serpent Eagle with a snake, Grey-faced Woodpecker, Great Barbet and Mountain Bulbuls, along with the pretty little Yellow-vented Warbler. A couple of Crested Kingfishers were found along the braided channels of the MoChu river along with great views of an adult Pallas’s Fish Eagle catching a Gadwall in the river. The poor thing, clasped in the talons of the eagle, hung with its feet splayed as if ready to land on the river, but no chance of that. In the afternoon we visited the famous Punaka Dzong, a spectacular  building set along the river bank.

After another gigantic lunch we departed for Trongsa in the late afternoon.  Climbing the mighty Pele La we explored the extensive stands of ringal bamboo and rhododendron forest to find our first Yellowish-bellied Bush Warblers and several Black-faced Laughing-Thrushes but, as ever, birding was slow in the afternoon. We arrived in time for a good meal and well earned rest in our delightful hotel overlooking the Dzong.  

4th  April: The obsessive amongst us explored nearby scrubby woodlands before breakfast, finding Streak-breasted Scimitar-babbler, our first Brownish-flanked Bush Warblers, Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, Blue-throated Redstart and others. After breakfast we headed over the bamboo choked Yutong La and from there on to Bumthang. At Gaytsa we were looking forward to the longest straight stretch of road in Bhutan; a 500m length just beyond the village. Our driver was just getting ready to use fourth gear for the first time on the trip when I reminded him that this was where the only unit of traffic police was stationed in Bhutan. Somewhat deflated we resumed our plodding progress into Bumthang. After lunch we headed to Ura but were again delayed by one the country’s birding highlights: a male and two female Himalayan Monals feeding in a field near Tangsibi. A magnificent  highlight to end the day.

5th April: Today was planned as a big day and we were not disappointed. Leaving early, heading for Thrumsing La, we were quickly greeted with a brief sighting of a male Satyr Tragopan. Continuing to the pass, we saw a good number of Blood Pheasants, a striking species, done no justice in field guides.  It was time to return to Ura for breakfast, but as we retraced our steps a stunning male Satyr Tragopan delayed progress as it slowly climbed up onto the road in front of us; one of the highlights of any trip to Bhutan. Later we found a flock of Snow Pigeons resting in a pine tree, a Red-flanked Bluetail, a pair of Fire-tailed Sunbirds building a nest, numerous Mrs. Gould’s Sunbirds and a good number of White-winged Grosbeaks. We then descended to Yongkola in the humid subtropics. Our first stop produced a flock of Black-throated Parrotbills flowing through a bamboo thicket.  Then right on cue a cackling call behind us alerted us to the presence of several Ward’s Trogons. In no time we had all had fantastic views of what can be a difficult target species.  We saw four birds perched at length only a few metres from us. A memorable moment indeed, but it was far too easy and the Trogon suffered in the trip highlights as a result. After that we descended  to Yongkola after an exceptional day of birding.

6th April:  Another hot and sunny day began. The weather was great, and camping more pleasant as a result but birding was a little slow. Nevertheless we started at Namling bridge with a pair of Yellow-rumped Honeyguides;  a favourite haunt. A little later, a magnificent pair of Rufous-necked Hornbills put in an appearance before we settled down to extracting Spotted and Rufous-throated Wren Babblers from their impenetrable thickets. Lower down this thickly forested road we found a large flock of Rusty-fronted Barwings accompanied by Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbills and one Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler. This site allowed us to enjoy endless vistas of forested slopes, which was a reassuring part of our stay in this magnificent area. In the afternoon we were treated to more hornbills and large numbers of babblers, sibias and minlas before calling it a day.

7th April:  We began birding today around camp with a pair of Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers, a number of Red-necked Laughing Thrushes, several Little Pied Flycatchers, White-browed Shrike Babblers, Tickell’s Leaf Warbler and many others.   Climbing up to Sengor we again enjoyed seeing the high altitude species including Bar-throated Minlas, Red-tailed Minlas, Whistler’s Warbler, numerous sunbirds  and Phylloscopus warblers. Once in camp, set amid stunning flowering rhododendrons we walked the road below camp. A Bar-winged Wren Babbler, although initially responsive did not remain for much of the group to see. We headed back to camp, seeing more Snow Pigeons, Mrs Gould’s Sunbirds and the usual mixed flocks of babblers. A lovely night at our mountain camp gave us the best skies of the trip.

8th April: Walking the road below camp we found another male Satyr Tragopan in rhododendron scrub. Otherwise the forests rang to the calls of numerous Yuninas, Fulvetta’s, Mrs Gould’s and Green-tailed Sunbirds. After breakfast we began to climb Thrumshing La. Our first stop gave us a male Dark-rumped Rosefinch, several Fire-tailed Myzornis, a single female Golden Bush Robin, a pair of Spotted Laughing Thrushes, a very responsive pair of Slender-billed Scimitar Babblers and a lovely male White-browed Bush Robin (thanks to Ian). A little higher up in dense bamboo a pair of Great Parrotbills performed well and a short time later in rather more stunted ringal bamboo we found a flock of Fulvous Parrotbills and a single Yellowish-bellied Bush Warbler. We then headed to Ura for a late lunch.  A short distance before town Jeff called Bee-eater, which at 3150m seemed unusual. We poured out of the bus to see an exhausted Blue-tailed Bee-eater. A first for Bhutan!  Needless to say we arrived rather later than planned in Trongsa.   

9th  April:   From Trongsa we took the road towards Zhemgang on another bright sunny day. The first site we devoted time to was an area of scrubby farmland and paddy fields. This site held good numbers of Crested Buntings, Striated Prinias and some lovely Long-tailed Shrikes of the form tricolor. Amongst them however was another bird of the formerythronotus. This is another migratory species that has not been recorded before in Bhutan. A little further along the road Rinchen spotted a Slender-billed Oriole from the bus and we all had good looks at this rather uncommon species that was new for most of us as it is far eastern bird that just gets to the Himalyaya in a disjunct population. We then drove through to Koshe La, a lovely area of deciduous woodland often good for birds during the heat of the day. Activity was excellent and we found Crimson Sunbird, three Lesser-necklaced Laughing Thrushes, Blue-throated Barbet and a noisy group of White-crested Laughing Thrushes. We also had the very good luck to see a pair of Spot-winged Starlings, a rare and poorly known migrant in Bhutan. In the same trees was a single Grey-headed Starling.  We were then delayed and had a late lunch near Zhemgang, after which we drove to an area of humid forest near camp where we found a group of 8 Long-tailed Broadbills. A fitting end to another exciting day.

10th April:   An early morning session around camp was very productive  with good numbers of White-throated Bulbuls, Grey-capped Pygmy and Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch and a superb Great Indian Hornbill.  After  breakfast we returned to the higher elevation forests for some excellent birding and more or less continuous activity, although the very dry conditions may have silenced many wren-babblers as it was noticeable that they were not vocal.  We saw up to 4 Blue-bearded Bee-eaters and 2 pairs of Rufous-necked Hornbills. We then ran into another group of Long-tailed Broadbills and had great views of these spectacular birds.

A Sultan Tit and a couple of Black-spotted Yellow Tits were much appreciated as was a Spotted Forktail. Throughout the forests we found Grey-chinned, Short-billed and Scarlet Minivets, Blue-winged Minla, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Grey Treepie and many other common species. before we returned to camp. 

11th  April:   Today we departed camp early and headed to more humid forests,  working the area thoroughly, eventually finding our target; the Beautiful Nuthatch. A lovely and very local species. Walking a rough logging trail nearby we found a pair of Red-faced Liocichla, a clear favourite for many on the trip. There was also a pair of Slender-billed Scimitar-babbler and a Silver-eared Mesia making for some exciting birding.  The Blue-bearded Bee-eaters were in their usual place along with more Rufous-necked Hornbills, a Speckled Piculet and many species of babblers, Maroon Oriole and Blue-throated, Golden-throated and Great Barbets. Sadly, time was pressing and we were forced to leave and headed for our lunch stop at Koshe La. After a good rest and nice lunch we found a beautiful pair of Bay Woodpeckers. We then had a long drive to Chendebji for a night in camp.

This must count as the most spectacular campsite of the trip or indeed anywhere. A sacred site used by the king and visiting royals. How we got permission to stay at this magical site I have no idea.   During the night a pair of Grey Nightjars hunted around the camp site which proved particularly good for moths in the morning.

12th April: Climbing up to Pele La we explored the extensive stands of ringal bamboo finding a stunning pair of Great Parrotbills that clambered about in the bamboo in front of us. The day belonged to the flowering rhododendrons which were magnificent.

We also found a few Yellow-billed Blue Magpies, Nutcrackers and numerous Black-faced Laughing-Thrushes. A few Beautiful and White-browed Rosefinches were still hanging around with small numbers of Little Buntings below the pass and at the pass up to 12 Himalayan Vultures were seen descending to a carcass.  We then left for Paro for our last night in Bhutan.

13th  April: Early morning birding around Paro gave us a final opportunity to see the commoner birds before we had to head to Delhi. We found a couple of Rufous-breasted Accentors, White-collared Blackbird, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Grey-backed Shrike and a few Himalayan Black Bulbuls. The group then said their goodbyes and flew to Delhi where they spent the afternoon at the Ohkla barrage checking out a totally different avifauna before heading to their hotel and a pleasant night in Delhi.

14th April: Today we drove to the airport for our flight homewards. Very fortunately the flight left and all got home just in the nick of time. The following day international chaos began with the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. From 13th to 20th  April, however,  EB, somewhat unwisely,  remained in Bhutan.  

Upon arrival in Delhi the group was taken for an evening's birding to Okhla Barrage. We were duly met by a guide who took us to the main birding areas. The light was against us as we scanned the water so we moved on to a rather more productive area. On our way an accipiter was spotted perched low down right beside the bus. This proved to be a Besra. Many of the group couldn't see the bird so I requested that we drive on just a few metres. The guide responded by promptly opening his door and, surprisingly, the bird instantly flew away! That did not impress me much. At the next site we had excellent views of White-tailed Stonechats and two spectacular male Red-spotted Bluethroats. A Striated Babbler showed well as did a couple of Striated Grassbirds. Yellow footed Green Pigeons were common - a very lovely bird. Two Black-crowned Night Herons flew past, a new bird for the trip.

15th April: A leisurely breakfast on the roof at the Sunstar hotel provided us with several flocks of Rose-coloured Starlings and a couple of Brahminy Starlings. Jeff and Alistair enjoyed photographing the Black Kites which came extremely close hoping for a snack. At the airport we joined a huge queue and were offered the chance of an extra night in Delhi courtesy of Virgin Atlantic in a 5* hotel and a free return ticket anywhere in the world. Although some were tempted, eventually we all decided to go home. What a wise decision that turned out to be!

My gadget of the trip was undoubtedly Sheila's camouflaged torch. This camouflage worked extremely well as she promptly lost it on the second day! It was refound in her tent by the camp crew and returned to her. It is no doubt currently planning its next escape!

20th April: As a postscript to the tour, the return journey for EB was made particularly difficult, with the closure of all of Europe’s airports as a result of the dust veil over Europe from the  Icelandic volcanic eruption.  Starting at Paro airport the flight was delayed and we were subjected to ‘Bolly’ soaps courtesy of the snack bar staff in the departure lounge. Quite what the fascination is with this nonsense I can’t imagine. The 'Bolly' rubbish continued and the engine remained in pieces on the runway. Eventually we left and the promise of the Delhi loomed. Once in Delhi I visited the Virgin airlines office and naturally enough they knew nothing. All flights to Europe were cancelled or booked for days. I had a night in Delhi and revisited the airport the following morning. There was a magnificent Bonelli’s Eagle perched by the road and a Shikra hunted in the scrub, but I digress. Although the London airports were open and there was enthusiastic talk of opening Madrid as a hub for returning stranded passengers to Europe, there was, of course, no sign of any provision being made for this. So it was decision time. Air China, Lufthansa and Air Singapore had no seats for two weeks in any direction. So I had to wait and see what happened as I was booked onto a flight on the 1st May!   So since Delhi was not an option and Nikil, who saw my predicament as an opportunity to sell, put me on a train for a few days to Ranthambore.  At 2pm I was still stuck in traffic and also at 3.45pm and from there until a station materialised just in time.    

21st-25th April. Despite the traffic I caught the train and was heading for Ranthambore, a preferable option to sleeping in the grime at Delhi international.  The park is excellent for birds and Tigers and April seems best for Tigers as they concentrate around the dwindling water holes during the advancing dry. David Attenborough would be in his element. I, on the other hand, just wanted to get home.  

Please click here to view an illustrated species list