Bhutan– Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon 

22nd March – 7th April 2008

by Eustace Barnes  

Leader:

Eustace Barnes.

(If you are interested in visiting Bhutan, Eustace leads private trips there - and will happily answer any questions you may have. You can contact him by clicking here.)

ITINERARY

22nd March : Flight from Delhi to Paro at 2485m. Met up with Rinchen, our local guide. After lunch we birded area around Paro.

23rd March : Chele La at 3830m. Returned to Paro for Lunch and then drove to Thimphu.
 

24th March : Dochu La

An early morning. Then descended to Punakha before climbing the valley to our Shatem campsite.

25th March : Birding along the MoChu river. Lunch Punakha. Afternoon along the PhoChu river. Night near Wangdi.

26th March : MoChu river first thing. Continued east, past Wangdi, to climb up to Pele La. Night in camp in Phobjika valley.

27th March : After exploring Pele La we descended to Trongsa for the night.

28th - 29th March : Explored the road south of Trongsa towards Zemgang. Stopping at Gansu bridge, Bubja and Koshuela before reaching Zhemgang. Nights in well appointed camp at Tingtibee at 800m.

30th March : Returning to Trongsa we birded at mature evergreen forests along the route before reaching Trongsa. Then crossing the Yutong La we travelled to Bumthang. Night at the Mepham Lodge.

31st March : Today we continued further east, crossing the Thrumsing La (3600m), before descending into rich temperate forest at Sengor. Night in tented Camp.

1st – 2nd April : Exploring the Lingmithang road we descended to Yongkola, situated in the humid sub-tropics. Nights at Yongkola.

3rd April : Today we continued east to the beautiful Kori La. After lunch we descended through the chir pine forests to Trashigang with its spectacular Dzong. Night nearby.

4th April : Today we headed south through the most populous region in Bhutan. A fascinating agricultural landscape broken up by substantial tracts of forest. Night at Narphung.

5th April : Early morning birding road to Samdrup Jongkhar. Afternoon around camp near Samdrup Jongkhar. Night in camp.

6th April : After breakfast we were able to explore the forests near camp during the morning. After lunch we headed for Samdrup Jongkhar.

7th April : We left Bhutan early to do some birding in Assam. Spent some time at Deepor Jheel before catching our flight to Delhi.   

DAILY DIARY.

22nd March. Having arrived in Delhi on a practically empty Alitalia flight we enjoyed the hospitality of the airport restaurant while waiting for our early morning flight to Paro. Alitalia had ceased all long haul flights, leaving me with something to deal with later on as the Alitalia staff disappeared on arrival in Delhi. The flight to Paro provided magnificent views of the Himalayas, including clear views of Mount Everest. On arrival we drove to our hotel, decamped and had a healthy lunch. We then spent the afternoon birding along the Paro Valley. The braided channels near the airport still host Ibisbill and we were treated to great views of this beautiful bird.

We also saw our first Plumbeous Waterstart and the alboides form of White Wagtail, which has not only very distinct morphologically but has a very different song and call. In the fields near Paro we found a huge flock of Plain Mountain Finches along with Chough and Large-billed Crow.

The nearby marsh held Rosy Pipits, Grey-backed Shrike, Hodgson’s Redstart and innumerable Russet and Tree Sparrows. A scruffy little marsh along the roadside produced up to four Black-tailed Crakes and a pair of these were easily lured into the open and photographed. After a very pleasant and productive afternoon we retired for a good meal and an early night.
 

 23rd March. Leaving our lovely hotel at 4.30am we headed for Chele La and we were in store for a real treat. A mere 38km from our hotel, Chele La is in excess of one and a half hours’ travel time!!! Climbing up through the broken pine forests we saw a Grey Nightjar but nothing else until we reached approximately 3250m. On rounding a bend we found our first stunning Blood Pheasants, to be followed by several more groups. In total we probably saw 16 birds.

It was not long before we saw one and then another male Himalayan Monal cross the road. Not satisfied we persevered until we found a male with two females which we were able to watch at length.

Our targets secure we then had breakfast at a clearing below the pass. Here we found White-throated Redstart, Blue-fronted Redstart, White-collared Blackbird, Collared Grosbeak, White-winged Grosbeak and Darjeeling Woodpecker. After breakfast we climbed to the pass and gasped at the stunning scenery. We also found Black-throated Thrush, Plain Mountain-Finch, White-browed Rosefinch, Rufous-breasted Accentor and an unexpected Golden Eagle sailing past. We then slowly descended the road-- finding large flocks of tit species; including Rufous-vented, Coal, Grey-crested and Rufous-fronted Tits. We also saw a number of Eurasian or Hodgson’s Treecreepers in the dense pine forests. After lunch at our hotel we headed to the capital, Thimphu. On the way we stopped to look at a number of Brown Dippers and Crag Martins. At the sewage ponds we found Gadwall, Wigeon and Pochard. There were also about fifteen Ruddy Shelducks and five Ibisbills. This was a real treat at the end of a stunning day. Stopping at a rocky slope we found Asian House Martins in company of Crag Martins after which we headed straight for the hotel.   

24th March: Heading east out of Thimphu and up onto the western slopes of the Dochu La we spent the morning birding the mixed forests of hemlock, fir, oak, blossoming magnolias, and rhododendrons. We saw a good variety of species in several large mixed flocks. The highlight of the day was a small group of Fire-tailed Myzornis flitting through the roadside scrub, a real gem of the rhodedendron forests. We then enjoyed a noisy group of Yellow-billed Blue Magpies and the stunning Green-tailed Sunbird along with large number of others species, including a variety of Yuhinas and Fulvettas that all made for a great start to the trip. Of note were large numbers of Dark-breasted Rosefinches, obviously on the move.

There were also Green Shrike Babblers, White-tailed Nuthatch, Ashy Drongo, a small group of Red-headed Bullfinches and a pair of Crimson-bellied Woodpeckers during our descent. Lower down we found a nice flock with stunning Golden-breasted Fulvettas, Pygmy Blue Flycatcher, Rufous-capped Babbler and others. We then dropped lower still to an area of forest and secondary growth. This area was well worth the stop with sightings of Scarlet, Long-tailed and Grey-chinned Minivets, Black-chinned Yuhina, Black-throated Tit and an outstanding Large Hawk Cuckoo that perched on top of a tall tree to be photographed. Only intended as a quick stop we ended up staying for some time and were further delayed by several Scarlet Finches. We then had to leave to reach our campsite before dusk. We arrived at our splendidly isolated camp beside the roaring Mo Chu river.

25th March: From our camp site we walked down valley through the sub-tropical forests shortly after dawn. We were greeted by Striated Laughingthrushes noisily calling all around the camp. Along the valley we saw Crested Serpent and Mountain Hawk Eagles, Bay and Grey-faced Woodpeckers, innumerable Great Barbets and Mountain Bulbuls. There were good numbers of the localised, pretty little Yellow-vented Warbler. We worked the trail and found our only Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Ultramarine and Slaty-backed Flycatchers and Rufous-breasted Bush Robins of the trip. In contrast Wallcreeper, Small Niltava and White-capped Water Redstart were rather numerous. We found a stunning Slaty-backed Forktail that we were able to watch at length.

After lunch we visited the incomparable Punakha Dzong. This is a must for any group and takes little time out of a birding itinerary at an unproductive time of day. A truly fantastic place.
 

Later on in the day we searched the spectacular braided channels of the Mo Chu river and were rewarded with several Ibisbills, numerous Crested Kingfishers and many River Lapwings together with a pair of Red-wattled Lapwings although we drew a blank at the area we had found White-bellied Heron last year. We also found a Brahminy Starling, a first for Bhutan it seems. We then retired to our hotel in Wangdi after another superb day.

26th March : Today was to be highly memorable for a number of reasons. Leaving Wangdi Dzong (another monastery and fortress combined), we crossed the Mo Chu river and started to climb up towards Pele La. We stopped in the dry deciduous woodlands near a rocky cliff and quickly located two Yellow-rumped Honeyguides, one of which was guarding their bee hives hanging from the rocks, on which they depend for food. This bird is very localised but fairly easy to see at its favoured sites. We were able to watch the bird feed on honey leaking from the hives. At this site we also found Hill Prinia and a pair of Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babblers before lunch.

We then continued our way up to the pass without finding much of note. In the afternoon we descended into the Phobjika valley, a beautiful, bleak cold and very remote valley that is a wintering site for the endangered Black-necked Crane. In the normal course of events our trip would miss this species as it departs as soon as the snows melt and temperature rise above freezing. However, as it had been a cold spring we thought some birds may have delayed departure and indeed three birds were thought to be present. We searched the huge valley for some time before eventually finding the three birds feeding in a ploughed field. It was late in the afternoon and we had some distance to go to reach our camp site but by some stroke of luck the camp crew had decided to pitch camp in the valley and thereby shorten our journey. It was cold night but we had seen one of the birds we most wanted to see.

27th March : Climbing up to the Pele La we explored the extensive stands of ringal bamboo and rhododendron forest. We found an obliging pair of Great Parrotbills that clambered about in the bamboo right in front of us.

While we enjoyed a great breakfast Yellow-billed Blue Magpies and Nutcrackers fed on the frozen ground bathed in sunlight. We then found a number of the rather secretive Yellowish-bellied Bush Warblers and several Black-faced Laughing-Thrushes. A little lower we saw at least 25 Himalayan Vultures and a number of Beautiful Rosefinches.

Continuing on to Trongsa we found Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Black-eared Shrike-Babbler, Stripe-throated and Rufous-vented Yuhinas along with good numbers of Bar-throated and Red-tailed Minlas and in a narrow gulley we found a beautiful pair of Spotted Forktails which we watched for some time. We arrived in the late afternoon in time for a good meal and well earned rest. Jim was feeling unwell, having contracted flu on the flight, and so he decided to spend the next couple of nights enjoying G&Ts at this splendid location while we were camping in the sticks. In the late afternoon a superb adult Rufous-bellied Eagle was seen from balcony of the hotel which was to prove the first of several of this usually uncommon species.

Please click here to view Part 2