before had been caught in a moderate snowstorm for a day at a high pass, so one needs to be prepared.

Transcription

1 Nepal Report Pokhara- Poon Hill Trek- Lumbini- Chitwan 20 Dec 2013 to 2 Jan 2014 This was a trip where I spent an afternoon in Pokhara, a week trekking slowly along the Poon Hill Trail (about 35 miles), then two days in the Lumbini area, and 2 days in the Mada area of Chitwan. I was keen on seeing birds, but also not interested in a fanatic pace. Other birders younger and more driven would see more than what I saw. This was an absolutely great couple weeks that was less than 80$ day including my guides.. My main guide Ram Dev (ramdev099@yahoo.com), a wonderful naturalist and person I knew from a previous trip. Ram was with me for the entire trip, he helped organize transportation and homestays. He was ready to go all day long and knew his birds. His rate of 20$ was amazingly low, and I gave him a well- deserved hearty tip at the end of the journey. For the roughly 35 mile Poon Hill trek we were joined by Ram s friend Peroo, who was my porter, and also fine company and good at spotting birds.. When you are around sity you start taking it a bit easier! It would be possible to do this a bit cheaper, skipping a porter and taking a bus instead of plane to Pokhara for eample. Nepal s mountains are simply astounding, and the lowlands have great birds and nature. If you are just interested in the birds seen at each location please just go to the checklist at the end of the report. 20 Dec: I flew into Kathmandu on the evening and got a hotel in town. I didn t particularly like mine, so I won t recommend it. Kathmandu was smoggy and cold. 21 Dec: Pokhara. I took a tai (about 10$) out to the airport in the early morning and flew on Yeti Airlines (106$) to Pokhara, arriving about 11 A.M. I checked into Mandap hotel (15$) near the lake, and after a short nap for jet lag, we spent the afternoon bird watching the local forest, fields, and hills around the lake. We saw about 37 species (see check list at end) including Blue- throated Barbet, Spotted Owlet, Grey Tree- pie, Taiga Flycatcher, Paddy Field Warbler, Blyth s Leaf- warbler, and Crimson Sunbird 22 Dec. The net morning we left about 8 AM, in a tai Ram had set up and drove about an hour on a mostly paved, narrow road to the trailhead near Naypul. The tai was about 10 or 15$. We started up the well- marked trail, initially paved, but it soon turned to gravel, or well place terraced steps. This trail cut though tiny villages, steeply terrace rice fields, shrubby slopes and some forest. It was a good trail the entire loop with only a few really steep trick stretches. We traveled along a rushing stream, and there were a couple great birds along the creek near the start, Little and Spotted Forktail! Just fantastic feathered beasts! Later we also had Slaty- backed Forktail, so a three forktail day! A few other highlights included Wall Creeper, Brown Dipper, Long- tailed Minivet, Velvet- fronted Nuthatch, and White- crested Laughing- thrush. We tallied slightly over 40 species before breaking for lunch at Naypul, about 5 km up the trail. The weather today was in the 5 to 15 Celsius range and mostly clear with light winds. There was a moderate haze to the air. The entire week on the trek the weather was like this, just ecellent for trekking. I did meet a hiker who the week

2 before had been caught in a moderate snowstorm for a day at a high pass, so one needs to be prepared.. The 35 mile Poonhill trek starting at Nayapul. In the afternoon we continued to Tikhedhunga, which was a little past Hile. We saw about 18 species in this stretch including Himalayan Flameback, Black- chinned Babbler, White- browed Fluvetta and Fire- tailed Sunbird. The entire distance covered today was between 4 and 5 miles. We pasted maybe a 100 other people on the trail. We gained about 1500 meters from the start of the trail. This was reasonably easy hiking for anyone in decent shape. Not having a heavy pack on my back made it much easier to spot birds. Peroo s rate per day as a porter was 10$. He was a real asset, since he was a good bird watcher, and more eyes see more birds in these kinds of forests. This trail has teahouses every few km or so that provided very inepensive meals, tea, modest rooms, and beer! Ram and Peroo s daily fees, and food, lodging and beverages for the three of us was about 70$ a day for the week. If one was hiking on their own, they could get by on 20$ a day. It was great having ecellent naturalists and a light load at my age. 23 Dec. Tikhedhunga area to Banthanti. We climbed 1500 m to 2200 m today, just up, not much distance. Another 100 or so tourists passed us over the course of the

3 day. Much of the trail today had laid in stairs though tiny terraced fields, scrub, and reduced forest. The incredible peaks on Annapurna occasionally started to appear in the distance and the slopes dropped precipitously below us. We managed to see about 50 species today including Chestnut- bellied Rock Thrush, White- necked Blackbird, Blue- fronted Redstart, White- tailed Nuthatch, si warblers, Rufus Sibia, Altai Accentor, and Spot- winged Rosefinch. 24 Dec. Banthanti to Gorepani. In the morning there were spots of frost and ice in the colder spots on the trail. We followed a narrow steep canyon with lots of nice forest. It was quiet for birds, maybe because it was cooler than on higher sunnier slopes? Only about 16 species of birds but they included White- browed Bush Robin and Striated and White- throated Laughing- thrush, and Dark- breasted Rosefinch. We stopped for lunch at the Hungry Eye café about half way to Gorepani. The afternoon was a walk through big beautiful forest. Near Gorepani there was a lot of madrone forest. Not as many birds as I would epect, but ecellent hiking. Two highlights for me were Rufus- Vented Tit and Ret- tailed Minla. Gorepani sits at 9500 feet (about 3000 m) and is the first town on the trial. There were a few hundred tourists here at this time but this is an absolutely smashing place! The view from my little hotel was the most amazing mountain vista of my life, with Annapurna and other mountains jutting into blue sky. In retrospect I would loved to have spent an etra day or few in the Gorepani area eploring this forest. A miture of scrub, comple forest, and the greatest mountains.

4 25 Dec: Poonhill, Gorepani to Tadapani. We got up at 5:20 and walked with hordes to the 10,000 plus top of Poon Hill to watch the sunrise. In retrospect I should have gone off birding around Gorepani area, then climbed up to Poon Hill in mid- morning, seeing more birds, and avoiding the crowd of 50 + tourists. After breakfast we took a long walk to Tandapani. We covered maybe 8 miles today, including the climb to Poon Hill. This was the most fantastic mountain scenery I ve ever seen! I mean ever! What a great way to celebrate Christmas. The birds were a bit more plentiful with about 30 species seen. Highlights for me were Lammegier, Yellow- billed Blue Magpie, White- collared Black- bird, White- throated and Black- faced Laughing Thrushes, and Red- headed Bullfinch. 26 Dec. Tadapani to Ghandruck. Tadapani had nice bird- watching forest. In the morning I added Crimson Finch before starting to descend through big mossy Madrone forest with open floor. The first mile was gently sloping, but then we dropped steeply in to more comple forest for the 4 to 5 miles to Ghrandruck. This was a nice birdy day. It would be quite enjoyable to spend a couple days just birding this area. There wasn t too much tourist and local traffic today- maybe 50 to 100 people. I saw about 35 bird species and Himalayan Grey Languar and Yellow- throated Martin. A few highlight birds for me were Plain- backed Thrush, Yellow- browed Tit, Spot- winged and Dark- breasted Rosefinches. 27 Dec Grandruk to Landruk to Tolkha. Today we dropped down to a river valley on a steep stone- step trail through scrub, limited forest, terraced fields and grassy slopes. We crossed a small river at about 2500 to 3000 feet, and then climbed up to Landruk for lunch. This was tougher walking, especially the going down for me. From Landruk to Tolkha was easier, paralleling the slope. There was a brand new road, not here last year according to Ram. It had obliterated some of the walking trail. There were fantastic views of the southern Annapurna Range. We covered about 6 or 7 miles today. Birds were more numerous or at least easier to spot, and we saw about 55 species. These included Slaty- headed Parakeet, Red- headed Vulture, Blue- fronted Red- start, five bulbul species, 8 warbler species including Buff- barred, and three Rosefinches including Dark- rumped. 28 Dec Toldka to Pothana to Kande and back to Pokhara In the morning we first walked about 2 miles down the newly cut road through good forest but birds we away from the large swath of raw earth slashed by the road cut. Then we climbed about a mile to Dverali (consisting of two teashops). This was in cooler shaded secondary forest. Once we reached Dverali and sun light on top of the ridge, there were many more birds. In general in this season, the birds we concentrated on sunny slopes in the morning. From Doerali we walked a gentle slope up 2 miles to Pothana for lunch. After lunch we continued to Kande, arriving about 3:30 P.M. This was again about 6 to 7 miles altogether. From Kande we hired

5 a tai for about 10$ to take us back to Pokhara for the evening. We saw another 40 or so species today with only Black- headed Shrike- babbler new for me. This is a trek some hardy trekers cover in 3 or 4 long days. I felt I went at a good pace for bird watching. Another day or two in the higher forest around Gorepani to Tandapani would have been rewarding for birds and mountain scenery. This time of year is less crowded. It can be colder, cloudier, and wetter, but I had an ideal weather week for hiking. 29 Dec. Pokhara to Lumbini. After enjoying a street festival in Pokahara last night, we got on the Bus at 8 8:30 A.M to head for Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. This cost about 10$. The bus took 8 hours and 1 minute by my watch to arrive. There were many sections of curvy mountain road, leading the poor woman in front of me to suffer hours of motion sickness, but fortunately she had a large supply of plastic bags. The last two hours hit the flat lands near the India border. This was a different feel that the mountains. People appeared more desperate, it was dirtier and more crowded, and there was often a cold smoky fog much of the time while in the Lumbini region. This is an area of soggy rice and mustard fields with patches of remnant Sal Forest. We got to the hotel in the late afternoon. This was an establishment a few miles from Buddha birthplace. It wasn t particularly nice, no hot water, and there were numerous ones in the area that probably were just as good or better, so I won t mention its name. It was under 20$. I took an evening stroll of a few miles in the surrounding fields and I listened to Indian Jackals salute the setting sun. 30 Dec Lumbini area. We were ready to go at 6:30 but the fog was so thick we waited until 8 to head out. We went to the birthplace of Buddha and some surrounding temples in the cold misty air on a Rickshaw, initially agreed on for 300 rupees but then demanded up to 1000 rupees. This was still cheap but probably would have been better to have just walked. The area around the Buddha s birthplace was remarkably humble and uncommercialized. There were a few monks in the temple, but only 5 people in front of us to walk through the ancient building. Some of the other temples sponserd by countries were quite fantastic, and there were lots of nice birds in the temple grounds. The weather was miserably cold until the fog burnt off about 11:30, and then it was sunny and warm. This was nice and birdy country. The key species I was keen on were the spectacular Sarus Crane. We saw them a couple times in grassy fields. This is just an immense bird, maybe the most spectacular crane. We saw about 65 species today, a lot that were new for the trip. There were more water birds including 4 storks, Brown Crake, Bronze- winged Jacana, and a Black Ibis. New Mammals included Blue Buck, Indian Macaque, and Indian (?) Mongoose. We ate in a local restaurant, where 2 dishes of Dal Bhat and 2 cokes cost 2.30$. 31 Dec Lumbini to Mada area of Chitwan. Ram arranged connecting to a couple local buses for a total of 7 hours of slow, crowded, bumpy riding. This was in lowlands of rice paddies, poor villages, and crowded towns. We went to the little village of Mada, in the southwest corner of Chitwan. This is close to the famous Tiger

6 Top s Jungle Trail Camp inside the park, but which is now closed. This was basically a home stay that Ram arranged in a very traditional village. It cost only about 15$ a day including very good food, that unfortunately got to my gut by the last day- such are the perils of travel. There was a family of 4 tourists other the first night, and just two the second night. We went for an afternoon walk on the edge of the park, seeing about 34 species. 1 Jan: Mada area of Chitwan. We spent the day in the park. Tiger tracks were everywhere, including a male s on top of a females. Tiger tracks on the path in the morning that weren t there the night before! There were fresh Rhino tracks in several places. This is a place to pay attention. It was foggy and cold until about 8:30, then clear and warm. We saw about 75 birds species today including 7 species of woodpecker, Black- backed Forktail, minivets, drongos, 8 warbler species, and Lesser and Greater- necklaced Laughing thrush. Chitwan is an absolutely fantastic place to bird watch. If I hadn t already spend several days here before, I d would have skipped Lumbini and just concentrated on this fantastic lowland forest. The homestay that Ram set up was very economical and an interesting insight into how the locals go about their day. 2 Jan. Ram got me on the bus for the long 8- hour bus ride back to Katmandu. This was again about 10$. Ram Dev was a great guide and organizer for the entire trip, and let me see cultural aspects of Nepal I wouldn t have gotten from a more delue epensive typical birder trip. The Poon- hill trek was one of the great things I ve done in my life. I saw just over 225 bird species and over a dozen mammals. By the time I bought some interesting gifts I spent a little over 1000$ for two weeks. If I was visiting Nepal for the first time, I would recommend a trip similar to this. Start with a hike like the Poon Hill loop. I would probably recommend skipping Lumbini (unless you are particularly interested in Sarus Crane and Buddha) to cut down on bus days, and focus on Chitwan. It fairly easy to go looking for the Ibisbill for day (which I found on a previous trip with Ram) between Chitwan and Kathmandu. Kathmandu in the winter is very smoggy, and recently there have been numerous incidents of birders and hikers getting robbed in the nearby hills. It is a very interesting place to spend a day or two culturally though. Nepal Bird List Pokhara, Poon Hill Trail, Lumbini, and Chitwan Dec Jan 2014 Poon Hill Trek

7 Pokhara Naypul To Banthanti To Gorepani To Tadapani To Ghandruck To Tolka To Pothana Pokhara to Lumbini Lumbini Lumbini to Chitwan Chitwan Lesser Whistling-duck Ruddy Shelduck Garganey 3 Ferruginous Duck 1 Common Merganser 3 Rufus Woodpecker 1 Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker 5 Lesser Yellownape 4 Greater Yellownape 1 Grey-headed Woodpecker 2 Crimson-breasted Woodpecker Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker 8 Himalayan Flameback 1 Eurasian Wryneck Great Barbet 3 Blue-throated Barbet Lineated Barbet Oriental Pied Hornbill 4 Great Hornbill 6 Red-headed Trogan 2 Common Hoopoe 3 Common Kingfisher 1 Crested Kingfisher White-throated Kingfisher 10 5 Pied Kingfisher 1 6 Greater Coucal 2 Lesser Coucal 1 Green-billed Malkoha 1 Aleandrine Parakeet

8 Rose-ringed Parakeet 20 Plum-headed Parakeet lot Slaty-headed Paraqueet Himalayan Swiftlet Crested Treeswift 1 Asian Barred Owlet 3 Jungle Owlet 1 1 Spotted Owlet 1 Large-tailed Nightjar 1 Oriental Turtle Dove 1 4 Rock Dove Common Wood Pigeon 5 0 Ashy Wood Pigeon 80 Snow Pigeon 15 Spotted Dove 20 Eurasian Collared Dove Sarus Crane 6 Brown Crake 3 White-breasted Waterhen 10 Common Moorhen Common Sandpiper Common Greenshank 2 1 Temmick's Stint 3 Kentish Plover 1 Red-wattled Lapwing 8 Bronze-winged Jacana 30 Black Kite Black-shouldered Kite 2 Mountain Hawk-Eagle 3 Lammergier Himalayan Griffon Red-headed Vulture 2 Creasted Serpent Eagle 1 Shikra 1 White-eyed Buzzard 1 Himalayan Buzzard 2 Greater Spotted Eagle 1 Steppe Eagle 1

9 Black Eagle 1 Common Kestrel 2 Peregrine 1 Little Grebe Little Cormorant 2 4 Great Cormorant Grey Heron 1 Little Egret 10 5 Great Egret 10 Cattle Egret 10 + Indian Pond Heron 8 Black-crowned Night Heron Black Ibis 1 Black-headed Ibis 1 Asian Openbill 4 6 Black Stork 7 Woolly-necked Stork 4 Lesser Adjutant Orange-bellied Leafbird 2 Rugous-winged Bush Lark 1 Brown Shrike 2 1 Long-tailed Shrike 5 1 Grey-backed Shrike 1 Yellow-billed Blue Magpie Red-billed Blue Magpie Common Green Magpie 1 Rufus Treepie 1 Grey Treepie House Crow lot Large-billed Crow lot lot Black-hooded Oriole Maroon Oriole 1 Long-tailed Minivet 1 Scarlet Minivet Yellow-bellied Fantail 1

10 White-throated Fantail Bar-winged Flycatcher- Shrike Black Drongo 6 Bronzed Drongo 2 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 2 Blue Whistling Thrush Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush Grey-winged Blackbird 10 White-collared Blackbird 1 Plain-backed Thrush Dark-throated Thrush 8 Snowy-browed Flycatcher Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher 1 Taiga Flycatcher 6 Rusty-tailed Flycatcher 1 Verditer Flycatcher Pale-chinned Flycatcher Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher Rufus-bellied Niltava Small Niltava 1 Bluethroat 1 1 White-browed Bush Robin 2 Orange-flanked Bush Robin 6 Rufus-breasted Bush Robin Oriental Magpie Robin 4 White-rumped Shama 1 White-capped Water Redstart 2 Plumbeous Water Redstart Blue-fronted Redstart Black Redstart Little Forktail 1

11 Black-backed Forktail 1 Slaty-backed Forktail Spotted Forktail 1 Common Stonechat Pied Bushchat 10 Grey Bushchat 3 Asian Pied Starling 10 Common Myna 5 lot Jungle Myna Bank Myna 4 Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch 8 White-tailed Nuthatch 4 1 Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Wallcreeper Black-lored Tit (Eastern) Great Tit fe 1 w Green-backed Tit 4 8 Rufus-vented Tit 1 Black-throated Tit Black-chinned tit 3 Yellow-browed Tit Plain Martin 10 Barn Swallow Nepal House Martin 3 Himalayan Bulbul 8 Mountain Bulbul 2 Striated Bulbul 2 Red-vented Bulbul 12 4 lot Red-whiskered Bulbul 2 Black-crested Bulbul Black Bulbul Grey-breasted Prinia fe w Striated Prinia 2 Grey-crowned Prinia 1 Plain Prinia fe 5 w Zitting Cisticola 1

12 Oriental White-eye 5 Grey-bellied Tesia 1 Common Tailorbird 2 Blyth's Reed-warbler 2 Paddyfield Warbler Chiffchaff 4 Ashy-throated Warbler 2 Blyth's Leaf-warbler 2 3 Buff-barred Leafwarbler 2 Hume's Warbler 3 Lemon-rumped Warbler 2 3 Greenish Warbler Chestnut-crowned Warbler 3 Whistler s warbler 2 Grey-hooded Warbler 2 5 Black-faced Warbler White-throated laughingthrush Striated Laughingthrush Streaked Laughingthrush Black-faced Laughingthrush Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush 8 White-crested Laughthrush Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush 2 Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush 2 Streak-breasted Schimitar Babbler White-browed Schimitar Babbler 1 Black-headed Shrikebabbler 1 Grey-throated Babbler Black-chinned Babbler Striped Tit Babbler 4

13 Jungle Babbler 20 Red-tailed Minla 4 Chestnut-tailed Minla 2 White-browed Fluvetta 2 1 Rufus-vented Fluvetta 3 Rufus-winged Fluvetta Stripe-throated Yuhinia 6 1 Whiskered Yuhinia 6 4 White-bellied Yuhinia Rufus Sibia 8 25 Green-tailed Sunbirds 4 4 Purple Sunbird 1 8 Black-throated Sunbird Fire-tailed Sunbird Crimson Sunbird Russet Sparrow 8 House Sparrow lot Eurasian Tree Sparrow 20 White Wagtail lot 5 White-browed Wagtail Grey Wagtail Olive-backed Pipit fe w Paddy-field Pipit 3 Scaly-breasted Munia 15 Red Avadat 25 Rufus-breasted Accentor 1 1 Altai Accentor Spot-winged Rosefinch Dark-breasted Rosefinch 2 4 Pink-browed Rosefinch 5 Dark-rumped Rosefinch 3 3 Crimson-browed Finch Red-headed Bullfinch Red Crossbill Mammals Red-bellied Squirrel Blue Buck

14 Spotted Deer Barking Deer Sombre Deer Hog Deer Wild Boar macaque (Macca asamiensis) Himalayan Gray Langar Lowland Langar Indian Macaque Yellow-throated Martin Stoat? mongoose sp. Indian Jackal Tiger track Indian Rhino tracks Reptiles Mock Viper