North East Birdwatching Specialist Tour

Route: Arrive Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati; transfer to hotel

Your driver meets you at the airport. If you land by early afternoon, drive out to Deepor Beel, a large wetland on the edge of the city and a Ramsar site. In winter and early spring it holds ducks, storks and waders, and the city's Greater adjutant storks often feed nearby.

Otherwise, rest and meet your bird guide for a briefing in the evening.

Experience of the Day

• Airport pickup and check-in

• Deepor Beel, if time allows

• Briefing with your bird guide

Food

Recommended: Paradise, a long-running Guwahati restaurant, for an Assamese thali.

Must-Try: Masor tenga, a light, sour fish curry.

Activities to Do

• Rest after the flight

• Wetland birding at Deepor Beel

Route: Guwahati to Potasali, Nameri, about 220 km, 5 hours

The road crosses the Brahmaputra and runs north to the foot of the Arunachal hills. Nameri sits where the Jia Bhoroli leaves the hills, and the forest joins Pakke Tiger Reserve across the state border.

In the afternoon, bird the river bank and the camp grounds. Riverside species, kingfishers and raptors are common.

Experience of the Day

• Drive to the foothills

• Afternoon along the Jia Bhoroli

• Evening bird list with your guide

Food

Recommended: Dinner at your camp or bungalow.

Must-Try: Fish from the river, cooked simply with mustard, the Assamese way.

Activities to Do

• Drive to Nameri

• River-bank birding

Route: Potasali, Nameri National Park

Cross the Jia Bhoroli by boat and walk into the forest with an armed forest guard. Nameri is a stronghold of the White-winged wood duck, critically endangered and Assam's state bird. It feeds on quiet forest pools, often at dawn.

The river's shingle banks are good for Ibisbill in the cooler months, and hornbills move through the canopy. In the afternoon, a gentle raft float gives a different angle on the river birds.

Note on walking in Nameri

Walks are led by the forest department's armed guards, who set the route and pace. Wear dull colours and closed shoes. Elephants live in this forest.

Experience of the Day

• Forest walk with an armed guard

• Search for the White-winged wood duck

• River float for waterbirds

Food

Recommended: Lunch at your camp or bungalow.

Must-Try: Assam tea from the gardens around Nameri.

Activities to Do

• Guided forest walk

• Raft float on the Jia Bhoroli

Route: Nameri to Bhalukpong, Tenga and Lama Camp, about 150 km, 6 to 7 hours

At Bhalukpong you enter Arunachal Pradesh, and your Protected Area Permit is checked. The road climbs through the Kameng valley towards Tenga, then turns up towards Singchung and Lama Camp.

Stops on the way are for birds, not sightseeing. Your guide will pull over where flocks are moving. You reach camp in the late afternoon, at about 2,350 metres. Nights are cold here, even in spring.

Note on permits

Every foreign national needs a Protected Area Permit for Arunachal Pradesh. BizareXpedition applies through a registered local agency, with a USD 30 royalty per person. Carry your passport; it is checked at the state border.

Experience of the Day

• Entry into Arunachal Pradesh

• Birding stops through the Kameng valley

• First night at Lama Camp

Food

Recommended: Hot dinner at the camp's dining tent.

Must-Try: Thukpa, a noodle soup, is often on the camp menu.

Activities to Do

• Drive to Eaglenest

• Roadside birding

Route: Forest trails and roads around Lama Camp and Singchung

The Bugun liocichla was first seen here in 1995 and described to science in 2006 by Ramana Athreya, an astrophysicist and birder. It is named after the Bugun people, in whose community forest it was found. Only a few birds were known when it was described, and it is still found in this one small area.

Your Bugun guide knows the bird's territories. The search is along scrub and forest edge near the camp, early in the morning, when it calls. A sighting is likely with patience, but never certain.

The rest of the day covers the forest around camp for laughingthrushes, fulvettas, sunbirds and mixed flocks.

The Human Story

In 2017, the Bugun community of Singchung set aside 17 square kilometres of their forest as a community reserve. Young people from the village run patrols with the forest department, and the reserve won an India Biodiversity Award in 2018. Birders' fees and guiding work help keep that effort going.

Experience of the Day

• Search for the Bugun liocichla

• Mixed flocks in the temperate forest

• Evening log at camp

Food

Recommended: All meals at the camp.

Must-Try: Butter tea, if the camp kitchen makes it.

Activities to Do

• Liocichla search with a Bugun guide

• Forest birding around Lama Camp

Route: Lama Camp to Eaglenest Pass (about 2,800 m) and back

Today climbs towards Eaglenest Pass. The forest changes as you rise: oaks and rhododendrons, then bamboo and fir. The birds change with it. Tragopans, Fire-tailed myzornis and high-altitude flocks are possible near the top.

Eaglenest runs from about 450 metres at Doimara to about 3,200 metres at its highest point. That range of height, packed into a small area, is why nearly 500 bird species have been recorded here. Each band of forest holds its own set of birds.

Note on altitude and cold

The pass is at about 2,800 metres. Walk slowly and dress in layers; mornings can be near freezing in March.

Experience of the Day

• The climb to Eaglenest Pass

• High-altitude flocks

• Rhododendron and fir forest

Food

Recommended: Packed lunch in the field.

Must-Try: Hot tea from a flask on the pass.

Activities to Do

• Birding to the pass

• Afternoon around Lama Camp

Route: Lama Camp over Eaglenest Pass to Bompu Camp, about 25 km

The road crosses Eaglenest Pass and drops down the far side through thick broadleaf forest. The distance is short, but the whole day is spent on it, stopping for flocks.

Bompu sits at about 1,940 metres, lower and warmer than Lama. This is the zone for Ward's trogon, Beautiful nuthatch and many babblers and warblers.

Experience of the Day

• Birding over the pass

• Descent into broadleaf forest

• Arrival at Bompu Camp

Food

Recommended: All meals at the camp.

Must-Try: Simple camp dal and rice, cooked fresh.

Activities to Do

• Roadside birding over the pass

• Evening at Bompu

Route: Bompu Camp and the road down towards Sessni (about 1,250 m)

Morning around Bompu, then down the road to Sessni at about 1,250 metres. Lower down, the forest is warmer and wetter, and the bird list shifts again, with more lowland species and hornbills.

Mammals are possible too. Red panda, black bear and the Arunachal macaque have all been recorded in Eaglenest, though sightings are rare. Eaglenest also has more than 420 butterfly species, and spring is a good time to see them.

Experience of the Day

• Bompu at dawn

• Sessni and the lower forest

• Butterflies along the road

Food

Recommended: All meals at the camp.

Must-Try: Local oranges, when in season.

Activities to Do

• Birding at Bompu

• Birding down to Sessni

Route: Bompu to Tenga, Bhalukpong and Kohora, about 240 km, 9 to 10 hours

This is the longest day of the trip. The road returns over the pass and down to Bhalukpong, then crosses the Brahmaputra at Tezpur and runs east to Kaziranga. You reach the lodge in the evening.

Your guide will stop for any good flock on the way down, but most of today is driving.

Note on the long drive

Mountain roads in Arunachal can be slowed by landslides or road works. The early start leaves slack in the day.

Experience of the Day

• Last birds of Eaglenest

• Descent to the Assam plain

• Evening at Kaziranga

Food

Recommended: Packed breakfast; lunch on the road; dinner at your lodge.

Must-Try: Duck with ash gourd, a traditional Assamese dish, where the lodge kitchen offers it.

Activities to Do

• Transfer to Kaziranga

Route: Kohora (Central range) and Bagori (Western range)

Kaziranga's tall grassland is home to grassland birds that are hard to find anywhere else, such as the Bengal florican and Swamp francolin. Raptors are common, including Pallas's fish eagle in the wetlands.

The grassland exists because of the Brahmaputra. Its yearly flood leaves fresh silt that feeds the grass. From about February the old grass is burned back, and the open ground makes birds and mammals easier to see. Kaziranga also holds about two-thirds of the world's greater one-horned rhinos.

Experience of the Day

• Grassland birds in the Central range

• Western range wetlands

• Rhinos and wild buffalo

Food

Recommended: Meals at the lodge.

Must-Try: Assam tea, plain or with milk.

Activities to Do

• Central range jeep safari

• Western range jeep safari

Route: Agaratoli (Eastern range) and Ghorakati (Burapahar range)

The Eastern range has large wetlands with nesting Spot-billed pelicans, storks and wintering ducks. It is the best range in the park for waterbirds.

The afternoon safari goes to Burapahar, hilly and forested, with forest birds and primates.

Note on safaris

Slots and routes are set by the forest department. This plan uses jeep safaris only, not elephant-back rides.

Experience of the Day

• Eastern range pelicans and wetlands

• Burapahar forest birds

Food

Recommended: Meals at the lodge.

Must-Try: Pitha, Assamese rice cakes.

Activities to Do

• Eastern range jeep safari

• Burapahar jeep safari

Route: Kohora to Digboi via Jorhat and Dibrugarh district, about 280 km, 6 to 7 hours

The road runs east through Upper Assam's tea country. Digboi is an old oil town; oil was struck here in the late 19th century, and one of Asia's oldest refineries still works in the town.

Arrive in time for an evening walk at the edge of the lowland forest.

Experience of the Day

• Drive through Upper Assam

• Evening birding at the forest edge

Food

Recommended: Dinner at your hotel.

Must-Try: Khar, a dish made with an alkaline extract from dried banana peel.

Activities to Do

• Transfer to Digboi

• Evening walk

Route: Dihing Patkai National Park, then Margherita and Miao to Deban, about 110 km

Dihing Patkai holds the largest stretch of lowland rainforest in India and became a national park in 2020. It is an important site for the White-winged wood duck and has three hornbill species. Spend the morning on its forest trails.

After lunch, drive east into Arunachal again and on to Miao, the gateway to Namdapha. The last 26 km to Deban run through forest along the Noa-Dihing river.

Experience of the Day

• Morning in Dihing Patkai rainforest

• Forest road from Miao to Deban

• Evening by the Noa-Dihing

Food

Recommended: Dinner at the rest house, cooked by the camp team.

Must-Try: Simple Tangsa or Singpho-style dishes, if the local cook offers them.

Activities to Do

• Rainforest birding

• Drive to Deban

Route: Deban, across the river towards Haldibari

Namdapha covers nearly 2,000 square kilometres and rises from about 200 metres to more than 4,500 metres. It is often described as the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforest in the world, lying at about 27 degrees north.

Cross the Noa-Dihing and walk the trail towards Haldibari. Hornbills, including the Great hornbill, feed in fruiting trees, and the forest holds babblers, broadbills and other rainforest birds. The Snowy-throated babbler, a regional specialty, is a target in the bamboo and scrub.

Note on Namdapha

The trails are muddy and leech-prone after rain. Wear long socks and closed shoes. Your forest guide sets the route.

Experience of the Day

• River crossing into Namdapha

• Rainforest trail towards Haldibari

• Hornbills in fruiting trees

Food

Recommended: Packed lunch on the trail; dinner at the rest house.

Must-Try: Fresh fruit from Miao market.

Activities to Do

• Guided walk across the river

• Birding on the forest trails

Route: Deban and the Miao–Deban road

The morning is on the trails near Deban. The afternoon works the forest along the Miao road, where flocks cross the open track and are easier to see.

Namdapha is also a tiger reserve and has recorded tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard, as well as the hoolock gibbon. Mammal sightings are rare in the dense forest, but calls at dawn are common.

Experience of the Day

• Forest trails near Deban

• Flocks along the Miao road

• Final bird log

Food

Recommended: Dinner at the rest house.

Must-Try: Local tea at Miao.

Activities to Do

• Morning trail walk

• Afternoon roadside birding

Route: Deban to Dibrugarh airport, about 186 km, 5 hours

The road runs back through Miao and Margherita to Dibrugarh. Your driver drops you at the airport, which has direct flights to Delhi and Kolkata.

Experience of the Day

• Last morning in Namdapha

• Airport drop at Dibrugarh

Food

Recommended: Early breakfast at the rest house.

Must-Try: A last cup of Assam tea on the way.

Activities to Do

• Transfer to Dibrugarh

• Onward flight