Birding At Eaglenest – Around Lama Camp

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (Eaglenest); it was a place that I had been wanting to bird at for quite a while. It is a protected area in the Himalayan foothills of the West Kemang District in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. It has altitude ranging from 500 meters to 3250 meters. This variation in altitude and its geo-location makes it one of the most biodiversity rich places in the world. And it is considered one of the must visit places for birders in India.

Rahul and I were on a 10 day birding trip to the Eaglenest and a few other places like Sela Pass, Mandala etc. When on a birding trip to Eaglenest, the default two places that you base yourself at are the Lama Camp and the Bompu Camp. With regards to Lama Camp, we were going to spend 2 days of birding around it. Our stay at the Lama Camp itself was to be only for 1 night whereas we would be staying for 3 nights in Bompu Camp. Technically the Lama Camp is not part of the Eaglenest Sanctuary. But when heading to Eaglenest Sanctuary, the road you drive on passes through the Lama Camp. It is run by someone from the Bugun Community that manages this part of the hill.

The first day of the trip was spent flying into Guwahati and then travelling to Tenga Valley where we would be spending the night. Here a scene from a stop we made enroute.

If you are wondering if we got to see birds on this first day, well of course we did. Read my blog post here on the special sightings.

We were up and early on the second day of our trip. We were both wondering what the day would bring us given that it was going to be our first visit to the famed birding site. The weather however was not encouraging at all; it was raining quite heavily when we boarded the car. And there was rain predicted for most of the day too 😦 . Well, we were not to be discouraged. We would make the most of our being there. Luggage loaded, we started our drive towards Eaglenest. The first stop was a check post. Dombe went into the office to pay for the community and camera fees for us. Rahul and I stepped out the car in the hope of seeing or hearing some birds. It was raining quite a bit. And there was mist all around. Bird activity was very low. But we managed to see a small flock of birds fly by; Yellow-breasted Greenfinches.

With the formalities completed, we headed on and began the drive up slowly. Some time later the rain stopped allowing us to open the car windows. And very soon we had our first bird activity and that too a lifer for both of us; a pair of Himalayan Cutia.

Further ahead we stopped at the Ranger Station and Tourist Facilitation Centre.

And there was quite a bit of bird activity behind the centre. They were a few Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush and Yellow-bellied Fantails.

The main patch around Lama Camp that we birded on besides the birding on the road, was a trail off the main road. We did 4 sessions (2 in the first half and 2 in the afternoon) on this trail looking for birds. Here is us at the entrance of the trail:

There was still mist around as we explored the area. However the rain stopped in between for some time thankfully. The walking path was wet all over. So we had to be careful about our footing in some place were it had become somewhat slushy. That did not stop us though 🙂 . Here are some photos of different views on the trail:

We really liked the trail. We got to see many birds and hear even more. We are pretty sure that had the weather been better, we would have seen much more activity. Here are some of the birds that I managed to photograph in the mist:

But some birds that I had hoped to see but only managed to hear were the Bugun Liocichla, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, Spotted Elachura, Hume’s Bush Warbler and Scaly-breasted Cupwing. Better luck next time I guess 🙂 .

Here is how Lama Camp looks like:

There were birds around the camp as well. Here are some of the beauties that showed up:

Dombe and Shankar decided to treat us to some “wild food” for dinner 🙂 . Here is them collecting some greens and mushrooms growing in the wild at the end of birding in the evening:

The cooks at the camp obliged by cooking them for dinner 🙂 .

The night was pitch dark. We were excited to hear the Grey Nightjar and the Mountain Scops-Owl. Early morning brought in the chorus right from 4AM. The first one was the Large Hawk-Cuckoo. This one was later joined by the Grey Nightjar, Mountain Scops-Owl, Hill Patridge and a couple of Collared Owlets. What a way to welcome the morning!

The road to Eaglenest Sanctuary had us driving all the way up to Eaglenest Pass and then into the sanctuary. This section also brought us quite a number of birds, though it was raining and remained misty throughout. Here are some of the birds that I managed to photograph:

Here are the Gaur and the Orange-bellied Himalayan Squirrel that we saw when birding:

Video

Here is a short video I put together for this section and some of the sightings.

Summary

Did this section surrounding the Eaglenest Sanctuary live up to our expectations? Well, a definite yes! The period that we went (April) of the year was not expected to have much rain. But I guess the weather patterns across the world is becoming more unpredictable. Even with the rain and mist during the days we spent there, we still got to see a lot of birds. I can only imagine what the bird activity would have been had the weather been better 🙂 .

Here are some things you need to know about Lama Camp and the surrounding area:

• You already know about the weather by now. It is supposed to follow a pattern but then can change very fast too 🙂
• The Lama Camp itself is pretty basic in terms of infrastructure. You will be sleeping in tents. It can get really cold during some months of the year. There is only power for a few hours in the evening as it is entirely run on power generator. They switch it off once your dinner is done. There is no running water. They store and make water available in a barrel. It is also a good idea to take along a multi-point power extension box, given that power sockets available in the dinning area is limited.
• Much of the birding is done from the road. You drive for some time, stop when you see a decent patch or hear bird calls. You also walk on the road and bird
• The off road trail that we went through was great. If it is wet, you need to make sure you have footwear with good grip
• Birds are often shy and can disappear. So my recommendation is to try and see them through the binoculars first, especially if they are lifers for you. Photographing them can the next step 🙂 . And some you may end up only hearing their call/song
• Knowing the birds by their calls is very important. Their calls is usually the first indicator of the bird’s presence. So getting a guide, if you are not familiar with it, with this knowledge will be very useful
• Sometimes you get bird waves; basically a mixed flock of birds suddenly passing through. It can be sometimes overwhelming trying to figure our which birds they are and which one to look at or photograph; a good problem to have 😉
• Days start early and finish early in this part of the country. So be mentally and physically ready for it