Birdwatching in Dhanaulti(Uttarakahnd)

Since last 3 years , we didn't have any family outstation trip . So we all decided to visit Dhanaulti in 3rd week of April,2022. Though we have other popular hill station mussoori nearby and people use to have day trip to Dhanaulti since their are not much sight seeing their. We selected Dhanaulti since we all wanted to have peaceful time away from crowd and traffic. In past few years mussoori is very much commercialized. 

About Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti is a hill station situated in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan Range located 115 km (71 mi) from New Tehri in Uttarakhand. Dhanaulti includes an area with two eco-parks, "Amber" and "Dhara", about 200 m apart. They have been developed by the Forest Department of Uttarakhand. It houses a protected patch of small forest containing Deodar Trees.

How to Reach Dhanaulti 

We boarded Shatabdi Express from New Delhi Railway station and reached Dehradun. The train leaves at 6:45 AM from NDLS and reach Dehradun at 12:50 PM. From Dehradun 2.5Hrs beautiful road journey is their. 

Birdwatching in Dhanaulti

Though it was a family trip, still I spent my 3 morning in the trails searching for birds. Dhanaulti is situated at an altitude of 2,286 M above sea level. It is a natural retreat that boasts tall trees and rich grasslands. 

I stayed in Glamwood resort which is around 1.2 KMs from the main market , basically outside the city. It is connected with city with mud track which is full of trees on both sides. On first morning I went upside towards Eco Park (Amber) and looking out on the way. Hill Partridges were continuously calling in the morning. I got a chance to see one of them but couldn't click since it was so fast to move or I was not fast enough since my hands were inside pockets. Temperature in morning was 10-15 degrees and I was wearing only light pullover. Never realized it would fall to 10 degress in morning and evening . 

Outside of Eco Park , when I was reading the timings of it to open I heard a different call which let me recognise it to be Black and Yellow Grossbeak. They are in abundance in Dhanaulti and its a residence species. I was lucky to click one of them at eye level. 

Black and Yellow Grossbeak

Furthermore, I get to see the common species which are found at this altitude being Hill Partridge, Gray-Hooded Warbler, Ultramarine flycatcher, Verditer flycatcher , Common Hawk Cuckoo, Common Cuckoo, Black Throated Tit, Green Backed Tit and other commoners. As I reached close to the Eco-Park I spotted a sunbird which I have never seen in my life so far. Still I was able to id the Mrs. Gould's Sunbird , a lifer for me. I got just couple of shot and then it flew away. Around 7 am I reached Eco-Park and realized it opens at 8 AM, so I spend rest of my time in Eco Huts Vicinity which is opposite to Eco-Park. I was able to get good view of Black and Yellow Grosbeaks here as well. Adults, Immatures and female all of them sitting on top of deodhar trees and continously calling in morning. I saw total 17 of them along with minivets, cuckoos, warblers and other common species. 

Day 1 Checklist - https://ebird.org/checklist/S107153121

Second Day I was determined to explore Eco-Park. Started my usual time of 6 AM from resort ,Walking and looking for birds on the trail leading to Eco-Park. I explored the Eco-Huts first which are in front of Eco-Park but more or less same birds species like yesterday. 

I was feeling bit hungry and it was 7:30 AM , still 30 minutes left with opening of Eco-Park. I ordered one Veg Maggi and cup of tea from the shop their. They were preparing and I see Fire-Breasted Flowerpecker keeps on coming their. Both male and female were having nuts from the tree it was a nice company with me for breakfast. Got lovely shots of it , what a small creature with beautiful colors. Later I also clicked Scarlet Minivet and Gray-Winged Black Bird at same place. After having my tea it was 8 Am and purchased my entry ticket (50Rs Adult and 25Rs Child) and entered the park. Eco Park is such a beautiful exotic place. Deodar Trees and their beautiful fragrance is all over the park. All these tree looks like elder brothers to me, standing talk and somehow I felt like having a snap while with Deadar. 

Fire-Breasted Flowerpecker

As I walk through the trails inside the park stopping where I see the bird activity. In the middle of common birds, suddenly one thrush came and sat on top of Deodar and started calling. Very beautiful call and it was Scaly Thrush. Without wasting any moment got some clicks and observer the bird for 5 minutes with my Binoculars. Observing birds with Binoculars has its own charm, it helps learn the behavior of the birds. 

Scaly Thrush

After walking for around 2 KMs up the trail I reached at view point where i could see the snow covered peaks on one side and green vegetation on the other side. Mesmerizing view indeed. The calls of Scaly Thrush made it even pleasant their. I could see 5 of them their. As I walk around came to know the place is used for Potato farming and Apple Orchirds. I spent time till 11:30 their and came back after that. '

Sunset from the Resort was awesome as well. A sunset is always a perfect conclusion. It's a glorious conflagration that is balzed with eye-popping colors and yet produce no warmth. I always love the appearance of silky, smooth collusions of sky burst red and yellow. 

In the evening on everyday I could hear Mountain Scops Owl calling from nearby . I could also hear calls of Grey-Eared Nightjar but that was far. Today I went for night birding for an hour in hope of getting mountain scops owl. I reached the spot where the call was prominent. But I was not able to spot it since spotting a Mountain Scops owl in Deadar is very difficult task. I recorded its call though to confirm its presence.

Day-2 Checklists 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107251284

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107256300

Third and last day of the trip I went in opposite direction on the trail which leads to a village (Don't know the name) , since I have to return by 9:30 AM today. First bird of the day was Common Cuckoo sitting on the top of the tree and calling. Common Cuckoo's call is used in Cuckoo Clocks as well. 

Common Cuckoo in Fine Morning at Dhanaulti

The trail was on the decent and road was not good. Near the village their is water pipeline which is used by Hotels in Dhanulti for their water requirements. So you could expect lot of tempo's on this mud road. 

Since I was decending and sunlight has not reached there, the activity was very low. The forest was also getting dense near the village. I started back in hope of getting good bird activity on my return since sun was shining bright now. 

Fire Capped Tit

Fire-breasted Flower Pecker

Lot of birds I spotted while coming back Slaty Blue Flycather, Verditter Flycatcher, Ultra-Marine Flycather, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Maroon Oriole, Fire-Capped Tit, Yellow-Browed Tit, Bar-Tailed Treecreeper Green-Backed Tit, Black-Lored Tit, Speckeld Piculet, Slaty-Headed Parakeet, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Collared owlet, Mrs Gould's Sunbird to name a few. 

Mrs Gould's Sunbird 

Yellow-Browed Tit

Day-3 Checklist

https://ebird.org/checklist/S107355057

Around 10 AM I reached resort . Packed the stuff and got ready for coming back. We started from Dhanaulti at around 11 AM and reached Dehradun at 1:30 PM . We had our dinner at Sher-e-Punjab restaurant in Dehradun. The food was amazing and specially Jackfruit cooked with local spices. We boarded the Dehradun - Delhi Shatabadi and reached Delhi 11PM.

Do Let me know how you like my trip report. It will be great if you share your experience visiting Dhanaulti . Please feel free to reachout in case of any queries or help needed for planning a trip to Dhanaulti. I can be reached out at

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