Birdwatching In Dharamshala & Pong Dam

"Happiness is meeting an old friend after long time, it becomes double when he is bird watching expert in his region and it triples when you are planning to visit that place from long. "

There was time when Piyush Dogra use to stay in Gurgaon and we use to go bird watching every weekend. Piyush being natively from Dharamshala, use to share his stories of birdwatching around Dharmshala. For me birdwatching with him was very precious moment of life, I can also say with him I learnt a lot about birds in the field. I use to ask him pointers of every commonly found bird as well and he would always help me with the same. With him I also published 3 of Snapshot Sighting in Indian Birds Journal which were sighted after long time in NCR. Jungle Bush Quails , Whimbrel and Persian Wheatear were those wonderful sightings with him.From long time I wanted to visit this place and Nawal called me and asked me for plans for visiting Dharamshala in 2021 Winters. We planned the trip for Nov first week, kind of perfect week since migration was ongoing and we can get some surprises in Pong Dam. Post checking availability from Piyush we booked our flight tickets. 
About Dharamshala
Planned Itinerary

Dharamshala is a city in the upper reaches of the Kangra Valley and is surrounded by dense coniferous forest consisting mainly of stately Deodar cedar trees. The City is winter capital for Himachal Pradesh State. This place is also famous for its Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (2003) and McLeod Ganj town, lying in the upper reaches, is known worldwide for being the home of the Dalai Lama. 

One can see the Dhauladhar Range from Dharamshala , also known as The White Range. The Dhauladhar range is one of the ranges of the Middle Himalayas. They begin from near Dalhousie at the northwest end of Himachal Pradesh and pass through the state to the vicinity of the bank of the Beas River in the Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh. They begin to merge with the Pir Panjal near Manali. They are entirely in Himachal Pradesh. They are distinctive in their typical dark granite rocky formations with a remarkably steep rise culminating in sharp streaks of snow and ice at the top of their crested peaks. This distinctive profile is best seen from the Kangra Valley from where they seem to shoot up almost vertically.

During our visit, we tend to explore Dharamshala surroundings and Pong Dam. Following was planned itinerary

05-Nov-2021(Friday)- Reach Dharamshala from Delhi and Birdwatching around Paragliding Fields
06-Nov-2021(Saturday) Birdwatching around Ghallu Devi Temple Area

07-Nov-2021(Sunday) Birdwatching in Pong Dam
08-Nov-2021(Monday) Morning Birdwatching in Paragliding Fields and evening around St John Church

09-Nov-2021(Tuesday) Morning Session in Tea Gardens and Departure to Delhi

Myself and Nawal booked our flights for 05-Nov morning departure. Piyush and myself checked with Hemant as well, he told he cannot join but later he agreed to join but he travelled by car to Palampur with his friend and then joined us till 07 Nov afternoon. I reached airport at 5:30 AM morning , bag drop and check in was really quick. Flight departed at its scheduled time of 07:30 AM. It was SpiceJet propeller flight with 2 by 2 siting. We landed at Gaggal Kangra airport at 9 AM. 

Day 1 -Arrival at Dharamshala and Birdwatching around Paragliding Fields

The moment I shifted my phone from Airplane Mode , it started buzzing with messages of miss call alerts and WhatsApp Notification. They all were from Hemant. I called him and he asked me where are you and he has seen around thousands of Common Wood Pigeons near Paragliding fields. One of the rare Pigeon found in Indian Subcontinent. The numbers were very good . I took my luggage and called the driver. Before settling in car, got my gear out and put birdwatching shoes on.

Gaggal Airport or Kangra Airport is around 13 Kms from Dharamshala , instead of going to hotel we went directly towards paragliding fields which was around 15 Km a 35 minutes journey from Airport. We reached their around at 10 AM and sunlight was quite bright by that time. We had our breakfast first since Piyush has to leave for his Office Work. We were gonna spend our entire day around this place only with Hemant along with us. He has already seen the area with Piyush in morning. 

Yellow-Breasted Greenfinch

After breakfast we started our session around paragliding fields. Sun was quite bright but still I could feel the chill in the breeze. The area was quite rich with shrubs on the slopes and tall trees as well. Some common Himalayan birds like Yellow Breasted Green Finches, Egyptian Vultures, Himalayan Griffon Vultures, Great Barbets, Blue Throated Barbets, Green Backed Tits, Cinerous Tits, Variegated laughing Thrushes and Yellow-Bellied Fairy Fantails were seen occasionally.

Common Chaffinch

Around 1 and half hour passed and I witnessed the huge flock of Common Wood Pigeon passed over my head and circled in the valley. It would be thousands of Common Wood Pigeons and was quite a sight to remember. A blissful moment of the day , they circled for 15 minutes and then sat on the tree way behind. We keep on searching the vicinity for our prime target Common Chaffinch. After quite a struggle I spotted a couple of  females on the tree which was followed by a male. They stayed for couple of minutes and then moved. Chaffinch males are quite distinctive in field with Pink face and breast while females are drabber. Common Chaffinch was lifer for all three of us and we were so happy to see this beauty on the first day . Dharamshala is considered as hotspot for Common Chaffinch and Bramblings. Though Chaffinches are seen at lot of other places, but Bramblings are seen in Dharamshala and Kashmir mostly. 

Black-Throated Accentor

Around a small puddle of mud their was water and observed the accentors are coming to drink water their. Rufous Breasted Accentors and Black Throated Accentors were commonly seen their as well.

Rufous-Breasted Accentor

Accentors remain in small bushes under the trees. They move quite swiftly and rarely will come out in open and sit on the branch. Accentors are fairly drab species with thin sharp bills. They feed on small ground-dwelling insects in summer while seeds and berries in Winters. We took a break for lunch since sun was at its full bloom. We took lunch at same restaurant and he cooked fresh food for us . Lunch was followed by tea and some rest sitting in sunshade with cool breeze blowing around. 

Common Wood Pigeons

Second half started at around 2:30 around same area but different trail this time. We were searching for Red Headed Bull Finch , a spot was suggested by Piyush so we were looking for it. We went downhill from one side and come uphill from other side and on the way we spot Common Wood Pigeons sitting on tree and ground. Managed to get some decent shots of them in good light. Apart from Wood Pigeons, we get to see Steppe Eagle soaring in the clean skies, Griffons,  Blue Throated and Great Barbets feeding on berries, Lemon Rumped Warblers and other commoners. At around 4:30 we started back and stopped on the way to check another area on the way to Dharamshala.

Asian Barred Owlet

Common birds with likes of Gray Bushchat, Blue-fronted Redstart, Plumbeous Redstart, White-capped Redstart, Long Tailed Shrike were spotted their. Asian Barred Owlet was sitting on beautiful perch watching us and not feeling disturbed of our presence.  

With Asian Barred Owlet, we summed up our Day 1 and left for our accommodation. Piyush booked one of his relative's place for us. We checked into Funky Town hotel in Norbulinka slightly outside of Dharamshala. After taking bath I had talk with family and ordered food. It was quite cold in night but I managed to sleep well due to fatigue from entire day. Since it was gonna be early birdwatching and shops doesn't open quite early, we asked restaurant to boil eggs and prepare some sandwiches for us. 

Checklists of the day

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97142169

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97143430

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97144441

Day 2 -Birdwatching around Ghallu Temple

Coal Tit

I woke up at 4AM and left from hotel at 4:30 AM. We met Piyush on the way , Naval got into his car while I was with Hemant in his car. It was terrible road to Ghallu Temple, in fact it was not a road just a mud path to reach at temple. 

Ghallu is one of the budding hotspot around Dharamshala to observer Himalayan species. Due to high altitude difference between Ghallu and Dharamshala , makes it more promising birdwatching destinations. 

Green-Backed Tit

Piyush took us to the trail toward Temple . In morning session in this trail we observed 34 species and highlights being collared owlet, Himalayan Griffon, Steppe Eagles, Yellow Billed and Red Billed magpies, coal tits, green backed tits, buff-barred warblers, Lemon Rumped warblers, gray hooded warbler, chestnut-tailed minla, white tailed nuthatch, chestnut thrushes, pink browed rose finches and chaffinch. It was fun filled session indeed with multiple of lifers over their. With hilly train we were able to see birds at eye level as well, which make it easier to photograph and observe them. With sun light coming the place was very happening indeed. After spending 3 hours, we came back on the road for breakfast. We had sandwiches along with fresh tea . 

Collared Owlet

Around 11 AM we took the other route around and went on exploring the other trail. Though activity was less due to sunlight but the session lit up when we saw a small accipiter flying over us. It appeared like a Eurasian Sparrow hawk, but with dark gular stripe visible we were certain it to be Besra. Besra is rarely seen accipiter. Along with that we also saw Griffon Vultures and steppe eagles gliding over us multiple times. A Single bearded vulture was also spotted. 

Black-Headed Jay

On one fruiting tree I also witnessed slaty headed parakeets, rufous sibias and Himalayan bulbuls feeding on berries. I sat their for around 30 minutes witnessing them feeding on berries. Same place we also got amazing views of striated and variegated laughing thrushes. Around one restaurant which was closed in afternoon we say Eurasian jay feeding on left outs. In afternoon, activity dropped since light was very harsh and we came back for lunch. We stopped into restaurant and ordered food for us. The guy freshly prepared the food and we has wonderful lunch followed by Tea. We rested in restaurant for a bit since sun light was very bright and activity was also very less . 

Brownish-Flanked Bush Warbler

We started evening session around 3PM and we were welcomed in field by flock of 25 common wood pigeons. I can still remember the sound of them going over the head . Around the temple trail we heard Brownish Flanked Bush Warbler calling from undergrowth bushes. With couple of playbacks it came in open . It was lifer for me and it stayed out for a while. It gave us ample amount of time to observe and photograph it. With the sunset approaching, it was getting dark and we observe lot of thrushes going for roosting. We wrapped up our session around 6 PM and came back to hotel. Today Piyush has joined us in hotel and we had drinks and dinner together. I ordered Thupka for myself since I wanted to keep it less oily for dinner. We slept at around 11 PM and breakfast was ordered in night for tomorrow morning. 

Checklists of the day

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97178847

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97180361

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97183362

Day 3 -Birdwatching in Pong Dam

Sunrise & Pong landscape

Today was the day to appreciate birds at Pong Dam, one of the famous hotspot in North India which is declared as International wetland site by Ramsar Sammel India. Pong Dam is constructed on River Beas in the Wet Land of Shivalik hills of Kangra District and also known as Maharana Pratap Sagar . The reservoir stretches to an area of 24,529 hectares and part of lake is 15,662 hectares. 

Jackal

We left from hotel at 4:30 AM since it was gonna take around 1 hour to reach Pong Dam. I was with Hemant in his car while Nawal settled in Piyush's car. Piyush told Dr. Abhinav is also going to join today. We were also expecting David Stanton , a birdwatcher from Goa who travels a lot. Reaching at Pong Dam we were first welcomed by couple of Golden Jackals in the open field. They were quire bold and let us took wonderful clicks of them. A moments later Piyush called us and told Imperial Eagle is sitting on left side near the carcass. It was quite a bold fellow let us appreciate it from quite close with wonderful shots of it. 

Imperial Eagle

Imperial Eagle was on migration route and it halts at Pong Dam for few days before moving lower parts of India. Some individuals also winter in Haryana state , where we see them every weekend in outskirts of Sultanpur National Park. Abhinav called Piyush and told he has located a huge flock of Eurasian Skylarks and Bimaculated Larks, both turned out to be my lifers. Their were plenty of them and to my estimation around 100 of Eurasian Skylarks and 70 Bimaculated larks in beautiful morning light. 

Eurasian Skylark

Next we stop nearby water body to scan the area . We decided to split up , otherwise covering up entire area would be quite difficult. Myself and Hemant accompanied Abhinav in his car while Piyush & Nawal stayed near water body to scan for ducks and waders. We drove towards the scrubs inside the dam and spotted Variable Wheatear, Snipes, Shrikes, Indian Roller and other grassland species in the area. 

Kentish Plover

If u are doing birdwatching for spotting waterfowls, spotting scope is must have indeed. Due to large waterbody u definitely need a good spotting scope. In the marshy areas we get to see lot of   Little ringed and Kentish plovers. Kentish were in beautiful breeding plumage with rufous on their head. In first time I get to see more than 60 great crested grebes siting in one line. Around 12 PM Hemant bid adieu to us and left for Faridabad since it was gonna be long drive for him back home. On another side Piyush lost his phone somewhere. While having a walk by the shore I bumped into great Thick-Knee. They breed here in pong dam.  

Great Thicknee

Piyush told me Eurasian Oystercatcher is also reported few days ago from Pong Dam. Oystercatcher can be seen easily around the coast in India but for inline records are quite rare and one could see them in migration only. My friend Piyush lost is mobile somewhere in the grassland, we were continously trying to find it by visiting the spots again and again. 

We met David Stanton at Pong Dam and had morning session with him. He came all the way from Goa by driving along with her wife for birdwatching in North India. He had tent setup on the roof of his car Scorpio which they transform to sleep at night. He was also carrying drone with him and he recorded some amazing pictures of Pong Landscape. David left at afternoon since he has to drive till Haiderpur Wetlands. 

Red-Throated Pipit

Pong used to get a lot of water and buff-bellied pipits every season. Buff-Bellied was lifer for me so I was continuously scanning the field for them and light was quite harsh as well. Suddenly I saw 3 pipits which has lot of streaking and appeared red in color to me. I was certain they were not rosy and Piyush told me they are red-throated pipits. Red-Throated Pipits are recorded from very less places in India. Most of birdwatcher go to Andamans to observe them and they are seen in reverse migration in Pong Dam as well. I was feeling very lucky to see them, they feeding on insects on the ground. I managed some decent shots of it in habitat and one video of its feeding behavior. 

Eurasian Oystercatcher

Along the shore while I was scanning the waders, I managed to spot a single Eurasian Oystercatcher. It is also known with name of Common Pied Oystercatcher or Palearctic Oystercatcher. Name is due to behavior of eating oysters. I was able to easily spot him since I have seen plenty of them in Goa earlier. The sun was shining quite bright and we could feel the heat of it. Also the activity of birds fell drastically. We took a break and went to restaurant nearby the Pong Dam to have some food and refreshments. We spend around 1 hour their , while checking the pics which we have recorded till now. 

White-Rumped Vulture

Around 3 PM after having tea, we went back inside the grassland for our evening session. Piyush asked me to drive the car and scan the area while he will search for the phone around the shore where we have spend most of our time since morning. Myself and Nawal were scanning the area and I saw one Pipit on left side and it looked like Water to me. I asked Nawal to took pictures since it was closer to him, though he was not convinced it to be Water Pipit. Few meters ahead we get to see 5 Eurasian Curlews settling from flight in the ground and one Eurasian Kestrel as well. After some time I received a call from Piyush's number and realized he has found his phone. We came back and pick him up and he told us let us scan for vultures around the carcass. Their were couple of Egyptian Vultures as well as 4 White-Rumped Vultures feeding on carcass. 

In evening everything was looking like golden around me due to golden light from sun. I got some good shots of Bimaculated larks in golden light. Peregrine falcon and osprey were also seen before we wind up our session. We had some snacks packed for on the way. We reached Hotel around 7 PM and Piyush left after that. We had dinner in our rooms and went to sleep. 

Checklists of the day

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97235968

Day 4 -Birdwatching around Ghallu Temple & around McLeod Ganj

Great Barbet

Today was extended day of our trip and we hired a cab to visit multiple hotspots for birdwatching. First we went towards paragliding fields, though we have covered this place on first day today we wanted to explore it a bit early. We reached at 6PM and sun was about to rise. On the slopes bumped into couple of Khalij Pheasants. With sun rays coming up bird were actively foraging around us. Common species like black throated tits, coal tits, Himalayan bulbuls, mountain bulbuls, Whiskered Yuhina , russet sparrows and pink browed rose-finches were seen in beautiful morning light. 

We took a trail trail going from village which we have not explored on first day. On the way get to see 15 common wood pigeons rested on ground and trees which were quite adjacent to houses. I observed them sitting in ground in shade and feeding on seeds dispersed there. Nawal went ahead for exploring while I was observing wood pigeons. After sometime he called me and told he has spotted spot-winged gross beaks on the tree. I immediately rushed towards him to see them since it was a lifer for me. We get to see 3 of them their. Male, female and a juvenile. Juvenile was quite bold to come close to us while adults were feeding at top of the trees feeding on berries. 

We came back at starting spot to have breakfast. It was close to 10 AM and we ordered our food. While

Asian-Barred Owlet

they were preparing food i was observing butterflies in the vicinity. Suddenly a huge flock of wood pigeons went over me. They may be around 500 of them and i still remember the sound of their wings going over me. After beak fast and morning tea we spend couple of more hours here and we could spot black throated thrush, variegated laughing thrushes, streaked laughing thrushes, rufous breasted accentors, Black throated accentors , blue capped redstarts , blue fronted redstarts , common chaffinches and other common birds. Our prime target for today's morning was Brambling , but looks like they have not arrived till now. Brambling is sighted at very less number of hotspots in India and Dharamshala is one of the hotspot where they do their wintering. Other place is Kashmir where it is seen in abundance along with pine buntings and few yellowhammers. 

We observed activity died down and we wanted to explore some other hotspot for evening. So we left from here and went to Mcleod Ganj. McLeod Ganj was named after Sir Donald Friell McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of Punjab; the suffix ganj is a common Persian word used for "neighborhood". It is known also as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" (a short form of Dharamshala used mainly by Tibetans) because of its large population of Tibetans.

In March 1959, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled to India after the failed uprising in 1959 in Tibet against the Chinese Communist Party. The Indian Government offered him refuge in Dharamshala, where he set up the Government of Tibet in exile in 1960, while McLeod Ganj became his official residence and also home to several Buddhist monasteries and thousands of Tibetan refugees. Over the years, McLeod Ganj evolved into an important tourist and pilgrimage destination, and has since grown substantially in population.

While we roam in Mcleod Ganj, I did some shopping for my family. Good place to purchase shawls and woolen stuff. I also purchased a Tibetan mug for myself. We had our lunch at Italian restaurant named Jimmy's Italian Kitchen a cozy eatery with mountain views. We secured our place on the roof in peaceful and silence. Everything we ordered was authentic in taste and served hot. Post Lunch we had expresso coffee and enjoyed having it in on street bench. 

At 2:30 PM we reached St John Church in McLeod Ganj for our evening session. Set amidst deodar forest was built in 1852. Beside the church in deodar trees, we were looking for birds. In small 2 hours session we could observer multiple hunting mixed flocks hovering in the trees and stopping for some beautiful poses for us. Yellow-billed Blue-Magpie, Red-billed Blue-Magpie, Coal Tit, Green-backed Tit, Himalayan Black-lored Tit, Himalayan Bulbul, Ashy-throated Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Gray-hooded Warbler, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, Black-throated Tit, Whiskered Yuhina, Gray-winged Blackbird, Pink-browed Rosefinch and Rock Bunting were names we were able to spot their. 

In the evening while we were leaving, I called Piyush and asked him whether he is free to meet us. Since he was available , we drove to his home . We had tea together and he told about his sighting of spotted flycatcher from his terrace. Like on one morning he woke up and went to terrace for a small walk and it was sitting over their one twig. Probably first sighting from Himachal. I also took his help in Id some of the birds which I was not able to do. Later we discussed about what could be tomorrow's place before we leave for airport and he suggested to cover Dharamshala Tea Gardens for that. We left from his house and reached hotel. We had our dinner outside in Tibetan Restaurant. It was totally  delicious and authentic meal for us. After reaching hotel I packed my stuff and slept for night. 

Checklists of the day

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97288514

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97285857

Day 5 -Birdwatching in Dharamshala Tea Gardens and Departure

On the last day of trip, we visited Dharamshala Tea garden for one and half hour session. Session was quite nice with memorable photographs by Himalayan Rubythroat and surprise lifer Yellow Bush Robin. Along with them common birds like Great Barbet, Blue-Throated Barbet, Black-Chinned Babblers, Rufous-Bellied Nil tawa, Fire-Breasted flower pecker, Buff-Barred warblers, Lemon Rumped Warblers were also spotted. We left for Airport from Dharamshala Tea Estate and boarded our flight back to Delhi . Flight landed on scheduled time and reached home safely. 

Checklists of the day

https://ebird.org/checklist/S97285857

Special thanks and gratitude to my friend Piyush Dogra, without his help and guidance this trip wouldn't have been fruitful. Group Pic(Left to Right) of Piyush Dogra. Nawal Ahuja, Mohit Mehta, Dr. Abhinav Chaudhary, Hemant Kirola and David Stanton. 

It was amazing trip with all of you. 

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

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