"Dehing Patkai National Park is the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India.It stretches for more than 575 km2 (222 sq mi) in the districts of DIbrugarh, Tinsukia and Charaideo"
Somewhere during mid of this year myself and my friends (Hemant and Sunil) planned for trip to north east. Since I had not got chance in past 3 years to do much bird watching in India it was on my list to do one trip to North East in this year. We selected the destination as Assam and decided to cover Maguri Beel grassland , Wetland and Dehing Patkai National park in 6 days 5 nights visit. We make our booking with one of the guide. In northeast most of the guides give complete package so you don’t have to worry much about food , travel and other small things.
Around 2 months before the trip guide, told us he will not be available since he has to lead other group and we have to look for another option .Though it was not comfortable for me but had to accept it.
Nawal Ahuja(Birdwatching mate) suggested why don’t you check with Rofikul Islam. Rofikul only handles foreign clients since he is working with all India birding tours. Due to covid-19 foreigners are not coming so he is taking Indian people tours as well. I contacted him and ask for his availability. He was available and I made the booking confirmed with him. As the saying goes what ever happen it result in good and I while doing bird watching with Rofikul and writing this trip report realised it was God’s grace that he made me to reach Rofikul for this trip.
Itinerary - 2 Nights Maguri and 3 Nights Dehing Patkai forest .
Day-1 21-Dec-2021
We reached airport at 4:30 AM to board flight to Dibrugarh at 6:15AM from Delhi Airport. Post security check we had breakfast followed by coffee from food court. Flight departure was on time and the journey was memorable one as we get to see the Himalayan range from the Window. We reached Dibrugarh airport at 9:15 AM. We took our baggage, got permit to visit Tinsukhia from Airport counter and met Rofikul and our driver Padam. It was around 1.5 hrs drive to Maguri Eco Camp. On the way we get to see Great Myna's feeding in fields and enjoying rides on top of cows. Couple of Indo-Chinese rollers and yellow browed warbler also seen.
Maguri Eco-Camp
We reached Maguri Eco-Camp , got our wooden hut and relaxed for some time. The view in front of lake was good. It's a man-made lake with lots of domesticated ducks and mallards. We could also see jacana's , common pocchards, kingfishers and other common species along with Lotus flowers.
We had our lunch and left for evening session in nearby grassland. Since it was quite hot there was not much of activity but we could able to see dusky warblers, eastern yellow wagtails, paddyfield warbler, Gray-Backed Shrike, Indo Chinese roller and a huge flock of small pratincoles (more than 200).
Eastern Grass Owl Sighting
After spending some time in the grassland we left for Laina Village as we planned to see the Eastern Grass Owls there in evening/night session. We reached Mohan's house in Laina village around 3:30 PM. Mohan and his brother were the first ones to see Grass-Owls in the vicinity. Lot of hardships from the local villagers they faced , even Mohan has to save the fledglings from fire once as well.
We started from his village in hopes of getting to see the owls and do some birdwatching on the way. The spot was around 1.5Kms from his house. On the way we have to cross knee deep water stream as well. Small and calm channel from Brahamputra river but quite cold water. Hen harriers, Chestnut capped babblers, chestnut munias, ashy headed green pigeon and Himalayan Buzzard some of the sightings on the way.
Around 4:30 PM we reached the farming area, it was quite cold and we were in slippers . Mohan stated, Owls will come and they will circle over us and then go back. So basically, they come to check their chicks in the first few rounds and then they bring food for them.
At 4:55 PM we saw one of the owl it circled over us for couple of times and it was so fascinating to see this behaviour of this owl. The behaviour is unique to this species only. With some of the struggle we could manage couple of good photographs of Grass Owls sitting in the fields.
We came back to Mohan's house and we were served with Black Tea, a perfect companion in the cold weather . Mohan maintains a guest list for all people who have come to see grass owl and we also had privilege to fill our details in that.
The moment we were getting out of car post reaching Eco-Camp, Rofik heard the call of Brown Hawk Owl . We get to see him nicely perched on the tree. Same evening we also get to see oriental scops owl and collared scops owl.
We had our dinner at 8 PM in eco camp and went for sleep post that.
Day 2 22-Dec-2021
Next day morning woke up at 4:30 AM and get to see the nice view from the hut.
For morning birding session, post crossing the river by boat we reached maguri grassland. It was foggy morning and light was not that good.
We spent around 2 hours birdwatching at Maguri grassland and we were able to see and photograph Marsh Babbler, Jerdon's Babbler,Baikal bush warbler, Spotted bush warbler, Dusky warbler, Chestnut crowned bush warbler, Swamp prinia, Chestnut-capped babbler, Black-breasted parrotbill and Chinese rubythroat along with common grassland species. Display by Black-Breasted Parrotbill was eventful and enduring moment. Also, I realised how difficult it is to photograph Marsh Babbler.
I would like to praise Rofik here, he was very good in his approach. He was able to recognise each and every call in fraction of seconds. I personally never expected all grassland species will be covered in such a quick tiime. We came back at shore and had breakfast. It was Birder's breakfast (Bread Butter, Jam and Boiled Eggs) along with Milk and green tea. Post tea we went on another boat ride to explore Maguri Lake. Maguri Lake is known for lot of rare waterfowls. This year the waterfowls density and species are less.
Maguri lake Exploration
Here comes the another boat trip. One thing I had to admit sitting space on these boats is not comfortable at all, but all this comfort is forgotten when we saw these beautiful creations of God the Birds. Rofik was continuously scanning the waterbody for rarity on asking he said I am checking on the goose. I asked him to check out for darker ones in them which could be greater or lesser white fronted goose. As the conversation go on, he said one of the goose is darker and it is smaller in size. On seeing it carefully it turns out to be Bean Goose. A mega lifer for us. It was reported from Maguri 4-5 years ago.
We got phenomenal images of Bean Goose all credit for excellent spotting of Rofik . At one place boat was stuck due to shallow water , he went into water and pushed the boat from there so that we can get those fantastic pictures.
The sun was blazing down on us in afternoon and light was also against us to scan. But still we get to see Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler feeding on the water hyacinth. We came back from boat ride and had our lunch in Eco-Camp.
In the evening session we went to nearby grassland, quite a heated afternoon. In the first field we hard some calls and Rofik told they are King Quails. Though quails are best seen while driving in the car . We waited for some time and decided to move and the moment we moved we saw 2 of the quails getting flushed from there. Same incident happened with us for Swamp Francolins as well. Session was good in terms of sighting but couldn't do much of photography.
To me sunset is just like love at first sight, it takes your breath away, leaves you speechless and if only for a moment, slows down time. In that instant, you feel the love and gratitude for Mother Nature exude from every inch of your body. A sunset possesses the promise of a new day. With the sun’s last rays peeking out from the horizon comes the realization that tomorrow holds endless possibilities. You know it won’t last, but you savor every last bit of that fleeting beauty.
This collection of near dusk, red-peachy orange and radiating hues represents some of the most beautiful moments and most wonderful memories in my life. These snapshots have become sacred treasures in my heart. I was too happy to collect this memory.
Not much to do in the evening post that birding session, had dinner , had talk with my wife to tell about the day and went for sleeping.
Day 3 23-Dec-2021
Bherjan Forest & Soraipung Range of Dehing Patkai
Another cold and foggy morning in Assam, left for Bherjan Forest and prime target was Rusty Bellied Shortwing. We tried at 3 different locations but no luck. The light was poor but managed to witness Abbot's Babbler, Lesser Shortwing, Lesser racket-tailed drongo , Greater racket-tailed drongo, White-spectacled warbler, Gray cheeked warbler, Mountain tailorbird, Brownish Flanked Bush warbler, Pin-Striped Tit babbler, Snowy browed flycatcher, Pale-Chinned flycatcher, Pale blue flycatcher, ruby-cheeked sunbird and other common species.
In Bherjan, I realized how difficult birdwatching and photography is in North East. The forest are dense with long trees and under growth is immense. Trails in forest are very narrow and sunlight only comes in very small patches.
Post amazing morning session, we left for Soraipung range of Dehing Patkai forest for our evening session. Dehing is one of the places in India where critically endangered Wood Duck or White Winged Duck is resident. First and foremost we scanned the ponds but no luck with Wood Duck. A shorter session since sunset time is 4:30 PM in Assam. But we got excellent sighting of Black Tailed Crake and it was swimming in open. Greater Necklaced and Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrushes, Black Backed forktail, Pygmy flycather, Saphire Flycatcher were other species in this session.
As the sunsets all groups gather at one point in anticipation of hearing calls of owls. We went to check for Oriental Bay Owl. One trail to another trail it keeps us running all the way in the forest. We could see it multiple times but no luck with photographing it. Rofikul again impressed me with his skills and never die attitude. All these experience with him in field turns out to be best ones.
We checked-in Digboi Tourist lodge and had tea. We had dinner at 8PM and slept post that.
Day 4 23-Dec-2021
From last 5-6 days there were no reports for Gray-Peacock pheasant , still we wanted to give it a try. We waited for around 1.5 hrs for it was misfortunate for us. Through out the day we were quite fortunate with sightings and major being Red Headed Trogon, White-Browed Piculet, Scarlet Minivets, Sultan Tit, White-Browed Bulbul, Chestnut crowned warbler, yellow vented warbler, yellow browed warbler, white-browed scimitar babbler, white hooded babbler, rufous throated fulvetta, streaked wren babbler, little spiderhunder, streaked spiderhunter, blue winged leaf bird, orange bellied leafbird and other common species.
Today's lunch was at special place, which was inside sancctuary. They served traditional Assamese home-made food . It was Bamboo Shoots, Green Vegetables , Pakodas, Pappad, Dal with elephant apple, Chicken , Rice and ghost paper. I tasted ghost pepper first time and it was fiery . The hospitality was very good, they give us slippers so that we can give our feet a nice relax in the sun shade.
I met Ashwin Viswanathan(Ebird admin India overall) he was with some of his mates with plans of covering Walong ahead. We had nice discussion about identifying Kashmir flycatcher 1st winter in field. During our chat we had a quick birdwatching session around for 30 minutes and he shared the checklist for same. Pleasure moments indeed.
After nice lunch followed by tea , we commenced for evening session. Bijoy was accompanying us and we went to see the Pale-Capped pigeons . Though they were hiding but we were able to spot them in dense trees. Next he took us to a pond where birds come for roosting. We all were approaching the pond and a duck flew from their and it was white-winged wood duck. I was so ecstatic to live that moment and forgot to take the photograph of it. Wood duck is very shy but Bijoy told he never expected wood duck to be their in this pond otherwise we could have approached in calm way. Evening time birds were coming to take bath in the pond and we could see Green Magpie, Black breasted thrush, White-Tailed robin, Small Niltava, Rufous-Bellied Niltawa, White-Rumped Shama, Crested-Goshawk and other commoners in evening session.
In evening we were going to same spot like yesterday and wait for sometime before we could try our fortune with Owls. But we had encounter with herd of elephants. In Dehing elephants are very dangerous in night so all the groups decided to go back and call it off for the day.
We came back to rest house had our dinner and went off for sleep.
Day 5 24-Dec-2021
Around 13-15 people gather to see Grey-Peacock Pheasant in the morning. It was calling from way forward but it was unlucky for everyone as it didn't show. We though of checking all the ponds in vicinity in hopes of getting some photographs of White-Winged Duck.
While going for the last pond, we met Anwaruddin Choudhury .He is retired Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, has acquired the nickname of “The Birdman of Assam.” He is the author of 28 books, 50 technical reports, and more than 900 articles and scientific papers.He played a pivotal role in protecting habitats and declaring the white-winged wood duck as the State bird in Assam way back in 2003.
He told about the ponds in Dehing , how these Man-Made ponds were well accepted by Wood Ducks . He also shared his experiences about first photographic record of Wood Duck back in 1990's . 1990's when it was extremely difficult to take photographs . He also mentioned they counted over 100 nests of Wood Duck at that time and nearly 30% are remaining now. Due to his love towards nature and wildlife , a campaign was introduced for conservation of migratory Amur Falcons in Assam from 1994 onwards, Manipur in 2001 and in Nagaland in 2004.
It was our pleasure to have interaction with him and he was so humble to stop for a photograph with us. All the information he shared was unbelievable indeed.
Remaining morning hours and post lunch we spent our time in Dehing Patkai to get hold of remaining species on the list. In the evening we again tried for Oriental Bay owl and we managed to get excellent photographs of it. Credit of that sighting goes to Rofik only. After getting Bay-Owl we called off our day and came back to hotel for dinner and sleep.
Day 6 24-Dec-2021
Since birth of my daughter Rishika, I always wait for last day to come soon because it will be day to meet her. Since we have early evening flight, we covered a nearby area on last day(Matri Mandir Trail). The session was quite good which started with fresh pug-marks of leapord and excellent sightings of Dark-Necked Tailor bird, Buff chested babbler, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler ,Nepal Fulvetta, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush,Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Spotted Elachura, Lesser Shortwing, White-rumped Munia, Little Spiderhunter, Streaked Spiderhunter and other common species . Rofik made the experience memorable as he added lot of species to the trip by identifying there calls.
We left from hotel and reached airport, though we planned to have lunch on the way but due to some riots all restaurants were closed. Myself & Hemant reached Airport and cherished our trip memories along with light lunch and coffee. Flight was on time and I slept entire journey. We reach Delhi , it was quite cold and raining outside. Around 7 PM I reached home and had brief chat with family about the trip.
Following are the Ebird Checklist links
21-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265603
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265584
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265402
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265535
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265578
22-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265623
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265653
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99265724
23-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99338090
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99340509
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99338158
24-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99355386
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99355356
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99355460
25-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99424894
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99424950
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99424883
26-Dec-2021
https://ebird.org/checklist/S99430603
Do let me know about your experiences in and around Assam. I can be reached out at
1) mohitmehta.pro@gmail.com
2) https://www.facebook.com/mohitm13
