"In every walk in nature one recieves far more than he seeks "
What Inspired me for this trip ?
We booked our tickets and make booking with guide Ritesh Pradhan who was referred to Nawal by Harish Thangaraj. From 3 days and 2 nights plan we stretched this to 3 night 4 days plan since in monsoon 1-2 sessions can easily washout.
Planned Itinerary
28-July-2022(Thrusday) Reach Bagdogra from Delhi
29-July-2022(Friday) Morning Birdwatching at Mahananda Wildlife Sanctury and leave for Senchal and Birding on the way
30-July Birdwatching at Senchal Wilelife Sanctuary
31-July Morning Birdwatching at Senchal WS & Evening on the way to Mahananda
01-Aug Morning Birdwatching around Mahananda and departure from Bagdogra in afternoon
Total Species Observed - 76
Lifers - 9
Day-1 28-July-2022 Thursday
I left from home at 10:30 AM and reached airport at 11:15 AM. A busy day at airport , took around 30-40 minutes to clear bag drop and security check in. I had my lunch at Subway a nice sandwich and black coffee from some other outlet. During any birdwatching trip,
I usually feel home sickness . Miss my daughters a lot. I reached Bagdogra at 4 PM, 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I was lucky this time to get return ticket in 6700 INR. Thanks to Avneet my office colleague who recommended me to use Skyscanner for booking ticket. The same flight was 14K on Yatra and Makemytrip.
Bagdogra Airport is managed by Military so photography is prohibited. Naval was scheduled to land earlier than me, but he arrived 15 minutes later. We took our luggage and met our guide Ritesh Pradhan.
Still we had some time to sunset, so we asked Ritesh to stop at Birdwatching hotspots on the way. It was very beautiful and scenic journey. I realized this is the same route which is used by Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Toy Train, which runs between New Jalpaiguriand Darjeeling. The 88 Km long railway line climbs from 330ft to 7200ft with ending at Ghum (the highest station in India and once in world)
Soon It started raining heavy so we started towards ghum. On the way we got glimpse of Toy Train and ghum station which is highest elevation station in India once it was in the world .
We reached our homestay (Tamang homestay) at 6 pm. We took separate rooms and they were on top floor. Nice cozy rooms and it was bit colder and pleasant than lower altitude.
Checklists of the day
Day-3 30-July-2022 Sunday
We did the same up down twice and Praveen another guide (Ritesh’s friend) joined us. I was going with both of them and Nawal was resting in car since we already had done 4 rounds with over 10k steps on hill we were feeling tired. Suddenly I saw the fulvous parrotbill couple again feeding on bamboo leaves. Called Nawal and ask him to come in car and I was trying to get some shots in mean time. The couple was quite kind to us for let us photograph and have views of it for 15-20 minutes. It seemed like a great coincidence when we get brightest of the weather for those 15-20 minutes in entire day today.
We took Bhagoda forest route only for our return. Due to rain activity was quite less but we got hunting flock at once place and plenty of black throated parrotbills in that mixed hunting flock. We stopped at Paglajhoda forest belt of Mahananda, though we were planned to reach here in evening but due to rain we reach at 11 AM. We were able to get couple of Black-Throated Prinias here. Then we stopped directly at homestay as it was still raining. We had lunch in homestay and slept for sometime.
It rained whole last night and I woke up at 4:30 AM. We left from homestay at 5:30 AM. It was cloudy and drizzling as well. We proceeded towards Norbung Tea estate for birdwatching. On the way we stopped at big fruiting tree and could see lot of pigeons on the tree. Their were Pin-Tailed Green Pigeons and Thick Billed Green Pigeons . A flock of over 50 pigeons all feeding on fruits. Along with Pigeons hill mynas and white-eyes were also feeding on berries.
At Gitange the workforce was coming to pluck the tea leaves. Lots of ladies wearing rain coats and gum boots coming with tokri on their back. They started plucking tea leaves and we were checking birds around them. Though activity was poor due to drizzle but there was flock of 7 chestnut headed bee-eaters , some of them preening and some feeding on the flies. Couple of Long-Tailed Broadbills , pair of black bazas, hair crested drongos, chestnut winged cuckoo, greater yellownape and other common species were sighted as well .
Bagdogra Airport is managed by Military so photography is prohibited. Naval was scheduled to land earlier than me, but he arrived 15 minutes later. We took our luggage and met our guide Ritesh Pradhan.
We were going to stay in 14th Mile Homestay , which is managed by Ritesh Pradhan and his family. 3 KM Before reaching our destination (14th mile homestay) , I asked driver to stop the car post spotting a bird, though light was poor it was black-winged cuckoo shrike. Later Ritesh spotted rufous-necked laughing thrush at same spot. Though we didn't get the photographs but recorded call and got good sights of the beauty. We took the oldest road NH 55 to homestay. Very less traffic since people go to Darjeeling via different road these days. First lifer of the trip for me and a peaceful journey
We reached our homestay at 6:30 pm. The rooms were nice and clean, with Balcony. Dinner was served at 7:30 PM. Glad to see home cooked food by Ritesh's aunt. It was very delicious, less oily and spice. Post dinner I completed by office work , talk to family and slept.
Checklists of the day
https://ebird.org/checklist/S115896146
https://ebird.org/checklist/S115899751
Day-2 29-July-2022 Friday
I woke up at 4 AM and it was foggy and raining. Freshened up and had green tea. I reviewed the recent sightings on Ebird and saw people reported emerald cuckoo, rufescent prinia , black throated prinia , Hooded pitta and others common species from Mahananda. We left from homestay at 5:20 towards Shivkola.
 |
| Large Hawk Cuckoo |
First stop going to be tea estate around nurbong bungalow. I spotted a cuckoo while in the car and it was common cuckoo. The cuckoo was at eye level so we got some decent clicks of it. Few meters ahead we got Lesser Cuckoo and Large Hawk cuckoo on same tree and on nice perch.
 |
| Lesser Cuckoo |
This was first time that I had seen them at eye level, earlier this year I saw both of them in Eaglenest Sanctuary but at significant height. I was able to photograph and video graph them.
 |
| Green-Billed Malkoha |
While I was observing them, Ritesh called me and told he has spotted a Green Billed Malkoha, without any second thought I rushed toward him to see this for first time. It was there moving on the tree. It stayed around for 15 minutes and let me observe and photograph it. First lifer of the day for me .
Next Ritesh took us to spot where Jerdon's Baza shows up. He mentioned nest is nearby and they come around 7:30 to 8:00 AM on these trees. Another group was waiting for it there and post waiting for an hour we asked Ritesh to let us look at other location and he can ask other guide to call us when they see Jerdon's Baza.
We moved to other area where Black Baza is being sighted and this is same area where Emerald Cuckoo is also sighted. On the way we sighted 5 collared falconets, first time I have seen these many together. Though light was poor to photograph, but to see them in good number was a good feeling indeed. After reaching ,we scanned the vicinity got some common bird species but no luck with Emerald Cuckoo and Black Baza . We had our breakfast in anticipation of activity once there is some sunlight out. Breakfast was Egg and bread accompanied by home made Theplas which Nawal brought with him.
 |
| Jerdon's Baza |
After breakfast while I was checking minivets, Ritesh got a call from his friend, Jerdon's baza has come up. We rushed toward it and reached in about 15 minutes. The guide told it had moved and I saw it perching on the tree. So we drove in front of that and it was sitting their on branch of naked tree. Though it was bit far but was happy to get good views of it. There were around 10 people photographing it and after few minutes it went into woods and I realized it was just in front of my eyes feeding on worms. I took a small video of it at that time, while others were reviewing their pictures.
After witnessing the Jerdon's Baza show, we get to see a pair of great hornbills . They were feeding on fruit tree in the back. Soon they took a great flight in front of my eyes. It was so serene that I forgot to click it. Just few moments later, Jerdon Baza also comes in flight just few meters in front, it circled over my head and went back to woods.
We started back for other spot now, with some bright light Nawal went up in Tea Garden to check the birds there. He called me from there and I could see a black baza flying along with Rufous Bellied Eagle. They were very close to me that I was able to record the video using my phone. Black Baza was continuously calling , flying on top of the Eagle.
 |
| Rufescent Prinia |
We saw Black Baza perched on the tree inside the tea garden, I joined Nawal uphill to check for it, while we were approaching it Hill Myna's disturbed the Black Baza again and it went back in woods. I came down while Nawal was checking activity there only. I saw a small warbler like bird moving in the tea bushes. It looked like a prinia and it was rufescent prinia. Got decent clicks of this one and there were 4-5 in the bushes. I was lucky to spot this lifer and got some beautiful pictures as well. Apart from this I also get to see couple of long tailed broadbills and other common birds there.
It was 11:45 AM and we thought of calling it and return back to homestay since I had 12:30 PM office call. We reached homestay I finished my work and took bath. Post bath we had lunch and it was again a delicious meal cooked by Aunt.
Since our target species for Mahananda were done, we left for Darjeeling on same day. On the way we took route of Bhagoda road which is not the usual way to reach Darjeeling. It is a very peaceful , unexplored, beautiful forest patch. The entire road was covered with trees on both sides and with lot of bird activity around it. We get to see 2 Rufous-Throated wren babblers, spotted ellachura, plenty of lesser shorwings, green tailed sunbirds , rufous wined fulvetta, rufous capped babblers and whiskered Yuhinas. Nawal was trying to capture Lesser Shortwing while I was attending office call in car, it sat in front of my car window . A beautiful male and female.
 |
| Toy Train |
I would like to do this train journey once in my life for sure as it would be lifetime experience.
We were served with local black tea and pakodas for snacks. We discussed about morning plans and had dinner at 7:30 pm. Dinner was good all home cooked food and that is benefit of staying at homestay that you get home cooked food.
After the dinner I had video call with parents, wife and kids. The network and internet connectivity was good here than in Mahananda.
Checklists of the day
https://ebird.org/checklist/S115942498
https://ebird.org/checklist/S115959454
Day-3 30-July-2022 Sunday
 |
| White-Browed Fulvetta |
I expected this day to be eventful birdwatching day at tiger hill which comes under Senchal wildlife sanctuary plastic free zone and well conserved place. Playing bird calls here , you will be fined for 10k and speaker will be confiscated. Prime targets were Fulvous ,Great and Brown Parrotbills. Most importantly Fulvous Parrotbill was reported from here last year and only specific place where it is sighted again this year. Very handful of places where it is reported but all incidental sightings. Great parrotbill have sighting locations but not ample amount of them. Brown is seeing quite commonly. Since it is habitat of bamboo and Parrotbill feed on bambo leaves , they also nest in bamboo.
 |
| Fire-Tailed Sunbird |
It was all fogged out entire time sometime dense sometime less but entire day was like this as we expected. We tried for fulvous and great parrotbill at location where it is sighted but no luck. In the mean while we get to see fire-tailed sunbird , rufous capped babbler , gray sided bush warbler , white browed fulvettas , black throated parrotbill , hume’s bush warbler , aberrant bush warbler and other common species available here.
 |
| Great Parrotbill |
After doing up and down twice we went to peak and got excellent view of great parrotbills. 2 of them and totally astounding to see such huge parrotbills. It was all fogged out and I took couple of record shot of the beauty and observed them with Binoc for 10-15 minutes. The third round on tiger hill upside we saw 2 birds flying to left and to me they looked fulvous due to Color and size. We observed them and they were fulvous but no clicks and they went into Bamboo in no time. It is very hard to see them, since spot is not fixed for them. They keep on moving all through the Tiger Hill and one has to be very attentive to hear their call and movement in the bamboo.
 |
| Fulvous Parrotbill |
After successful sighting of all targets fulvous, great and brown parrotbills, clouds came all over the place and we were feeling hungry and thought of having lunch. First we see off Praveen and then went to temple. We were expecting to get food their since we didn't have breakfast today. The homestay guy didn't give packed breakfast since it was early. The plan was while they will cook the food we will do birdwatching around that space, but after reaching we came to know no food is there . Soon the downpour started and we started back for Ghum to have lunch in town.
We drove back to Ghum and it was quite busy at this time due to tourists traffic and road is quite narrow as well. Nawal suggested to have lunch at Tibetan Restaurant where he stopped on his last visit. We checked in and I ordered Momos and Thupka there. The weather was cold and Hot Thupka Soup was perfect meal . Along with nicely cooked momos it was true indulgence. It continued to rain heavily and we also came to know about alert by ministry about heavy rain around Darjeeling. We were quite lucky to complete our target species in first half of the day. We returned back to hotel since there was no point to go back in this heavy rain. Also I was feeling tired as well with 6 rounds of Tiger hill I wanted to rest.
I reviewed the sightings and compiled Ebird Lists of the day . I was remembering how lucky we had been on both the days, in first half session we were able to see the target species. With weather being uncertain in region in monsoons still we were able to photograph and see the birds. Credit for this also goes to Ritesh who have been trying really hard on the field.
In evening we had Pakodas with Local Tea and some roasted jackfruit chips which Nawal brought. We had dinner at 7:30 PM in homestay and it was home cooked food . I packed my stuff post dinner since we had to leave early tomorrow. Before sleeping I had a nice catch up call with family . Also spoke to Hemant about Lifers from the trip.
Checklists of the day
https://ebird.org/checklist/S115996834
Day-4 31-July-2022 Sunday
It rained whole night and it was pouring in morning as well. Though we planned to have morning session in Senchal WLS , but with targets completed and continuous rain we started back for Mahananda. Around 5:30 AM we left from Homestay and started to descend .
On the way Ritesh heard call of lesser Shortwing and with couple of playback male and female short wings come in open. Light was poor but we managed to get record shot of it. Very difficult bird to photograph which will stay in low lying bushes in dense foliage.
 |
| Black-Throated Parrotbill |
Woke up in evening and it was still raining. I was feeling bored in the room so went to kitchen where Ritesh't aunt was cooking. I offered her some help, but she asked me to sit there on the table and we were discussing about life in a metro and in small towns. She made us some snacks for evening and we enjoyed them with green tea. His husband brought silver needle green tea which was really awesome.
We had our dinner at 8 PM, post which I packed my stuff and read the book for some time and slept.
Checklists of the day
https://ebird.org/checklist/S116053590
Day-5 28-July-2022 Monday
 |
| Thick-Billed Pigeon |
 |
| Pin-Tailed Green Pigeon |
First time I had seen Thick-Billed Pigeons and they look so astounding, beautiful eye ring and red in their bill looks very beautiful. Pin-Tailed Pigeon I saw one on my Eaglenest trip this year, but at that time it was very far and I couldn't manage to see it properly. But this time in Mahananda it was a pleasant sighting.
Since light was not good, we thought of coming back in hope light will get better with time and we can get some good pictures as well.
Few moments ahead Nawal asked to stop the car as there were cuckoo's on the tree by his side. They were Lesser and Large-Hawk Cuckoo sitting on open perch at eye level. A true delight for the eyes. It was 10 minutes in that sighting and the downpour started. and we move towards Gitangy tea estate forest for rest of the session.
It started raining heavily and we went to hut for breakfast. We had our breakfast and rested for 30-40 minutes there only. It didn't stop raining and we thought of staying back . On the way we stopped to check Jerdon's Baza and Pigeons but we couldn't find them at their usual spots. We left for airport from there and had lunch at restaurant on the way. Around 1 PM we reached airport. After security check-in, Nawal stopped to look for local tea which I went searching something for daughters and family. On one of the local handicraft shop I purchased hand made clips , woolen frocks and sling bags.
I boarded my flight at 4:10 PM and it departed on schedule at 4:30 PM. Around 8 PM I reached home .
Checklists of the day
https://ebird.org/checklist/S116134467
Do Let me know how you like my trip report. It will be great if you share your experience visiting Mahananda or Senchal . Please feel free to reach out in case of any queries or help needed for planning a trip to Mahananda & Senchal. I can be reached out at
1) Email - mohitmehta.pro@gmail.com
2) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mohitm13
3) Twitter Handle - @13mohitm
4) Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/mohitsclicks/
