Birding North-East India

Sunday, March 27

BIRD of the DAY: Green-billed Malkoha



Of course we started our day with early morning birding at the Eco Camp. We had to say goodbye to our special birds and mammals.



We enjoyed our last Indian breakfast with our favourite masala chia tea.



After breakfast Rick and Nekib had a conversation about owls calling during the night and in the early morning. Nekib is talented at making owl calls.
Video: https://youtu.be/KxS0J_AEPek



A final goodbye to the tree with dozens of holes occupied by many different species.



Note from Shyam: "Bye, bye Nameri!! Hello friends, we had a nice time here in Nameri. Great to see the White-winged Duck. What a sighting it was; we were walking in the park looking for it and found it, memorable memorable......she was nicely sitting there in a wooded creek. And great to see some other nice birds such as Wreathed Hornbill, Great Hornbill, Lesser and Greater Adjutant, Green Imperial Pigeon and many others."

Note from Rick: "We left Nameri NP this morning. Best bird there was the rare White-winged Duck, which was even a lifer for Shyam. Other good birds were Great Hornbill and Wreathed Hornbill, two species of Thick Knees and Small Pratincole".

Soon we were loading up the vans to retrace our path to the Guwahati airport. We stopped for a Green-billed Malkoha and photographed a couple of Common Hoopoes from inside the car.



A goat ran in front of our white van. We felt the impact, and those in the following car said they saw goat body parts flying everywhere. When we stopped for lunch, Nekib and the driver examined the damage to the front bumper.



More goodbyes at the airport. We had really enjoyed having Nekib as a guide.



Our two Asian Adventures drivers who had greeted us at the Dehli Airport three weeks ago when we arrived met us again. Iqbal arrived at the Shanti Palace Hotel and presented each couple with another bottle of Indian wine. We assured him we had all enjoyed our adventure in India very much. Our final farewell to Shyam was difficult as we got along so well together and would miss each other.

We had carefully recorded 342 bird sightings including heard only on our composite NE India check-list, designed by Alan. Excel or PDF

Note from Sue: "Asian Adventure has come to an end. We are in Delhi at the Shanti Palace hotel, after a six hour drive and 5 hour airport/plane experience from Nameri National Park in Assam. Our plane to Heathrow leaves at 5:25 am, so we will be picked up up at 2:00 (just 5 hours from now). A quick shower, repack of bags and perhaps a short nap and we will be home at 6:00 pm on Monday after nearly 22 hours of travel. It was really worth it - in 3 weeks we saw 300 species and 96 lifers! Spectacular.
Thanks to Shyam for his great guiding during the trip."

Note from Rick: Another wonderful trip to India has ended. Leaving on the 5:30am flight out of Delhi. Finally have internet after a week in more remote areas.
Many many thanks to our fantastic guide Shyam!"

Birds in the Photos Today

Green-billed Malkoha
Great Hornbill
Red-vented Bulbul
Red-breasted Parakeet
Great Myna
Common Hill Myna
Indian Roller
Common Hoopoe