India Day 6 - Pangot

Pangot

For our first full day at Nature Drops near Pangot we decided to explore the valley further. After an early morning explore around the hotel, going down the road from our accommodation, we spotted a track going down towards a more substantial river at the bottom of the valley, which TDJ and I thought looked promising for Forktails. After breakfast we headed up the road back through the village towards Pangot, through the woods hoping to join the path down to the river. We ended up going way too far past the route we were aiming for and ended up getting lost in the village itself. With the help of the locals we eventually found our way to the path we had seen from our lodge. We worked our way through the village and down a ridge eventually arrived at the river, which was located in a nice wooded valley with some good ground level shrubbery. As is often the case, a change in habitat provided a lot of new species, including Spotted Forktail, the species we were hoping to encounter. On the way back we were shown a much quicker route which landed us right next to the accommodation, although it was a steep hike back up the valley side. By the time we arrived back at Nature Drops most of us were ready for bed.

Highlights

Spotted Forktail - Without doubt a trip highlight. We were all off exploring when SJD found a superb looking bird further up the river. It flew off before most people, including myself, could see it, but it naturally remained faithful to the area and all of the birders that made the trek down connected. We actually found two territories along the stream, and birds were seen chasing each other.

Speckled Piculette - There was such a wide variety of woodpeckers present in the woods, but one stood out above the rest. The Piculette was ridiculous, simply because it was so tiny, about the size of a nuthatch. It would have been preferable if I had gotten better views than I did, but it was more than enough to appreciate how small it was.

Asian Barred Owlet - Whilst walking through the woods many of our contingent encountered day roosting owlets, but this was the only one that I saw in Pangot, and the only time we saw this species. It’s always exciting to see day roosting owls, and this was no exception.

-Streaked Laughingthrush

-Oriental Turtle Dove

-Blue Whistling Thrush

-Black-headed Jay

-White-capped Bunting

-Bar-tailed Creeper

-Asian Barred Owlet

-Mountain Hawk-Eagle

-Russet Sparrow

-Spotted Dove

-Spotted Forktail

-Black-faced Warbler

Species List:

Pangot: Blue Whistling Thrush, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Common Myna, Oriental White-eye, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Jungle Babbler, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, House Sparrow, Streaked Laughingthrush, Himalayan Bulbul, Great Barbet, Buff-barred Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Hume’s Leaf Warbler, Striated Prinia, Oriental Turtle Dove, Grey Bushchat, Spangled Drongo, Black-headed Jay, Slaty-headed Parakeet, Siberian Chiffchaff, Rufous Sibia, Indian Black Eagle, White-capped Bunting, Little Swift, Blue-fronted Redstart, Himalayan Woodpecker, Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, Green-backed Tit, Feral Pigeon, Large-billed Crow, Himalayan Bluetail, Northern Raven, Asian Barred Owlet, Bar-tailed Creeper, Long-tailed Minivet, Speckled Piculette, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, White-tailed Nuthatch, Spotted Dove, White-browed Fantail, Small Niltava, Whistler’s Warbler, Whiskered Yuhina, Yellow Fantail, Spotted Forktail, Black-faced Warbler, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Black Bulbul, Black-lored Tit, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Indian Muntjac, Hanuman Langur, Rhesus Macaque, Sorrel Sapphire, Common Emigrant, Blue Pansy, Pallas Sailor, Indian Red Admiral, Indian Tortoiseshell, Chocolate Pansy, Hummingbird Hawkmoth,