Today was the start of the most important phase of our trip, since it would be the first day in which we would try to see the Sclaters Monal, the species for which the entire itinerary was designed. This rare species appears only for a few weeks each autumn in the Mishmi Hills area just below the Mayudiya Pass on the north side. It passes an open area of landslide just after first light, and that is your only chance to see it. Unfortunately, the site is a two hour drive from the nearest accommodation in the town of Roing, and so to get there well before first light, we had to leave our lodging at 03:00, meaning at 02:30 start! It was unsurprisingly, absolutely brutal!
The drive up was helped by two Masked Palm Civets feeding on
the road, although only one showed well. Sadly I had left my camera in my
backpack in the boot, and by the time I retrieved it the animal was already walking
away. Once we reached the stakeout for the bird, it was perishingly cold,
possibly the coldest temperature of the trip so far. Despite waiting the bird
did not show by 06:30, by which time it was already too late for it to make an
appearance. This disappointment was offset somewhere by a fantastic
Yellow-throated Marten running along the road, which was a fantastic mammal
addition to our trip list. We would still have an additional two mornings to
try for the Monal, both of which would require the same brutal start to the
day.
Once we moved on from our disappointment we started birding
the road, with a few target species we wanted to track down. Although the
birding was generally quite slow, we started to make progress with our targets and
quickly found Crimson-browed Finch and Manipur Fulvetta. Our main target for now
was the Mishmi Wren-Babbler, and while we could not track any down, we had a
brilliant bonus species with a Gould’s Shortwing, a species that is extremely
difficult at this time of year and not one we had planned on encountering. We continued
and had a nice showing Scaly-breasted Cupwing, as well as another key target
with Cachar Wedge-billed Babbler. Although the first pair we found we elusive
and tricky to get onto, the second pair were very showy at times.
Putting the Wren-Babbler on hold for a short while, we
descended in elevation late morning to try pick up a few other outstanding
targets. Although activity was even lower now, we eventually found a brief Yellow-rumped
Honeyguide and our main target for this section with a showy Long-billed Wren-Babbler.
After frustrating views of this species earlier in our trip, it was good to finally
get onto this one.
After lunch we returned to the slightly higher elevation as we
started on the road back over the pass and to return to our lodging. We
continued to try to find the Mishmi Wren-Babbler and finally got a response at
this time. The bird was very Tapaculo-esque in its mannerisms, keeping low to
the ground and moving quickly like a small mouse, very difficult to get onto
and keep track of. Fortunately it was a little less frantic than many of my
tapaculo experiences and as such we eventually all got good views of the bird.
We finished off this section with a brilliant flock of showy Streak-throated
Barwings.
Our descent was uneventful, although the scenery overlooking
the Bharmaputra floodplain was pretty spectacular. We tried to find night birds
after dark but failed to get a response and eventually returned to our lodging
at 18:00 ready for dinner and to do it all again tomorrow…
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