Northeast India; Day 15 - Jia Grasslands & Tensukia

  We returned to the Jia Grasslands early in the morning and spent the first part of the day here exploring. The day was overcast, and even started raining as we were leaving. The area we explored was different to the area we had visited the previous day, and this did unfortunately mean that we missed out on some good potential bunting hunting, with a flyover male Black-faced Bunting the only one I was able to clinch with the camera, but sadly not likely to be much use when it comes to birding in the UK.

  Our targets proved tricky to get hold of, with the only main target we were able to find being Spot-throated Scimitar Babbler, with the Jerdon’s Babbler not showing at all. The Scimitar Babbler on the other hand showed very well, and we also had another species with White-browed Scimitar Babbler, which was new for me. And to complete the new babblers I picked up in the morning, there was also some very showy Striated Babblers. The Black-breasted Parrotbill that we had first seen yesterday showed much better today, although it was still a little tricky to get hold of.

  We left the site mid-morning, fairly satisfied with our work and ready to drive back to the town of Tinsukia, with a few stops on the way. The first of these was a brilliant roost of Indian Flying Foxes. Unlike last time when I saw these massive bats, these were actively flying around despite it being daylight, and we got some incredible views of them as they circled low over the bamboo they were roosting in.

  Next we stopped off at a small forest fragment not far from Tinsukia itself, where our guide knew to check for Rusty-bellied Shortwing. We had initially planned for this species at Namdapha National Park, our final stop, but had just learned playback was not allowed there, so had to make this quick change in our itinerary. It did not take too long to track down an individual, although it did not show especially openly, always skulking in the undergrowth. A nice bonus bird here was Slaty-bellied Tesia, which showed much better but was too quick for photos.

  After lunch we headed to Baghjan Grasslands on the shores of the mighty Brahmaputra river, bordering the forested island of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. In the middle of the sandy beach there was an area of grassland that held a last chance for a few of the birds we had missed in the morning. We failed to find any, but I had a new species regardless when we picked up a Sand Lark on the beach. The afternoon peaked during the evening however, with a spectacular roost of wagtails all heading upriver. Although it was impossible to judge the species ratio due to the numbers, the bulk where White Wagtails and Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and they numbered in the thousands! It was truly fantastic to witness!