Upcoming Tours

Northeast India is one of the most bird-rich regions in the world. The dense forests are home to various species of skulking babblers and similarly plumaged warblers, but also beautiful pheasants and other stunners including the recently discovered Bugun Liocichla.

We start this tour with a visit to lowland Nameri National Park on the Jia Bhoreli river, which has a wide variety of species including Pied Falconet, Oriental Hobby and White-winged Duck. Dirang is our next stop, the base for exploring the Sangti Valley, Mandala Road and, weather-permitting, the high-altitude Sela Pass. At 4,200m, there are birds here that are extremely difficult to find elsewhere in Arunachal and we will hope to connect with Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, Solitary Snipe and Grandala.

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary needs little introduction to birdwatchers. Unusually for Arunachal Pradesh, this montane forest has the advantage of easy access to a wide altitudinal range thanks to a jeep track which cuts through its heart from Eaglenest Pass at 2800 m down to the flood plains of Assam at 100 m. Eaglenest gained fame when Bugun Liocichla was described, new to science, in 2006. As well as that, we will hope to see many other excellent birds, including Blyth’s and Temminck’s Tragopans, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Ward’s Trogon, Blackish-breasted Babbler (Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler), Long-billed Wren-babbler, Beautiful Nuthatch, and many more.

Kaziranga National Park is our final stop, with its Indian Rhinoceros, Wild Water Buffalo, Asian Elephant, and a chance of Tiger. Several localised and endangered birds such as Bengal Florican and Greater Adjutant will be amongst our many targets.

The Mishmi Hills is the main focus of this tour, but the lowland wet forest at Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuaryhas some fantastic birding as well, including the rare Brown Hornbill and White-winged Duck, and we will also visit Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, a patchwork of seasonally flooded forests, beels (shallow ponds), and grassy pockets between the arms of the rivers Dibru and the Brahmaputra. Excellent grassland supports a range of rare and specialised birds including the threatened Marsh Babbler, Jerdon’s Babbler, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Swamp Grass-Babbler, and this is the best place in India to see Jerdon’s Bushchat .

The Mishmi Hills of northeastern Arunachal Pradesh has become popular in recent years as travel restrictions in the state have eased. The area covers a large altitudinal range over a relatively short ground distance which means bird diversity is excellent. The highlight species is the localised Mishmi, or Rusty-throated, Wren-babbler which, after being described from one specimen collected in 1947, was not seen again until 2004. Other superb birds include Blyth’s Tragopan, Sclater’s Monal, Himalayan Owl, Chevron-breasted Babbler (Cachar Wedge-billed Babbler), Gould’s Shortwing, and Purple and Green Cochoas. One highlight will be a stay at the bizarre Mayodia Coffee House where we can guarantee that you certainly won’t get good coffee!

This is a specialist birding trip in the spectacular Great Himalayan National Park, focussed on the stunning, enigmatic and very seldom seen Western Tragopan. Find yourself in the midst of this pristine landscape of the mighty Himalayas, enjoying some fantastic birding and hopefully one of the least observed birds in India! As well as the tragopan we hope to see Cheer and Koklass Pheasants, Himalayan Monal, Bearded Vulture, White-cheeked Nuthatch, Spotted Nutcracker, Pink-browed Rosefinch, Collared Grosbeaks and more.

This tour is specially arranged so that you can take just one week off work or school – Summer half-term in May is the perfect time of year for Tragopans – and be back in the office (or school) on Monday morning to regale your colleagues (or school friends, if they’re interested!) with stories of an unforgettable week!

Kashmir and Ladakh, across the Himalayas, offer a stark contrast to the rest of the country, in landscape and culture as well as birds and wildlife. We will be mainly concentrating on localised breeding species on this tour, such as Black-necked Crane, Ibisbill, Kashmir Nuthatch, and Kashmir Flycatcher.

A few days based in Srinagar (staying on a houseboat on the edge of Dal Lake) will be spent exploring surrounding forests and valleys, including Dachigam National Park, where we may see Kashmir Nutcracker, Kashmir and Rusty-tailed Flycatchers, and Black-and-yellow Grosbeak. There is also a chance of two amazing finches, Spectacled Finch and the very local Orange Bullfinch.

We travel overland from Kashmir to Ladakh and into the Nubra Valley where two key species are White-browed Tit Warbler and, recently discovered in India, Pale Rosefinch. We then head east to our base at the Tso Kar lake and plains, at over 4,500 m. Black-necked Crane breeds here and we could also see Tibetan Snowcock, Tibetan Partridge, Upland Buzzard, Ground-Tit, Brown Accentor, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, and Mongolian Finch. Tibetan Wild Ass (Kiang) is common here, and we might also find ‘Shanku’, the Tibetan Wolf.