Journal Entry: First Day at Eaglenest
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
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Our primary activity in Eaglenest was to go looking for birds. We were to spend the first few days in a campsite called Bompu. This was one of the camping grounds in Eaglenest, along with Sessni, Sundarview and lama camp. We were to proceed to lama camp after spending a few days in Bompu, and would briefly visit Sessni and Sundarview while bird watching.
Bompu camp had a couple of tents and indoor accommodation. Tents were comfortable enough and were sufficient to protect from the elements. We all had carried sleeping bags to keep us warm but it used to get pretty cold in the night. Food at the camp was staple diet – chapathi, rice and sabji. Chai and biscuits were always in supply.
Our guide for the trip – Shashank was a man with truck loads of enthusiasm. He was always the first one to wake up in the morning and last one to go to bed. He would come with us for all the birding activity while finding time to walk a bit and look for birds even when we were all resting. He also took care of overseeing day-to-day operation of the camp and despite all this, never seemed to get tired.
Lichens drooping from the branches were common in the wet weather
The very first birding walk gave us a glimpse of Arunachal weather. It was an overcast day and often used to get foggy. Shashank said it is a good weather birding compared to a warm and sunny day. We took the road heading up the hill and started walking early in the morning. The forest on the way, we noticed, is untouched except for the road that breaks through it. It is a thick, moist evergreen world. Occasionally white flowers of Michalia erupted out of the greens. Moist branches from the trees hosted lichens drooping from them and gave an eerie look. We some times saw a few warblers and minivets hopping from branch to branch. Nearly all the birds we encountered were new and were not found in rest of India. As we walked, occasionally clouds would become overweight and sprinkle short spells of rain over us, some thing we were prepared for it. After an hour or so of walk, it finally started pouring hard, forcing us to retreat. Shashank smiled and said – “this is Arunachal weather!”
Eye-catcher in the forest…
By the time we were back at the camp, it was dry again and sun shown brightly. Our first few days in Eaglenest remained like this, but the clouds finally moved away in the latter days. The sunny afternoon rewarded me with a picture of Dark Throated Thrush.
Dark Throated Thrush
We walked in the opposite direction after we had lunch at the camp and stayed on the road till dark. The day’s sightings included, along with many other birds, Longtailed Minivets, Veriditer Flycatcher, Greyheaded Canary Flycatcher, White-throated Fantail, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Ashy-throated Warbler, etc,..