• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bardia report (1 Viewer)

china guy

A taff living in Sichuan
Report; Bardia National Park ,Nepal.
Sid Francis, Wendy Wright, Steb Fisher

Bardia is located in South-eastern Nepal, very close to the Indian border. A reserve of 968km2, it’s famous for its Tigers, Indian Rhino and Blackbuck. During December 2016, we were lucky enough to be invited to Bardia to give a 5-day course on wildlife guiding. Although that meant each day was mostly occupied by teaching work, we could spend a couple of hours each morning on short birding/wildlife walks, with the participating park guides, around and inside the park perimeter – accessing the three main habitat types: grassland (phanta); Sal (Shorea robusta) forest and jungle. We also accessed the community forest area which provides a buffer zone around the park. This is a a productive forest, dominated by the useful Sal tree and well-managed by local people for resources including timber, animal fodder, grass for thatch etc.
You have three main ways of exploring the park, by foot, vehicle and by Elephant. Our birding was mainly by foot -but we did venture further into the park using a jeep, which brought us great views of Indian Rhino. We also had a two-hour ride on the back of an Elephant. This is great way of getting close to wildlife, but rather testing for back, shoulder and tender underparts as your body is vigorously ‘exercised’ by the animals swinging gait.
Highlights of our Bardia experiences were seeing the iconic and threatened species including Indian Rhino, Wild Elephants, two crocodile species (Gharial and Mugger) and the signs of both Tiger and Leopard, as well as Otter. We came very close to a Leopard sighting – we could hear in which direction the animal had slinked away by the alarm calls of monkeys and forest birds that included Asian Pied Hornbill. Grey Hornbill was also recorded, but one of our target birds, Greater Slaty Woodpecker was only heard.
The park is far less visited than its better known neighbour Chitwan. This gives it a remoter less tourist developed feel – but still with the advantages of high standard, comfortable accommodation. Transport and guiding are easy to find at the lodges and hotels. Many local people are Tharu, an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai areas of India and Nepal. Authentic Tharu culture can be seen in day-day village life and there is a Tharu museum adjacent to the park entrance.
We want to give our thanks to the Bardia guides who expertly took us out each morning and who contribute enormously to wildlife conservation in the region. As with the other Nepali wildlife locations, you can expect a high level of guiding, with a special focus on safety – especially for those entering the park on foot. Our guides were wildlife experts who had particular skills in identifying the tracks of larger carnivores like Tiger and Leopard.

We accumulated the following bird/wildlife list.
1. Red Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus
2. Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus
3. Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea
4. Changeable Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus
5. Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela
6. Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
7. Wooly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus
8. Black Stork Ciconia nigra
9. Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
10. Ashy-headed Green Pigeon Treron phayrei
11. Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica
12. Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis
13. Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
14. Alexandrine Parakeet Psittacula eupatria
15. Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala
16. Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
17. White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
18. Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis
19. Brown-headed Barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus
20. Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris
21. Indian Grey Hornbill Ocyceros birostris
22. Streak-throated Woodpecker Picus xanthopygaeus
23. Grey-capped Woodpecker Yungipicus canicapillus
24. Yellow-crowned Woodpecker Leiopicus mahrattensis
25. Lesser Goldenback Dinopium benghalense
26. Greater Goldenback Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus
27. Greater Slaty Woodpecker Mulleripicus pulverulentus heard
28. Large Cuckooshrike Coracina macei
29. Black-hooded Oriole Oriolus xanthornus
30. Slender-billed Oriole Oriolus tenuirostris
31. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus
32. Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus
33. Common Woodshrike Tephrodornis pondicerianus
34. Common Iora Aegithina tiphia
35. Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda
36. Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos
37. House Crow Corvus splendens
38. Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
39. Asian Paradise Flycatcher (white morph) Terpsiphone paradisi
40. Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus
41. Great Tit Parus major
42. Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer
43. Black-crested Bulbul Pycnonotus flaviventris
44. Black Bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus
45. Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
46. Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
47. Western Crowned Warbler Phylloscopus occipitalis
48. Chiff Chaff Phylloscopus collybita
49. Jungle Babbler Turdoides striata
50. Puff-throated Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps
51. Pin-striped Tit Babbler Macronus gularis
52. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch Sitta cinnamoventris
53. Asian Pied Starling Gracupica contra
54. Chestnut-tailed Starling Sturnia malabarica
55. Rufous Gorgeted Flycatcher Ficedula strophiata
56. Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassinus
57. Green Canary Flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis
58. Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus
59. Crimson Sunbird Aethopyga siparaja
60. White Wagtail Motacilla alba
61. Grey Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis
62. Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava
63. White-browed Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis
64. House Sparrow Passer domesticus

Mammals
Wild boar Sus scrofa
Spotted Deer Axis axis
Grey Langur Simia entellus
Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta
Greater one-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis Vulnerable
Asian Elephant Elephas maximus Endangered
Tracks and/or scats of:
Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris tigris Endangered
Leopard Panthera pardus Vulnerable
Smooth coated otter Lutrogale perspicillata Vulnerable

Reptiles
Gharial Gavialis gangeticus Critically endangered
Mugger crocodile Crocodylus palustris Vulnerable

Photos by Steb Fisher
 

Attachments

  • Asian Pied Hornbill.jpg
    Asian Pied Hornbill.jpg
    222.1 KB · Views: 103
  • Greater Flameback.jpg
    Greater Flameback.jpg
    159.5 KB · Views: 111
  • Rhino.jpg
    Rhino.jpg
    171.5 KB · Views: 116
  • Gharial.jpg
    Gharial.jpg
    184.3 KB · Views: 102
China Guy, hello! Im new to the forum from Nepal. I’m planning to go to both Bardia and Shuklaphant, another reserve further west around Jan/Feb.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top