I'm heading out for a month in December Bobtag and on a budget, so will be interesting to put it mildly! Yeah tis my first time as well. Heading for Corbett, Nainital, Delhi area for a bit and then catching the train to Goa. Can't wait! Any gen gratefully recieved.
Thanks. Henerz.
Hi Henerz,
Ah, you'll have a fantastic time. Just mega birding out there. Here's a few tips if I may;
- Give yourself some slack if heading up to Nanital. It has a habit of getting snowed in & blocked off (last time I was there I couldn't get to it, as the village had been snowed in for two weeks!; this was early Feb, though, so you should be OK).
- Make sure you build in some time for Sat Tal. At a lower altitude than Nanital it has a different and exciting range of species. You can now stay there, as Mohit Aggawal's company has a lodge for birders;
http://www.sattalbirdinglodge.com/. I took the first photo on that page
of my crew as we were one of the first groups to stay after it opened; it's great to be on-site at dawn rather than having to travel down. The guys at the lodge can give you the latest gen, but the best sites are the factory fields, and the scrub behind the chai stands next to the lake. Here was had 2 species of Rubythroat (Sibe & White-tailed), 2 species of accentor, some mega thrushes including Tickles and Collared Blackbird, 7 Red-flanked Bluetails in one day and best of all a male Golden Bush Robin! Even the grounds of the lodge have birds, including Brown Wood Owl at night.
- Make time for a trip on the Chambal River when your doing the Agra/Bharatpur bit. The views of Skimmer etc are mega, plus it's good for localised species such as Sand Lark and Great Thick-Knee.
- As I said earlier, DelhiBird Yahoo group will help you with latest gen.
Cheers,
BT
