1st April - Kathmandu to Biratnagar, thence Koshi Tappu
The header image is by Rachel taken from the plane window and post processed.
We left immediately after an early breakfast, to drive to the domestic terminal of Kathmandu airport, to catch our internal flight to Biratnagar in the S.E. corner of Nepal. The terminal was pretty chaotic but Suchit got us all checked in and we then found scattered seats in the cramped 'departure lounge' to await our flight with ..... Buddha Air! The aircraft was an old French/Italian turboprop but it was reasonably comfortable and to give Suichit credit he got us all booked in seats on the left hand side of the aircraft so we could get our only glimpse of Everest and the Himalaya of the trip - see header photo, taken with my 'phone. Everest is the one with all the cloud streaming from the summit - I think!
On arrival at Biratnagar airport and reunited with our luggage, we were soon ensconced in a comfortable coach for our transfer to Koshi Camp, our home for the next 3 nights. It was a fairly lengthy trip through flat countryside with scattered agricultural fields, and we discovered that we were heading for a lake to do some birding on the way. This was Lake Birju, which was in an area that also featured wet fields and marshy areas. It was a pretty twisty route along what gradually became narrow dirt tracks, and then to our surprise we came across a gate closed across the track and the way partially blocked by a pile of earth and rocks! Not to be deterred Suchit, the driver and some of us set to, to clear a way through. So, finally we arrived at Birju Lake, which has an island with a small church, and is shown in the header image of the home page.
On arrival at Biratnagar airport and reunited with our luggage, we were soon ensconced in a comfortable coach for our transfer to Koshi Camp, our home for the next 3 nights. It was a fairly lengthy trip through flat countryside with scattered agricultural fields, and we discovered that we were heading for a lake to do some birding on the way. This was Lake Birju, which was in an area that also featured wet fields and marshy areas. It was a pretty twisty route along what gradually became narrow dirt tracks, and then to our surprise we came across a gate closed across the track and the way partially blocked by a pile of earth and rocks! Not to be deterred Suchit, the driver and some of us set to, to clear a way through. So, finally we arrived at Birju Lake, which has an island with a small church, and is shown in the header image of the home page.
Needless to say we were soon out of the coach, and scanning around to see what was about. Given the habitat, wildfowl and other water birds were the main contenders. In addition to the main lake there was also a large shallow area of water and several smaller pools and muddy fields, and we were able to drive around the raised bank to view these areas. Cotton Pygmy Geese are always delightful to see, and we soon clocked up a total of around 10 of these diminutive members of the goose family. At one point a flock of 20 Lesser Whistling Ducks flew in, and the list of ducks soon increased with the addition of common species such as Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pintail, 2 Pochard, and 2 Tufted Duck. A group of around 50 Garganey seemed incredible to us, for a bird that we normally only see in 1's or 2's on passage. Also present was 1 Red-crested Pochard, and a group of 8 Ferruginous Ducks. Aside from wildfowl of course, there were herons, ibises and egrets galore - Asian Openbill, Lesser Adjutant, 10 Black-headed Ibis, 1 Red-naped Ibis, Little-, Great-, Intermediate, and Cattle Egrets, Grey Heron, 1 Purple Heron, and Indian Pond Heron. The water bird 'collection' was completed by Little Cormorant, Oriental Darter, 6 Little Grebe, Grey-headed Swamphen, Common Coot, Moorhen, and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. The shallower areas also produced a few waders, with Little Ringed Plover, Greenshank, 3 Wood Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, and a single Temminck's Stint. The surrounding areas gave us White-throated- and Pied Kingfishers, Hoopoe, Green Bee-eater and Blue-tailed Bee-eater. At some point during this 'birdfest' we did manage to consume our picnic lunches! Brief stops at likely spots gave us Greater Coucal and Long-tailed Shrike, Common Hoopoe and Indian Roller.
Eventually it was time to press on to our final destination, and after some considerable time we found ourselves by the Koshi Barrage, which is a large sluice across the Koshi river, which carries traffic and pedestrians across the river - it was built between 1958 and 1962 and has 56 gates and was constructed to control the river and to alleviate flooding to the south, in northern India. This area is adjacent to the border with India. We stopped the bus here and walked onto the barrage and after a short wait were treated to the sight of a few Ganges, [or Gangetic] River Dolphins fishing in the deep water. It was very difficult anticipating where they would emerge to grab a photo. I managed a few shots of a humped back but Anne managed to catch one mid 'jump' with her bridge camera and the shot in the gallery at the bottom is a big crop from her original image. Well caught tho'!. Having had our fill we set off again in the coach for the final leg of the transfer to Koshi Camp, where we arrived at about 4:30 p.m. Once allocated our rooms we had a little time to explore around the grounds of this delightful camp. As I said on the summary, the camp was established in 1999 by none other than our guide Suchit and several other leading Nepalese naturalists, plus David and Maryanne Mills from the UK, who were the founders of Naturetrek, so we were in good hands! The grounds are quite extensive and there are a couple of shallow lagoons and a hide. From the hide we had excellent views of a stunning male Citrine Wagtail, plus the familiar Grey Wagtail, Asian Pied Starlings, and Bronze-winged Jacana. The trees near the entrance held a Spotted Owlet, and we also found Blue-throated Barbet and a Yellow-footed Green Pigeon. Also on my list for the day I have Eastern Black Redstart and Oriental Magpie-robin - I can't recall where we saw these but they proved to be petty common throughout the trip.
Finally after a long day we had dinner [which was excellent], did the list, and retired to bed for a well-earned sleep.
Finally after a long day we had dinner [which was excellent], did the list, and retired to bed for a well-earned sleep.