6th April - Chitwan NP by jeep
Today the plan was to explore more of Chitwan National Park by jeep and foot and we were on our way at 6:45 a.m. in three jeeps. We had to drive some distance and cross the river before we entered the park proper. Even at that early hour there was a lot going on as all the local villages were preparing for a religious ceremony, the significance of which I'm afraid I have forgotten. It was a pretty misty start to the day, but as we crossed the bridge over the river, we spotted a large male Rhino wading across the river, so the 'first shifts' dip-out of yesterday on the Elephants was nullified. Phew! Once in the park we drove slowly along a dirt track through quite heavily wooded areas and some more open areas, stopping when anything good was seen. First up was a Changeable Hawk-eagle sitting in a tree, and also a Crested Serpent Eagle. At one point we saw a Wild Boar cross the track and merge into the undergrowth on our left, and whilst looking at that, another black shape was seen and called as a further Boar, but then suddenly came the realisation that it was too large and the coat was too long haired - the views were sadly too restricted, but it was a Sloth Bear, an excellent sighting. Small birds seen included Grey-crowned Prinia and Common Woodshrike and we also found a Sambar Deer and had excellent views of an adult and young Rhino. The sky got very dark and before long it started to rain, which got heavier and heavier. There was a rapid deployment of ponchos which were thoughtfully provided in the jeeps for those without waterproofs, although eventually any waterproof properties were irrelevant. I have never experienced such heavy rain. There was also thunder and lightning and the sky was black - we all got thoroughly soaked. This carried on for some time, but we eventually found a ranger's lookout tower where we were able to shelter until the storm passed.
Eventually it did stop and we set off again and drove some more until we found an area overlooking the river where we could stop and have our picnic lunch. I set up my 'scope and found a River Lapwing on a sand bar not too far away, and I have Greenshank on my list which must have been there. On a sandy spit much closer to us was a White-browed Wagtail. It seemed to be clearing up a bit and most of us were beginning to dry out a little, at least in the outer layers! Before we set off in the jeeps again we took a walk through the bush adjacent the river, as the call of a Great Hornbill had been detected. Sadly despite some intensive scanning of all the areas of higher canopy we couldn't find our target. We did find some pretty good birds though, including a few impressive woodpeckers - Himalayan Flameback, Lesser Yellownape, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. Other goodies included Scarlet Minivet, Common Iora and Common Woodshrike. Having worked this area of woodland we set off in the jeeps again to follow some more tracks. One such looked pretty waterlogged so we tried an alternative route which involved dropping down into a small valley where a stream ran through. Myself and Anne, Rachel, June and Alan were in the lead jeep, and as we reached the bottom of the dip it soon became clear that we weren't going to get up the other side due to the mud. Our driver turned us round and then we proceeded to try and drive back out again. Oh dear! After several attempts of making a run at it there was simply not enough grip to negotiate the short but fairly steep hill. So everyone had to disembark, and the tourist ones of us managed to slither and slide our way up on foot to level ground. In the meantime, even without its passenger load the jeep would not oblige, so it fell to Suchit, Badri and others of the jeep team to slither around in the mud and help push the jeep and get sprayed with mud from the wheels, and slowly but surely, it eventually made it to the top.
After that little adventure the rest of the day was spent slowly driving tracks that would lead back to where we began, stopping to watch birds and wildlife as we went. We did very well for Rhinos in the end - a total of 16 were seen, including one half submerged in a small pool. We also saw plenty of Rhesus Macaques and also a group of Terai Grey Langur in a tree by the track. Various stops in more open areas of scrub gave us some pretty good sightings, the highlights of which included Oriental Dollarbird, Crested Treeswift, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Collared Falconet [what a tiny and delightful little raptor], Large Cuckooshrike, Hair-crested Drongo, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Orange-headed Thrush, Puff-throated Babbler, Yellow-throated Sparrow and Baya Weaver. A couple of Indian Rollers were particularly obliging and allowed for some nice perched and flight shots. We also found a key mammal to see - the Gaur or Indian Bison {Bos gaurus}, a powerful and handsome looking beast. Also unique to the freshwater habitats of the northern part of the India subcontinent, is the Gharial {Gavialis gangeticus}, a freshwater crocodile characterised by a very thin snout. We did see one or two but I didn't get any photos myself.
After that little adventure the rest of the day was spent slowly driving tracks that would lead back to where we began, stopping to watch birds and wildlife as we went. We did very well for Rhinos in the end - a total of 16 were seen, including one half submerged in a small pool. We also saw plenty of Rhesus Macaques and also a group of Terai Grey Langur in a tree by the track. Various stops in more open areas of scrub gave us some pretty good sightings, the highlights of which included Oriental Dollarbird, Crested Treeswift, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Collared Falconet [what a tiny and delightful little raptor], Large Cuckooshrike, Hair-crested Drongo, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Orange-headed Thrush, Puff-throated Babbler, Yellow-throated Sparrow and Baya Weaver. A couple of Indian Rollers were particularly obliging and allowed for some nice perched and flight shots. We also found a key mammal to see - the Gaur or Indian Bison {Bos gaurus}, a powerful and handsome looking beast. Also unique to the freshwater habitats of the northern part of the India subcontinent, is the Gharial {Gavialis gangeticus}, a freshwater crocodile characterised by a very thin snout. We did see one or two but I didn't get any photos myself.
During the course of this very birdy part of the day we became aware of very dark clouds gathering behind us, which eventually developed into an incredible black sky [there are a number nice shots of this in the gallery pages but here is an example]. We felt sure we were going to get another soaking but as we progressed, it looked as though the impending storm was going to skirt round us. At one point Alan requested a bush loo stop and not long after he disappeared behind some bushes, a shout went up, and there flying overhead, was a group of 5 Great Hornbills! Nice timing Alan! [who did get to see them!]. We continued our drive and added Alexandrine Parakeet and Bronzed Drongo, Black Bulbul and Black-crested Bulbul. The storm started to develop a bit more as we drove through the village and approached the lodge, with some very close spectacular lightning and crashes of thunder. We managed to get back and ensconced in our cabins before the deluge started. This was in fact the last full day of birding and wildlife watching and despite the weather etc it was very successful, with 83 bird species [at least that's what I saw according to my database], so I guess the group total for the day was higher than that. We ditched the still damp inner layers and took a well-earned shower, before another excellent dinner and the final bird list. Tomorrow was the final road journey back to Kathmandu.