Birds and beasts of the northeast India

Much of northeast India is just glorious wilderness. Few places in the world, let alone India, compare. A particularly wonderful tract spreads across the extreme west of Arunachal Pradesh and the adjacent low-lying areas of Assam. From the vast grasslands of Kaziranga in the Brahmaputra valley, through the dense tropical and temperate forests of the Eastern Himalaya, and on to the alpine meadows at the snowline, this area has it all. It’s also surprisingly well-connected and navigable: the road network, including a highway, traverses the entire stretch, up to an altitude of 4,500m; spectacular mountain vistas clothed in unexplored forest; an eye-popping diversity of wildlife yet to be documented in any great detail; a thriving Buddhist culture and impressive snow sentinels which soar to 7,000m on our northern border with Tibet. In just over 300km of road—much less, as the bird flies—wildlife enthusiasts have over 800 bird species to try and spot and, just in case they suffer neck-cramp from staring up at the sky so much, more than enough mammals, unusual reptiles, and the like to keep their eyes peeled. Here, in this small part of the country, you can absorb the essence of the northeast in a week, or you can immerse yourself in it for a decade and still be consistently, continuously surprised.

In April, four of us, all equally obsessed twitchers, planned a 17-day trip to western Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The high-altitude areas of Tawang were still snowed under, so we limited ourselves to just Kaziranga in Assam, and the Pakke tiger reserve and Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary in Arunachal. The purpose of the trip, of course, was some intense, serious bird watching. The rest—the superlative beauty, the tigers, the one-horned rhinoceros—were mere ancillary pluses. By the end of our trip we had seen 360 species of birds and a dozen mammals. It was still too cold for the cold-blooded creatures; they’re out in force in May and October.

Kaziranga is 225km from Guwahati, and it was hard to sit still during the drive. This was my first visit to Kaziranga, but the expectation and anticipation had been percolating for two decades. Needless to say, I expected much from this trip and it says a lot about Kaziranga that not only was I simply not disappointed, I was embarrassingly thrilled.

The special effort we made to see hoolock gibbons in the dense hill forest south of the highway was rewarded with long views of a family party. These extremely acrobatic gibbons are the only apes found in India. The forests of the area resound with their energetic hoots early in the morning. But it was the 500 bird species recorded so far in the park that were our prime targets and although December-February is a better time for birds we still saw over 150 species in just three days, including the Bengal florican, pied harrier, swamp partridge and fish-eagle.

On day four we headed out towards Eaglenest—our base for the next 10 days. The Tezpur-Tawang highway that gets you from Kaziranga to Eaglenest follows Arunachal’s richly forested Kameng river valley. The road reaches its highest point at 1,700m at Nechi Phu and then descends into the Tenga valley before Bomdila. About Nechi Phu lies the Cloud Forest zone, an enchanting subtropical forest draped in moss and mist throughout the year.

Eaglenest. This east Himalayan sanctuary with its evocative name is a microcosm of Arunachal Pradesh: all spectacular scenery, pristine forests, and an incredible variety of wildlife 3,500m above ground. What’s more, in a state where inaccessibility is a byword, Eaglenest is served by a jeep track that meanders up from the Brahmaputra valley to the eponymous Eaglenest Pass at 2,800m, providing unrivalled access through the heart of the forest. We spent the first four days at Sundarview camp, exploring the higher reaches around the Eaglenest Pass, spotting such highly sought-after birds as the Ward’s trogon, slender-billed scimitar-babbler, white browed shortwing and bar-winged wren-babbler.

I first visited Eaglenest in 1995 and was immediately captivated by the dazzling variety of birds and the almost spooky, mist-shrouded forest. Eight years later I returned, as part of a biodiversity documentation project funded by a grant from the Rufford-Maurice-Laing Foundation in the UK. Over seven visits from November 2003 to May 2005, we have documented a staggering variety of fauna. The varieties of bird were impressive enough, but the real eye-openers were the different frogs, reptiles and butterflies. Ours was the first herpe-to-faunal survey in the sanctuary and in just four weeks we recorded more than 25 species of snake, 10 species of lizard and more than 20 species of frog. Many of these had never been recorded or photographed, were unknown in India outside of museum specimens. For instance, the first and only specimen of the agamid lizard (Mictopholis austeniana) was collected 125 years ago by Colonel Godwin Austen. Indeed, we’re still struggling to identify several of the frog species: new colour forms, perhaps, or maybe they’re Chinese frogs not yet encountered or classified in India, or maybe they’re entirely new species, unknown to science and taxonomy. It’s hard to capture the wonder and astonishment of coming upon these creatures for the first time.

But back to this present trip. On Easter Sunday, one of my most memorable birding days ever, we saw over 75 species including such superb birds as the wedge-billed wren-babbler, beautiful nuthatch, blue-winged laughing-thrush, white-gorgeted flycatcher, rusty-fronted barwing, grey-headed parrotbill, gold-headed babbler, rufous-necked hornbill, sultan tit, pale-headed woodpecker and Nepal cutia. Unfortunately, the last three days were marred by heavy rain, a usual feature in these hills. The south-facing Eaglenest slopes partake first, and deeply, of the monsoon cup. The high precipitation is certainly one of the principal factors behind the extraordinary diversity of the northeast hills.

Eaglenest was the wildest and most enchanting of our three sanctuaries—the high point of the visit both literally and figuratively. Our last stop was at the Khari rest house in Pakke tiger reserve, right on the Assam border, halfway between Eaglenest and Kaziranga.

Pakke is just 60km from Kaziranga and a mere 100m higher in altitude, yet there is a world of difference in the vegetation. Lush, dark tropical evergreen forests with impenetrable cane and bamboo undergrowth provide a stark contrast to the elegantly laid out river channels with bright shingle banks and clear, cold water. The principal occupation at Pakke is land-grabbing, on a grand scale—the fast flowing rivers nibble away at the loose crumbling soil which makes up the gently rolling hills, exposing harshly pale patches amidst the verdure. This soil, which is deposited along the shingle banks, is promptly grabbed by grasses and other colonising plant species.

After the deluge at Eaglenest we spent the first evening at Khari in the little watchtower on the headland overlooking the junction of the Khari and Lalong rivers, soaking in the sunlight with pakoras and lemonade for company. As the flaming gold of the setting sun washed over the tranquil hills and river, we saw a herd of elephants crossing the flood plain below before disappearing into the long shadows of the forest eaves; we couldn’t have scripted a more fitting welcome! Khari has a comfortable rest house and pleasant walks. It’s the perfect place to savour the last few days of a demanding but exhilarating wilderness experience. We drove out of Pakke in the morning to reach Guwahati well in time to catch the late afternoon flight to Mumbai.

Though Eaglenest was the northern limit of our visit the highway proceeds beyond to Dirang. The area is drier, being in the rain shadow of Eaglenest, and therefore has a different vegetation and faunal assemblage, adding to the region’s biodiversity. One of the rarest of Indian birds, the black-necked crane, visits Sangti village near Dirang every winter to feed on the fallow rice paddies.

Northwest beyond Dirang the highway climbs sharply from Dirang to the Sela pass at 4,200m. The pass not only forms the political boundary between the districts of Tawang and West Kameng but also forms an insurmountable barrier for many species. Tawang is a land of high mountains, alpine meadows, conifer forests and Buddhist gompas (monasteries). But that’s another story.

The information

Getting there: Kaziranga National Park is 225km from Guwahati. Eaglenest is about 300km from Guwahati. The Pakke tiger reserve is located approximately halfway between Kaziranga and Eaglenest, right on the Assam border. Eaglenest is in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Travelling to Arunachal requires even Indian citizens to acquire a permit. The permit can be obtained from the Arunachal Pradesh resident commissioners in Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati or Shillong.

Where to stay:

Kaziranga: The well-appointed Wild Grass Resort offers 18 double rooms in two jungle lodges. Tented accommodation is also available.

Eaglenest: Hotels, with decent bathrooms etc, are available only in Bomdila, about 50km from Eaglenest. Otherwise, it’s mostly government inspection bungalows or forest rest houses. You can camp in Eaglenest itself in concrete or sheet ‘tents’. Campstyle accommodation, whether in tents or in empty sheds, is the only option between Lama Camp and Doimara.

Pakke: Here too the only accommodation on offer is forest rest houses, in Khari, Tipi or Seijusal. There are a couple of very basic hotels in Bhalukpong.

Contact: Kaati Tours conducts guided trips to Kaziranga, Eaglenest and Pakke (02132-245770; [email protected]). For help with permits and accommodation in Pakke and Eaglenest, contact Indi Glow (President, Bugun Welfare Society), 03782-273359. Or call the Arunachal Pradesh resident commissioner in Delhi (011-23013915/56) and the divisional forest officer at the Pakke tiger reserve (03778-222229).