Suddenly I got a call from Sarma Sir and he asked me if I shall accompany him to forest behind Nameri for a two day outing. An outing desire was already growing up inside me and Nameri reserve forest was in my priority list. So when I got the call, I was sanguine about going there though I knew I have to get my leaves granted.
However, when we started on the morning of 11th of April, I got to know we were not going to Nameri but to Pakke reserve forest in Arunachal Pradesh. I was a bit disheartened to know I was missing Nameri but was hopeful that Pakke will be a nice surprise too. During the journey I got to know the whole plan he made about the tour, the stay and the motive which is purely birding. Though I liked photographing birds I could never imagined myself travelling 250 km to watch and shoot birds. But I kept saying to myself, I can enjoy this too.
We took a break at Amoni for chai nasta. By 8:30 we reached Kaliabhomora bridge and Tezpur by 9. We took Balipara-Itakhola-Seijosa route to reach Seijosa police checkpoint at around 10. The Pakke Jungle Camp where we planned to stay was about 10 km from the checkpoint. We reached the camp at around 11.
The jungle camp supported by Ghora Abhe Society constituted of nearby villages but chiefly taken care of by Mr Takam Nabam with help from village people. The camp has four cottages with two beds in each cottage all having attached bath and toilet. The camp is located within forest and that makes the stay enjoyable. Breakfast lunch and dinner are arranged by the camp manager and served in the dinning hall of the camp.
First day we went to a nearby waterway to watch Blyth's kingfisher. After more than a hour's wait, we came empty handed. however, the afternoon at the camp was not disappointing. We could catch glimpse of black crested yellow bulbul and several bee eaters. The place has its own aura with natural tranquility buzzing with cricket sounds. Without any telephone network and dimming solar lights, the dark of the night engulfed like never before and by 7 it felt like the night has grown fully. We had our dinner and went to sleep by 9.
Next morning we got ready at 5 in the morning and started for Pakke Tiger Reserve which was around 15 kilometre from the Jungle camp we were staying in . Mr Takam drove us in his Bolero to the forest checkpost and an armed forest guard accompanied us into the tiger reserve.
The greenery of the evergreen trees mixed with leafless branches of deciduous trees filled with chirping of birds removed all impressions of the daily work in an instant. I got lost in the music of the nature. The sun was still not out fully and the whole forest was half dark with tree tops illumined by the rising sun. The safari trails lead us to a dry stream bed in the middle of the forest. Mr Takam told us that hornbills are generally sighted in this area. We got down from his Bolero and waited for the great bird.
After waiting for about half an hour we could hear the flapping of the wings of a big bird. Mr Takam looked at us and his expression told us the hornbill is near. We kept looking at the trees and suddenly we caught glimpse of the great bird on a tree about 50 meters away from us. Even from that distance, the bird seemed quite big and easily identifiable by its distinct beak and body shape. The noble bird gave us quite sometime to capture its photo. I was quite delighted to see the wreathed hornbill,which is a vulnerable species, in its natural habitat. After spending some more time and a few other sightings we went to a nearby forest house, had our breakfast there and returned to our cottages by nine.
The cook hailing from a village of Upper Assam cooked healthy but delicious dishes. We had our lunch, took some rest sat outside and gossiped for a while. The birds started coming back to the trees near the cottage. We had some great time watching and shooting birds.
Next day we again targeted the Blyth's kingfisher at the waterway, but this time in the morning. We waited for long hours without any trail of the bird. Finally I got bored and went up from the spot we waited. I walked around the place to get some luck. The fortune favoured and I saw a pied falconet in a nearby tree.
After I returned again to the waterway, they told me the Kingfisher was sighted. However I could not catch glimpse of it. Sarma Sir got lucky to see the bird, however he could not get a clear shot. After Mr Takam told us that the bird has flown away and probably will not return anytime soon.
We returned to the camp, walked around for some time looking for more birds had our brunch and started off by half past nine. As its around five hours journey to Guwahati we wanted to ensure that we reach Guwahati before dusk. We stopped at Iora food court at Khetri for lunch. The place serves good food in reasonable price and its ambiance is very family friendly. The journey ended when I reached home at around 3 pm but the sweet souvenir of the journey, the fragrance of the first birding experience shall remain with me and drag me again to the lap of nature to catch glimpse of these beautiful creation of mother nature.
Nice travelogue.Abrupt beginning but a good command over the language and presentation is quite impressive.Work on punctuation.keep writing.
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