Lava - Neora Valley Main Trail

One last time in Neora Valley and this time I got a Jeep to drop me off by the cowsheds, this meant I was along the trail and in the good birding area by 07:30. Birds came thick and fast, a flock of 27 Scarlet finches to start with and then a Scaly Thrush flushed from the edge of the path followed by a White-tailed Robin. Then I came into one of the big bird waves, with birds in every direction, as a large mixed flock worked its way down the hillside. In the half hour that it took I picked out 12 Red-tailed Minla, 20 Chestnut-tailed Minla, 13 Short-billed Minivets, 2 Streaked Spiderhunter, 2 Fire-breasted Flowerpeckers, 6 Gold-naped Finch, plus a rake of Warblers. As I reached the area that I had the Tragopan in on the 10^th, I played it cool and slowly snook up to the area, but it didn't matter how stealthy I was the 2 Satyr Tragopans (m+f) that were there took flight immediately and flew right past me up the hillside.
I then headed slowly back towards the cowsheds and came into another wave of birds, obviously different from the first flock. This one consisted of 10 Black-faced Warblers, 2 Grey-cheeked Warblers, 22 Golden-breasted Fulvettas, 20 Rusty-fronted Barwings, 2 Hoary-throated Barwings, 11 Striated Laughingthrush and 8 Brown-capped Laughingthrush. On top of this there was a flock of 100+ Tibetan Siskins at the bottom of the valley and somewhere along the way I picked out a Buff-barred Warbler as well.

Red-tailed Minla

Buff-barred Warbler

Brown-throated Treecreeper

Short-billed Minivet

Streaked Spiderhunter

Tibetan Siskin

Moths from last night

Neora Valley Gully

Lava - The Pipeline Trail

I did start off to do the lower Jeep trail, but to get down to it involved a one mile 45 degree path and if I climbed down that way I would only have to come up again later in the day, and I’m not sure that I could have made it! I did go down the first few hundred steps and then I came across the pipeline trail so took that instead.
Birding was pretty slow but steady with a perched up Black Eagle, 2 Little Pied Flycatchers, a sizeable flock of around 140 Himalayan Swiftlets, 6 Short-billed Minivets, 2 Blue-fronted Redstarts, 2 Red-billed Leiothrix, a huge feeding party of 400+ Whiskered and Rufous-vented Yuhinas, 2 Blue Whistling Thrushes, 14 Striated Bulbuls, 10 White-throated Laughingthrush, 1 Verditer Flycatcher, 1 Fire-tailed Sunbird and a Red-flanked Bluetail. But 'bird of the day' must go to a White-gorgeted Flycatcher that was doing it's thing in some really dense undergrowth, it was fly catching like a typical Flycatcher, but it all took place less than a foot off the ground and it's catching jaunts were sometimes just a matter of inches.
The only other thing of note was a single Indian Muntjac.



Black Eagle

Indian Muntjac

Little Pied Flycatcher

Short-billed Minivet

Whiskered Yuhina

The Pipeline Trail

Lava Day 2

Got up this morning to the sight of 120 Tibetan Siskins in the trees 100 yards down from my shed and 31 Bar-headed Geese flying north, after this it was a taxi up to the 4km post again. Another slow walk back to Lava and this time there were more birds – 4 Blue-fronted Redstarts, 16 Chestnut-tailed Minla, 10 Red-tailed Minla, 2 Green-tailed Sunbirds, a Dark-rumped Rosefinch, 1 Gold-naped Finch, 10 Rufous-vented Yuhina, 4 Black Bulbuls, 2 Grey-hooded Warblers, 2 Rufous-breasted Accentors, 4 Short-billed Minivets and a Brown-throated Treecreeper. And just before Lava, a pair of Grey Bushchats. Late afternoon I had a walk to find the entrance to Neora Valley, found it quite quickly, so I had a quick look down the entrance track and lucked out with 6 Blue-winged Laughingthrushes being elusive swines in the undergrowth.

Chestnut-tailed Minla

Dark-rumped Rosefinch

Short-billed Minivet

 

The Lava to Kalimpong road