Lava, Darjeeling, North Bengal, April-May 1999
Anand Prasad (swanandprasad@hotmail.com)
This April-May I was fortunate enough to spend some time
birding in the Darjeeling area. The sites I visited have been well
covered by trip-reports of Buckton and Morris in ī90, R. Drijvers in
ī94 and ī95 and in a Birdwatchers guide to INDIA by Krys
Kazmeierczak and Raja Singh. I went on the Sandakphu trek in late
April. My main addition is a comment on the people. In comparison to
the Langtang area from which I had just come the people were a
sheer delight. They are very devout buddhists which leads to some
wonderful situations, being invited to the death celebrations of a
village elder, guided tour of the museum of deities in Megma and
being served butter tea by the dignified grandmother of the lodge in
Megma when sheīs not meditatively spinning her prayer wheel. This
lodge is just beyond the small monastery. The owner there is very
well educated, and is a mine of information, he would probably
willingly take you to a nearby ravine where he can call in a male
Tragopan.But itīs still difficult to see them as they are very way.
In all villages we avoided the trekkerīs huts with their piles
of rubbish out the front and were rewarded everywhere by the most
wonderful people (all totally fascinated by my Pictorial Guide).
The overgrown old jeep track below Kalipokhari is by now very
overgrown and I found it quite frustrating, however expected birds
were seen elsewhere. There is a beautiful new lodge first on the
left. I would definitely recommend sticking to the long road. Some
locals gave very confusing information on which is the old and which
is the new and it was sometimes very difficult to explain that we
wanted to go the long way. For example at Garibans the long way
passes below the trekkers hut on a fairly flat road at first and was
hard to get info. on. This way you avoid the noisy Indian tourists
and any jeeps plus you spend more time in the forest.
At Sandakphu the ridge mentioned in most reports is I
calculated 1 1/4 km north of the village. This ridge actually
divides. I took the first one eventually it fades away but there is
another track to your right which drops down to a basin with a
derelict building by a stream. In this area I saw a flock of Fulvous
Parrotbills. If you cross this stream you can find another small
path which eventually leads back to the path on the ridge east of
Sandakphu (which is now a direct trekking route to Rimbik) so here
when you meet this path you need to turn right to arrive back at
Sandakphu.
We took this direct route to Rimbik after spending a night at a
good lodge at Gudrun. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of burnt
area before Gudrun as a result of a fairly recent forest fire, but
at Gudrun I saw my only White-tailed Rubythroat.
Between Megma and Garibans I saw Crimson-browed Finch, Golden-
breasted Fulvetta, Large Niltava, and a female Tragopan with many
males calling. At Kalipokhari I saw Brown Parrotbill. On the ridge
east of Sandakphu I had superb views of a pair of Blood Pheasant
plus more Brown Parrotbills, Golden and White-browed Bush Robin,
Dark-rumped Rosefinch and Gold-naped Finch.
The path to Rimbik was good for Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler
and passes trough good forest before the burnt out area before
Gudrun. After Gudrun, is pretty cultivated I was hoping for a
Silver-eared Mesia!
Easy birds on the trek were Great Parrotbill around Sandakphu,
Himalayan Cuckoo, White-throated Needletail and Slender-billed
Scimitar Babbler.
From Rimbik to Darjeeling it is a shared jeep or bus (6 hours).
In Darjeeling beware of closing days for the Zoo. I managed to
climb through a fence. (In India there is always a hole in the
fence). I had the place to myself. Beware of stepping in toilet
areas beneath the dead leaves! Red-tailed Minla, Blue-winged Siva
and Black-eared Shrike Babbler were seen, plus a poor view of a
possible Maroon-backed Accentor.
Tiger hill is very degraded, the lodge owner at Megma blames it
on a corrupt politician. I saw White-tailed Robin, White-browed
Shortwing, Black-throated Parrotbill, Brown Parrotbill, Hill
Partridge, Broad-billed Warbler and Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler.
The highlight of the trip was definitely Lava and I spent six
whole days here. It could even have been more because it seems a lot
of birds pass through here. Donīt expect an idyllic village in the
forest, itīs pretty ugly. The saving grace is the kids monastery,
from the Yankee resort you can watch the kids fighting and playing.
There are plenty of lodges now in Lava but Mr. Lama is well worth a
visit and he will certainly take good care of you. He also has some
good birding lists. The people in Lava are of very mixed race so
itīs nothing like the Sandakphu trek but Mr. Lama is a real gem.
There are three main birding walks. One is back along the road to
Kalimpong which produced Cutia on the left going down 6 km from
Lava. This is the same spot as Buckton and Morris but all the mile
markers are changed but someone has scraped "Cutia" in the concrete
wall top here. I also saw White-browed Shrike Babbler here and P.
Thompson saw Black-headed Shrike Babbler here in 1991.
Around the 4 km area I saw a flock of White-naped Yuhina, and a
White-throated Bulbul both scarce here. I also saw a Mountain Bulbul
and the "bird of my life" a Grey-sided Thrush, Scaly Laughing Thrush should
also be seen along the road.
In the Blue-fronted Robin site I had a few attempts especially
as Rufous-throated Wren Babbler had just been seen here by Mike
Watson. I dipped on both and had to keep moving because of leeches.
The second major walk is on the track to Neora Valley. The road
soon after leaving the monastery, divides. The right track climbs
the nearby summit of a hill. The left track continues level for roughly an
hour when it divides. The left jeep track turns left and meanders around
several hairpins to negotiate a ridge, I donīt know where the next left fork
goes but if you fork right you eventually cross a bridge, wind up to a
timber yard and then continue on a straight stretch which presumably leads
to Neora valley park proper. You are now parallel to the upper path which
most birders take. It is
quite a long detour so if you do decide to combine them both give
yourself plenty of time.
If you take the right path instead of the left one (i.e. about
one hour from Lava) you are on the path most birders take. It is
nice and level but after passing through a couple of cattle yards
(one with harmless barking dog) the path fades away. It was here
Mike Watson saw White-gorgeted Flycatcher and Pygmy Blue Fly. just a
couple of days before but Flycatchers were pretty scarce in the last
few days of my stay.
If you look directly below you can see the jeep track (mentioned
before) to Neora Valley and I managed to scramble down to it with
difficulty but Iīm sure there is an easy path there somewhere. On
this upper path I had my only (but superb) views of Rufous-throated
Wren Babbler, several Yellow-throated Fulvetta and Grey-cheeked
Warbler is also easy here. Here you should also find Golden Babbler.
Walking back on the larger jeep track I saw Scarlet Finch,
Rusty-throated Barwing (fairly common), Bay Woodpecker,
Yellow-cheeked Tit, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Streaked Spiderhunter
and a calling Mountain Hawk Eagle.
The third area is the level jeep track below Lava. It can be
accessed either by following a path down from Lava or another path
down just before the 4 km marker heading towards Damdim i.e.
opposite to Kalimpong. To find the path down near Lava take the
by-pass road (i.e. not the village high street) from the top of the
village. This means first climbing up from the Yankee Resort and
then turning left on the "main" road. After roughly ― km you come
to the first hairpin bend. By the curve you will see a path which
quickly divides. Take the left hand path. Here is a good spot for Thrushes
in early morning and evening. I had poor views of a possible Eyebrowed
Thrush here. The path down takes about 3/4 hr, (much quicker down than up).
I saw Little Pied Fly., Hill Prinia and Brown Bullfinch here and quite far
down Spotted Wren Babbler. Very near the jeep track is a good area and I saw
Red-faced Liochichla here and an injured or sick Grey-sided Laughing Thrush
on the jeep-track here. You could explore right a bit but I explored to the
left. It would be hard to find the path up to the 4 km marker but I had
help from a local. If you continue you will come to the road anyway at a
small village. Birds on the track include Slaty-bellied Tesia, Scarlet Finch
and Rufous Piculet.
Easy birds include Barred Cuckoo Dove, Scaly Laughing Thrush,
Blue-winged Laughing Thrush, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, White-
tailed Robin, White-browed Shortwing, Short-billed Minivet, Golden-
throated Barbet, Lesser Cuckoo, Brown Bullfinch and Striated Bulbul.
If you also look at the birds R. Drijvers saw (Emerald Cuckoo, Grey-chinned
Minivet, Long-billed Wren Babbler, Dark sided, Eyebrowed and Dusky Thrush,
Sapphire and Ferruginous Fly.) you can see the possibilities here.
A japanese birder Chikara Otari also saw Lesser shortwing here!
Anand Prasad
swanandprasad@hotmail.com
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