birdmanofgateshead: February 2014

Thursday, 27 February 2014

Burdon moor and Lamesley area

2 stonechats were at Burdon moor along with 10+ skylarks, 2 red kites.
Lamesley area had a green sandpiper, 3 lbb gulls, 3 oystercatchers.
1w yellow legged gull reported at stella yesterday :0 keep an eye out for me ;)

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Nepal trip final days 8-10

Day 8 was spent with a mornings birding in the Koshi camp followed by a short flight to Kathmandu where we spent the afternoon having a look around the city, what a mental place! traffic bumper to bumper dodging each other, loads of shops with the goods next to nothing, fascinating place :)
Day 9 was an early morning start heading up the Kathmandu valley "phulchoki mountain", we had to pick up 2 armed police guards on the way as a few rebels are robbing tourists in the mountains :/ we had no problem on the mountain. We drove as far as we could get in the 4x4's until the ice stopped us, then it was a walk back down birding, some great species we gort here. We also stopped in at the botanical gardens at the bottom of the mountain for some more birding which turned out to be a good stop, few flycatchers and barbets here. Then back to the hotel for our final meal together, and to do the final list.
Day 10 was a quick morning look at the shops before heading to the airport for the first of 3 flight for me :( best holiday iv'e ever had and it's made me decide to have my 2 holidays a year in another country birding, i would like to do Texas, Africa and South America on my next hols, but lets see :) here is the final shots from my Nepal trip, a look around Kathmandu and birds on the Phulchoki mountain.

New birds for trip
great barbet
golden-throated barbet
red-billed blue magpie
small minivet
long-tailed minivet
white-collard blackbird
slaty-backed flycatcher
rufous-gorgeted flycatcher
red-flanked blue tail male :)
blue-fronted redstart
white-tailed nuthatch
green-backed tit
black-lored tit
yellow-browed tit
black-throated tit
black bulbul
buff-barred warbler
grey-hooded warbler
striated laughingthrush
chestnut-crowned laughingthrush
white-browed shrike babbler
hoary-throated barwing
chestnut-tailed siva
white-browed fulvetta
rufous sibia
whiskered yuhina
stripe-throated yuhina
yellow-bellied flowerpecker
fire-breasted flowerpecker
purple sunbird
green-tailed sunbird
fire-tailed sunbird
bar-tailed cuckoo dove
brown bullfinch
common woodpigeon selfound rare visitor

Other wildlife
orange-bellied squirrel
yellow-throated marten

flight back to Kathmandu

mount everest

fields from the flight

the outskirts of Kathmandu

photos from Kathmandu

Hotel in Kathmandu and the 4x4's used for the mountain

green-tailed sunbird

buff barred warbler

green-tailed sunbird female

bar-tailed cuckoo dove, selfound scarce and elusive bird

hoary-throated barwing, selfound scarce and elusive bird

white- browed fulvetta

chestnut-crowned laughingthrush

orange-bellied squirrel

white-collared blackbird

wcb female

oriental turtle doves

blue-fronted redstart

white-capped redstart

dark-throated thrush

black bulbul

great barbet

rufous-gorgeted flycatcher

black-throated tit

indian house crow

plumbeous redstart

the Naturetrek group Nepal 2014

Goodbye from Nepal

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

First day back birding in Gateshead

Not bad for my first day back, 2 peregrine hunting along the tyne, 2 lesser black backed gulls at shibdon and 3 oystercatchers at lamesley, all year ticks :)

one of the two peregrines hunting the tyne

Nepal trip day 5-7

Day five we traveled by bus from Chitwan to Koshi camp with a few stops on the way, the weather was drizzle all day :( good job we were on the bus for most of it but iut was a bit of a pain when we stopped for lunch and a spot of birding. One of the stops we were looking for Gangetic dolphin, which we managed to get cracking views of :) we past threw countryside on the way to the Koshi camp, it was a good way to view how people lived in Nepal, once we arrived in the east you could see a change in the way people lived and looked, Indian people were the people that lived in the east with just a few Nepalese. we arrived at the Koshi camp around 4pm where we were greeted with drinks and food, the next few days were a mix of cloudy in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon, apart from the afternoon we went on a raft down the river where i tossed it down all the way :( as soon as we got back to the camp the sun came out! great place though with such birds in the camp as: siberian rubythroat, brown shrike,whites thrush, thick billed warbler, blyths warbler, barbets, babblers, owls, storks, crakes, raptors, flying foxes and a jackal :0 here are days 5-7 in photos.

New birds for trip
swamp francolin
bar-headed goose
gadwall
mallard
indian spot-billed duck
northern pintail
ferruginous duck
brown-capped pygmy woodpecker
streak-throated woodpecker
grey-headed woodpecker
lesser goldenback
blue-throated barbet
coppersmith barbet
asian koel
alpine swift
spotted owlet
short-eared owl
oriental turtle dove
red collared dove
orange-breasted green pigeon
ruddy-breasted crake
purple swamphen
yellow-wattled lapwing
indian courser
small pratincole
little tern
white-rumped vulture
short-toed snake eagle
hen harrier
shikra
himalayan buzzard
red-necked falcon
little grebe
great crested grebe
little cormorant
yellow bittern
black-headed ibis
black stork
brown shrike
southern grey shrike
black-winged cuckoo shrike
white-throated fantail
white-bellied drongo
bronzed drongo
greater racket-tailed drongo
common iora
common woodshrike
white's thrush
grey-winged blackbird
grey bushchat
asian pied starling
hill myna
blyth's reed warbler
thick-billed warbler
siberian chiffchaff
dusky warbler
smokey warbler
tickell's leaf warbler
whistler's warbler
ashy-crowned sparrow lark
great short-toed lark
sand lark
oriental skylark
richard's pipit
tawny pipit

Other wildlife
indian flyingfox
indian pipistrelle
asiatic golden jackal
indian grey mongoose
gangetic dolphin
sambar deer
wild water buffalo