Travels in Nepal # 62 Canoe trip
Canoe ride on the Rapti River, Nepal
On the second afternoon during our stay at the Royal Chitwan National Park we were driven a short distance over a very rough track in a rather dilapidated old 4WD vehicle to an upstream section of the Rapti River. A canoe, together with a canoeist, was waiting for our small group to take a half hour trip down river.
The man operated the canoe with a long pole along the same principle of a gondolier. The river in this section was flowing quite rapidly and so he only had to guide it along. This section of my overseas trip was the best birding of the whole trip and it only lasted half an hour. I managed to add no less than 19 new species to my life list. (A ‘life list’ is a list of all the birds I have ever seen in my life.)
Our guide for the afternoon was Kamahl, also a keen birder. He was able to point out and name the birds we saw as we went along. My list would have been much smaller if he hadn’t helped me.
Although the trip was fantastic, there were a few problems. Too much, too quick and all too soon the boat trip was over. I had to juggle the following:
- Looking at the birds
- Looking at the scenery
- Looking at the field guide to identify the birds
- Taking photographs
- Using my binoculars
- Writing a list of birds seen in my notebook
- Trying to keep my balance in the canoe
- Trying not to be scared of the man-eating Mugger Crocodiles on the sand bars just metres away!
Travels in Nepal # 58 Another Rhinoceros
Elephant ride in Chitwan National Park
On our second morning at Chitwan National Park we woke to find that the foggy conditions had worsened. After a relaxing breakfast we travelled a short distance by 4WD to another part of the national park. Here we found about a dozen elephants waiting to take us on another walk through the park.
Rhinoceros in Royal Chitwan National Park
Animals and birds
The foggy conditions made photography rather difficult. After a short distance we managed to find another rhinoceros and it posed beautifully for my camera. We also had brief views of a mother Spotted Deer and her baby, a Hog Deer (it might have been a Barking Deer) and distant views of some monkeys, possibly Rhesus Macaques. The birding was rather disappointing but I did get good views of another male Indian Peafowl, a Red Jungle Fowl and some Lesser Whistling Ducks.
Rhinoceros in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal
Travels in Nepal #23 Himalayan Monal
Himalayan Monal, Nepal's National Bird
On the acclimatisation day at Namche Bazar one of the highlights was adding a number of new birds to my “life list.” A birder’s “life list” is a list of all the species seen in one’s lifetime. For me this list stands at a meagre 369 out of a world list of nearly ten thousand. Of those 369 I added 55 of them in Nepal during my visit last January.
In Namche Bazar I saw a flock of Snow Pigeons and several Yellow Billed Choughs (also called the Alpine Chough). I was particularly “chuffed’ to see the choughs as it was one of my target species to see. We have an unrelated species, the White Winged Chough, resident near where we live in South Australia. A flock regularly visits our garden.
One species of bird I saw in Nepal will never be recorded in our home garden, the Himalayan Monal. This turkey sized bird has stunning colours on its wings. On the trek we saw several flocks if this beautiful bird but they were too quick for me to photograph. The above photo was taken in a museum. According to the Lonely Planet Guide, the Monal has a peculiar habit. It doesn’t really fly but prefers to glide instead. If it wants to go uphill, it walks instead of flying.
Links:
- Trevor’s Birding – my birding blog.
- Travels in Nepal – archives of my travels in Nepal.
Gluepot Bird Reserve part 1
Gluepot Bird Reserve
Last year I travelled to a very special place. About an hour’s drive north of Waikerie in the Riverland area of South Australia is Gluepot Bird Reserve. Gluepot was once a sheep station in what is predominantly mallee country. It is called Gluepot because the various tracks through the property become like a gluepot after even a small amount of rain. Some become impassable after twenty or thirty millimetres of rain. Fortunately this amount of rain only occurs several times a year.
A few years back the property came on the market and was quickly purchased by members of Australia’s largest Birding organisation, Birds Australia. It was already known how rich the bird population was on this sheep property. It has now been established that there are more than a dozen bird species present at Gluepot that are either threatened or endangered. It is one of the few strongholds anywhere of the rare honeyeater, the Black-Eared Miner.
Sunset at Gluepot Bird Reserve
I had been wanting to visit Gluepot for sometime but just hadn’t got around to it. The very first course to be offered there was on developing one’s skills in nature photography. Craig Ingram was the facilitator and I enrolled hoping to learn more about using my recently purchased digital camera, the latest Canon Powershot 2S IS. The weekend was particularly good and I learned many hints on photography.
I will share more photos taken on that weekend over coming days.
Related Links:
- My photo gallery (including more shots taken at Gluepot)
Pangarinda Arboretum – more photos
Red Capped Robin
One of favourite picnic spots is the Pangarinda Arboretum at Wellington, South Australia. Not only do we enjoy wandering around admiring the vast range of flowering Australian native plants, the bird life is also quite wonderful. Birds like the stunning Red Capped Robin shown above and the noisy New Holland Honeyeaters zipping around everywhere from flower to flower. I have seen beautiful Superb Blue Wrens, dainty and quite cheeky Zebra Finches and a male Golden Whistler lighting up the green-grey foliage of the bushes with his bright golden breast feathers.
Eucalyptus flowers
The arboretum is a very peaceful place to wander around, have a picnic or just sit quietly listening to and watching the passing parade of birds. The River Murray is only a few hundred metres away, complete with a new marina and housing estate, and there are many dairy farms in the nearby vacinity. Pelicans and Ibis are sometimes seen flying overhead, adding to the beauty of this special place.
Eucalyptus macrocarpa