[ramnath_77]

This is my first travelogue post on T-BHP. Hence pardon me in case of any mistakes. This trip happened just before the lockdown hit us in March.

Background
Ever since i got addicted to Bird photography, i always wanted to visit Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and the hills around Latpanchor/Kurseong in West Bengal. The region is extremely rich in avifauna. The opportunity to photograph some of these beauties is too tempting to ignore for a long time.
I usually take help of a local birding guide when visiting such places. Their knowledge of local terrain/landscapes, deciding the right season to travel etc helps increase the chances of sighting and eventually better photographs.

Based on the feedback from our local expert (Debu), my friend and me decided to make the trip in the 1st week of March around Holi. Plan was to cover Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary over 3 days and Latpanchor over 2 days.
Flights from Pune to Bagdogra and back were booked. Hotel in Siliguri and a homestay in Latpanchor was booked.
Spent a few days researching about the various species found in the place, spoke to other friends who had already been there to understand and prepare for challenges from a photography perspective.

The journey
The D-day finally arrived and after a red-eye flight (via Bangalore), we finally reached Bagdogra on the morning of 6th March. Debu was waiting for us at the airport. After a quick tea/breakfast, we headed straight to Mahananda wildlife sanctuary as Debu advised us to check-in to the hotel later in the evening after full day birding. Although we were a bit tired, the lush green forests and chirping of birds took away all our stress. Over the next 3 days, we ended up seeing and photographing quite a few species (some of which are endemic to the region). Let the pictures do the talking

Here are a few images from Mahananda

Bluecapped Rock Thrush


Blue-bearded Bee eater


Blue-bearded Bee eater


Collared Falconet. One of the world's smallest raptors


Collared Owlett


Portrait of a Common Green Magpie


Crimson Sunbird


Orange-bellied Leafbird (female)


Orange-bellied Leafbird (male)


Scarlet Minivet


A pair of Chetnut Headed Bee eaters


Long-tailed Broadbill (fondly referred to as the Helmet bird).
This was one of my target species for the trip. Was pretty happy to get this guy







After spending 3 wonderful days at Mahananda, we proceeded to the small hill town of Latpanchor for the 2nd leg of our trip. Latpanchor is an extremely beautiful small little town on the hills. It is in the Kurseong division of Darjeeling district. We stayed at Kripa Homestay which was one of the newest in the place. The location was amazing and the views of the mountains were mesmerizing.

Here are some of the residents of Latpanchor

Chestnut-bellied Rockthrush (female)


Common Redstart (female)


Moutain Hawk Eagle. Pardon the image quality as this guy was quite far


White-browed Scimitar Babbler


Rufous-necked Hornbill (female). One of the most famous residents of Latpanchor. We missed the male


Mrs. Gould's Sunbird (male). One of the most colourful birds of the region




Mrs. Gould's Sunbird (female)


The tour ended on a high after getting one of the most sought after species of the place. The Red-Headed Trogon. Although not a good image by any stretch of imagination, i was thrilled to see this guy and capture it.


The homestay at Latpanchor where we stayed.


That brought down the curtains on one of the best birding trips that i have been on till date. We bid goodbye to the hosts at Latpanchor and headed to Bagdogra for our return flight back home.

This trip introduced me to the amazing avifauna of the North East region although i realize this is only the tip of the iceberg considering the sheer variety found in the higher altitudes of the region. I witnessed the challenges of capturing these birds (eg. lack of good light as the action happens mostly under the high canopy, the birds are quite skittish due to which i missed quite a few shots as i wasnt quick enough etc). However the sheer variety of species that i got to see gave me a lot of joy. I definitely look forward to make more trips to the region once the pandemic settles down.

[Rangy62]

Nice write up! Yes I would recommend going up further and higher eg Zuluk, Lachen etc.

[snappysam]

@ramnath_77

Thank you for sharing beautiful shots of your birding at Latpanchor. All the birds are so colorful. Since you mentioned that most of the action happens in the upper canopy, which lens did you use? Are the images heavily cropped?

Matter of fact, your images is prompting me to visit these spots, hopefully once the Pandemic is under control, I will visit the spots.

Can you mention in some more detail about the region and the guides that you used?

Thank you once again

~ Issac

[docsr]

Hey Ramnath_77...thanks for the wonderful photographs. They are really sharp and colours are beautiful What gear did you use - lens, tripod etc? How did you get in touch with local birding guides. What was your schedule like on the days you went photographing- early mornings and evenings or all day?
Again, nice pictures.

[ramnath_77]

Originally Posted by Rangy62

Nice write up! Yes I would recommend going up further and higher eg Zuluk, Lachen etc.

Thanks @Rangy62. Yes Lachen is definitely on the To do list alongwith Eagle's Nest (Arunachal), Lava/Rishyop.

Originally Posted by snappysam

@ramnath_77

Thank you for sharing beautiful shots of your birding at Latpanchor. All the birds are so colorful. Since you mentioned that most of the action happens in the upper canopy, which lens did you use? Are the images heavily cropped?

Matter of fact, your images is prompting me to visit these spots, hopefully once the Pandemic is under control, I will visit the spots.

Can you mention in some more detail about the region and the guides that you used?

Thank you once again

~ Issac

Thank you @snappysam. I used Nikkor 600FL lens. While the action does happen in the upper canopy, the idea is always to wait for them to come down to get them at eye level and shoot. Most of my images are around 30-40% cropped.
In terms of the guide, i took help from a guy by name Debapratim Saha (who is based in Siliguri). There are few other guys as well including PeterBeck who is based out of Rongtong. Many of these guys are active on Facebook.
The main birding trail in Mahananda is the road that goes from Siliguri to Darjeeling via Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) passinig via Rongtong.
The road runs parallel to the Narrow-guage train track from Siliguri to Darjeeling.
Will be more than happy to share further details once you start planning your trip.

Originally Posted by docsr

Hey Ramnath_77...thanks for the wonderful photographs. They are really sharp and colours are beautiful What gear did you use - lens, tripod etc? How did you get in touch with local birding guides. What was your schedule like on the days you went photographing- early mornings and evenings or all day?
Again, nice pictures.

Thanks @docsr for liking the images. I used a Nikon D500 with a Nikkor 600 FL lens. I did use a tripod with Gimbal head. To be honest, in many of the situations i had to handhold since the action was fast and i had very little time to setup my tripod. I have mentioned about the local guides in my response above.
The schedule was quite hectic. We would leave the hotel by 6am and get back in the evening around 7pm and break for lunch/tea/breakfast as required. Latpanchor was slightly relaxed. We would return back after the morning session around 11.30 and leave for post noon session after 2pm.

[sridhu]

Excellent photos

What gear do you use?

[Rangy62]

Originally Posted by docsr

Hey Ramnath_77...thanks for the wonderful photographs. They are really sharp and colours are beautiful What gear did you use - lens, tripod etc? How did you get in touch with local birding guides. What was your schedule like on the days you went photographing- early mornings and evenings or all day?
Again, nice pictures.

I usually contact Lakpa of Blackbird tours. He is very good for birding. He is based out out of Sikkim but can guide you all over North East.

[gjnnbagal]

Originally Posted by ramnath_77

This is my first travelogue post on T-BHP. Hence pardon me in case of any mistakes. This trip happened just before the lockdown hit us in March.

Excellent location, excellent photography. I must say those are some really amazing shots you have clicked.
You must consider uploading them on Shutterstock website. Which camera you are using?

[ramnath_77]

Originally Posted by sridhu

Excellent photos

What gear do you use?

Originally Posted by gjnnbagal

Excellent location, excellent photography. I must say those are some really amazing shots you have clicked.
You must consider uploading them on Shutterstock website. Which camera you are using?

Thanks @sridhu and @gjnnbagal.
I usually use Nikon D850 and the Nikkor 600 FL lens. Occasionally i do carry the Nikon D500 (usually borrowed from a friend) to enhance the reach

[InsaneSpeed]

Hi Ramnath_77,

These are really well shot pictures. I did try my hand at photography when visiting Tadoba -Andhari Tiger reserve but failed miserably. We were so focused on spotting the big cat that we failed to notice the beautiful birds surrounding us. You really need to have a keen eye for this. Also i wanted to understand what are references incase you are unable to identify certain species of birds?

[snappysam]

Originally Posted by ramnath_77

Thanks @Rangy62. Yes Lachen is definitely on the To do list alongwith Eagle's Nest (Arunachal), Lava/Rishyop.


Will be more than happy to share further details once you start planning your trip.

Thanks Ramnath_77

You should use the DX Mode in D850. Gives you more resolution than D500, way better low-light performance than D500 and when coupled with Image Area Masking in the OVF, D850 will have Focus points right up to the frames' edge. All you lose is the frame rate of the D500. All else is much better in the D840.

Try it out sometime

[ramnath_77]

Originally Posted by InsaneSpeed

Hi Ramnath_77,

These are really well shot pictures. I did try my hand at photography when visiting Tadoba -Andhari Tiger reserve but failed miserably. We were so focused on spotting the big cat that we failed to notice the beautiful birds surrounding us. You really need to have a keen eye for this. Also i wanted to understand what are references incase you are unable to identify certain species of birds?

Thanks for liking the images @InsaneSpeed. It is quite natural to get swayed by the big cats that we forget to notice the other forest dwellers. Thats the auro of the Tigers/Leopards for you.
As for the bird identification, i usually refer to "Birds of Indian Subcontinent" by Caron Inskipp & Richard Grimmett. Alternatively i post images on a few closed groups in Facebook and seek expert advice.

Originally Posted by snappysam

Thanks Ramnath_77

You should use the DX Mode in D850. Gives you more resolution than D500, way better low-light performance than D500 and when coupled with Image Area Masking in the OVF, D850 will have Focus points right up to the frames' edge. All you lose is the frame rate of the D500. All else is much better in the D840.

Try it out sometime

Thanks @snappysam. I have tried this previously but personally never liked the results. Similarly i have never been convinced with the results with a 1.4 Tele Converter and hence have not been using them either.
Having said that, i do find the autofocus of D850 slightly slow to my liking when it comes to BIF. I always prefer D500 for its speed.

[Subroto]

Thanks ramnath_77, superb photos, excellent write-up.

I had been drawn to Latpanchor - as its name spread far and wide as a birding paradise - in November last year. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay there as we had pre-booking at Mongpong. Moreover, we drove from Santalekhola, thereby missing the best time of morning to watch the birds. Ruefully we realised, we had to stay in Latpanchor to do bird watching. We just can't drive down - or rather up, so far as the terrain goes - there from any place and hope to be there in early morning hours.

Your post compensated that lost opportunity to some extent! Thanks again.

[Deadpool]

Excellent bird photography, well focused with right blend of exposure and contrast. Thanks for sharing those colorful pictures with us.

You should consider uploading them in some photography website.

[manonsong]

What a fantastic trip you had. Thank you for sharing these pictures.