Day 1: Dimapur to Khonoma

Arrivals into Dimapur airport this morning.  We set out on the slow drive east and up into rugged hills to Khonoma for a four-night stay at our simple village homestay, with the reminder of the afternoon and a further three full days to explore this southern part of Nagaland.

 

Day 2-4: Khonoma and surrounding areas

Khonoma is renowned for its efforts to conserve the biodiversity of the surrounding forests, with the local Angami community leading the decision to establish the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary, that encompasses 25 sq km between the village and nearby Dzuleke, together with a self-imposed ban in hunting in 1998.  In the mid-elevation subtropical forests that flank the Dzukou River we will go in search of six near-endemics of these rainforests, Striped and Brown-capped Laughingthrushes, Marsh Babbler, Naga and Tawny-breasted Wren-babblers, and Cachar Wedge-billed Babbler, among a typically Himalayan avifauna with key species including Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Grey Sibia, Spot-breasted Laughingthrush, Streak-breasted Scimitar-babbler, Dark-rumped Swift and the elusive Blyth’s Tragopan.  Around nearby Benreu, broadleaf forests with an abundance of wild fruiting trees and shifting cultivation in various stages of regeneration host Spot-breasted and Grey-headed Parrotbills, Grey-headed Parakeet, Silver-eared Mesia, a selection of thrushes, and mixed feeding flocks comprising Flavescent Bulbul, various sunbirds, tits and yuhinas.

 

Day 5: Khonoma to Pangti

After a final morning around Khonoma we leave on the journey north into the Naga Hills to the village of Pangti, where we will spend three nights in a simple village homestay.  We will arrive in time for our first glimpse of the spectacle, as the falcons return to their roosts around the Doyang Reservoir at dusk.  

 

Day 6-7: Pangti and the Doyang Reservoir

A remote village in the Wokha district, Pangti received global attention in 2012 over the reported killing of thousands of Amur Falcons during their annual migration.  This highlighted not only the tragedy, but also the mere presence of such incredible numbers of these birds, previously not widely known.  Thanks to the coordinated efforts of local and national conservation organisations working together with local government and village councils the importance of conservation was instilled in Pangti, which declared itself a hunting-free zone, a major victory in a state still dominated by tribal communities where hunting is a traditional and fiercely-protected way of life.  Today, Pangti is renowned for its ethos of community conservation, the Doyang Reservoir estimated to host up to a million falcons each year.  We have two full days to enjoy the hordes of Amur Falcons as they come in to roost each evening and disperse at dawn.  Walking the quiet roads of the area will take us through patches of shifting or ‘jhum’ cultivation in various stages of regeneration, and we can expect to see a selection of species such as Crested Finchbill, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Ultramarine and Verditer Flycatchers, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Spot-throated and Rufous-capped Babblers, Himalayan Buzzard and Oriental Scops-owl with the chance of finding a flock of the highly secretive restricted range Yellow-throated Laughingthrush.

 

Day 8-9: Pangti to Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary

An early start for the journey west, back down into the plains and crossing the state border as we head into neighbouring Assam, making our way to the small town of Jorhat and Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.  As a small fragment of the semi-evergreen forests once widespread where the plains of Assam merge into the Patkai Hills of Nagaland the sanctuary is an important repository of foothill species, this habitat lost elsewhere in the region to extensive tea plantations and growing villages.  We have the remainder of the afternoon and following day to explore the rich forests, easily accessible on foot, and can expect to encounter a good selection of species associated with the lower elevation, key among which are Great Pied and Oriental Pied Hornbills, Greater and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrushes, Large Niltava, Pale-chinned Flycatcher, Striped Tit-babbler, Abbott’s Babbler, Red-headed Trogon, Common Green Magpie and Green-billed Malkoha, with the chance of the elusive Blue-naped Pitta.  Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is also home to a small and isolated population of its namesake Western Hoolock Gibbon, India’s only ape, among a selection of primates which includes Stump-tailed, Northern Pig-tailed and Assam Macaques and Capped Langur. 

 

Day 10: Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary to Jorhat, depart

Spend a final few hours within the sanctuary focusing on any species we may have missed.  Departures from Jorhat airport this afternoon (this tour may be combined with India-northeast: Mishmi Hills and the Brahmaputra Valley, driving to the start point Dibrugarh/Tinsukia this afternoon).