Day 1: Dimapur to Khonoma
Arrivals into Nagaland's Dimapur airport this morning. From here we will set out on the slow drive southeast into the rugged Naga Hills to the state capital Kohima, and on to the village of Khonoma for a four-night stay.
Day 2-4: Khonoma, Benreu and the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary
Over these three days we will explore the surrounding hills from our base at Khonoma. Although much of Nagaland still follows a traditional way of life that relies heavily on slash-and-burn and hunting, the Angami community of Khonoma is renowned for its efforts to conserve the biodiversity of the surrounding forests. The Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary was established here in 1998, protecting 25 sq km of mid-elevation subtropical forests that flank the Dzukou River between Khonoma and nearby Dzuleke. We will spend much of our time exploring the sanctuary, looking for several secretive range-restricted species including the endemic Naga Wren-Babbler, Spot-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, and near-endemic Striped and Brown-capped Laughingthrushes. Nagaland's avifauna is a fascinating combination of typically Himalayan species in the easternmost part of their range, and birds more widely associated with Southeast Asia at their westernmost extension, and we anticipate an interesting selection of species in this region, many of which will not be available throughout the rest of the tour. These will perhaps include Grey Sibia, Crested Finchbill, Rusty-capped and White-browed Fulvettas, White-browed and Spot-breasted Laughingthrushes, Brown Bush Warbler, Dark-rumped Swift, Black-tailed Crake, Mountain Bamboo-Partridge, 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, Striated Yuhina, Silver-eared Mesia, White-browed Shrike-Babbler, Grey-throated, Spot-throated and Rufous-capped Babblers, Blue-naped Pitta, a selection of thrushes, and mixed feeding flocks comprising Flavescent Bulbul, various sunbirds, tits and yuhinas.
Day 5: Khonoma to Tinsukia
Today is primarily a travel day, and we will need an early start this morning as we set out early on the long drive into upper Assam, arriving in the town of Tinsukia for a two-night stay.
Day 6: Tinsukia
We have a full day to explore several productive birding areas in the alluvial plains of the Brahmaputra basin in upper Assam. This morning, we will visit a vital remnant patch of lowland tropical forest at Dehing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary in search of a selection of Eastern Himalayan and more widespread forest specialities, with birds such as Pale-capped Pigeon, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-crowned Forktail, Grey Peacock-Pheasant, the secretive White-winged Duck, Ruddy and Black-backed Dwarf Kingfishers, up to five species of hornbill including Brown Hornbill, various flycatchers, warblers and sunbirds in fast-moving feeding flocks, and vocal troops of India’s only ape, Western Hoolock Gibbon. Later, in the marshy grasslands that flank the Brahmaputra River at Maguri Beel we will go in search of three northeast Indian grassland endemics, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Swamp Grass Babbler and Marsh Babbler, alongside a selection of resident birds and lingering migrants, notably including Chestnut-capped, Yellow-eyed and restricted range Jerdon's Babblers, Spotted and Chestnut-crowned Bush-Warblers, Paddyfield and Smoky Warblers, Pied Harrier, Yellow Bittern, Greater Painted-Snipe, and a selection of waterfowl.
Day 7: Digboi and on to Roing
This morning we will visit a private patch of lowland forest within Digboi Oilfields (permission dependent) where we hope to encounter Rufous-necked and Chestnut-backed Laughingthrushes, Collared Treepie, Green-billed Malkoha, Red-headed Trogon, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, White-throated Bulbul, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Yellow-vented and Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Wedge-tailed and Thick-billed Green-Pigeons, Blyth's and Blue-eared Kingfishers, and White-cheeked Partridge. Later today we start our journey northeast, crossing the Brahmaputra River as we head into Arunachal Pradesh and the small town of Roing at 400m in the Lower Dibang Valley, the last major township in India’s northeast frontier and our base for the next four nights. This afternoon we will visit an area of extensive floodplain grasslands where we will be looking for Bengal Florican, the endemic Black-breasted Parrotbill, Black and Cinnamon Bitterns, Chinese and Siberian Rubythroats, and Baikal Bush Warbler.
Day 8-10: The Mishmi Hills from Roing to Mayodia
Over these three days we will explore various elevations along the little-used road to Anini that ascends through the Mishmi Hills. From our base at Roing, we will bird up and down through a succession of incredible and largely undisturbed Himalayan forest habitats, from the subtropical broadleaf forest and bamboo of the outer foothills and into coniferous forest and rhododendrons of higher elevations as far as Mayodia Pass at 2,655m. The Mishmi Hills are among Asia's most promising but least-explored birding areas, and birding here is both exciting and productive, with an extensive list of potential species that includes some of the most sought-after specialities of the Himalayas. Among our key targets will be the endemic Mishmi Wren-Babbler, near-endemic Brown-throated Fulvetta, and restricted range Streak-throated (Manipur) Fulvetta, with other possibilities including an array of Eastern Himalayan specialities such as Spotted and Grey-sided Laughingthrushes, Long-billed, Eye-browed and Bar-winged Wren-Babblers, Red-billed, Black-crowned and Slender-billed Scimitar Babblers, Cachar Wedge-billed Babbler, White-hooded and Golden Babblers, Gould’s, White-browed, Rusty-bellied and Lesser Shortwings, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Ward’s Trogon, Green and Purple Cochoas, the unmistakeable Fire-tailed Myzornis, Himalayan Cutia, Beautiful Nuthatch, Rufous-backed Sibia, Black-backed Forktail, Chestnut-breasted Partridge, both Blyth's and Temminck's Tragopans, with an outside chance of Sclater's Monal, Himalayan Owl, Mountain Scops Owl, Collared Owlet, and an impressive variety of shrike-babblers, bullfinches, bush robins including Rufous-breasted, thrushes, warblers, redstarts and accentors, plus mammals that include the endemic Mishmi Takin.
Day 11: Mayodia to Tinsukia
We will make our way back into Assam, perhaps birding across the lower elevations of the Mishmi Hills to focus on any special species we may so far have missed before we return to Tinsukia for the night. If time permits, we may have the opportunity to revisit sites around Tinsukia this afternoon.
Day 12: Tinsukia to Dibrugarh, depart
Depending on flight schedules, we may be able to spend a final few hours at Digboi Oilfields or Dehing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary before departing Tinsukia on the short drive to Dibrugarh. Departures from Dibrugarh airport this afternoon.
Post-tour extension / Linked tour (Assam and the Eastern Himalayas):
This tour can be combined with our tour of India - northeast: Assam and the Eastern Himalayas to create a comprehensive 24 night/25 day Northeast India birding tour that covers the lower and upper Brahmaputra valley, the Eastern Himalayas at Dirang/Eaglenest and at their easternmost extension in the Mishmi Hills, as well as the associated hill ranges of Nagaland, touching the Myanmar border (and also the hills of Shillong by including the Meghalaya pre-tour extension to that tour). If combining tours, on day 1 we will drive from Kaziranga to Khonoma in Nagaland in the morning of day 1.
