Guwahati – Kaziranga National Park - Shillong - Cherrapunji
06 Days / 05 Nights
Birdwatching and wildlife adventure are strung together in our Kaziranga and Meghalaya Short Birding Tour. Kaziranga National Park in Assam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best wildlife reserves of India. Among its many attractions are the one-horned rhinos, Indian elephants, swamp deer, Asiatic water buffalo
Booked as per
request.
Included except arrival and departure city.
Private guide for complete tour.
Airport to Airport.
2-8PAX
Included
Birdwatching and wildlife adventure are strung together in our Kaziranga and Meghalaya Short Birding Tours.
Kaziranga National Park in Assam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best wildlife reserves of India. Among its many attractions are the one-horned rhinos, Indian elephants, swamp deer, Asiatic water buffalo and, the most sought-after of them all, the tiger.
But what makes Kaziranga indispensable to our Short Birding Tours of Assam and Meghalaya is its diverse avifauna. The park hosts more than 450 species of birds and is recognized as an Important Birding Area by BirdLife International. For two back-to-back days, we do multiple wildlife safaris in Kaziranga to look for the avian specialties in the long checklist of Assam birds.
The Bengal Florican is a big draw, and Finn’s Weaver and Slender Billed Babbler are no second fiddles. On the Kaziranga wildlife safaris we explore wetlands, marshes and forests to look for winged beauties such as Lesser Whistling Duck, Grey lag Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Ferruginous Duck, Asian Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Greater and Lesser Adjutant, Eastern Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Spot-billed Pelican, Fish Eagle, Northern Lapwing, Grey-headed Lapwing, White-throated Kingfisher, Blue-naped Pitta, Ashy Wood Swallow, Common Iora, Grey-backed Shrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Cinereous Tit, Barn Swallow, Swamp Francolin, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Smoky Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Puff-throated Babbler, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush, White-vented Myna, White-rumped Shama, and Taiga Flycatcher, apart from many others.
Birding in Kaziranga also yields several raptors, including Pallas’ Fish Eagle, Black Baza, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo, and Red-necked Falcon.
The Meghalaya Short Birding Tours, by contrast, targets the hill stations of Shillong and Cherrapunji. Though tourist hotspots, both of them host incredibly diverse species of birds. Our bird targets here include Ashy Wood Swallow, Brown Shrike, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, House Swift, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Short-billed Minivet, Blyth's Shrike-Babbler, Green Shrike-Babbler, Tickell's Leaf Warbler, Paddyfield Pipit, Striated Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, Green-backed Tit, Grey Sibia, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Assam Laughingthrush, Nepal Fulvetta, Amur Falcon, Himalayan Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Golden-throated Barbet, Long-tailed Shrike, Eurasian Crag Martin, Striated Prinia, Hill Prinia, Crested Finchbill, Flavescent Bulbul, and Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler.
Our Kaziranga and Meghalaya birding trip lasts 6 busy days, not one of which is without birding excursions. Besides birdwatching, there is a great deal of wildlife to spot at Kaziranga and lots of holiday fun to be had in Shillong and Cherrapunji, making our Northeast India short tour as much an adventure as a birding vacation.
Lodging: Throughout our Kaziranga and Meghalaya birding adventure we stay at comfortable hotels and resorts known for their quality service. The resort at Kaziranga is particularly well located and has a lot of birding prospect around it. Shillong and Cherrapunji are more urbane but have hotels with good views of the mountains. Our hotel selection is based on past experiences of great hospitality.
Meals: The hotels you stay in have both Indian and western meals on their menu. You may be a vegetarian or a meat lover, there is always something to please your palate. While breakfast and dinner are at the hotel, lunches are usually picnic in the field, taken from packed meals. At all times, best hygiene practices are followed.
Tour Difficulty: All the birding hotspots of Assam and Meghalaya are accessible by motorable road. No energy-draining hikes are needed to reach the birding locations. The wildlife safaris of Kaziranga are no strain on your legs, but the terrain in Shillong and Cherrapunji is somewhat hilly. Birding here may require long walks.
Tour Extension: Kaziranga birding tour may leave you craving for more wildlife adventures. In such a case, we may punch in a visit to Manas National Park, a Project Tiger reserve in Assam. For those wishing to see more birds, we may include birding expedition to Assam’s Dehing Patkai region, which is India’s largest stretch of tropical lowland forests. Whatever tour extension you want, just let us know in advance.
Climate: Our birding adventure of Kaziranga and Meghalaya is best done from October to April. This is the winter and spring season in both Assam and Meghalaya. The winter is pleasant in Kaziranga and comparatively colder in Shillong. Cherrapunji is among the wettest places on the earth on account of its annual rainfall. So do carry a raincoat for the unexpected showers.
Getting There: Guests flying in from abroad are advised to land at Kolkata airport and then commute to Guwahati by train or plane. If you don’t get a straight flight to Kolkata, you may land in Delhi and take a flight or train to Guwahati. Guests from India have the option of trains and flights from their starting points.
Our Short Birding Tour of Kaziranga and Meghalaya begins at Guwahati, the largest city in the north-eastern state of Assam. We receive you at the Guwahati airport or railway station upon your arrival, and drive you to the outskirts of the city for a Short Birding Tours.
Though a sprawling metropolis, Guwahati and its suburbs are host to a variety of fauna and flora on account of the city’s geographical location. With the Brahmaputra river to the north, Shillong Plateau to the south, freshwater lake Dipol Bil to the southwest, and a number of small hillocks spread throughout the city, Guwahati makes for an unlikely but important pitstop in our Assam birding expedition. Quite aptly, we do a Short Birding Tours of Guwahati to look for the most prized sight of Greater Adjutant Stork, besides some other avian specialties of Northeast India.
We then drive for 5 hours to Kaziranga National Park and arrive there in time to squeeze in an evening birding tour around our resort. Kaziranga is such a superb biodiversity hotspot that just a stroll in its vicinity can keep a nature lover hooked for hours. We return to our resort for dinner and overnight.
Kaziranga National Park is a designated Important Birding Area by BirdLife International. During the day, we do two wildlife safaris in Kaziranga, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.
Our bird targets during these safaris are Bengal Florican, Lesser Whistling Duck, Grey lag Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Ferruginous Duck, Asian Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Greater and Lesser Adjutant, Eastern Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Spot-billed Pelican, Northern Lapwing, Grey-headed Lapwing, Green-billed Malkoha, Asia-barred Owlet, Large-tailed Nightjar, Black-billed Roller, White-throated Kingfisher, Blue-naped Pitta, Ashy Wood Swallow, Common Iora, Grey-backed Shrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Cinereous Tit, Barn Swallow, Swamp Francolin, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Smoky Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Puff-throated Babbler, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Slender-billed Babbler, Greater-necklaced Laughingthrush, White-vented Myna, White-rumped Shama, Taiga Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Finn’s Weaver, Brown-headed Gull, Greater Spotted Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, Black-necked Stork, Garganey, Red-crested Pochard, Spotted Redshank, Pallas’ Fish Eagle, Indian spot-billed Duck, Common Coot, Lesser whistling Duck, Tufted duck, Ruddy Shelduck, Little Cormorant, Eurasian Wigeon, Black Baza, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Blossom-headed Parakeet, Greater Coucal, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Oriental Pied Hornbill, and many more.
Dinner and overnight at Kaziranga resort.
Kaziranga National Park is quite big and divided into four ranges: Baguri in the west, Kohara in the centre, Agaratoli in the east, Biswanath in the north. Our birding tour of Kaziranga targets different ranges on different days. We go on morning and afternoon safaris at Kaziranga again and look for more birds in different areas.
We look out for the likes of Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Streak-throated Woodpecker, Long-tailed Minivet, Brown Shrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Black Drongo, Rufous Treepie, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, White-vented Myna, Green Imperial-Pigeon, Lesser Coucal, Large-tailed Nightjar, Asian Palm-Swift, River Lapwing, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Brown Fish-Owl, Oriental Pied-Hornbill, Oriental Dollarbird, Coppersmith Barbet, Blue-eared Barbet, Red-breasted Parakeet, Large Cuckooshrike, Striated Grassbird, Striated Babbler, Chinese Rubythroat, Black Redstart, Daurian Redstart, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Rosy Pipit, Brown Hawk-Owl, Scarlet Minivet, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Black-crested Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Pin-tailed Snipe, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Marsh Sandpiper, Pallas's Gull, Pale-chinned Blue Flycatcher, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Baya Weaver, Crimson Sunbird, Asian Emerald Dove, Indian Cuckoo, Golden-headed Cisticola, Thick-billed Warbler, Bluethroat, Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush, Forest Wagtail, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Whistler's Warbler, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Red Avadavat, Pied Falconet, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Pygmy Flycatcher, Bengal Bushlark, White-throated Bulbul, Buff-chested Babbler, Rufous-necked Laughingthrush, Hen Harrier, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, Short-toed Snake-Eagle, Pied Harrier, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Oriental Skylark, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo, Red-necked Falcon.
Dinner and overnight at the resort in Kaziranga.
We have an early breakfast and hit the highway to Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. It’s a 6-hour drive through 260 km of picturesque landscape of green mountains and dense forests. The road is smooth and the ride is comfortable. We arrive in Shillong around noon, check into a hotel, take a short break to straighten our backs and then step out for a birding tour of Shillong.
The city sits on a plateau, but is surrounded by hills. It is lush with greenery and holds out a birding prospect. We go birding at select locations and look for the likes of Ashy Woodswallow, Brown Shrike, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Common Hawk-Cuckoo, House Swift, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Short-billed Minivet, Blyth's Shrike-Babbler, Green Shrike-Babbler, Tickell's Leaf Warbler, Paddyfield Pipit, Striated Swallow, Cinereous Tit, Red-rumped Swallow, Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, Green-backed Tit, Grey Sibia, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Silver-eared Mesia, Blue-winged Minla, Large Niltava, Yellow-browed Tit, Spotted Forktail, Rufescent Prinia, Yellow-browed Warbler, Slaty-backed Forktail, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Assam Laughingthrush, Grey-breasted Prinia, Himalayan Swiftlet, Dark-rumped Swift, Flavescent Bulbul, Buff-barred Warbler, Whistler's Warbler, Golden Babbler, Buff-chested Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Nepal Fulvetta, and Wallcreeper Brown Dipper.
Dinner and overnight at Shillong hotel.
A relatively short drive of 55 km takes us from Shillong to Cherrapunji in the morning. Located at the elevation of 1430 meters, Cherrapunji is a hill station, a popular tourist spot, and one of the wettest places in the world owing to the amount of rainfall it gets every year. The steep road to Cherrapunji itself is often blanketed with mist and there are several stunning sights of waterfalls and rolling hills to tickle the landscape photographer in you. It’s a landscape straight out of a dream.
The abundance of vegetation in and around Cherrapunji is the reason it is as good a birding destination as a tourist hotspot. A day of birding in Cherrapunji often yields the likes of Amur Falcon, Himalayan Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Golden-throated Barbet, Long-tailed Shrike, Eurasian Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Striated Prinia, Hill Prinia, Crested Finchbill, Flavescent Bulbul, Grey-hooded Warbler, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Tawny-breasted Wren Babbler, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Whiskered Yuhina, Chestnut-bellied Rock thrush, Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Green-tailed Sunbird, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Crimson-browed Finch, Brown Shrike, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Buff-barred Warbler, Grey Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Grey-hooded Warbler, and White Wagtail.
After a busy day, we retire to a hotel in Cherrapunji for overnight.
We start the final day of our Meghalaya birding adventure with a birding tour of Cherrapunji in the morning, following which we head out for a 150-km cab ride to Guwahati in Assam. On the way, we cross Shillong Peak at 1970m altitude, which gives a bird’s eye view of the Shillong city. More than the view, it is a good site to probe around for a few exotic birds of Meghalaya. Following this short session of birding, we continue our journey to Guwahati. We arrive in Guwahati in the evening and drop you at the airport for your onward journey. The Kaziranga and Meghalaya birding holiday ends.
The abundance of vegetation in and around Cherrapunji is the reason it is as good a birding destination as a tourist hotspot. A day of birding in Cherrapunji often yields the likes of Amur Falcon, Himalayan Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Golden-throated Barbet, Long-tailed Shrike, Eurasian Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Striated Prinia, Hill Prinia, Crested Finchbill, Flavescent Bulbul, Grey-hooded Warbler, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Tawny-breasted Wren Babbler, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Whiskered Yuhina, Chestnut-bellied Rock thrush, Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Green-tailed Sunbird, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Crimson-browed Finch, Brown Shrike, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Buff-barred Warbler, Grey Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Grey-hooded Warbler, and White Wagtail.
After a busy day, we retire to a hotel in Cherrapunji for overnight.
