Assams Amazing Avifauna

 

Work in progress

Awesome bird watching experience in  Assam.

Mystical Meghalaya

Trip Itinerary: Meghalaya (fully curated by tour guide), Assam (part curated). 

- Guwahati (Port of entry/exit)

- Pobitara(Assam) : 1 day

- Cherrapunje : 3 days

- Shillian Joshar : 1 day

- Tyrna : 2 days

- Chandubi(Assam) : 1 day

- Kaziranga(Assam) : 2 days

Dates: Nov 15th to 25th, 2025

Travelling: We travelled in hired cab internally.

Facilities: All places were well developed with good resort or home stays, from 1 to 3 star level. Roads were good for the most part unless construction was going on. Places were clean and trash minimal. People professional and helpful. Most of them spoke English. Tyrna had a restriction of tourists not allowed to wander after 8pm. Food was mostly rice based with basic dhal. Maggi was very popular. Bread available in higher resorts or on request.

Click here for the Assam part of the trip.

Landed in Guwahati and in East India for the first time! which I personally always feel is almost like another country. The beauty of India and its diversity at its most extreme when a South Indian visits East India. Our ride, Bishar, received us at the airport and after a day stop at Chandubi, we crossed over to Meghalaya and Alfred our guide and driver for Meghalaya took over. 

Our first stop was at Umiam Lake view point, where we stopped for few mins, then onto Mawplang Sacred Grove. Our host there had set up a tent and table just for us. She had arranged a picnic lunch, bursting with local flavors, at the edge of a large grassland with the Sacred grove in our sight. Perfect welcome to Meghalaya. The landscape was indeed like 'Scotland of the East'! We then walked into the Grove with another guide telling us about its significance and rituals that make it sacred. The fascinating part was the rule of nothing taken out or into the grove. 

We reached Cherrapunjee late evening but dark already as sunset is at 5pm here. It was quite cold so a hot dinner with good soup was most welcome. No rain was predicted for the 5 days we were in an area that receives the highest rainfall in the country as we had unintentionally timed our trip in the few weeks its dry! Lucky or did we miss out on a spectacle? Have to make another trip to answer that.

During the time we were in Cherrapunjee, we made 2 day trips. One to explore caves and another for waterfalls. Both were enjoyable. Water was freezing cold... but so clear and clean that we braved it and splashed around. All tourist points were reached after a small trek with entry fees of 50 to 100 Rs. Toilets were 10 Rs. Life vests was mandatory if we wanted to into deeper areas and were available for rent. Overall, the tourist spots were well organized and not crowded enabling us to enjoy to our hearts content. Well done Meghalaya!

Our stay at Shilliang Jashar was with Babah (LRS Retreat) who met us around noon with his 10yr old son to guide us. Destinations were a Living root nest and a ladder both of which were lovingly crafted by the root experts. The walk to and from the locations was fun which is a daily routine for the villagers. Babah picked up leaves and other edibles along the trail for our picnic lunch which we had in a wild farm. He had packed some some rice and meat but made the salad and chutney with things he picked up and some ingredients. Highlight was grinding the chutney with a bamboo utensil cut there itself and discarded! Truly living in the wild. An interesting aspect of the local culture was how Babah cut a walking stick for us which he then left at the start of the trail as we exited for someone else who may need it.

Next we drove to Pung Weikyan called weavers village. There Muthok who is working on local agricultural practices was our guide along with his active and voluble mother. Got to wander around their village for a few hours along with a farm visit and lunch. For lunch, they had collected 10 different types of just leaves and kept them in a basket like salad. No dressing or even salt. Just pick a few and munch along with rice! All were edible but I liked 2 or 3 of them only as they were juicy.

Our last stop was Tyrna where we stayed at a simple no frills place homestay, Gods gift. This was close to the double decker root bridge start point. We chose to skip that popular destination as it would a full day. Instead we visited Ummunoi and Umkar root bridges that are accessible by a shorter trek and had enough time to have lunch at Cherrapunje First resort with awesome views.

The last day was just a long drive into Assam and Chandubi lake. 

Birding and nature watching was poor in the state. The reason is probably because the birds and animals have been hunted for many years. Some we sighted were highly skulky and would disappear quickly into foliage. Understandable! 

Meghalaya Photo Album

Checlists:

Cafe Cherrapunje

Tyrna

Tranquil Valparai

Location: Valparai
Date: Sept 22nd to 26th, 2025.
To get there: From Bangalore via Krishnagiri Erode, Coimbatore(bypass), Pollachi or via Kollegal then Erode. Buses are also connected but you may have to change at Coimbatore or Pollachi. We took the Krishnagiri route when going and Kollegal while coming back where we got stuck on the narrower Sathyamangalam ghat section which allows huge transport vehicles. The ghat section from Pollachi to Valparai is a lovely drive with great views and well designed 40 hairpin bends each named after mostly birds and some animals using large boards.
Distance: Approx. 450km, 9hrs by car.
Facilities: It is quite a large hill town similar to Ooty with mostly tea estates all around.

Valparai was always enticing for us due to its unique location and bio diversity but too far. But, after considering it we would eventually choose Coorg, Wayanad or Ooty. This time when we wanted to go some place quiet to relax and do some birdwatching, it was a now or never vote for Valparai.

Bird watchers nest at Vellode

To manage the long 9 hours drive, we planned a stop at Erode and spent couple of hours in Vellode Bird Sanctuary. This gave us a glimpse to this well managed water body that hosts migrants as well as give us the much needed break. The ducks had not arrived yet but we did spot the Blue-tailed King fisher as our migrant.

Hairpin 28/40
Malabar Trogon

Valparai

The ghat section with 40 hairpins was a lovely drive from Pollachi to Valparai. Its just 40 kms but takes nearly 2 hrs. Road was wide, well maintained with good views though no proper view points where we could stop and enjoy. Each bend was named after an western ghat bird or animal and few as a tribute to persons/places, I think. A lovely way to educate as well as make the drive fun.



We had decided on tea bungalows for our stay so that we would be away from the main city and enjoy the quietness of tea estates. First 2 nights were in a wooden chalet at Sirukundram managed by Briar group, next 2 nights were in the bungalow at Rotti Kadai, managed by Murugappa group under Sinna Dorai brand.

Sambar deer

Blue-bearded Bee-eater

In the 3 full days we stayed at Valparai, we had 2 good birding sessions. Mostly because it was drizzling a lot and we also chose to just chill out and not go out of our way to do our walks. The first one was accidental. We were relaxing after our breakfast at Sirukundram when our main host knocked on our chalet to let us know he had spotted the Great Hornbill! This would be a lifer for us, so we quickly scrambled out with binoculars and camera following him past their kitchen at the backside of the bungalow to the front area. And lo and behold through the branches and perched majestically on eucalyptus trees were 2 Great Hornbills! Even at about 100 mtrs far they looked huge. Once I had my fill of observing it, I went back to get my 600mm lens. The birds were still happily perched in the same place. Our host then guided us out of the property to a trail in the tea estate from where we got better views and could spot 5 in the flock which is kind of a record even for them. The trail itself was fantastic with a small copse where we spotted a pair of Blue-bearded bee-eaters, Nilgiri flycatcher, among others. Another highlight was a large flock, upwards of 100, of Hill mynahs murmuring from tree to tree which was lovely to watch.

Great Hornbills

Emerald Dove

The 2nd bird outing was from Rotti Kadai in an organized paid bird walk that started from their Moulmein property. The area around the bungalow itself was amazing or maybe we just got lucky but within 10 mins of us getting out of the car, we spotted the Gray-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Gray Wagtail, Little Spiderhunter, Malabar Flameback, among others. We then drove out about a kilometer and birded from the road for another kilometer or so. The spotting was sparse here but the walk was very enjoyable. We did spot the Great Hornbill again... far far away on the hill and the Stripe-necked mongoose foraging. On way back, we got our heart full of Emerald dove foraging on their driveway and then a pair of Velvet-fronted Nuthatches hopping around the branches.

Lion-tailed Macaque

We did some walks in few other recommended places with limited sightings probably because of the dull rainy weather or we just were not lucky. On mammals, we spotted Indian Gaur all over the Rotti Kadai estates, Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Stripe-necked Mongoose, Sambar Deer, Jungle (Western ghats) palm squirrel, Indian (Malabar) Giant squirrel.

Indian Gaurs

Overall, we enjoyed this location very much. We hardly spent any time in the city. Just drove through it few times. It looked crowded. The tea estates, bungalow surroundings, and birding places were quiet and relaxing. Lets just say tranquil! One can easily spend a few hours just watching and walking around in nature trails within estates or near them. For nature lovers, a visit to Annamalai Nature information center is a must with this wonderful exhibits. There is also a path along side it for some bird watching.

Check out the photo album from the trip.


Ebird check lists with bird images.


Vellode Bird Sanctuary
Puthu Thotam Estate
Sirikundram Bungalow area
Moulmein Estate bird walk
Thenmalai Fragment