12-Day Private Happiness Bhutan Birding Expedition

Day 1 Guwahati Airport - Samdrup Jongkhar -Your first Glimpse of the Tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

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   At the Guwahati Airport in India, your Bhutanese tour guide will formally welcome you with a Tashi Khadar, a white scarf symbolic of good luck and fortune. You may drape the scarf around your neck.

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   Samdrup Jongkhar

   2 hours

   Drive to Samdrup Jongkhar district bordering India. Your guide will help you check in at the Immigration Office at the border checkpoint. Enroute keep a sharp and special watch for Lesser and Greater Adjutant and other highly endangered birds in the plains of India and Bhutan. Also watch out for Little Cormorant, Egrets, Indian Pond Heron, Ashy Drongo and Red-wattled Lapwing in roadside wetlands, with possible sightings of Small Pratincole, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Citrine Wagtail, Rusty-rumped Warbler and Striated Grassbird.

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   Samdrup Jongkhar

   2 hours

   Check into your hotel and go for a stroll around the small town. Being at the border, Samdrup Jongkhar has a mixed culture of Bhutanese and Indian.

Day 2 Samdrup Jongkhar - Deothang

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   4 hours

   After an early breakfast start your magical birding expedition from Samdrup Jongkhar. Today and in the days to follow, exotic and colourful birds we hope to find are the Silver-eared Mesia, White-rumped Shama, Greater Flameback Brownish-flanked Bush-warbler, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Little Bunting, Black Eagle, Emerald Dove, Bronze Drongo, Beautiful Nuthatch, Red-billed Leiothrix, Red-faced Liocichla, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Blue-winged Laughingthrush, Black-nape Monarch, Grey-throated Babbler, Black-crested Bulbul, Oriential Pied Hornbill, Great Hornbill, Green-billed Malkoha.

Day 3 Dewathang

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   4 hours

   Early morning start birding from the campsite and head towards Orong campsite

Day 4 Orong – Narphung - Trashigang

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   Trashigang District

   4 hours

   Early morning before breakfast we will have an outing to the location of the Beautiful Nuthatch if we didn’t find it yesterday. After breakfast at the campsite, drive on to Trashigang stopping along the way for birding. Today’s target species will include Rufous-necked Hornbill, Grey-sided Laughing Thrush, Long-tailed Broadbill with other possibilities such as Black Eagle, Mountain Hawk Eagle and species of yuhinas.

Day 5 Trashigang – Korila – Monggar - Yongkola

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   6 hours

   En route to Yongkola, we stop at Kori La. The forest here is rich in mosses and lichens, and we search these mountain forests for Steak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, Grey-winged Blackbird, Hoary-throated Barwing, Long-tailed and Short-billed Minivets, Bhutan Laughingthrush, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Brownish-flanked Bush-Warbler and Spotted Wren-Babbler. In the afternoon we will reach Bhutan’s wet subtropical forest and one of the finest birding areas in the Himalayas, at Campsite Yongkala, for a three-night stay. We bird these lush forested valleys searching for shortwings, Black-headed Shrike-Babbler, Ward’s Trogon, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, barbets, Golden Bush Robin, Chestnut-breasted Partridge and many other rare species alongside Little Forktail, Large Niltava, Russet Bush-Warbler, Chestnut-breasted Partridge, Violet Cuckoo and Rufous-faced Warbler. Overnight at the Campsite Yongkola (1875m).

Day 6 Yongkala - Limithang Road

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   6 hours

   The 80 km long road is ranked amongst the top ten birding sites in the world with waterfalls and ravines appearing around every bend. With two full hiking days dedicated on this road we can search the area’s specialities such as the Wedge -billed Wren-Babbler, Rufous-throated Wren-Babbler, Spotted Wren-Babbler, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, flocks of parrotbills, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Scarlet Finch, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Lesser and White-browed Shortwings and many more.

Day 7 Yongkala - Limithang Road

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   6 hours

   The 80 km long road is ranked amongst the top ten birding sites in the world with waterfalls andravines appearing around every bend. With two full hiking days dedicated on this road we can search the area’s specialities such as the Wedge -billed Wren-Babbler, Rufous-throated Wren-Babbler, Spotted Wren-Babbler, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, flocks of parrotbills, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Scarlet Finch, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Lesser and White-browed Shortwings and many more.

Day 8 Yongkala - Sengor

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   6 hours

   After an early breakfast, continue moving uphill to sight the high altitude species that include Blood Pheasant and Satyr Tragopan, every birder’s delight around the world. The dense conifers forest hold many good species such as Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Bar-winged Wren-Babbler, Red-headed Bullfinch, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Gold-naped Finch and Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler.
   The campsite tonight near the pastureland is also good to watch the thrushes.

Day 9 Sengor - Bumthang

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   Bumthang

   6 hours

   Today we cross one of the highest passes in Bhutan, the Thrumshing La, at 3800m. Thrumshing La is the prime habitat for Blood Pheasant and also houses other high altitude species such as the Snow Pigeon, Orange-flanked Bush-Robin, Spotted Nutcracker, Red-billed Chough, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Great Parrotbill, Stripe-throated Yuhina, Grey-crested and Coal Tits and White-browed Fulvetta. We may be lucky and have our first encounter with one of the most colourful pheasants of them all, the magical Himalayan Monal. We continue till we reach the valley of Bumthang, one of the most beautiful valleys in Bhutan.

Day 10 Bumthang - Phobjika and Gangtey – Valley of the Black Necked Cranes

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   Phobjikha Valley

   6 hours

   After breakfast, drive to Phobjika and Gangtey valleys via the Yotongla Pass, Trongsa district and Pelela Pass sighting for exotic birds all the way. Crossing another high pass at Yotongla (3500m), we may find Hill Partridge, Slender-billed Scimiter-Babbler, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Great and Brown Fulvous Parrotbill, Chestnut-crowned and Black-faced Laughing Thrushes, Red-headed Bullfinch, White-winged Grossbeak, Darjeeling Woodpecker and Gold-naped Finch.

Day 11 Gangtey and Phobjika Valleys - Punakha and Thimphu

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   Thimphu

   6 hours

   Phobjika valley is the winter roosting ground for the endangered Black Necked Cranes and you can sight them in the wide and beautiful valleys from late October/early November till March.
   After an early breakfast, drive to Punakha and along the Pho Chu valley look for the White-bellied Heron, one of the rarest birds in the world with a population of fewer then 200 worldwide. Other birds we might see include Common and Crested Kingfisher and the enigmatic Ibisbill.
   Drive on till you reach Dochula Pass and concentrate on the western slopes of Dochu la, with the spectacular Himalayan Ranges in the background. These pristine mixed forests of hemlock, fir, and rhododendron hold a spectacular set of target species, including the striking scarlet Satyr Tragopan. Other highlights include incredible Gold-billed Magpie, the gorgeous Golden Bush-Robin, immaculate Cutia, and the scintillating Fire-tailed Myzornis.

Day 12 Paro International Airport

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   6 hours

   After breakfast drive for about an hour to the International Airport at Paro. Your guide and driver will bid you goodbye and we hope you had a wonderful trip and satisfied with your birding expedition in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.