March 01-05 2020
The grasslands of Jia, Roing chasing the Black breasted parrotbill turned out to be an exercise in frustration. The early morning weather was cloudy and a slight drizzle didn’t help much. All the birds were sitting quiet and the one that moved were deep into the bushes. The parrotbill was a sure shot but, that was not to be for me. This was my introduction to what I would have to bear with in the days ahead.
After Sandakphu this was my easternmost trip to the North East of India. The birds are shy, very shy, extremely skittish and hate to come out in the open for most parts. They have to be teased out with calls and then too there is no certainty that they will oblige ! All of the Sattal and Ganeshgudi birding seem like kindergarden stuff. The “machoness” of birding photography is in the North East of India. Its challenging, frustrating and makes one learn patience in the extreme. More on this later and how one can approach it with better preparation.
Our itinerary was for a half day birding at the Roing grasslands primarily for the Black breasted Parrotbill and then move on upwards towards Mayudia (Mayodia) after lunch. The next 3 days would be at Mayudia birding along the road on both side of the Mayodia pass. Mayodia pass is at a height of 2655 meters.
Mishmi hills are home to the Idu-Mishmi tribe of Arunachal pradesh. They speak the Idu-Mishmi language. Every tribe has their own language and they inter communicate in Hindi. Roing is the HQ of the Lower Dibang District and Anini the HQ of the upper Dibang district which is near the China border.
Map
Getting out of Dibrugrah airport we stopped at the “Bypass Dhaba” for some wonderful fried Rohu fish. A three hour drive got us to Roing and our place of stay for the night, “The Mishmi Hill Camp”. Its a quaint resort by the Eze river and a comfy one at that. The weather in early March was still a bit cold but nothing that cant be easily overcome with a fleece jacket. The Jia grasslands are special primarily for the Black breasted parrotbill. If you are not super keen on this, you may skip Roing altogether.
Hangers to dry meat, the fire is lit below and the meat hung above it.
I tucked a smelly socks to depict the meat hanging 😉
Sunrise was at 0534H and hence the wakeup alarm was set to 0430H ! The morning birding wasnt much, but sure did we try every trick in the book. Heard a bunch of calls but only the odd bird ventured outside in the drizzle. And those that did, were extremely skittish. So saw some, but not able to photograph as much as one would like. There is a river that one has to wade across to the other side. That was fun. We also saw elephant dung but I was told that the elephants themselves are never seen ! Case of the disappearing elephant surely !
Wading across a stream in the Jia grasslands
Striated Babbler with nesting material
The arty shot of a Red Vented Bulbul
Walking back
We came back to camp for lunch and then started for Mayodia Pass. The Mehow wildlife sanctuary is the entrance for the pass.
The stay would be at a guest house called “Coffee house” near the pass. No electricity and only a few hours generator power in the evening. Spartan but for us, pretty ok ! But bring your own towels and soap !
Halfway up the road to Mayodia, we stopped to pick out the “Manipur wedge bill babbler”. Took us a good part of an hour to find the bird and then entice the bird out for a click. Everything is in the foliage and seldom do they venture out. Hard enough to spot and much difficult to photograph !
Manipur Wedge billed Babbler
Foliage how thick the tropical forest is.
I will pen a few ideas for the photography part later below. So those wanting an idea as to how to prepare can benefit from my experience. The lunch halt was at “Tiwarigaon” where we saw a Himalayan Blue tail hopping around in the nullah. A bit later we snagged a yellow throated fulvetta. Also deep in the bushes but managed a quick shot when it stopped for a couple seconds in a slightly clear area.
Tiwarigaon
Yellow throated fulvetta – (I had a flash on my camera and really helps here.)
It gets dark quickly and the sun set by 1711H. Just about the time we reached our stay- the coffee house.
The Coffee house
Tip:Bring your own towel and soap. No shops around so come prepared. 4 layer clothing in March worked fine. Winter would be 5 layer ! Only few hours genset power in the evening and no mobile connectivity for most parts & no heating.
“Nanyi Intaya” the local goddess.
Clouds rising
The next morning 03 March was cloudy and raining. It had been raining pretty much all through the night. We delayed our start to let the rain abate a bit. A few yellow billed blue magpies made their customary appearances foraging around the camp. The area for birding is along the road. So one walks and the car follows.
Road leaf pics ( Sameer’s idea !)
You hop on to the car, cover a bit distance and then, walk and bird again. Near the watch tower, we got the Beautiful sibia, and the streak throated barwing. The barwing was particularly unhurried and we got some nice shots. Further down the road Rahul spotted a Golden throated barbet pretty much at eye level. This was by far, the most cooperative bird of the trip. By now the weather had cleared and we realised there were or five of them. These gave us some neat shooting poses. And the light was great too ! Finally some normal photography, whew ! Post lunch we decided to bird from the Mayodia pass down to the coffee house. Not much of a distance but the presence of a lot of rododendrons flowering did give us a better chance to spot some birds. As we walked down we spotted Manipur fulvettas. The light was fading fast and the birds kept inside the dark undergrowth. Super fast birds and try as I might, I was unable to snag them. Ravi also helped spot a Fire tailed myzornis but it was too fast and kept to the bushes.
Beautiful Sibia
Streak Throated Barwing
Black throated parrotbill
Plain Backed Thrush
Shooting the Golden Throated Barbet
04 March morning we started birding from Coffee house up to the Mayodia pass and then beyond the pass on the other side towards Hunli. The weather was a bit better and had cleared. The flowering rhododendrons gave us a bunch of birds. Nothing easy but way better than finding them and then waiting to entice them to come out ! Got the Golden breasted fulvetta, the Brown throated fulvetta and the rufous capped babbler here. A bunch of yuhinas too. On top of the pass there is a garbage dump area where on can find the dark rumped rosefinch. Further down the pass on the far side Ravi managed us a bar winged wren babbler. My flash came in real handy here. It was totally in the undergrowth and just did not come out at all.
Golden Fulvetta ( I had a glimpse of this at Gairibas on the Sandakphu trail earlier)
Manipur Fulvetta
Rufous capped babbler
There is garbage dump on top of the Mayodia pass where one can get the Dark rumped rosefinch ( This is the female that I got this time)
Brown Throated fulvetta
Bar winged wren babbler ( The flash really brought out the bird here )
Breakfast : Omelette coming up !
The pig, doing what it does best 🙂
The Carl Zeiss ZF.2 2.8/21 Distagon T showing its magic below
A swatch bharat toilet contractor we met at breakfast. He was building a toilet next to the shack.
After breakfast a bit ahead we really tried and finally managed to photograph the Fire tailed myzornis. Took us a good part of one and a half hours to snag just this one bird ! Not the best shot but at least we got to see one. I remember my guide on the Sandakphu trail mentioning that, there used to be flocks for these at Tumling. Much much reduced in numbers now.
Fire Tailed Myzornis
We tried for the Blyths Tragopan even though the first calls of the season was yet to start. Usually seen best around April- May I was told. Somewhere looking for the tragopan my lensfoot came loose. But luckily all was fine.
Rest not much luck till lunch. The weather started to act up and it began to lightly drizzle again and we stopped at “65 Hotel” for lunch. Hotel 65 is a small roadside shack with cats !
Hotel 65 ( Since its on the 65th km )
Cats of course !
Yellow billed Blue magpie
It was still raining after lunch but we kept moving towards Hunli in the hope of getting something.
Phenomenal rainforests enroute Hunli.
We did spot the red headed trogon but it was deep in the undergrowth. There was a long shot of the “Beautiful Nuthatch” for what it is worth ;-).
The beautiful Nuthatch
The interesting part was to see a (Political Interpreter-PI) gun and all. He is the local judge and jury for smaller cases in the district. Carries a gun an all !
The Political Interpreter (PI)
There is a small ALG ( more like a larger helipad) enroute Hunli.
05 Mar morning it was still cloudy but no rain. We moved down towards Roing. The hill partridge was constantly calling but no luck with any sighting. I got the Golden babbler that I had previously missed. Also got the black faced babbler and the rusty fronted barwing.
Local boys with guns coming to take a look at their “Mithun”. They go to feed it salt I was told. Mithuns are part domesticated cattle used for farming and load carry. These are let loose and checked on periodically by the owners and gathered only when needed.
The “Mithun”
Black faced warbler
Rusty Fronted Barwing
Golden Babbler
Grey Chinned Minivet
Yellow Throated Fulvetta
Lunch was a packed affair on the road and post lunch we stumbled on the Manipur wedge bill babbler again. But this time no calls and it was in the open. Lucky day ! Later try as much as we might for the long billed wren warbler, it just wouldn’t come out. So the Mishmi trip started and ended for me with a rarity the Manipur wedge billed babbler !
I will be back here for sure.
Some target species and when you can most likely find them:
March end to April : Blyths Tragopan
May: Temmniks Tragopan ( takes a day trek to see); Purple cochoa; Green Cochoa
April to November: Wards Trogon
May to September: Vivid Niltava
November: Sclater’s Monal
Background situation:
Handhold: Handheld only works. Even a monopod is a tough one to use here
Largest F stop: All low light so F4 or F2.8 lenses preferred. I used a Nikon 500mm PF F5.6 . It is small , compact, good auto focus and easily handhold-able. If I could, Id choose a 500mm F4 over a F5.6. Every extra stop helps.
No TC : Speed of AF acquisition is most important. Birds don’t give you any time. Couple seconds max is what one gets typically. Hence I don’t recommend using TC since it will slow AF acquisition.
More Focal length : Birds are not near. Hence some combos you can consider since you have to handhold all day. Minimum 500mm lens recommended.
a) Nikon crop body like the D500 + 400mm F2.8. The 1.5 APSC crop giving you 600mm @ F2.8. The F2.8 really really helps.
b) Nikon D500+ 500mm F4.
c) Nikon D500 + 200-500mm ( the zoom will help locate the bird easier. Pullback to locate and then zoom in. But that needs practice and time.
d)I used a Nikon D5 + 500mm PF F5.6 which also works since the AF speed on the D5 compensates a bit for the lower F stop of F5.6 and the high ISO helps.
e) The 600mm F4 is a beast to handhold for long periods hence, usable but, be ready to fatigue sooner. And then, I like to use the flash too. Then handholding the 600 F4 with a flash is a tough call. I can handhold the 500PF + flash , that’s not too bad as I pleasantly found out 🙂
High ISO: Average ISO 4000 plus only. For the next time, Id set auto ISO and a minimum shutter speed of 1/500.
Use familiar gear combo only: Use a combo you are familiar with. Absolutely no time to learn on the field. I tried the D500+ 500mm PF F5.6 and I was struggling big time since the setup and the narrow 700mm view was new to me. I just couldn’t find a lot of birds in my viewfinder due to the narrow view.
Add a flash: I used a flash set to 1/32 fill in and it helps heaps. Use a flash especially when birds inside the undergrowth.
Practice lining up the target dead centre of viewfinder: Most important, practice lining up the viewfinder dead centre to target while keeping sight of the bird with both eyes open in a smooth quick motion. This one practice alone can get you a big percentage of shots. Hunting for the bird after looking through the viewfinder is a complete lost case since you may be looking at a totally wrong area of the undergrowth or the bird could’ve moved. Kind of like, room entry snap shooting to take down bad guys!
Rain gear: Must have rain gear.
I was using a Blackrapid sling strap secured to the lensfoot. So two issues here. Got to keep checking for the Blackrapid if its tight. It has a tendency to wiggle loose. And the second, on a 500PF, the lens foot has a tendency to come loose too ! ( Now i read the same on fredmiranda site too ! FML !). Hence remove the lens foot and secure blackrapid directly to the lens and implement a safety tether hooked to the camera strap eyelet. So the lesson is to have a safety tether and change out the lens foot. I have written a separate post here on how to do this. Replace original lens foot with ( https://www.hejnarphotostore.com/product-p/h129-500.htm). Screws directly on to the lens avoiding the slide out foot mechanism entirely. Much more secure and peace of mind.
1. Black breasted Parrot bill 2. Ashy wood swallow 3. Black Kite 4. Honey Buzzard 5. Striated babbler 6. Jerdons babbler 7. Scaley Breasted Munia 8. Blue throated barbet 9. Red vented bulbul 10. Red whiskered bulbul 11. Spot breasted scimitar babbler 12. Sand Martin 13. Bay backed shrike 14. Indian Roller 15 Chestnut capped babbler 16. Slaty Blue flycatcher 17. Stone chat 18. Citrine wagtail 19 Cattle Egret 20. Pond Heron 21. Blue whistling thrush 22. Common Mynah 23. Pied Starling 24. Black Drongo 25. Spangled Drongo 26. Chestnut bellied nuthatch 27. Oriental magpie robin 28. Chestnut bellied rock thrush 29. Rusty Fronted barwing 30. Grey cheeked warbler 31. Himalayan Blue tail 32. Olive backed pipit 33. Yellow cheeked tit 34. White throated fan tail 35. Blue Fronted redstart 36. Striated Bulbul 37. Manipur wedge billed babbler 38. Yellow throated fulvetta 39. Golden babbler 40. Great baebet 41. Yellow billed blue magpie 42. Eurasian sparrowhawk 43. Beautiful sibia 44. Streak throated barwing 45. Rufous breasted bush robin 46. Plain backed thrush 47. White capped redstart 48. Black faced laughing thrush 49. Lemon rumped warbler 50. Whiskered Yuhina
51. Rufous vented yuhina 52. Rufous gorgetted flycatcher 53. Black throated parrot bill 54. Black faced warbler 55. Golden throated barbet 56. Fire breasted flowerpecker 57. Rufous winged fulvetta 58. Common green magpie 59. Mountain hawk eagle 60. Striated laughing thrush 61. Stripe throated yuhina 62. Fire tailed myzornis 63. Manipur fulvetta 64. Bar winged wren babbler 65. Eurasian Winter wren 66. Golden breasted fulvetta 67. Brown throated fulvetta 68. Rufous capped babbler 69. Dark rumped rose finch 70. Little forktail 71. Spotted forktail 72. White browed bush robin 73. Beautiful nuthatch 74. White tailed nuthatch 75. Red headed trogon 76. Streak breasted scimitar babbler 77. Slender billed scimitar babbler 78. Bay woodpecker 79. White browed shrike babbler 80. Black eared shrike babbler 81. Himalayan bulbul 82. Long tailed sibia 83. Black chinned yuhina 84. Collared owlet 85. Coral billed scimitar babbler 86. Slaty backed forktail 87. Striated yuhina 88. Silver eared mesia 89. Blue winged minla 90. Lesser racquet tailed drongo 91. Northern Goshhawk 92. Blue winged laughing thrush 93. Orange bellied leafbird 94. Lesser yellow naped woodpecker 95 Grey Chinned Minivet
Lovely blog Krishnan, it was a nice rewind 🙂
Well written! You’ve taken us back to Mishmi, thanks for the blog 🙂
Stunning captures and awesome travelog, thank you!!