March 5, 2023, Afternoon
Before I get to describe the birding in Burapahar, a quick note on where we went for lunch that day.
Lunch
Lunch was at the Choran Ahem Karbi Ethnic Food Center. It is an interesting place, showcasing traditional cooking methods. However the food wasn’t suitable for my taste. I’d rather have a standard restaurant menu. It was also quite expensive for what it was. The village, though, is rustic, clean and beautiful and the people and staff were very friendly and obliging.
Route
Burapahar Range (also known as Burapahar Safari Zone) is towards the west of Kohora town, but it is different from the Western Range. It is more scenic than the other ranges. Etymologically, the name appears (to me) to be बूढा पहाड (būḍhā pä̤ːɽ, or “old mountain”), and not बुरा पहाड (bʊ.ɾäː pä̤ːɽ, or “bad mountain”). As usual, I don’t understand why they write ‘r’ for a native ‘d’ sound in the English script. The map below shows our route.
Bird and Other Wildlife Sightings
We had a couple of very nice Rhino sightings this afternoon. The first was an older individual, his ribs showing, who was quite docile, and next to a scenic waterbody. The other was a little farther away and that one’s age and mental state of mind were much more uncertain. From a birds perspective, we got our first Changeable Hawk-eagle here, and had nice photo opportunities for a Crested Serpent-eagle. Later we had a juvenile Pallas’ Fish Eagle fly by, and then saw 7 or 8 Himalayan Griffons in a tree. Our guide misidentified both the latter species (the first one I forgot what he called it, the second one he confidently called Slender-billed Vulture). By now I am used to this. Raptor identification by bird guides in the Indian national parks remains poor. And it is not surprising, considering the fact that raptor identification even for experienced birders in Asia is hard: the plumages vary a lot and the field guides don’t do a stellar job at pointing out field marks especially for younger birds, and sometimes the bird looks quite different in the field compared to the illustration.
Here is the complete eBird checklist.
Audio Recordings
I can’t recall whether I made this recording in the Karbi Center or within the Burapahar range. It is a barbet, with some other calls in the background too (perhaps a second barbet).
Photos and Media
