Birding in Kaziranga National Park, Central Range Safari (Day 1)

March 4, 2023, Afternoon

Route

After lunch at the Larmika restaurant in Kohora, we took an afternoon safari in the Central Range, again focusing on birding in Kaziranga. The entrance to this range is very close to the Kohora town, perhaps just a 10-minute drive. The weather was decidedly hot, and those “bandanas” (face coverings) came in very handy to protect against the dust, especially when other jeeps drove past or in front of us. We spent roughly 3 hours here, and towards the end we visited a watchtower (Daflang Tower). A lot more tall grass in this range, enough to hide an elephant, and close to the road too. We also encountered some waterbodies, but again they were generally quite far away. There were several jeeps in this range, so it looks like a popular range in Kaziranga.

Bird and Other Wildlife Sightings

There were several waterbirds in the lakes and ponds. Compared to the Eastern Range, we got a few more grassland or open terrain birds. We got our only sighting of Indian Boar in this range, seemingly cooling off in a puddle of water. Spot-winged starling was a lifer, and seen well on a tree close to the jeep. Juvenile Pallas’ Fish Eagles on nests were seen soon after. I’d say this (juvenile) plumage is worth doing some homework on beforehand, because in flight it can be perplexing to identify at first.

Towards the end of the safari, news came through that a tiger had been seen briefly near the Daflang Tower, so our driver sped us over. Once we got to the tower, though, the tiger was not visible. There was no way to tell if it was still hiding in the grass or had walked straight through it and emerged on the other side. Several jeeps were waiting to see if it would emerge again. It was possible to get off the jeep here at the watchtower’s base where, on foot (while still waiting for the tiger :D), we got Chestnut-capped Babbler (lifer) close by, and also a Bluethroat amongst burnt grass. From the watchtower, Swamp Francolin (also lifer) were visible, although far away. The tower itself was so crowded (tiger news spreads rapidly through the jeeps), that putting down a spotting scope to scan the waterbody behind it was not possible. 5 more lifers added to the tally by the end of the safari.

Here is the complete eBird checklist.