Hongbenghe - First Hide

Difficult to put into words how good today was and when you tally up the best birds it reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Himalayas Most Wanted birds! We visited 3 different hides that were offering some mega birds and we began at 8am with Blue-naped Pitta. Oh yes! It took a little while but eventually it showed at the back of the feeding station on several occasions, one time perching out on a branch lying on the floor only to be spooked by something and it darted back into the gloom of the forest. But it did come out into the open for a few seconds and I fired off a quick record shot before it hit warp factor 10 back into the forest, never to be seen again. 

Blue-naped Pitta

Back-up birds at this hide were many but everything was shy but we still saw:

1. 2 Kalij Pheasant
2. 1 Common Emerald Dove
3. 1 Blue-naped Pitta
4. 2 Large Scimitar-Babbler
5. 3 Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
6. 2 Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler
7. 1 Spot-throated Babbler
8. 1 Puff-throated Babbler
9. 10+ Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush
10. 1 Hill Blue Flycatcher
11. 1 Chinese Blue Flycatcher
12. 3 Large Niltava
13. 2 White-tailed Robin
14. 1 White-crowned Forktail
15. 1 Little Pied Flycatcher

Common Emerald Dove

Large Scimitar-Babbler

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler

White-crowned Forktail

White-tailed Robin (female)

White-tailed Robin (male)

White-throated Bulbul

The walk back up to the cars was memorable for a huge flock of Pin-tailed Green-Pigeons, with a few Thick-billed Green-Pigeonspresent amongst them, and best of all a Spot-winged Starling perched at the top of a massive fruiting tree.